Till now I had no problems in my Corolla, except for the alternator that "died on me" in a long trip.
It's not a sports car, but you sure can have fun with it. Its reactions and the feeling it can give the driver are very interesting.
It's a family car with a good interior and with 18 years on it' back there's not a single mark of the years passing by.
Here in Portugal there's still lots of Toyota Corolla 12 valves FWD on the streets, but none like mine. Just beautiful.
Greetings
I am also from Portugal, and because of this site, I decided to buy a toyota corolla for my second car. I will post my experience soon.