1999 Toyota Corolla VE from North America - Comments

Had to have engine rebuilt due to Piston Ring defect.

Struts and Strut Supports have already been replaced. Mechanic says it is a common problem with model.

Serpentine Belt had to be replaced months after purchasing.

Uneven and rapid wear on tires. Wearing on front right is worse than front left.

Rear tires are beginning to crack and are bald. Replaced them in November 2003 and have to replace them again. It is only October 2004.

Wheel Bearings are failing. Loud squeaking noise when driving.

Loud knocking, grinding noise on front passenger side wheel when turning. Noise is being investigated.

Car shakes and is hard to control at speeds greater than 90 kilometres/hour.

Air Conditioner has stopped working, yet worked excellent in 2003.

Car body, interior and exterior in excellent condition.

Car is excellent on gas.

Unfortunately, the car seems to be in repair more than my old car which was a 1988 Ford Taurus.

IF you're hearing knocking and grinding while turning, it's probably a CV joint. You should get that looked at soon since a lot of noise means it's in bad shape.

Thank you for the advice. I was leaning toward that myself although when the struts were going before it made the same noise. I was also thinking it might be the tie rod ends or the axle. The same thing happened to my Taurus and it was the axle, the tie rod ends and the CV joints all at once so I'm not sure which it is in the Corolla. I was actually planning on taking it to my mechanic tomorrow morning to have it fixed. He's got a loaner car for me so that I can leave it there until it's fixed for good. I am truly bummed out though because I've heard so many people say excellent things about Corollas and here I am stuck with a money pit. I have the monthly financing for the car and on top of it, all the repairs that don't seem to be covered under warranty. I have to admit, I'm glad it's not the engine anymore or the transmission.

Have 99 coralla ve trans blew 78k-axil noisey-very expensive to repair.

You obviously don't know how to drive a car if you have had these many problems with it. The corolla is one of the most reliable, most recommended cars on the road today. You are probably driving it like a porche for it to have these problems...

I'm very surprised to see that you and a couple other people have had such problems with your Corollas. As a fellow Toyota owner, can I just offer a word of suggestion... please don't give up on Toyota because of this car. I'd be interested to know what the Carfax history was for your specific car, because no matter what kind of car it is (Toyota, Honda, Chevy, Ford, anything), it will give you those kinds of problems if it was EVER a rental car, in an accident, etc.

Personally, I drive a 1994 Toyota Camry wagon I bought from a friend, and she owned it since it was new, so I know its maintenance history and what not. About a year and a half ago (at about 155,000 miles), I learned my head gasket was cracked, and that as you most likely know is a VERY expensive repair, so I've decided that I would just keep the car till it goes. Well, thanks to superior Toyota design, that's going to be a LONG time! My mechanic instructed me to occasionally add a little bit of fresh coolant to the radiator, and it's been running absolutely perfectly. I know have about 172K miles on my car and it still drives like it's brand-new, even WITH a cracked head gasket.

My last car was a 1992 Chevy Lumina, and it had the same problem (a cracked head gasket). Because it's not built as well as a Toyota, though, there was white smoke all the time and the car barely ran. After I replaced the head gasket, it cracked AGAIN only about 20,000 miles later and the car was junked just a hair past the 150,000 mark. All the while, the Lumina never gave me anything, but problems (it ate brakes, leaked oil, etc.), while my Camry literally hasn't. In case you're curious, I bought the Lumina from a friend too, and he also took good care of it before I bought it.

Now, I know that you could say the good luck I've had with my Camry is a fluke... but one entire side of my family owns nothing, but Toyotas and has found them to be the most reliable cars on the road. For example, my mom's 1993 Corolla with over 180,000 miles still drives perfectly.

Anyways, I just want to save you from the mistake of buying another car that will be junk. Yes, this Corolla may not have been great, but unfortunately, lemons happen to every manufacturer. Don't give up on Toyota!

Yeah, if someone is having a lot of problems with their Toyota, chances are the car was badly abused... as for the North American cars, forget it, they are made to fall apart, how do you think they stay in business? After sale parts, that's how. I have friends who are mechanics, they have paid off their morgages thanks to the North American vehicles.

You can take care of a NA vehicle and it will still leave you on the highway stranded, they don`t care. I have never been stranded on the highway. Japanese cars rule. Unfortunately a lot of the Japanese cars are now made in North America, so expect the quality to go down as well.. so sad.

And yeah, I live in North America, so it makes me sad to say these things.

Two weeks ago I went to Bangkok in Thailand.

Most part of the taxis there are Toyota Corollas, surprisingly I saw that most of the 1997/2000 models had more than 600.000 km in the odometer (370.000 miles!), when asked about how it's possible the taxi driver did a gesture rolling his fingers like if he would be talking about a slot machine, he was happily trying to say that it goes and goes and goes...

Well... I already had a 1971 - banger racer - Corolla sedan and was the most reliable car I ever saw, even with all the panels dented and the boot (trunk) looking like an accordion was running silently and starting at the first key turn.

Nowadays I'm driving a Opel Corsa Ecotec and I'm eager to come back to Toyota. I have to agree with the previous comment about European and American cars, they're made break up sooner or later and to cause annoying problems after few years only solved in the official service at stupid prices!

My next car... Toyota!

I love Toyota's, but I have to agree with some of the comments I read about Toyota Corolla 1999 VE. I have one and it's also having trouble starting after the 2nd or 3rd time without the buzzing noise. It also screeches when I turn the wheel far right with a very loud noise. I've always took care of my car and I'm the only owner by far. I took it to the mechanic at Firestone, they ran diagnostic tests on the starter, battery and engine. The starter was normal and battery almost dead, even if it only had been 6 months old. It's been 6 months later and I'm still having problems trying to start the car. It will eventually start, but after the 3rd time. When it finally does start, it starts slow and sounds faint with hardly any power. I've just read 5 different articles of exactly the same problems other corolla 1999 ve owners are experiencing and I believe it should be recalled back to it's manufacturer for further research on these defects of this vehicle.

These cars are very reliable and dependable, You must be driving it like crazy for it to have this many problems. I have a 99 Corolla with 200k miles and it is still running great. The only problem I have had is a dirty spark plug just recently and it was an easy fix. Other than that if your taking it to the dealer to be repaired then you could be getting screwed around as they are known to do that. Just be sure to get a second opinion on what the dealer says.

I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla VE that is my 6th Toyota. The first five were excellent cars. I just purchased the 2000 Corolla for my daughter to drive to college this fall. It has 96K miles and it is an oil burner. Used a quart of oil approximately every 500 miles. I purchased from a Honda dealer and they gave me a warranty for 3 months or 3000 miles - but the warranty does not cover excessive oil consumption. Now I am stuck with a car I paid $5K for and will cost ~$2.5K to repair. I don't want to sell it to someone else who will have the same issue - I guess we will drive it and pour the oil to it.

I had a 1995 Toyota Tercel (bought new) with 185000+ miles with a 5spd, still going strong after my daughter wrecked it and repaired it; it's still going with the original clutch.

Can't complain about that car, routine maintenance and Toyotas will last a long time, about 3 times that of a Ford, Chevy or Dodge.

The wife's 97 Chevy Lumina has 320,000 miles on it with a slightly cracked intake manifold gasket. Blue Devil sealer fixed that. Just make sure to add only a capful at a time.

I also have a 92 Caprice with police package with about 200,000 and a 1989 3/4 ton Cheyenne pickup with 225,000 miles. I have no problems with big old American vehicles. Use synthetic oil and a magnetic oil plug.

1:18 after owning many imports, there's more to your comment about longevity. Front wheel drive cars, and I usually opted for 6 cylinders, are hard to work on. Just about every foreign part is expensive installed, and they are hard to work on even diagnose anymore.

I have done the AutoZone thing, and have replaced O2 sensor and plugs. Other than that, there's very little anymore that can be worked on with front wheel drive cars.

The comment 3-4 times longer than a domestic... come on. I have found most any car today goes 100,000 miles. After that it's what you want to gamble. If you drive a lot, it starts becoming a false economy.

If you follow the import schedules from your owners manual, each interval is expensive. After the warranty you start seeing sensors, timing belts, struts, water pumps, A/X issues or lack of, heater cores, brakes and rotors always a more frequent issue, my electric sunroof stuck, and in the interim the value of the cars keeps dropping between age and high mileage.

Driving a now higher mileage valued $2000-$3,000 car that needs $1500 repairs to keep it going is false economy. If you think that you can get 3-4 times over the life of my Crown with the factory heavy duty cooling, drivetrains and suspension I have had, keep on dreaming. If you even slightly overextend an oil change with hard small working engines or overheat small aluminum blocks, they can cook quick. The new car dealers usually send these high mileage creampuffs to the secondary lots or auctions.