Possibly looking at buying a new Corolla

Possibly looking at buying a new Corolla

I just totaled my car and I am looking at buying a new car. Right now I'm considering a 2007 5sp Corolla S. My other choice is a Camry SE, but that is a bit out of my reach right now.

I would like to know people's experiences with their Corollas. My totaled car was a Toyota, so I am not doubting the reliability. Though every Toyota that I've had previously was built in Japan. As I understand it, Corollas are built at NUMMI or Canada.

Since the 1ZZ is a fairly mature engine (used since 2000 IIRC in Corolla and Celica) and the current gen Corolla is probably in it's last production year, I would like to think that Toyota has managed to work out most of the problems, ie the wheels falling off the 03s back in 2002. My 5S-FE was bullet-proof.

For those of you that take your Corollas on long drives, how is the ride in a Rolla for those trips? Noisy, rough, harsh? I often drive from SoCal to San Francisco and I don't want a rough 500 mile drive. My Camry had a decent ride and the engine was fairly quiet when crusing - though it seemed underpowered when climbing. There is a mountain north of San Fernando - how is the Rolla when climbing this mountain on I-5? Is it under powered? I don't climb that stretch of road regularly, however I live at 2500 ft and there are several hills that I have to ascend to get up here. They are similar to those north of San Fernanco on I-5. How does the Corolla feel at 70 or 80 MPH on flat land and hills like those on I-5? Does it feel like it's running out of steam?

I test drove a 05 Corolla S with 40000 mi on it. It had some annoying rattles. Is that a problem as time passes? My Camry did it sometimes too, but I caused a some if it - ie I didn't put some speakers in right or the crossover came loose in the door. However, after 82xxx miles, there wasn't much annoying rattles in the car. Camry was quieter, but it is more lux than a Corolla. The Corolla felt fairly light and peppy with the 5sp. I did not get a chance to test the automatic. Does the manual make a big difference compared to the automatic? I can drive a manual, I'm just not very good at it from limited experience. The salesmen at the dealer were kind of pushy.

They then tried to sell me a Camry SE V6. They said that it looked really sexy and that you don't think Camry when you see that car, and how it looks like a Lexus. I told them there is no way I could afford a $26k car to which they replied - If you're going to owe money on something, you may as well owe money on something nice. WTF...That really was not something I wanted hear. Yes, I am fairly young at 23, though many people think I'm 20 and I get carded when I buy dip, but I am no sucker. I'm know my spending limits and know what I can and cannot afford. Trying to sucker me to get me in over my head...

BTW, they wanted $18k for the Corolla S I test drove. I literally laughed in the guys face because they wanted that for a 2 year old car with 40000 mi on it. I don't care if that car was CPO, I could get a new one for that price!

Is there a mod to remove or shoten the antenna on teh roof. I liked the way that my Camry had the antenna printed on the window better. It looks cleaner.

If any of you are still reading my mini novel, thank you for your attention and any insight.

i'm sorry to hear your car was totaled. mine was too a few weeks ago. I would say go with the corolla. camrys are nice and have slightly more power but if you like to play around with the car, the corolla is better. if you are planning on selling your car in the future, as of right now, camrys maintain a higher price so you'll be able to get more money in the future with a camry. I would say SE V6 is really nice but you said you cant afford it right now so humm.. yeah..

oh yeah and the rattling you hear, i think you'll start to hear that with any car. but there are always ways to muffle or get rid of the noise.

If you can wait, I suggest that you wait for the 07 corolla. Just get a cheapo used car for the time being, and buy the new corolla once it's in the dealer.

07 Rollas are already at the dealers. They start selling the next model year in Aug. Unless it they release a car early like 2007 Camry or 2003 Corolla.

^oops, I meant the 08

I have a pretty good story about our 03 Corolla Sport. My wife & I evacuated from Houston to Dallas from one of the Hurricanes of 05. Think it was Rita where the eye went right up between Texas & Louisiana’s border.

My wife & I had made the decision to go ahead & evacuate & got caught up in the whole mess of everyone else leaving too. We left from Galveston & started making our way through Houston. I got the idea to get on the HOV lane from my bro in law that was about 20 minutes ahead of me & sailing smooth past everything now. Well, that didn’t work for us. 8 hours later we were on the north side of Houston. Stopping & starting the car, moving 20 feet & waiting. It was really crappy. People including us starting to pee next to their cars & the whole 9 yards. Since we were on the HOV lane we didn’t really have to pay any attention to anything but what was in front of us. I started getting out & pushing the car the 20 feet. It was very easy to do & required very little effort. We had food & we were just simply stuck.

22 hours into the trip we had made it to Huntsville & the powers that be finally figured out that a contra-flow lane would be a great idea. Forget the people that are in traffic up ahead… We’re going to open the freeway a couple miles back & let people that haven’t been waiting as long as you to go ahead. My wife & I were already crushed, so there wasn’t anything new…we new we were screwed.

We got to Buffalo 26 hours into our trip & still had a quarter tank of gas left. We decided to stop & get gas which took 3 hours…I was near insanity & was snapping @ anyone who tried to cut in line. I knew it was bad when a teenager tried to cut & I get out of the corolla to confront him being 6’5” & the little twerp didn’t really back down. being 6'5" I can lower the seat to the floor & I have a lot of leg & head room.

We got gas & moved ahead down the road. It was pretty smooth sailing from there we were able to do 50-60 mph. Once we got to the Dallas Area it started to bog down again because the sheeple have apparently forgotten how to merge & drive all together. We start seeing smoke from up ahead & watched it get worse & worse… My wife & I weren’t scared, we were pissed… after 30 hours of this crap, now we’re stuck behind someone’s burning car. Nope…it got a lot worse & then explosions started. It was the Greyhound bus that caught fire & burnt all those elderly people to the ground. It was a horrible scene. We were coming down the other side of an over pass & had no place else to go but back, so I drove right off the side of the freeway @ a 45 degree angle as best I could. That darn little car kept rollin’ through grass knee high. We were sliding sideway’s, trying to keep it straight & moving. My wife was freaking out, but I had enough & wasn’t going to be stuck for another 8 hours. We made it down a 30 foot embankment & went back to the nearest farm road. COROLLA WRC BABAAAY. I called my friend that we were going to be staying with & asked him to try & find us a way through the rural farm roads on mapquest which he was able to do. 34 hours later we made it to Dallas a trip that normally takes us 3 hours.

Thinking back now, I realize that we could have made it to Dallas after 34 hours of crap on a single tank of gas. We stopped to get gas as a precaution. So many people were stranded on the side of the road out of gas, we didn’t want that. The car, 2 years later has 77,000 miles on it & still runs like a champ. We’ve since been back to Dallas to stay with the same friends & made it in 3 hours muttering curse words the entire way.

Wow, touching story. I think it was more of a survival and endurance trial more than a Corolla story. hehe Glad you're ok. Toyotas are really durable, that's a fact.

damn it, after reading that, i miss my corolla even more now. bleh
i should steal my dad's

Woow! Good story! I love my corolla even more now.

2001 impreza (the car i've always wanted.. except i have a lot of check engine light errors.. sucks)

I'm preparing for a wrx sti. hehe

What do you drive in the meanwhile?

ah... i hate you! i love those cars! i know a guy thats got a blue 1 with the gold rims ( i mean seriously, you cant get an sti in any other color... its a sin ) and hes got a blow off valve on it and stuff... that is 1 of the MEANEST cars out there... you cant go wrong with 1 of those... well... your pocket and bank account will think otherwise... But you will have EVERYONES respect in 1 of those.... no dobt