9th Gen Longevity and Mileage Thread

[TheUrge]

I have a 05' CE that I bought in Feb 07. I bought it with 47k and now as of today I have a little under 90k on it. I have been plesently surprised with the reliability of my car, other than a couple brake pad changes I have had no major problems at all with my car.

It does have some of the typical 9th gen/05' quirks such as the hard starting issue when its hot out, and the whistling issue from the windshield on the interstate, but every vehicle has its issues. I used to be a Ford guy and almost all the Fords I owned in the past had way more problems than this at 90k than what the Corolla has had. I plan on running my car until the wheels fall off, and I hope to get at least another 100k out of it if I can. So far I have no reason to believe that it can't be done.

I am curious to hear from other 9th gen owners about their car. I'm sure there are some pretty high mileage Corollas out there and it would be great to hear about them.

So how many miles are you at on your car? If you have had any repairs or problems, share as well.

Chris

[dblhelx]

2005, 135,000 miles.

1) Rotors/pads
2) Rear brake shoes
3) Need a new ECM as of today
4) I think I may benefit from new struts/shocks very soon.
5) PCV valve

[bennor]

Another 05, bought it used from the dealer with 4,000 miles on it.
Current mileage is a whopping 35,000

1) Hard starting issue as well in warm weather, especially if the car is on a slight angle (like a sloped driveway). There is a long thread about this issue with no real resolution buried somewhere around this forum.
2) Dumped the stock Bridgestone tires and put Michelin DT-X's on them. Waited two years before doing so, never again. Stock tires on the 05 suck! Next time the stock tires on a car are replaced immediately (unless the stock one's turn out to be highly rated tires)
3) For pure in city driving with lots of starts and stops, MPGs suck, around 24 if I'm lucky.
4) Gotten 42MPG once with pure highway driving with non ethanol gasoline. With 10% ethanol gasoline highway mileage is around 36MPG or so.
5) Poor weather stripping installation on all windows. Get a whistling sound from it while driving on the highway from time to time. No leaks yet.
6) Normal oil and fluid changes. Other than the Serpentine belt, no other major issues.
7) Replaced serpentine belt myself to save cash. Its was a 10 minute job until one looses the engine cover back retaining clip down the back side of the engine. Never found it.
8) Don't like the AC coming on with the Defroster but most newer cars are like that.
9) Don't like the radio/CD player that came with the car (6 disk six speaker setup), no AUX port for plugging in an iPod or MP3 player and no MP3/WMV CD support. Didn't want to mess with pulling dash apart or spending a fortune on an new radio so living with CD's and FM transmitter for GPS/MP3 for now.
10) Like the two cigarette lighter power plugs since every car I ever drove before this one only had one. With two more things can get charged while driving
11) Paint quality is up in the air. Paint seems thin on the newer Corollas and have several scratches on the car that are not deep but noticeable. Could be something to do with the paint mix or EPA specifications for paint quality these days causing the apparent thinner thickness of the paint.

Overall I mostly have very positive things to say about the 05 series and would depending on the car body style get another Corolla at some point down the road.

[mikered30]

Paint sucks bad on my 05 corolla.

[gideon1331]

I got my '05 in November of '08 with 31k on it. Just about to hit 70k (I drive a lot).

I have also hit 42MPG on pure highway with non-ethanol gas. 400 miles before the light came on. Max with ethanol is around 37, which is pretty darn good with the liveliness of my right foot...

Had the hard starting issue once...and only once, so knock on wood.

I've had to put on front brake pads, and will need a serpentine belt soon, but that's it. The car came with records and nothing other than oil changes were noted. Had the coolant changed when the dealer sent out a coupon that was good enough to warrant being lazy. Heater performance improved dramatically...not that it was bad before though.

The paint does seem to be weaker, and yes, the EPA changed some mandates around 2000 or so. I don't know that the paint is necessarily thinner, but it is definitely softer. I had a fair amount of dings on the hood from highway driving when I got the car, but thankfully the primer looks to be black (magnetic gray car) so you don't notice unless you're looking for imperfections. However, I must say that the paint on my '94 Corolla wasn't that much better.

With me, I've always found the windshield noise issue to be caused by the wipers. Just cycle them once and it stops. My rear door weatherstrips were slightly out of place when I got the car, but no signs of any water getting in. I shoved them back into position and they have not moved since.

I get in, turn the key, and go. My last Corolla never once failed that process, and I hope this one doesn't either. She may be an 'appliance' but she's a damn good one.

[silver04rollas]

2005 Corolla XRS 2ZZ-GE 6 speed manual
70,000 KM

Center console door broke (replaced with the newer more robust 2006 XRS design under warranty)
Front brakes and disks replaced at 50,000 KM
Use synthetic mobil 1 oil
Use redline synthetic MT-90 transmission oil

[dorman68]

I can't complain. I purchased mine used from a dealer in 2007 with about 15k miles it know has 55k miles. I haven't any issues so far unlike my former p.o.s. chevy cavalier. Here is a list of things I have done to the car. I used to bad mouth Japanese cars, this car has converted me and proved me wrong.

oil changes every 3-4k miles (reg oil)
frt brakes at 50k
tires at 50k
air filter at 40k
trans fluid drain and refill at 30k
wiper blades at 30k
battery at 50k

[wernermeister]

2006 Corolla CE here; about 70,200 miles.
No issues; other than "eating a lot of front tires".... (I do have a lead foot)

The battery sounds like it's getting a bit weak, but that's it.
Good mileage and quite "fast" for a little engine like that.

Happy driving!

[corollae]

2006 S with ~55k miles, 70% highway miles (I track it carefully). No major work done.

13k Engine shut down spontaneously at 70 MPH. Never did it again.
48k New serpentine belt (squeaking)
50k New windshield (cracks annoyed me) and replaced both air filters.
51k New tires (original had more in them, but I found an amazing deal on new ones).
54k New battery (original finally bit it).
Change oil every 10k (not a typo).

My only complaint is that over the last 4.5 years, the mileage has been steadily decreasing. I keep highly detailed records and plot both MPG/fill and a cumulative MPG over the life of the car. I used to get 37 MPG (again, mostly highway) and now can expect 33 MPG (accounting for normal seasonal variations).

[titosalvador]

Another Corolla CE 2005, bought from a Toyota dealer with 21,000 kilometers on it, June 2006. It has now 127,000 kilometers, just a regular oil change every 5,000 Kilometers o regular oil, replaced the automatic transmission fuel at 80,000 and the regular front disk pads and rear brake pads. And I got it a new battery from Costco this October with a three yrs. replacement warranty and new Hydroedge tires.
No major thing done on it to date.

[cny03owner]

2003 LE, 123k miles

Regular oil changes, every 3000-3500 miles
Tire rotation, every 5000-7000 miles
Air filter and wiper blades replaced as necessary
Replaced tires 3 times (original tires were junk, one set of replacements failed prematurely)
Replaced front brake rotors 2 times, pads 3 times
Replaced serpentine belt 2 times
Wheel bearings - LF & RR @ 101k miles
Windsheld replaced - cracked from stone impact

Original rear brakes
Original battery
Original console compartment door

Survived hitting a deer and a bicyclist, with minor paint and body work both times.

Only nagging issue is a P0420 code that appears occasionally under prolonged highway driving.

No drips or leaks, handles just about as good as it did brand new, an all-around good car. Likely I'll drive it until it falls apart or needs major repairs, provided it continues to pass inspection. Worth more to me than as a trade-in on a new one.

[Shawn Parr]

We have a 2005 Corolla CE, bought new in 2005 (had less than 20 miles on the ODO). Currently have 52K on the ODO.

We have done the following:

• Oil every 3,000 - 5,000 miles, closer to 3k since we make a lot of short in town trips
• Tire Rotation ~ 5,000 miles. Sometimes a little shorter as we will often do both oil and tires at the same time
• Air Filter once every year
• Cabin Air filter, didn't realize we had one till this year (oops). So replaced it once, will now replace every year with the engine air filter
• ~29,000 miles replaced all 4 tires as originals had worn to tread wear indicators
• 41,852 miles replaced charcoal/vapor canister
• ~48,000 miles started losing power steering for a few seconds when driving through puddles, dealership found clip missing from splash shield and replaced it for free during oil change.

The brake pads are starting to get thin, so we will likely have to replace them within the next year or so.

We also have the infamous '05 windshield chirp. It only seems to occur at or above about 70MPH with a crosswind, so while annoying, it doesn't happen enough to drive us crazy.

The paint has some chips in the hood from typical gravel and stuff. And a few scratches from life in other areas. Recently did some touch up paint work and no metal is exposed, so hoping to avoid any rusting issues. Chips are little speck type things, nothing serious, at least what I expected from owning other older vehicles.

In November had the dealership do a full detail on the car, since we have had it about 5 years and have kids. It sure needed a clean. Looked almost brand new when they were done. I was very impressed that our Corolla has survived us that long, we have a history of being rough on cars, inside and out.

We are also missing one hubcap, passenger rear, which goes with that being rough thing (it 'met' a few curbs before we lost it). Hoping to get new alloy wheels this summer to help keep it looking nice (other hubcaps have cracks forming on the clips).

At about 60K miles I plan on going to the dealership to have them flush the coolant and transmission fluid, along with routine stuff. Will also ask about pre-emptive options for possible ECU issues due to recall. Sometime between then and ~80K I'll probably do the spark plugs myself.

So far it seems like the car will run forever if we keep up like we have.

[brad_i2001]

I have a 2006 Toyota Corolla LE that I bought with 20,000 mi. from Hertz in 2008. So far, I have 48,000 mi. on it, and no problems. Below is the list of modifications/maintenance done to it.

-Changed the done light to the "Cool White" form Ozinum.com
-Cold Cathode lights in trunk
-Changed Oil ever 3,000 mi.
-Changed Air Filter every 12,000 mi. (4th oil change) Fram from walmart
-Changed Tires to Michelin X-Radials <= HUGE improvement on ride quality
-Changed Cabin Air Filter twice
-Changed Transmission Fluid at 30,000 mi.
-Fuel injector cleaner/Octane booster usually once a month
---I only have to fill up 2 times a month under normal circumstances!
-Put in fog lights from k2motor

As far as MPG:
Scangauge Says:
-Highway: 40 mpg
-City: 35 mpg
Notebook Says:
-Highway: 42 mpg
-City: 28 mpg

This is just standard gas from chevron, so nothing too special.

Overall, it has been a GREAT car! I am very pleased with it, and look forward to letting my future son take it as his first car. By then, I should have my Shelby Cobra or my Nissan GTR! (I can dream!)

[impulseRED]

i bought my 05 corool used in 2007 with 7k miles on it, i think a grandma had it b4 ... who knows...
i have abuot 48k miles on it now and the only thing i have had done was........
1) changed the drive belt and got a new belt tensioner.....
i always had squaling problems when it was wet outside or just whenever... aparently theres an upgrade if any1 is interested in fixing the squeling problem i know a lot of corolla have......
if you get that fixed i recommend getting the drive belt changed out at the same time to save onl labor costs

other than that i have a lead foot and ive gone through a lot of oil and tires... lol

[20SilverStreakin07]

1) changed the drive belt and got a new belt tensioner.....
i always had squaling problems when it was wet outside or just whenever... aparently theres an upgrade if any1 is interested in fixing the squeling problem i know a lot of corolla have......
if you get that fixed i recommend getting the drive belt changed out at the same time to save onl labor costs

Any info on where I would be able to get the upgraded tensioner? I have a read a few posts about this and my belt squeaks once in a while, no big deal, but I am planning to replace it in the futureif it gets too unbearable. Thanks in advance...