Pizza Delivery Guy/94 corolla owner: should I buy a 06 corolla S ?

[tlong831]

Ok I have a 94 Corolla 1.6L 4afe motor Automatic 3 spd Transmission Right now the car has 137,xxx on it. I've recently added new tires, everything is in great condition cv joints, spark plugs, air filter. I also recently got a the exhaust leak fixed and aligned at the same time. Now the problem the car has is it needs new struts it's pretty bouncy and the strut mounts make noise. I want to replace all this my self but i need to torque the struts to 280 lbs or something close to that ( i got the shop manual) anyways... this car also burns oil. doesn't leak any... yet. It burns about half a quart every 1000 -1500 miles I know it's pretty normal for these cars but thats also with 20-50 oil in it. I'm trying 10-40 again now to see how it goes. But I deliver Pizza. I drive anywhere from 50-100 miles a day and on the freeway pretty often.
with this 3 spd auto I'm only getting avg 26 mpg.

I test my milage by filing up my tank completly then reseting trip counter and next time i fill up I see how much gas it takes to fill up completely and however many miles I went from last fill up divided by gallons I filled up with = mpg

Anyways My real question for anyone that decides to reply is.... My 94 corolla has almost 140k and it gets 25mpg only 3 spd auto and it's teal not a very cool color imo.
Also I only make about 1500$ a month delivering pizza sometimes more but i also only drive about 20k miles a year doing this.

Im trying to decide if I should get the corolla's struts fixed which would be another 800$ - 1000$ to get done at a shop.. especially because I would want the good struts and some other shit and the same time like strut bar and wheel spacers adj coilovers.

But is this really worth it to continue in my teal bomber, getting 26mpg? or....

Should I buy a 07 Yaris Hatch back...? or a slightly Used Corolla S probally 04-06

The thing is I have 12,000$ saved right now and dont have any bills. I've even considered making payments on a hybrid but I dont think it would be cost effective.

Overall I think the Yaris Hatch would be the most effective car for my job if not a Scion Xa pretty much the same thing right? But the Corolla S is way cooler I would rather use that in my free time.

So what does someone that actually read my rant think?

[w203]

What are the other things (maintenance wise) that you've changed on your teal bomber?

I think you got some pretty good choices for a delivery car.

I deliver for my mom's resturant with cars that would make people take a second look lol. Gas mileage sucks on those cars, it was too flashy, made the customer frown etc.

My first car was an 03 Corolla S and I used that to delivery food on the weekends. It was a good car, it saved a lot of gas, wasn't hard to drive and cheap to maintain. But there were times I hoped I have gotten something else but that was only during winter. Can't go wrong with an AWD car for safety but doesn't seem like you have the New England winter in Cali. If it was my choice I would choose the Corolla because it does what you need and looks good doing it.

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

Oil burning is probably due to stuck rings. Common in that generation Corolla engines. Do an engine flush of some sort designed to remove sludge and dirt and it should probably help your situation.

The amount of money you'd spend on an '06 Corolla will NEVER offset the (probably under 10) MPG gain you will see.

[tlong831]

I haven't changed the drive belts ever, but the timing belt was done at 95K cars at 137k I figure it has another 30k on the Tbelt. I change the coolant and the ATF every 12K. I may need need oil pan and trans pan gaskets they look like they are seeping. as well as the whole suspension thing. other maintenance i've done is had wheels balanced cap and rotor wires . it runs great just suspension is pretty beat and milage kinda is weak sometimes it does get down to like 20-22mpg. also 3 spd auto sux. I probally will just get a Corolla S 03-07

Originally Posted by Tangerine

What are the other things (maintenance wise) that you've changed on your teal bomber?

I think you got some pretty good choices for a delivery car.

I deliver for my mom's resturant with cars that would make people take a second look lol. Gas mileage sucks on those cars, it was too flashy, made the customer frown etc.

My first car was an 03 Corolla S and I used that to delivery food on the weekends. It was a good car, it saved a lot of gas, wasn't hard to drive and cheap to maintain. But there were times I hoped I have gotten something else but that was only during winter. Can't go wrong with an AWD car for safety but doesn't seem like you have the New England winter in Cali. If it was my choice I would choose the Corolla because it does what you need and looks good doing it.

[bzride]

do you really want a new car to smell like pizza?

[tlong831]

uhm.. well what are my choices get something old and fix it up? thats alot of time for not as good gas milage... and thats what
AIR FRESHNER IS FOR

[tlong831]

and i smoke alot of weed in my car so its going to smell more like weed than pizza

[blb]

Financially, you're better off keeping the '94. Pizza delivery is hard miles and you don't want to depreciate a more expensive vehicle for pizza delivery. For this business, you want a cheap older reliable car, which is exactly what you already have....and no sense in wasting money on wheel offsets.

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

Drive the one that's paid for until it quits. That's my 2 cents.

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by bzride

do you really want a new car to smell like pizza?

The man delivers pizza, it's only natural that his car should smell like pizza.

Originally Posted by tlong831

and i smoke alot of weed in my car so its going to smell more like weed than pizza

[jackwithcorona]

Originally Posted by tlong831

and i smoke alot of weed in my car so its going to smell more like weed than pizza

delicious

[tlong831]

Yea, I most likely am going to just keep my 94
I talked to the shop today about getting the struts on all 4 sides and it's like 3 hours of labor??? is that right?

[darcsyde]

since u deliver pizza you probably do alot of stop and go driving, don't you? that would explain 26 mpg. which still isn't bad. as far as the struts all depends on the tools you have and what not, but bout 3 hrs sounds close to the time

[tlong831]

Whats the cheapest way I could get my struts replaced? I found sachs struts set of 4 on ebay for 209$ But i called around it looks like labor is going to be atleast 350$ for that much couldn't i just buy a air compressor and air ratchet to take the freakin struts off myself.. i know they are torqued at 267ft-lbs

[darcsyde]

you answered your own question, cheapest way is to do it yourself