I bought a 2004 Saturn Ion in Sept 2003. Since buying it i have had 13 different problems with the car, some of which took several trips to the dealer to fix. Some of the problems i have had appear to be all too common with other ION owners. I was wondering if there are any such problems with Corollas. I know Toyota has a great reputation for reliability, longevity, yadda yadda yadda.......I want to know how owners feel about their cars. Also, what warranty does Toyota offer? Saturn has a standard 3 year, 36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper, everything that goes wrong (as long as it was not caused by owner/accident etc.) is covered. And for those of you who have had problems, what are your experiences with the service dept. at your dealer? Were they prompt, willing to fix things without attitude, and thorough? They used duct tape to fix a trunk leak in my ION, and on several occasions said they could/would not adress problems i was reporting unless they could reproduce them (which is hard to do when some of these problems were completely random, but common enough to be annoying/dangerous). I don't expect all new cars to be perfect, but i have had far too many problems with this car to think that it is going to last me the 100,000 miles i had hoped to get out of it. Needless to say i am not a happy camper.
Soo. Any Corolla owners' experiences would be appreciated, i want to make the right decision for my next car.
I have an older Corolla.... a '94 with 150,000 miles on it. Engine runs very strong. Original clutch lasted near 120,000 miles, until I got ahold of it . Never had any major problems with it. Look around the corolla forum here. There are a few Corolla owners that have had a few problems, but none too major... It all depends on the dealer you go to. Any Saturn, Toyota, Honda, etc. dealer can be horrible or great. Good luck.
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If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough- Mario Andretti
Its not how fast your car goes...its how much nerve the driver has to push it that fast.
I have a '04 corolla and I love it. Great milage and everything. No problems with it what so ever. I mean I drive pretty hard, floor my car a lot and that sort of stuff, I do sharp turn (had to get after market springs to do that).
Pretty much it's a great car.
If anything goes wrong, the dealer is happy to see you. They even send you a little birthday card when your car turns a year old.
Oil changes are not a problem; takes me 30 min to do it myself.
Toyota offers a standard 3 year warranty or you can buy the extended warranty (that is what I did for $1500, price probebly varies though) for 7 years. Which means say if in 5 years the transmition goes out, there's your $1500. Ofcoarse I am not saying that it will, but hey anything can happen.
Overall the new corollas (from my own experience and knowledge) are very comfortable and affordable cars.
The only problem I had was with my stereo head unit - it wouldn't play burned cds, but I am pretty sure that is only a defective unit. ( I didn't really care, because I put in an aftermarket head unit.)
If you do decide to get a corolla, I would not suggest that you take it to the toyota dealer to get things like new brakes or fluid changes, because the rip people off. I would recomend to find a mechanic who specializes in toyotas or Japanese cars, because that would save you a lot of money on things that need to be maintained and changed (i.e. brakes, oil, tires, and etc.)
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Life is a game, play by your own rules.
FOR 17,200 I got my car le with abs , THe platinum extended w arranty (basically extends the bumper to bumper warranty to 7 years ) , I got my oil changes thrown in for free for 3 years.
This price includes all the taxes and stuff.
I got the car itself for $15,200.
I think this is a good deal because they were originally trying to sell me just the car at $17,200
I have had no problems what so ever. I have had it for a year . I drive it pretty hard .
I also drive it a lot . I have about 16,000 miles on it already..
I don't know about anything new, but i have a 1990 corolla gts and so far i've only had problems with the distributor and the tps. No problem to fix though, i've only spent like $40 on it since i got it last february (2004)
I have a 2004 Corolla LE. I previously worked at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Now I work for a different OEM's U.S. based tech center. I got my '04 loaded out, plus got some free fog lights (I need sample parts for testing ) direct from the supplier (NAL). I got the employee discount which kick's majortom's mom's deal's arse.
Anyway, coming from Toyota and seeing the kind of quality they want to achieve, I'll tell you that the NUMMI plant build quality & quality control is poor.
I've got gaps, flash, sink marks, windshield seals out of place, front and rear bumper color mismatches the body color, yada yada yada.
But, the car is inexpensive for a reason. My biggest complaint is windnoise. The doors have too much seal gap. This does allow the door to close easy, but the wind noise above 65 mph is way high.
Also, NUMMI had a part shortage and did not assemble the rear spoiler, leaving it for dealer installation . And guess what? A monkey could have done a better job installing it. I've had the car back 3 or 4 times for that (when in Ann Arbor). It seems to be 'fixed' now.
I have had the belt tensioner replaced. But the dealer in AL (where I live now) installed the part OK and fixed the problem, but the shop monkeys left one of the plastic cover's bolts off the top. No biggie, but it looks unproffesional to have a bolt missing right up on top. I called them on it before I left the dealer, and 3 weeks later they still haven't called me with the replacement part (I'm calling them when I get done here). The driver seat side shield is coming apart at the recliner.
OK, off the soap box now. The goods. It's cheap, get's great gas mileage, cheap insurance, looks decent, good room in the back seat for 2 full size men. Its sitting out in the parking lot right now with ~510 miles on this tank of fuel. The fuel light came on about 15 miles ago. That's right at 40 mpg. Other than the belt tensioner, I think the drivetrain will be reliable.
Overall, I think its a efficient car to buy. But its not an expensive car so the fit/finish/build quality is not going to be the best Toyota has to offer. The wind noise is an abomination (at least on mine), but I can live with it. I joke you not, I have a 2000 model 3/4 ton 4X4 Dodge Ram with a Cummins diesel, and it has less wind noise than my Corolla.
i work at a toyota dealer as a tech and there arent many TSBs on the corolla. they make them simple for a reson. i own an 05 XRS and its one of the top cars in the line up.
Last edited by koggles_xrs; 03-23-2005 at 03:47 PM.
I love my corolla 2004 S. Had it for about a year and half. No problem driving it so far. I drive it alot...i got about 40 000 km now.
Service people are "generally" helpful. but like said already, it is a bit more expensive when you get your car serviced by the dealership.
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Camry 1990 Station wagon
Corolla 2004 S
I own a 03 CE with auto and pkg B, I have 60,000kms on the car and so far and have only visited the dealer for normal service visits.
I had a 99 Taurus before this car, it was plagued with problems and I was very unsatisfied just like your current situation.
The Corolla came out at a good time for me, I got mine in June 02 since then crash safety has improved and the anti theft immobilizer on the 05 may give you an insurance discount.
I am one happy Corolla driver
i have a 1988 corolla built in NUMMI down the street from me. it's probably one of the first toyotas coughed up by a north american factory. i am the first and only owner and i have never rebuilt anything. it's got a good 190,000 miles on it and the car starts right up whenever i want it and shifts gears when i want it. great for getting from point A to B... as for the paint it's another matter but what do you expect... treat it nice and it will last you.
I have a 2004 Corolla LE. I previously worked at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Now I work for a different OEM's U.S. based tech center. I got my '04 loaded out, plus got some free fog lights (I need sample parts for testing ) direct from the supplier (NAL). I got the employee discount which kick's majortom's mom's deal's arse.
Anyway, coming from Toyota and seeing the kind of quality they want to achieve, I'll tell you that the NUMMI plant build quality & quality control is poor.
I've got gaps, flash, sink marks, windshield seals out of place, front and rear bumper color mismatches the body color, yada yada yada.
But, the car is inexpensive for a reason. My biggest complaint is windnoise. The doors have too much seal gap. This does allow the door to close easy, but the wind noise above 65 mph is way high.
Also, NUMMI had a part shortage and did not assemble the rear spoiler, leaving it for dealer installation . And guess what? A monkey could have done a better job installing it. I've had the car back 3 or 4 times for that (when in Ann Arbor). It seems to be 'fixed' now.
I have had the belt tensioner replaced. But the dealer in AL (where I live now) installed the part OK and fixed the problem, but the shop monkeys left one of the plastic cover's bolts off the top. No biggie, but it looks unproffesional to have a bolt missing right up on top. I called them on it before I left the dealer, and 3 weeks later they still haven't called me with the replacement part (I'm calling them when I get done here). The driver seat side shield is coming apart at the recliner.
OK, off the soap box now. The goods. It's cheap, get's great gas mileage, cheap insurance, looks decent, good room in the back seat for 2 full size men. Its sitting out in the parking lot right now with ~510 miles on this tank of fuel. The fuel light came on about 15 miles ago. That's right at 40 mpg. Other than the belt tensioner, I think the drivetrain will be reliable.
Overall, I think its a efficient car to buy. But its not an expensive car so the fit/finish/build quality is not going to be the best Toyota has to offer. The wind noise is an abomination (at least on mine), but I can live with it. I joke you not, I have a 2000 model 3/4 ton 4X4 Dodge Ram with a Cummins diesel, and it has less wind noise than my Corolla.
That really sux, it's the first time I've ever heard about that corolla has such defections. Because mine is perfectly built and I did not have any problems with doors, windows, or seats. Matter of fact no problems whats so ever. Personally I think you should contact another Toyota Dealer (now where you bought your car) and see if they can replace the parts that are defective. Because your car should be covered by warranty and as longs as you haven't modified anything yourself they must accept the car and fix all the little nacks that were not corrected at the plant. If they refuse, get a lawyer and sue the dealership for selling you a defective vehicle.
I know I would if they refused to fix the problems.
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Life is a game, play by your own rules.
That really sux, it's the first time I've ever heard about that corolla has such defections. Because mine is perfectly built and I did not have any problems with doors, windows, or seats. Matter of fact no problems whats so ever. Personally I think you should contact another Toyota Dealer (now where you bought your car) and see if they can replace the parts that are defective. Because your car should be covered by warranty and as longs as you haven't modified anything yourself they must accept the car and fix all the little nacks that were not corrected at the plant. If they refuse, get a lawyer and sue the dealership for selling you a defective vehicle.
I know I would if they refused to fix the problems.
If there are defects on the car I don't see how it is the fault of the dealer or how you could think about sueing the dealership, It is a new car if there are problems in the vehicle they came from factory. Not a dealership issue, the issue should be brought up directly to Toyota. As far as build Quality at NUMMI ya I heard there were some issues there as well, to many GM employees there. lol Get a corolla built in Cambridge. Also as far as The factory having a parts shortage and not installing the spoiler? Now that is a dealership issue, because LE does not come with factory spoiler and is never installed at the factory regardless of whether they have the parts or not. It is a dealer installed Accessory is supose to be installed by the dealer and they are suppose to know how to install it properly, if they gave you a story about the factory not installing it then ya that is an issue with the dealer.
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Should I buy a Corolla?
. Never had any major problems with it. Look around the corolla forum here. There are a few Corolla owners that have had a few problems, but none too major... It all depends on the dealer you go to. Any Saturn, Toyota, Honda, etc. dealer can be horrible or great. Good luck. 
) direct from the supplier (NAL). I got the employee discount which kick's majortom's mom's deal's arse. 
. And guess what? A monkey could have done a better job installing it. I've had the car back 3 or 4 times for that (when in Ann Arbor). It seems to be 'fixed' now.
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