First-time Toyota owner

[Pingsmoth]

I'm 25 and recently decided I needed a reliable foreign car instead of an unreliable American car. I have had a Ford Tempo, Dodge Caravan, and Plymouth Sundance, and have had my fill of stateside automobiles. My fiancee really likes Toyotas, so last week we bought a '98 Corolla for about $5k. I like it so far, but have had some troubles with it, which is why I'm joining this message board. PM me if you have any questions, otherwise I'll probably be in the Corolla forums.

[jhbhatia]

Welcome to the forums, You will be happy with you 1zzfe engine. Its very reliable (provided you do your required timely maintenance). Good luck.

[te51levin]

The ironic thing is that most Toyotas have been built in the US for a long time now. Your Corolla was almost certainly built in Fremont, California - I bet the second digit in the VIN is an N, for NUMMI, the Fremont plant.

"American" and "Foreign" cars aren't easily distinguished by the name on the trunk anymore. Lots of "American" cars are built in Canada and Mexico as well as other places. Toyota simply takes the time and trouble to build a better quality product no matter where on the planet they are.

Long story short, you've made the move from cars built as cheaply as possible in order to cost less to BUY, to cars made as well as possible in order to cost less to OWN. You'll like it!