Toyota Corolla 2004

[bcguy]

Hi all,

I am based in Vancouver, BC and looking for some helpful advice on buying a used Toyota Corolla 2004, Model: CE, Auto, 45k mileage (on the higher side i thought), direct sale, Mica Red color (repainted; owner claims tht was coz of scratches & no accidents). It has an upgrade of patch C. Askin 15k ..any thoughts / helpful hints on the price or in general.

Appreciate any inputs.

Many thanks,
Rv

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Sounds super suspicious.

The km's are more than a daily rental would have I think. Is the owner a salesperson or something? Also, it is extremely rare someone would repaint an '04MY car unless there was a REAL reason to. I'd be checking into this one very finely.

And Corollas are great cars, but don't always make the best low-km used cars. They don't depreciate quickly enough to justify not going with a new one, with 0 km's, full warranty, and lower-interest rate availability.

[thang]

Make sure not a rental car
I have a friend who bought 2000 rental corolla, he has to change the engine when it's 130K about $5K with Toyota dealers and he spend $2K to rebuild engine by independent shop

[weebl]

The repaints are definitely suspicious.  I'd pass that one simply on that fact alone.  There is no way that an '04 would need a complete repaint if it wasn't involved in an accident.

You say it's a private sale?  Look through the ads for other cars to see if this guy's phone number comes up again.  I'm getting the feeling it's a potential curbsider situation.

[ovr50]

Tons of Corollas around - walk away.

[infinitime]

It does sound very suspicious... I am in Vancouver as well, and a family member has a 2003 Corolla CE, with only 30,000km on it... absolutely great car, and it does hold its value quite well.  
Having said that, if i was in the market for a used car, I would not consider a Corolla, as they tend demand rather high prices.  Further, their ability to take quite a bit of abuse leads to sometimes less than diligent upkeep... I heard this rather scary tale from a cabbie (driving a current model Corolla) who has put on 50,000 in the last year WITHOUT a single oil change! He assures me that with a repaint in a couple of years, the car will still sell for a good price...  

With that in mind, it may make sense to just buy a new one, the base model CE is approx $16000 before taxes.

[infinitime]

have you checked the Toyota dealerships? They often sell one or two year lease returns at a very reasonable price...and most have the benefit of a service history.

[bcguy]

Thanks for your inputs guys. Really appreciate it.  

Well i spoke to the owner and here is a correction about the repaint ..its just one of the doors that got repainted and NOT the whole car. And about the high Kms she says tht's coz she has travelled to Seattle and Oregon coupla times. With all this in mind, any difference of thought ... any ideas what price would be OK to offer ??

Thanks for reading !!!

Rv

[ovr50]

Nope, I think pass and find another. Lots of them available.

[infinitime]

why was the door repainted?  which door? are you sure the B-pillar has not been repaired as well? I may be paranoid, but as OVR50 said, there are many Corollas to choose from, just check out www.buysell.com    

I think that a reasonable price for one in GOOD condition, without any accidents and a decent service history, would be about $14,000 (Automatic transmission)...  

If I were you, I would check out the Toyota dealerships near month-end (When the used car department generally needs to do month ends, and would like to sell as many cars as possible before the new cycle).. Regency Toyota on Kingsway usually has a couple on their used car lot, so does Open Road Toyota in Richmond.  As an alternative, have you considered waiting a couple fo months, to check out the new Echo? Smaller car, but may be priced very close to what you are considering for a used Corolla....

[quadzilla]

Please listen to everybody here.  Walk away from this as it is NOT a deal. That line of driving to Seattle and Oregon is too funny to me. Isn't Seattle only 2 hours away! Did she drive there everyday?  I use to drive London-Toronto-London every other weekend (about the same distance) and never put that many miles on my car.  I've already been to California in my new car and still won't have that many miles after the first year.

[AVToller]

I was going to make a similar comment about the mileage and Seattle trips, but in all fairness, the car COULD have been a very early 2004 thus making it 2 years old. 22.5k/year is a little hefty, but hardly excessive mileage. Just a thought. Still, with the repainted door and all, I would look elsewhere. It's not a rare car.

[bcguy]

Thanks guyz !! Yeah i walked away .. the deal is over. There was visible damage on the front bumper as well. Yeah Avtoller u were right about the early 2004 part.. the car though a 2004 model was purchased in 2003 (around Oct) and tht also would hv contributed to the high kms.

Anyhow .. m outta it now !! Thanks once again.
Rv

[wing]

Good to walk away, but 45k on a 2 year old car isn't that much km really.  Lease average is 48k after 2 years.

Remember folks, usually an '04 was sold in '03.

I'm lucky to own an '01 sold in LATE '02