Well, lets just say the people who say never buy a car in the first year of production were right. Our Corolla was one of the first of the new models and has had all kinds of nagging issues.
1. Fuel consumption. Seems to do pretty bad, about 400-450 km/tank city and maybe 600 on highway trips. Ive calculated out our mileage before and its never close to what it should be. I think the best I've seen was approx 30 US MPG for an all highway tank in the middle of the summer. In the city its closer to the mid 20s in the summer, low 20s in the winter. Its also not so much that it is bad MPG, but other people with similar Corollas seem to be getting 700-1000km out of the same car, with similar driving styles. Lots of people with early 03s are having the same problem and Toyota always does the same thing, runs a fuel economy test and says everything is OK.
2. Trim falls out. The drivers side window has had the black rubber coming out constantly every time you put the window down since we first got it. Been "fixed" at the dealer about 5 times, but still happens.
3. Rear door plastic strippings are always loose. Toyota knows about the problem but the special part to fix it is always on backorder.
4. The drivers seat is loose and wobbly. Showed it to Toyota, they said it is normal. Yeah, sure, the passenger seat is perfectly solid, but if you shake the drivers seat it feels like it is going to come right off the tracks. They did offer to reseat it on the tracks for $600 though (out of warranty).
5. Squeeks from the serpentine belts, which seem to vary in loudness depending on weather and how long the car has been running. They fix it every time we bring it in for servicing (or just say they cant hear it) but it comes back.
6. Odd squeek from the undercarriage. Sounds like a rusty screen door when you park on an incline and the car rolls back slightly. Probably a bushing somewhere, but the dealer cannot replicate (convinient ;) ).
7. Rattles and squeeks like a GM, but they aren't as big a deal to me anymore, I just play the radio high.
Love the design of the car, but these problems are really a pain in the ass. Car cost 28k new I think with all the options, which was a lot for a compact, but we figured Toyota and would keep us happy for 7 years or so. Last time I buy into the Toyota hype thats for sure. At least for first year cars, my aunt has an 05 that is turning out much better, but I'll never recommend anyone ever get a first year car of any make ever again. Nice cars if you get a good one, but heaven forbid you have any problems, the Toyota people act like YOU broke THEIR car every time you mention a problem.
I'm just kind of playing with the idea of the trade in. It would be a big loss because of the depriciation, and whatever car that replaced it would have to be a much lower trim. The 05 Civic LX would be alright, but I would still be paying lots of money for a similar car which would have no advantage other than being newer and hopefully having less problems. I guess ill just have an independent mechanic I trust look at it and see if they can do anything with the mileage (O2 sensor... other stuff like that), and fix the other little problems it has and ride it out for a few more years.
BTW I talked to a Honda salesman about it yesterday and he said basically the exact same thing as you guys in regards to trade in.
(Message edited by Whistler on August 31, 2005)
