Corolla: Luna,Terra,Strata,VVTI?

dublin12

Hey there

I'm thinking of buying a corolla due to its rep for reliability etc. I dont know much about cars and while looking at dealers, see that there seem to be 3 diff models: Luna,Terra,Strata and also an engine type (?): VVTI, can someone enlighten me as to the differences between these models? I've tried comparing specs but they dont seem to differ really. And is the VVTI one more expensive to insure/tax?


thanks in advance

colm_mcm

Here's a quick run through:

Terra 02-04 (3/5 dr Hatch, Estate or Saloon) : Elec wins, elec mirrors, abs, 2 airbags, cd,

Terra 04-06 (3/5 dr Hatch, Estate or Saloon) : Remote locking, Elec wins, elec mirrors, abs, 4 airbags, cd,

Strata 04-06 (3/5 dr hatch only) adds to Terra: Alloys, Fogs, rear and side skirts, leather wheel & gearknob, and audio switches

06 Luna (1.4 VVT-i 5dr Hatch only) adds to Strata: Cimate Control, rear elec wins, armrest.

06 Luna (petrol or diesel, Saloon only) adds to Terra: Air Conditioning, Heated Mirrors, Alloys, Fogs. Rear elec windows.

02-05 Luna (3/5 door hatch and Saloon) adds to Terra, Aircon, Alloys, Fogs.

VVT-i engines are standard on all petrol Corollas, D-4D diesel engines are standard on diesels.

Alun

I've always found the way Toyota present the different spec levels on their website confusing too. All they need to do is quote the full spec for the base model, and then just mention the differences for each subsequent model, rather than effectively making you print all the lists off, and then play 'spot the difference'. The hierarchy of the names isn't intuitive either ... why is Luna (moon) better than Terra (earth) for example? I'd have thought it was the other way around.

colm_mcm

It sort of goes the farther away the thing is away from you, the better it is (far away hills are green mentality)

It goes:

Terra > Aura > Strata > Luna > Sol

A little less obvious than the UK's T1 T2 T3 branding, in theory, but then the UK throw "Colour Collection" "T-Spirit" and such into the equation

bazz26

colm_mcm wrote:

It sort of goes the farther away the thing is away from you, the better it is (far away hills are green mentality)

It goes:

Terra > Aura > Strata > Luna > Sol

A little less obvious than the UK's T1 T2 T3 branding, in theory, but then the UK throw "Colour Collection" "T-Spirit" and such into the equation

Don't forget they used to have a poverty spec E model Corolla for a short time back in 2002/2003. It didn't even have electric front windows. Short lived as almost nobody bought it.

Incidently and slightly off topic but my old man had a 2000 Corolla Terra, it had remote central locking and heated mirrors as standard. Yet the newer 2002 Terra model were missing these.

colm_mcm

The E model was short lived, it was also on the Yaris.

RE: the old Corolla equipment, the old model didn't have remote locking when it first came out either, it was added for the MC model in 2000, it's quite common for Toyota to add spec to MC models and then take it away again.
added spec makes older models more desirable.

G Luxel

Havent you forgotten the I.6 Tourer estate? Was the Compressor ever sold here? Where is the present corolla saloon built? I think its turkey but the dealer says Japan.

zilog_jones

One easy method I use to find out if a car is made in Japan or not is by looking at the markings on the windows - if it has the JIS mark then it's made in Japan - it will also have just the car company or some Japanese company like "Nippon Safety" on it.

If it's made in Europe it'll have some European glass company like Triplex, Sekurit, Splintex or whatever on it, and no JIS mark (maybe a British Standard mark if it's made in the UK).

I assume it'd be too costly to import windows from Japan for assembly in Europe. With used cars, of course there is the chance some windows may have been replaced, and there probably are exceptions to my theory.

You can probably find out from the VIN code as well but I dunno what to look for.

Anyway back OT: If you're talking about the older generation of Corollas (1997-2002), AFAIK the VVT-i engines were introduced at the beginning of 2000 along with the facelift (different lights at the front of the car and upgraded dashboard). The smallest VVT-i engines in the Corolla are the 1.4 (ZZ series engine), and these replaced the E Series 1.3 litre - so they would cost more to tax.

The VVT-i engines were a new design (E series had been around since the early 80s), aluminium block (E's were cast iron, so I guess they're lighter and stuff), and are more powerful (95ps vs. 85ps, though I dunno if those are right for Euro models). Also see here.

colm_mcm

zilog_jones wrote:

The smallest VVT-i engines in the Corolla are the 1.4 (ZZ series engine), and these replaced the E Series 1.3 litre - so they would cost more to tax.

The old 1.3 unit was 1333cc, so was taxed as 1.4 anyway.

GLuxel: I mentioned the Estate body in the original post. the Compressor was never sold here.

The current Corolla saloon is built in Turkey, hatchbacks are built in Japan and UK.

zilog_jones

colm_mcm wrote:

The old 1.3 unit was 1333cc, so was taxed as 1.4 anyway.

...So it is - sorry, didn't know the displacement increased from the old carburetor version (which was 1295cc).

dublin12

This is great, I was pretty confused! I can print it off and peruse buy and sell etc!

the watchman

Its been a long time since the above postings. I'm thinking of buying a toyota corolla soon 02-05. Really would like air/con but rare I think. Any up date info I should know about besides all the re-calls which I think I already know about during the years I mentioned.

Thanks in advance.

Atlantic Dawn

the watchman wrote: »

Its been a long time since the above postings. I'm thinking of buying a toyota corolla soon 02-05. Really would like air/con but rare I think. Any up date info I should know about besides all the re-calls which I think I already know about during the years I mentioned.

Thanks in advance.

No recalls on years mentioned. Air Con was standard on the Strata model and optional on the others, very few Strata sold in Ireland but the majority that were would have been sold in late 2005/2006.

bazz26

Air con was standard on Luna models only, the Strata was only available in the hatchback. The saloon Luna had manual air con. The Luna hatchback from 2006 to 2007 had climate controlled air con among other toys as standard is the one to go for.

Alanstrainor

Please don't resurrect old threads. This is over 3 years old. You can create a new one if you wish.
Cheers