Toyota Corolla 1.4 (2001)

Moose_man14

Hi,
I went to look at a 2001 Toyota Corolla VVTI today. It is NCT's until 2013, Clean looking (Inside and out) and 98,000 on the Odometer.

The weird thing that I noticed was that the numbers on the odometer were not in a straight line. for example the 9 was in the middle but the next number on the odometer (8) was lower than the 9 was. and then the next number to the 8 was higher up.

Is this a common thing in a Toyota Corolla 2001? Or was thing clocked? How easy is it to clock this model of car.

The offer on the car was €1800.

Any ideas?

colm_mcm

It's coming up to 100k, wouldnt be unusual.

Service history and previous ncts would back up mileage


Seems expensive by the way. Any link?

shawnee

The fact that the numbers are not in line may indicate that the speedo has been tampered. As the price of the car is quite high I would suggest making some enquiries from previous owners regarding the mileage

Moose_man14

Here is the link to the car
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2729901

Moose_man14

By the way this will be my 1st car and i will be doing a bit of commuting with it everyday. (about 140km a day)
I have been considering a car like an SDI Golf. Would any posters recommend these?
Also by budget is roughly €2000 but if the car is a marvel i may go higher but I don't really want to....

colm_mcm

Have a look on the bangeromics thread

Moose_man14

colm_mcm wrote: »

Have a look on the bangeromics thread

Im pretty new to this so I think I will thanks for that.

Gophur

Moose_man14 wrote: »

By the way this will be my 1st car and i will be doing a bit of commuting with it everyday. (about 140km a day)
I have been considering a car like an SDI Golf. Would any posters recommend these?
Also by budget is roughly €2000 but if the car is a marvel i may go higher but I don't really want to....

The 1.4vvti Corolla engine is not a good unit. Thousands of them were replaced due to excessive oil consumption. The car in the ad is between €500 and €800 over priced.

SDi VW are dreadfully slow with you paying 1.9litre motor tax for the performance of a 1.0litre petrol engine.

Best car in that segment is the Focus, but, again, in 1.4 litre form, very slow.

johnos1984

Gophur wrote: »

The 1.4vvti Corolla engine is not a good unit

Yes it is. Far livelier and nicer to drive than an equivilant 1.4l Focus.

OP they do like a drop of old but once you open the bonnet and keep an eye on it there shouldn't be an issue.

I had one and it used a drop but nothing a little topping up every few weeks couldn't solve. Nice car to drive and cheap enough to run but I agree with what everyone has said. It's very overpriced. Closer to €1200 would be about right.

Another cheap car to consider is a Hyundai Accent

Moose_man14

Gophur wrote: »

The 1.4vvti Corolla engine is not a good unit. Thousands of them were replaced due to excessive oil consumption. The car in the ad is between €500 and €800 over priced.

SDi VW are dreadfully slow with you paying 1.9litre motor tax for the performance of a 1.0litre petrol engine.

Best car in that segment is the Focus, but, again, in 1.4 litre form, very slow.

Thanks for that, I knew that the car was overpriced but i did not think it was that much overpriced. Yes and the Golf SDI doesn't come cheap. I saw one, on donedeal.ie that had 150,000 miles on the clock, 01 and it was €2750!!!

So what do you think a new driver/commuter should drive? (yes I have a full license but no exp so Insurance will still be pricey)

johnos1984

Ok they won't set the world on fire but service them correctly and they'll be fine

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2703970

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2690358

Moose_man14

johnos1984 wrote: »

Ok they won't set the world on fire but service them correctly and they'll be fine

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2703970

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2690358

HMMMM...... I see your point about how they won't set the world on fire, but hey if they go and they can take the road day in and day out i don't see why not?

CJhaughey

The mileage figures on the Od, sometimes look wonky on those corollas.
The 4zz was the first vvti that Toyota put in the corolla and some of them had a problem with oil consumption. Most of them were replaced by Toyota under warranty as recently as 4 years ago.
We have a 2000 model with the engine and it has never had a problem with oil consumption, I do the oil changes and use semi-syn 5w30 oil which it seems to like although the manual indicates that up to 20w50 can be used which might be an option if the engine uses a lot of oil.
It has returned 43mpg on average over the last 5 years of ownership and is nippy as well for a relatively small displacement engine.

Moose_man14

CJhaughey wrote: »

The mileage figures on the Od, sometimes look wonky on those corollas.

Would you recommend them? What if I got this car about €1400. would that be reasonable?

Moose_man14

Moose_man14 wrote: »

Would you recommend them? What if I got this car about €1400. would that be reasonable?

I reckon the seller will want at least 1500 for it to be honest, and I would imagine they'll get it too.

colm_mcm

3 door corollas have their following alright

CJhaughey

Moose_man14 wrote: »

Would you recommend them? What if I got this car about €1400. would that be reasonable?

I think they are a great car, not everyones cup of tea but if all you want is a reliable motor that doesn't cost a lot to tax and insure and that gives good mpg then they are hard to beat.
YMMV.

Vicxas

Ive a 3 door corolla 00, thats common on the OD alright, mine has just passed 70k and the Odometer sometimes gets wonky when dialing through the numbers. Their engines can burn oil badly sometimes, but nothing a regular checkup wont fix.

mgbgt1978

Does it have to be the 3 door model ? 4 and 5 door versions are more plentiful and usually better value.

Vicxas

the 5 door model looks awful compared to the 3 door. Thats my opinion anyway

166man

Doing 140k km a day every day is around 50k km a year and that's diesel territory really. Gonna be expensive in a petrol car. However if low 40's mpg are accesible then it won't be too bad cost wise. Although that being said a Citroen C5 HDI could be gotten for around 2k. Supposed to very reliable too.

Vicxas

Im doing roughly the same mileage in my 1.6 corolla. Its working out about 320 a month.

PersonalJesus

I drive an 01 1.4 petrol corolla s. In general its a reliable if occasionally dull car to drive. Fuel efficiency is a little down on those stated previously but all my driving is in the city, i get around 38mpg, this does increase of course on longer runs. The engine means its not the nippiest in the world, and can leave overtaking a bit of a pain. One thing you might want to note is they are slippery in the wet, i mean noticeably so. You'll find yourself having to drive differently in the wet(as we all should do) but you might get a scare till you find this out. Would worry me if i had kids in the car.

Re: oil consumption, yes there is some burning of oil but in my case it is very much manageable, as i do quite low miles, mostly only weekend driving. Stock up on cheap oil and keep an eye on it.

Re: the price, i paid 900 sterling for mine with 68k miles(just in bangernomics territory). It had a couple of scratches and needed tyres retubing and a worn lock replaced, which i did myself. Im from NI so not sure if this is comprable exactly, but it does seem like yours is a bit on the high side.

PersonalJesus

I would ad that if i was you, id consider something with higher mpg if you're doing a big amount of miles. A diesel will more than likely be the way to go. Personally a TD primera would be ideal.

Moose_man14

PersonalJesus wrote: »

I would ad that if i was you, id consider something with higher mpg if you're doing a big amount of miles. A diesel will more than likely be the way to go. Personally a TD primera would be ideal.

A friend recommended a 01 golf SDI or the quicker TDI versions. When I look for them on sites like donedeal.ie or even buyandsell.ie they tend to cost about €2300 roughly and they have high mileage like 150,000miles +!!
I know this is a corolla thread but would any poster recommend a golf over a corolla for commuting?

Ps. Cheers for all the posts. All good advice I must say.

CJhaughey

I wouldn't think that a loss of traction in the wet is an inherent fault in the car. More likely to be a tyre issue.
I am currently running Nokian WRG2 winters and they are very grippy in all weathers.
Personaljesus, I suggest you look at better tyres than the ones you are running at the moment.
OP
In 5 years and 50 k miles the only thing we have had to do is a new clutch. Nothing else apart from regular services.
Even in the -14 temps we had last year it was starting first time no problems at all.

Carstuck

Father once had a 00 corolla (saloon version) and was deeply sorry to let it go. It was very reliable and the oil problem was never a complaint. It used a little but nothing worth talking about once its monitored.

As for the mileage looking funny, this is whats the fathers looked like, a little out too.

Moose_man14

Carstuck wrote: »

Father once had a 00 corolla (saloon version) and was deeply sorry to let it go. It was very reliable and the oil problem was never a complaint. It used a little but nothing worth talking about once its monitored.

As for the mileage looking funny, this is whats the fathers looked like, a little out too.

Yes that's exactly what the odo looked like in the car i viewed. There was a bit of white smoke coming out of the back of it after I started the car. I didn't look like oily smoke. and also it was a wet day. I think I would have bought the car but he insisted on €1800 for the car.