Toyota Corolla 2010 1.4 petrol Luna

Paddy1234

Hi guys,

Drove this car during the week and liked it. The only problem is I realised that it was 570 road tax which seems shocking for a 2010. It's putting me off a bit but the 2011 with 280 road tax is much more expensive.

Are Toyota still as reliable as they are made out to be? Any opinions on this car?

I don't want to go for diesel as mainly doing city driving with a long spin every few weeks.

Thanks

Leonard Hofstadter

Those model Corollas are a pretty crap car to be fair, they're just terrible in terms of performance, interior space, build quality and reliability while not bad is no better or worse than anything else out there. The Avensis is not that much bigger but is so much more spacious for example, though it too is miles behind its competitors.

Get something else, anything else, instead.

MuppetCheck

I'd agree with captainspeed. You'll get something as reliable but better for the same outlay.

If you want something similar in terms of power or spec this might be worth a look.

http://m.carzone.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen-Golf-HL-1.2-TSI-MANUAL-6SPEED-FWD-105BHP-5DR/36513790865582220

colm_mcm

Later corollas came with the excellent 1.33 engine. But its not enough to make it a good car.its more suited to other markets tbh.

Paddy1234

Thanks guys - wasn't expecting to hear that thought Corollas had a great reputation. That golf looks nice but we have a baby on the way so looking for something with a bit more space.

Is there anything else you would recommend?

MuppetCheck

An Octavia with a similar engine, or better still the 1.4 turbo version. No great shakes but would be handy for lugging baby gear about as the boot is huge. Buggies aren't a problem.

http://m.carzone.ie/used-cars/Skoda-Octavia-AMBIENTE-1.2-TSI-105HP-M-T-4DR/36513848820866130

bazz26

Paddy1234 wrote: »

Thanks guys - wasn't expecting to hear that thought Corollas had a great reputation. That golf looks nice but we have a baby on the way so looking for something with a bit more space.

Is there anything else you would recommend?

A Corolla isn't going to be any bigger than a Golf.

What about an Avensis, plenty of space and 1.6 has 130bhp and is €390 to tax.


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Toyota/Avensis/1.6-STRATA/37113873830965010/

ofcork

That's a manual gearbox uk car nice though.

bazz26

ofcork wrote: »

That's a manual gearbox uk car nice though.

It's manual alright despite the advert, don't think it's a UK car though. Don't think they ever sold the Mk III Avensis in 1.6 petrol in the UK.

colm_mcm

Its an Irish spec 1.6 Strata.
As above, they didn't sell the 1.6 in the uk

Km clocks and jacked up suspension are dead giveaways.

JohnBoy26

Paddy1234 wrote: »

Thanks guys - wasn't expecting to hear that thought Corollas had a great reputation. That golf looks nice but we have a baby on the way so looking for something with a bit more space.

Is there anything else you would recommend?

Corollas did have a great reputation for quality and reliability. However that model corolla had serious cost cutting built into it(as did most of the rest of the model lineup launched from the mid 00's on) and was a far poorer car than the previous model.

The areas where previous corollas excelled, namely reliability and build quality, is only average on the 07-13 corolla.

colm_mcm

To be fair though. An 07 onwards 1.4 Corolla is a relatively excellent car for its time not giving problems. It's not as if its scrap or anything, more that rivals have upped their game since the glory days of the 80s/90s.
I sold a good few of the 02+ and 07+ corollas new and used and they held up well.

Atlantic Dawn

Paddy1234 wrote: »

Thanks guys - wasn't expecting to hear that thought Corollas had a great reputation. That golf looks nice but we have a baby on the way so looking for something with a bit more space.

Is there anything else you would recommend?

Golf will be better with the hatchback than a Corolla for carrying buggy.

Paddy1234

Thanks guys might have a look at a few 1.6 cars so.

I see the Avensis mentioned - anything else which would be a reliable 1.6?

colm_mcm

Engine size lost relevance in 2008 when emissions tax came in. I'd look at the 1.5 lancer and 1.8 civic if you like Japanese saloons.
The civic is very good on petrol. I have one myself in a hatchback.
Edit, saloon is €570 tax too. More than the hatch.

Civic IMA 1.3 hybrid saloon might be worth a look. €190 tax and reliable.
No folding rear seat though.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-civic-hybrid-automatic/5199853
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-civic-hybrid-with-full-leather/5530979

JohnBoy26

colm_mcm wrote: »

To be fair though. An 07 onwards 1.4 Corolla is a relatively excellent car for its time not giving problems. It's not as if its scrap or anything, more that rivals have upped their game since the glory days of the 80s/90s.
I sold a good few of the 02+ and 07+ corollas new and used and they held up well.

your right in saying that they are not scrap, but it's not just that rivals have upped their game, it's also to do with a cut in quality. They aren't great by previous standards.

Just look at how poor the quality of the interior is in comparison to an e12 corolla. Not only that but they are also less reliable than they were with softer gearboxes and troublesome power steering. These are only a few aspects of the cost cuts, things like rust protection is also not as good as the previous model and if the facelift of the auris is anything to go by, they won't have bothered to paint the engine bay of the facelift corolla either.

I like Toyotas, but I can't say I would recommend any of their newer stuff tbh.

Paddy1234

captainspeed wrote: »

Those model Corollas are a pretty crap car to be fair, they're just terrible in terms of performance, interior space, build quality and reliability while not bad is no better or worse than anything else out there. The Avensis is not that much bigger ibut is so much more spacious for example, though it too is miles behind its competitors.

Get something else, anything else, instead.

Thanks for the replies. What so are it's competitors that are miles ahead?

I don't really care about the look of the interior - I just want a good quality car that won't let me down with a bit of space.

Thanks

bazz26

Avensis as mentioned by me earlier in this thread.

Another one would be the Honda Civic saloon, 1.8 litre engine has 140bhp and is very frugal for it's size. Plenty of space on the inside and very reliable:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.8I-SES/36613728665973830/

colm_mcm

Problem is that the civic (non hybrid) saloon just falls into the wrong tax category.

bazz26

Same rate as the 2010 Corolla though. Looking there on carzone and the hybrid version can be bought for similar money. A Prius is an option too.

Paddy1234

Thanks for all the comments. Would the 1.8 civic not be a petrol guzzler compared to the 1.4 corolla? Looking for something that won't cost me an arm and a leg to run.

bazz26

Paddy1234 wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments. Would the 1.8 civic not be a petrol guzzler compared to the 1.4 corolla? Looking for something that won't cost me an arm and a leg to run.

No, it may not have the same mpg but the Honda 1.8 I-VTEC is very frugal for it's size. 40mpg is achievable in them.

Henry Ford III

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/manufacturing/toyota-to-recall-nearly-6-5-million-vehicles-worldwide-1.1755484

Toyota in another major recall. Their reliabilty rep. is a myth.

Old diesel

Henry Ford III wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/manufacturing/toyota-to-recall-nearly-6-5-million-vehicles-worldwide-1.1755484

Toyota in another major recall. Their reliabilty rep. is a myth.

The Toyota recall thing - is a bit like the 787 situation in Aviation.

Every thing that goes wrong on a Boeing 787 will get reported due to the early issues.

And its the same with Toyota - everything gets reported - yet its common for planes to give issues - and its very common for cars to get recall.

Its just Boeing and Toyota are headline news due to big news stories involving them both - the 787 been grounded for a period in 2013 - and the throttle issue on Toyotas.

The reality is - that there are 787s flying away happy out - reliability is at something like 97 or 98 percent the last I heard (its worked out on basis of flights delayed or cancelled due to plane failure Afaik).

And there are lots of newer Toyotas which are working okay.

In fairness both manufacturers created the situation by mistakes they made - but even so

Need perspective imo

JohnBoy26

Henry Ford III wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/manufacturing/toyota-to-recall-nearly-6-5-million-vehicles-worldwide-1.1755484

Toyota in another major recall. Their reliabilty rep. is a myth.

Sorry but how does this make their reliability rep a myth? They're re owning up to and rectifying things that could potentially butmight never go faulty. They could, like some other car makersmakers, brush this under the carpet but fair pay to them they haven't.

IMO if anything this strenghtens their reliability rep.

fricatus

Paddy1234 wrote: »

I don't want to go for diesel as mainly doing city driving with a long spin every few weeks.

I would definitely consider a hybrid in this case.

Paddy1234 wrote: »

we have a baby on the way so looking for something with a bit more space.

It's not so much the space that you need, it's the convenience of access. Given that you're changing car anyway, you might as well go for a hatchback, and if you can get one with ISOFIX points for the baby seat, all the better (so much more convenient than looping a seatbelt).

Not the biggest consideration in my view, but a lot of parents find that a higher vehicle makes getting the child in and out of the car a lot easier, so it's something to think about if one of you has a bad back, say, or if you've whittled your choice down to a handful of cars with little else to choose between them.

Henry Ford III

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Sorry but how does this make their reliability rep a myth? They're re owning up to and rectifying things that could potentially butmight never go faulty. They could, like some other car makersmakers, brush this under the carpet but fair pay to them they haven't.

IMO if anything this strenghtens their reliability rep.

Really?

The earlier 9,000,000 recalls were from sticky accelerators which actually caused fatal accidents. They've also agreed to pay damages of US$1,200,000,000, with private lawsuits to follow.

Hard to see how any of that enhanced their reputation.