Is every VVTI Corolla an Oil Burner ?

mgbgt1978

Lads, just about to change Mrs. mgb's car. Went from a Yaris to an Almera last year (needed something to tow with with as I had changed to a Prius).
Two gearboxes later I sold it yesterday (for a small profit ).
Anyway now looking at either a Focus (1.6 petrol....don't want the under-powered 1.4, or else a 1.8 Tddi) or a Corolla (1.4 petrol).
With a budget of €2k (or less) I am looking at '01 to '03ish Corollas. Are they really all oil burners or did it just affect some of them ?
Was the older model (up to '02) any better even though I am sure they shared the same engine ?
Would I be safer going for the Focus as I would be hoping for an easier emissions pass come NCT time ?

BTW, personally I'd prefer the Corolla as I feel they don't show their age as much, especially the interiors.
But my main concern is the oil usage stories......

166man

Personally Id have the Focus as imo it's a far superior car. The thing with the Corolla is that while they might not have all burnt oil, how can you know on a test drive?

If it was burning oil the owner would have it topped up before sale. It's the type of problem you may not find out about until you have owned the car for a few weeks?

A diesel focus is a much nicer car, but again that's just my opinion.

Toyotafanboi

absolutely not. most are fine and an oil burner should be handy to spot, the usual spills around the filler cap etc from frequent topping up. i've had 3 corollas with the zz engine and they have been fine. i had one oil burner but it had lead a very hard life before i got it, the handiest way to check is to do a good stretch of engine braking then plant your right foot and check for blue smoke behind.

i would happily get one over a 1.4 petrol focus, they are desperate slow, but that said the focus is a nice car with the 1.6 petrol or 1.8 tddi engine. although as you say, the mk1 is showing its age imo.

JohnBoy26

What a focus burns no oil? From owning two I can tell that they do burn oil. The pre-facelift focus with the silvertop engine isn't too bad but the later facelifts with the blacktop engine are notorious oil burners.

From my experience of owning both focus and corolla I'd have the corolla. The focus isn't a bad car but they are hard on petrol and they suffer from lots of silly niggles and some more serious ones too, (even more so on the facelifts.)

The gearchange is also horrible on them in my experience, and ruins what is otherwise an ok car to drive.

The gearchange in the corolla is so much smoother and as a result it's a much nicer car to drive than the focus. Despite what motoring journalist say the focus isn't any more exciting to drive than a corolla nor is it that much better in the handling department either. It is slightly better insulated from road noise though but is less comfortable than the corolla in my experience.

The vvti engines can burn oil but even the ones that do usually aren't burning that much. The problem was greatly exxagerated and the worst offenders were fixed by Toyota years ago.

They are a nice engine to use. They are smooth and quiet and offer good performance for their engine size. They are also economical on fuel in my experience.

All in all I'd have the corolla all day long over any focus, They just age much better at the end of the day and are easier to live with.

dgt

What corolla, e11 or e12...?

The e11 facelift has its ups and downs. Fantastic lights at night, great handling car, plenty of spare parts, diy friendly in places, handy heads up display, feels a tight car....

However, they have the worst seats for anyone who isn't shaped like a chimpanzee. No lumbar support, just a tilt for the base that never goes down far enough. They are seriously uncomfortable and you can never really get comfortable in them. The standard radio will more than likely have poor reception by now, however they aren't too hard to change. I find some of the interior wasn't designed for people over 5ft 8 ie the arm rest is just a little too low and is flimsy, the gearknob feels awful and far away at times (easy rectified), the controls just a bit too far out of comfort. The buttons love to fall out of the key. The window track often slips out and you have a crooked window. It's just little things like that I find very annoying.

The 1.4 vvti does burn oil but not as much as made out to be. It's biggest offender is actually failing coils (although I have seen too many 1.4's with no oil pressure, usually in the scrapyards)

The mk1 focus does feel bigger on the inside and is nicer ergonomically ie everything is easily in reach. As above, the gear change feels too short for my liking. The 1.4 is desperate slow and doesn't make a very nice sound opened up. 1.6 isn't much faster either. Car looks dated too, inside and out.

Both have ups and downs, just like any other car. Choice is yours, from my unbiased viewpoint.

For me if I wanted diesel I'd have the focus. Petrol, corolla. Easy as that

mgbgt1978

Thanks for the replies guys.
A further question. If I was to go for the 1.8 diesel focus, is the 1.8 TDCi any more troublesome than the TDDi ?
We had a TDDi here a couple of years ago and it gave no trouble over 2 years (130k in and 160k leaving).
I know the TDCi has a DMF (not a major worry as I'd just convert to solid if/when it went) but apart from that are there any major issues to worry about ?
Just seems to be a lot more TDCi's for sale (around my budget) than the TDDi.

bazz26

The TDCi in the Mk1 Focus is rare enough, much more refined than the TDDi but they do like flywheels though.

mgbgt1978

Pretty much what I'd heard Bazz regarding the DMF.
But there does seem to be more 1.8 TDCI's for sale than the older TDDI.
If the only real 'problem' difference between them was the DMF, I'd probably look for a TDCI.
I've no problem with converting to solid. We've done it here to a couple of PSA's (a C5 and a 407) and were fairly happy with the result.

166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

What a focus burns no oil? From owning two I can tell that they do burn oil. The pre-facelift focus with the silvertop engine isn't too bad but the later facelifts with the blacktop engine are notorious oil burners.

From my experience of owning both focus and corolla I'd have the corolla. The focus isn't a bad car but they are hard on petrol and they suffer from lots of silly niggles and some more serious ones too, (even more so on the facelifts.)

The gearchange is also horrible on them in my experience, and ruins what is otherwise an ok car to drive.

The gearchange in the corolla is so much smoother and as a result it's a much nicer car to drive than the focus. Despite what motoring journalist say the focus isn't any more exciting to drive than a corolla nor is it that much better in the handling department either. It is slightly better insulated from road noise though but is less comfortable than the corolla in my experience.

The vvti engines can burn oil but even the ones that do usually aren't burning that much. The problem was greatly exxagerated and the worst offenders were fixed by Toyota years ago.

They are a nice engine to use. They are smooth and quiet and offer good performance for their engine size. They are also economical on fuel in my experience.

All in all I'd have the corolla all day long over any focus, They just age much better at the end of the day and are easier to live with.

The 1.6 Focus burns oil? Not sure the 1.8 diesel does either.

Mk1 Focus is a lovely car to drive, even the slower ones, very responsive steering. Gear change is excellent in my own experience. Maybe your one wasn't very well maintained. You don't seriously think you're more qualified to give an opinion than the majority of motorin journalists.

The Focus looks better inside and out, drives better and is a better quality car. The 1.6 petrol is reasonable enough for its size, again Id probably avoid the 1.4. Any 1.4 in these size cars isn't going to be a rocket, that may suit you OP.

Anyhow, best of luck, a few different opinions here so hopefully can help you choose.

JohnBoy26

166man wrote: »

The 1.6 Focus burns oil? Not sure the 1.8 diesel does either.

Mk1 Focus is a lovely car to drive, even the slower ones, very responsive steering. Gear change is excellent in my own experience. Maybe your one wasn't very well maintained. You don't seriously think you're more qualified to give an opinion than the majority of motorin journalists.

The Focus looks better inside and out, drives better and is a better quality car. The 1.6 petrol is reasonable enough for its size, again Id probably avoid the 1.4. Any 1.4 in these size cars isn't going to be a rocket, that may suit you OP.

Anyhow, best of luck, a few different opinions here so hopefully can help you choose.

Yes 1.6 focuses do burn oil. Mine was well maintained, one owner before me with a full ford service history and yet it still burned oil. My previous 1.4 was the same burning about the same amount. Both were pre facelifts with the silvertop engine. Both were pigs on petrol too, especially the 1.6.

Two family members had later facelifts models with the blacktop engine, both burned a lot more oil than the mine. Both very well maintained cars too.

As for the rest of your post, having owned both over a number of years why wouldn't I be more qualified than someone who writes newspapers and only spent a day behind the wheel of this car?

I'd take the rest of your post with a pinch of salt, you clearly aren't speaking from experience. Don't know how you think they are a better quality car. In the time I've had the focuses I've had issues with wheel bearings(common problem) I've had to replace two door locks as handles stopped working, the lock and handle is all one plastic piece(again common problem), Had to replace another door lock due to a dead central locking motor.

central locking was terrible in both cars, very slow, sometimes taking 5 minutes to open all the doors(common problem) usually solved by spraying oil down on actuator, in my case this worked. The button to open the boot failed on both cars(common problem) The interior clocked failed on the 1.6(common problem) managed to find a good secondhand unit though.

I've not had any issues with coils surprisingly despite it being a common problem on these. Facelift models suffer from even more issues like instrument cluster failure.

I've not had any such issues in any e11 corolla I've had. Outside of regugalar servicing they gave me no issues.. The interior and exterior aged far better on them too.

Also Don't know how you find the gearbox "excellent" and the steering "very responsive" On the focus. In my experience the gearbox is bit crude in them, like it's made of Lego or something

The steering is numb on them too in my experience, no real discernible difference between it and that of a corolla in my experience. Gearbox is far nicer in the corolla though.

1.4 corolla is 95bhp. A 1.6 focus is only 5bhp more than a 1.4 vvti yet it's over €100 more to tax per year and is no where near as good on fuel.