Toyota hatch 2005, any issues to watch out before buying?

scamalert

Gonna go and have a look today for family member at one it has 1.6l petrol engine,so any advice is appreciated,owned 3 in the past recent being 2003 and still runs like a clock.

asking since the one ill be looking at has only 55k miles in total and nct being done 2months ago.

from owning previous ones usually engine is least of worries since chain driven-no time belt hassles,electrically as well there's not much to them as well.Usually any issues experienced would be with wheel alignment and shocks mostly.

But what else to look to make sure its genuine-like not clocked-messed with the dash,oil,coolant,wear on inside and tires.

any more obvious points would help or known common issues with given year and model.thx

bazz26

1.6 litre is rare enough to find in Ireland, was it imported from the UK? Have you done a history check on the car? Is there a service history with it?

scamalert

as far as i guess no,it seems its basic model-besides side skirts on sides and fog lights-price is near 4k-with no mention being it t2-t3 or so.Its manual as well-silver color no signs of anything being done on outside,but no inside pics.

with mileage given id imagine person would of have to have second car or elderly-that being clutch would come to mind.

All corollas ive had were 1.4l so its not much difference to 1.6,but being later model then 2003 and few upgrades-not sure was it made better or worse.


edit: yes ad claims full service history-do they put stamps with mileage on when serviced ?

Henry Ford III

Look for and verify service history with receipts. Or call the garage.

scamalert

Was expecting maybe more info on what to check inside engine bay,wear and tear and any previous damage hints if there were that can be disguised or missed.but thank you all none the less,since will do checking first and get the story before any decisions.

Toyotafanboi

every panel on those corollas (i assume corolla and not an avensis) has a white label just on the inside with the chassis code printed on it, so you can walk around the car and check that they all match, so as to verify no panels have been replaced.

they are fond of front drop links and anti roll bar bushings, so listen for rattly or crashy suspension. these are very cheap and easy to replace, so i wouldn't let it put me off the car, but use it as a bargaining tool.

rads are prone to leaking too, they usually corrode around the bottom corners, so take a good look at the rad, does it look wet? is the coolant level correct? again, the rads aren't very expensive or particularly difficult to replace but if someone has been driving the car for a while with a coolant leak, tread carefully from there onwards.

passenger side cv joints are a bit of a problem too i believe, so turn the wheel to full lock in both directions, drive and listen for the typical clicking/ grinding.

other than that they are fairly robust and make a fairly sensible purchase. sounds like you are describing a UK T3 model or an Irish Strata which is a nice spec to get and the minimum i would consider in a corolla, the T2's and Terras are very very dull. 55k miles is a bit on the low side for a ten year old car, so be sure to do a motorcheck report on it.

scamalert

yeah that more like it,have experienced coolant issues in the past myself-old rad,and ran out of coolant once.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-corolla-hatchback/9222789?offset=4 heres the link to the ad.its described well,but that mileage is either too good to be true,or one of two above described situations,then clutch would be an issue since old people do like to stick on it.

Toyotafanboi

That car is a (recent?) UK import, but it has a Strata (Irish) badge on the boot, so i'd certainly now be checking for rear end damage. Given it's reg'd close to the border, it could have been over and back or have a genuine story to tell, but better safe than sorry, check the chassis codes around the rear end.

scamalert

would the chassis code for the back would be inside the trunk under carpets-spare wheel compartment area,or under the car itself.thx a lot btw for clarifying model,and providing good info.

Toyotafanboi

when you open the boot lid, the sticker should be just beside the latch (iirc) on the lid itself. it's a white label with black text. if it's wrong or completely missing, i'd be wary.

that said, there could be a genuine explaination like someone from N.I. buying it new in the republic (taking advantage of exchange rate or the likes), then eventually someone from the republic bought it up north and imported it to R.O.I.

either way, i guess it has a story.

scamalert

Well think you provided me enough to not go into it completely blindly and what to look at most will see in few hours and let yas know how it went.

scamalert

Well the car checked out ok,guy had papers for mot and nct for last 4y and mileage was around just about 5k-reason for uk/ire was son in college,all parts matched numbers.
overall good condition just inside needs good cleaning and drivers side had few cigarette burns.
Would been a good deal otherwise but seller didn't bother to budge on a price at all.

colm_mcm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

That car is a (recent?) UK import, but it has a Strata (Irish) badge on the boot, so i'd certainly now be checking for rear end damage. Given it's reg'd close to the border, it could have been over and back or have a genuine story to tell, but better safe than sorry, check the chassis codes around the rear end.

Strata badge is black and red with an "s" on it. That's a colour collection badge

Toyotafanboi

colm_mcm wrote: »

Strata badge is black and red with an "s" on it. That's a colour collection badge

you have better eyesight than me was the colour collection available in the UK?

bazz26

It was a UK special edition, similar to Strata here but with a few more toys.

colm_mcm

Yeah, any ones I've seen usually have curtain airbags, alarm, and vsc (I think)
Of course you have aircon, which was a €1000 option on the Strata