Faults:

CV joints noisy - replaced.

General Comments:

Bought this one owner 16 year old car in 2009 with just 36K km, in original silver paintwork.

Given its very low mileage, the car was mechanically in excellent condition.

As a preventive measure, the timing belt, engine mounting and hoses were replaced.

Other than these, tyres and batteries, the car has been very reliable and a real joy to drive.

The peppy and torquey 1.6 4A-FE engine is also very smooth and economical. 10km/litre in short-run town use, but improves to 14.5km/litre on inter-state runs at 120km/hr. 100km/hr at 2,200 RPM confers refinement unusual for a small C segment car like this. Pulls away easily even with 5 on-board.

The suspension is somewhat soft, but otherwise comfortable with 14 inch steel rims. With Michelin XM1 rubbers, the ride is extremely quiet.

Build quality is exceptional, even if the materials used do not seem expensive. The fabric, dashboard etc feel solid and well made. They don't call this the mini-Lexus for nothing.

For good reason, Australia continued offering this particular AE101 model right through to 1999 when other markets switched to the AE111 in 1996. I have driven the latter model, which surprisingly is an inferior model with lighter body panels and poorer driving dynamics.

I would buy another one new if they still made this.

Faults:

Nothing much except for the normal wear and tear like any other car or vehicle, such as bushings, seals, leaks and rust.

General Comments:

The best sedan car with powerful engine.

This car know as Corolla GT Ae82 with the well known 4Age engine impressed me when I first bought this car. Fuel economy with less money to spend to service or fix this car.

Keeps on going until now, and I rather use this car than any other vehicle I bought as almost nothing can stop this car.

Very fast, fuel economy, the seats are unlike any other typical sedan car with a lot of features such as 4 disc brakes. No wonder the front grille badge is GT.

I like this car very much.

Faults:

The usual wear and tear items, nothing extraordinary. A bit of rust here and there, but kept at bay by repairs whenever rust is sighted (labour cost is cheap in Malaysia).

Replaced gearbox with a used unit at about 300,000km due too bad 4th gear.

The car was originally a 72bhp 1.3 12-valve carburettored SOHC (2E engine) model with 5 speed manual transmission. At about 450,000km (in the year 2004) we had the car converted to AE82 1.6GT specs - it got the 130bhp 1.6 DOHC EFI 4A-GE engine, low-ratio 5 speed manual gearbox, steering, suspension, brakes, dash/instruments and all usable ancillaries (eg. the strut bar) from the front end of a 1986 AE82 1.6GT imported from Japan (they are called "half-cuts" in local lingo) which only had 119,000km on the clock.

General Comments:

Whether in its original 72bhp 1.3 12-valve SOHC form or subsequent 130bhp 1.6 24-valve DOHC form, the car is very reliable and cheap to run.

The car is a FWD. It handles well (better now, with the firmer AE82 1.6GT suspension) and rides comfortably.

Power-assisted rack and pinion steering is quite sharp.

Both 1.3 and 1.6 engines are economical, smooth and eager. However, the lower geared transmission that is part and parcel of the AE82 1.6GT DOHC package makes high-speed cruising a bit busy.

The 5 door Liftback configuration is practical and looks quite sporty. However, due to its rarity in this part of the world (Malaysians prefer 4 door sedans and hence the 4 door sedan model of the Corolla is more prolific here), Liftback-specific parts like the taillights can be hard to source.

My family is very happy with this delightful car and will never sell it!