Faults:

Rotors and calipers replaced at 250'000km.

Car requires new shocks front and rear. Driving on dirt roads take its toll I guess.

General Comments:

Amazing vehicle.

It is not a race car, however if you are like me, and don't feel like laying underneath cars doing repairs on weekends, look no further. I will buy Toyota again and again.

Faults:

Front bumper cover was cracked when purchased.

Front control arm bushing.

Will need 4 struts in the near future.

General Comments:

I spotted this car for sale on a parking lot and called right away, as I had been looking for a smaller car. The guy selling it wanted $2000 ('97 Corollas generally sell for about $3500) because he said it needed about another $2000 in repairs. I ended up buying it for $1600 and replaced the bumper cover ($100) and the front control arm ($60 at scrap yard),replaced it myself in 20 minutes (dealership wanted to charge me for 3 hours labour). The struts will likely need replacing soon, they are about $100 each and I can replace them myself. So, for a total of $560 in repairs and parts, I still have an immaculate car for under $2200.Body and interior are spotless. The only thing I don't like about it is the color (it's that weird greyish, purplish color) but even that has grown on me partly due to the fact that it hides the dirt so well!!I washed and waxed it when I bought it and haven't washed it since!

I've only had this car for a month, and have driven it about 3,000 km, city and highway. It burns no oil, gets incredible gas mileage and handles very well for a smaller car.

My other car is a '95 Toyota 4Runner with 300,000 km on the clock and it also burns NO oil, so I know that this Corolla has lots more life left in it.

Friends always comment about my good luck with used vehicles and I tell them it's because I only buy Toyotas. I intend to drive this Corolla until it dies. I tend to opt for practicality over style and I have a feeling this one is gonna go way over the 300,000 mark!

Faults:

The only significant complaints are with the suspension. The replacements have been expensive, as identified below. But this might be a problem with driving in Dallas rather than the vehicle itself. Dallas has the worst roads of any place that I have driven.

Replaced rack-and-pinion at about 100,000 miles. This cost somewhere around $600.

Replaced struts and strut towers at 110,000 miles. The mechanic said they were the worst he's seen in a long time. This cost $1,100. I debated on just buying a new vehicle, but I figure the car will last another 100,000 miles.

Because of the suspension problems, I have had two or three alignments done.

Replaced rear seat belt when it was under warranty.

Replaced timing belt at about 60,000 miles out of precaution.

Car seems more susceptible to paint chips and rust than my other cars.

General Comments:

Other than those problems identified above, the car is great. The engine, transmission and other systems seem to be in good shape.

I regularly replace the filters and do tune ups.

I have the 1.8 Liter engine and I think performance is fine.

Faults:

Light went off at 180 000km

Starter doesn't work at 198 000km

Problem with Muffler at 170 000km.

Other than that, nothing goes wrong.

General Comments:

My family is happy about the corolla 97.

It has some minor problems since we drive a lot. But I consider this as acceptable since the first problem occurs when my car reaches 170 000 km.

The problems are easy to fix and doesn't need a lot of money.I spend less than 700 Canadian dollars for all the fixing.

It is ultra reliable, I drive from Toronto to New York 2 times. From Toronto to Waterloo at infinite times.

The car drives smooth and stable in both city and highway.

Some people says Corolla is a gas miser. Yes, it consume less gas than a Accord, Camry. But those are faster cars. Can't compare with that. My mom has a Nissan Sentra, and we discover that they both consume similar amount of fuel. So I will say Corollar consume average gas.

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Weakness of Corolla:

Performance is not good. Horrible acceleration and cornering (at high speed). It is cleary seen as you enter a highway. The car is not easy boost up to 120 km/h.