Faults:

Nothing has actually gone wrong with it mechanically or electrically, but I suspect its not working to the best of its ability. Its never the same car from one day to the next in terms of performance. Sometimes its responsive and agile, sometimes it just won't get going or "pick up". The Toyota dealer have had it back 3 times, but claim that there's nothing wrong with it.

This leaves me not knowing whether I actually like the car or not.

General Comments:

I endorse the general consensus of opinion that UK Toyotas nowadays are not quite as good as the Japanese built ones. They just don't "feel" as good.

On one of its good days, I would say that it's a reasonably-powered car which has the necessary road holding and handling to deal with it.But a lot of the time it wouldn't be able to keep up with many smaller-engined vehicles in its class.

All in all, quite a good car to own. Just wish the performance was consistent.

Faults:

Wipers stopped working during heavy rain on the motorway!

General Comments:

I bought this car as a replacement for my Almera which had a small boot. The Corolla boot is massive for the size of the car.

I've had several Corollas before and they are good cars. However, this is the first high-miler which might have something to do with the following :

Ride/handling quality poor at low speeds and don't inspire confidence at high speeds.

Seats uncomfortable - no support for thighs or back.

Build quality not as good as 'Jap' corollas. The AA guy who came to fix my wipers said that these cars use a lot of British parts, and are nowhere as reliable as the earlier ones.

Spec was fantastic - esr, air con, ABS, cd player etc etc faultless.

Engine and Gearbox unbelievably smooth and quiet. Performance and economy also very impressive.

However, boring to drive compared to the Almera - cannot drive it in a spirited manner at all.

Anyway, I do miss this car - gone back to an Almera now. But I'm on the lookout for a facelift (plus new suspension, seats etc) model which came out from a W reg - this should be the best of all worlds.

Corollas are expensive to buy used. My advice is to go for the best you can afford - and don't buy one which more than 25,000 per annum on the clock.

It's an A-B transport car, and a damn good one at that. But not one that you'll jump into to go for a quick spin for the hell of it.