Faults:

Bent wheel rim and wheel bearing from hitting a pothole.

Repaired small rust spots in the front fenders.

Replaced timing belt and water pump (routine maintenance).

Small leak from power steering pump.

A/C stopped working 2 months after purchase.

General Comments:

The absolute best "beater" car I have ever owned. Having to visit many job sites around the city for work, I wanted a cheap car that I would not care about destroying. I was admittedly a bit apprehensive about driving a thirty year old car, but the price was very good, the mileage was low, and it was almost rust free.

After putting over 20,000 km on it in the first 5 months, I ended up loving the car. Other than the usual routine maintenance (oil changes, timing belt, water pump, muffler, and tune-up) I never needed to do any work. The car never left me stranded, and started immediately even on the coldest winter days. That being said, it would probably not be the best car if you do a lot of highway driving or enjoy quick performance. Acceleration was very slow and driving on the highway could be pretty noisy. Still worth it for the sheer reliability.

Faults:

Apart from a bit of notchiness in the gearbox (especially difficult to get car into reverse), nothing.

General Comments:

When this first front drive model of the Corolla came out, it was light years ahead of anything Toyota had put out before. The car was very comfortable, the styling was neat and no nonsense, and not horribly fussy like earlier Toyotas. The interior was well made and put together, although a little bit fussily styled (but OK).

Faults:

Nothing really, just normal wear and tear:

Tyres.

Brake pads.

Shocks.

Brake bulbs.

Engine oil/filter.

General Comments:

For its age, it's bloody good.

The motor loves to rev, constantly to 7200rpm!

This was the series 2 model, so it had the C52 updated gearbox, it seemed to handle the power pretty well.

Had shorter ratio gearboxes make them rev quick.

Compared to 1600cc of the past and even today, this thing goes. Will put 6cyl cars to shame of the same era, maybe even V8's.

The standard alloys had to go, would lock up pretty easy, so upgraded to 15x7 wheels and Bridgestone Grid3 tyres. Came with 4 wheel disk brakes, and stopped on a dime.

Inside the car was small, hard to get into and the rear was even worse. Rear folding seats came in handy, but not like a wagon.

Stock handling was OK, had a lot of roll. Ended up putting on lowered springs, wider/low profile tyres and stiffer rear sway bar; she handled excellent.

Outside they are common to rust, standard they look like any other Corolla, but lowered and with wide wheels, she looked mean.

This racer boy car makes everyone look like a rice boy car.

Faults:

Blown head, may be porous, common with age.

Start motor.

Waterpump.

Radiator.

Battery.

Bootlid springs.

Rear struts.

Drivers seat sagging.

General Comments:

Most of the faults I encountered gave plenty of warning, and when serviced as per instructed these Ae82 offer exemplary reliability and economy.

For its size, a manual performs well, has faultless air conditioning that worked in 55 degrees.

If the cooling system is not maintained it will get hot, but have yet to boil after I replaced the head gasket/waterpump/rad. The sender switch in the thermostat housing is a common cause.

This car at nearly 300000 drove in 50 celcius+ temperaturess fully loaded through the outback, through mud and bonnet deep water and never once failed.

I have faith in this to drive it across the country. For a car that is 23 years old and 300000, it blows no smoke, every thing works like new, and it starts every time.

Cheap, good parts are getting hard to find, and eventually the bodywork gives way to rust, especially leaky boot and rear seat.

The paint is as good as many cars half its age, and it routinely gets 600 km on the open road, 380 in the city per tank.

The weak points are safety, braking heavily sustained or under load and sound insulation.

Overall highly recommended for do it yourself, easy to repair, and rewarding to drive, as bugger all goes wrong.