12th Oct 2010, 08:35

"ANY problem before 100,000 miles is a sign of a very poorly built car."

You are so right. That is why I will never buy a GM product again. Way too many repairs before 100K miles! JUNK!

12th Oct 2010, 08:41

I'm not sure why everyone thinks synthetic oil doesn't get dirty like conventional oil. They both attract as much dirt and will look pretty much the same at the change interval. I have owned imports and domestics and use Mobil 1 in all of them. It is always dirty when I change it at 4K to 5K miles...always.

I love reading these posts about people driving 20K miles or more on the same oil. This is why I don't buy used cars! I'm sure they trade every three years, or right before the engine is completely filled with sludge! Talk to any competent mechanic and they will tell you that that is suicidal to your engine. It is much better to spend $30 and 20 minutes to change the oil then to let it go for a $5K engine. Believe me, if you try to get warranty coverage on a blown engine and you tell them you left the oil in there for even 10K miles they will show you the door and then laugh about it amongst themselves after you leave.

27th Oct 2010, 10:11

""Any problem before 100,000 miles is a sign of a poorly built car."

You are so right. That is why I will never buy a Toyota product again. Way too many problems before 100k miles! JUNK!."

Ditto for me on GM!

27th Oct 2010, 13:32

Government Motors (GM), have huge issues with the Cobalts and G5. Recalls on steering modules and manual transmission failures.

27th Oct 2010, 15:47

I run synthetic in all my cars due to short commute and insufficient warm up. The synthetic addresses cold sludge issues. Buy synthetic filters as well. That may be your first problem. Also change to a K and N lifetime air filter vs filling your crankcase with dirt. You may be driving unpaved roads. My older cars I use synthetic add ZDPP and use Startron to address the ethanol in my fuel. I own new GMs as well as run Mobil 1.

28th Oct 2010, 01:01

Even the car manufacturer's and the oil manufacturers says a 10,000 mile oil change interval is OK for synthetic oils, while 5,000 miles is recommended for regular oils. I've used these recommendations and the engines seem to be OK with this, but I have to admit I've never driven my cars past 60-70,000 miles, so I don't know how these cars will be in the long run.

28th Oct 2010, 05:11

GM over Toyota for me any day... Toyota made good cars in the 90's, but the quality has gone way down since then, but they are still just as expensive. They have also had some massive recalls in the past years, including a little publicized recall that was settled out of court over a poorly designed engine that collects "engine sludge" prematurely.. Stay away from Toyota!

28th Oct 2010, 12:19

Ask anyone who owns a Chrysler Intrepid with the 2.7 engine if they've ever heard of sludge. Ask owners of GM's with the 3.1, 3.4 or 3.8 engines, and ask if they've ever heard of upper intake manifold issues that are of plastic, same with the Ford 3.8. STAY AWAY FROM THE FORMER "DOMESTIC" CARS. Former because many "domestics" are imported into the USA.

29th Oct 2010, 19:47

Save and buy the LS V8 GMs. I am 100 percent going to them.

30th Oct 2010, 10:34

"Stay away from Toyota"

Very good advice. I'm currently helping a friend with a defective 2009 Corolla look for a more reliable domestic. He will probably go with the top-rated Ford Fiesta.

30th Oct 2010, 17:56

"Save and buy the LS V8 GMs. I am 100 percent going to them."

Okay, this is a Corolla thread. GM V8's have little to do with a Corolla, and make a pretty lame comparison overall. You might as well say "trade your Corolla on a Z06 Corvette and you'll be much happier."

30th Oct 2010, 18:35

My friend told me today that his Camry will be his last Toyota. He is buying a Ford Fusion. His primary reason for switching is the horrible reliability of another friend's new Corolla. Toyota has dropped the ball on quality... TOTALLY.

1st Nov 2010, 07:51

"Why do Toyota owners bring up and complain on GM and then say a great GM engine has nothing to do with Toyota the next. How selective!"

Huh? What are you talking about?

1st Nov 2010, 14:37

So your friend is not buying a Toyota anymore based on someone else's experience with theirs? Huh. So if he trolled this forum for a half an hour I guess he'd be walking, because there isn't one car model that doesn't have some kind of problems. I base my decisions solely on my own experiences with cars. Imports dominate in every category as far as my experience goes... Toyota included.

J.D. Powers and Consumer Reports seem to agree with me. In fact CR STILL rates Toyota higher than the big three in reliability even with all the recalls! How does that make the domestic companies look?! Maybe he should look at their reviews as to what cars score best in reliability. That would be better than one person's experience when there are millions of that same type of car on the roads. Funny how none of the domestic lovers have been quoting J.D. Powers anymore since the truth was brought out and all of the facts were listed as to what they have said about the auto industry and how they actually rate imports higher than domestics overall! Heh!

1st Nov 2010, 14:38

"Trade in any model Toyota and you will be much happier; it worked for me."

Yeah, same for me... only insert GM where Toyota is!

1st Nov 2010, 16:51

GM LS engines are found in Impalas, Trailblazers, Silverados etc; all great engines. Who keeps thinking they are just in Vettes?

1st Feb 2012, 20:17

Here is another update.

My commute has drastically increased, as I've bought a house out in the desert. Now the '09 Corolla has 84k, and I must say, for as much as I've doubted the car, based on what I thought were indicators of poor build quality, it's really surprised me. (i.e. engine noise and soft paint) The motor runs and idles just as smooth as it did at 20k.

Honestly, I've been really rough on the car. It sees 100+ mph on a daily basis, and is ran over 5k RPM for long periods of time out of O/D, out of need to repeatedly pass other cars. A few times I was so hard on it, I would go to neutral around 80mph, then taking the RPM to 6k, and dropping back in gear for a boost. The mileage and performance are unchanged from when new.

Prior to me getting a 4x4, this vehicle also saw heavy, weekly off road use, and some rally fun, with a few good spin outs, where I was sure I broke suspension components, but every time it was fine!

At 60k, I flushed the transmission fluid, and it still performs acceptably well.

I found some semi-metallic brake pads with rotors on eBay that I put on around the same time, and they are still good as of now.

I've heard there is an influx of tsunami engines for these vehicles, and they can be purchased around $700.

So, to sum it up, what was once a risky bet for a newer car, has become one of the best deals around for a quality used car. I never thought I would keep this thing so long, however my next car will probably be a Cruze Eco, although I'll keep my fingers crossed it will be as good as my Corolla was to me.

2nd Feb 2012, 16:07

Last summer I did a brake job on a friend's 2009 Corolla. The car only had 60,000 miles on it. None of my domestics has ever required a brake job before 100,000 miles except my Grand Am, which did require front pads at 70,000 miles.

My friend's Corolla has been in the shop for numerous problems since the puny 36,000 mile warranty expired. None of my domestics has ever been in the shop for anything (and one has over 100,000 miles now). It appears I will get around 140,000 miles out of the original brake pads on the GM. My next-door neighbor just changed out the original brake pads on his Ford at 186,000 miles. It appears that the reliability of domestics has far surpassed imports.

As for Corolla, I've read three comparison tests of compact cars. In one the antiquated Corolla came in dead last. In the other two, the Corolla was not even judged worthy to compete in the comparison. Hyundai's Elantra took top spot in two and Ford's Focus in the other. Toyota hasn't won a comparison or significant award in years. Hyundai and Ford are getting most.