26th Sep 2005, 19:00
Give the reviewer a break!
No car manufacturers are immune to building the odd lemon or two.
28th Sep 2005, 11:02
I have had my Corolla '99 since April 2002 and have never had any problems with it except for normal wear and tear. The only problem I had with the car was that I had to replace the starter unit, but that has been it. It has gotten a tune up once and the mechanic told me that I had a great little car. Also, all four wheels have been replaced once. It is very reliable, the gas mileage is great and it gets me everywhere I need. It has over 130,000 miles on it and still runs great. It's true that it's a little sluggish and shakes quite a bit when going at higher speeds, but it has never broken down once on me. I think it's a great car for the price.
10th Mar 2006, 15:51
I had my 1999 corolla ever since I bought it brand new back in August 1999. 7 years later and after 120k, this car has provided me no problem. I maintain the car by changing oil every 3k, air filter 15k, brake pads at 45k, tranny oil at 75k, and battery on the 5th year. The car is awesome. Used it to commute 80 miles a day in California + another 100+ miles on weekends. I praise this car so much and recommended a lot of my friend to get this car to commute. Not to mention, I bought at $9,995 BRAND NEW (VE model) from a Toyota dealer in Costa Mesa California back in 1999. It was the best $10k car I've ever had.
23rd Apr 2007, 19:41
I have a 1999 Corolla and in the last year it has fallen apart bit by bit. The middle console is broke, three of the door handles have broke, and now the car jerks so much that I find it a miserable experience to drive it anywhere.
28th Mar 2008, 18:00
My 1999 Corolla has been a lemon from the start. The first thing that went bad was the driver's side door lock at about three months past warranty. Then at about 4 years old the paint job started to flake away. Again, Toyota would not fix it. The check engine light came on which had to do with a part in the emissions/exhaust system. The last thing to go was the starter. I've had it and I will never buy another Toyota.
3rd Feb 2009, 21:17
I was test driving newer Corolla's, and noticed a big difference in the way they drive compared to the American made one I drove. You could really tell they were built well, and drove much more solid than the others.
My family has owned Corolla's since 1980, and after reading the above comments I have decided to buy a 99 VE Automatic. I figure the people that have problems sound like they didn't take care of it. Even they admitted that there are years in between any problems.
Did you ever see the commercial of old Toyota owners bragging about the miles they have on there Toyota? Other car companies besides Honda can't compare.
3rd Apr 2009, 05:27
Toyota Corollas aren't all perfect. I don't think I'd buy one with an automatic anyway. They require too much maintenance and sap power and fuel economy (at least on cars before 2002 or so, when manufacturers began to favour automatics with better gear ratios and final drive ratios). They cost a lot to maintain, and disconnect you from an aspect of driving the car. In a small car, they just don't make sense.
6th Dec 2009, 09:47
You must remember that not all of us can drive a manual. I have a lot of pain and limited movement in my right wrist after an accident that severely shattered the tip of both wrist bones. It would be very painful for me to be doing the amount of shifting required by a manual tranny.
So for those of you telling people to change to a manual, please consider that to some of us this is really not an option. Ditto for power w/l. They are a blessing for people with painful muscle conditions. And of course my dream is for a start/stop ignition button!
We are considering a 99 Corolla right now, and thanks to all who have posted reviews on this site.
19th Mar 2010, 17:33
I think the car dealer lied to me... and sold me a lemon.
The check engine light came on after driving 5km.. he told me it was the fuel tank cap... looked at it... went to the garage person who re-set the light...
Surprise, it came on again... looked at the book, now I found out it could be engine problem...
they also did the e-testing.. shall go to the licence bureau to find out if the dealer has had more complaints...
So that this mean I have to look at an expensive repair cost?
HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE ENGINE?
19th Mar 2010, 19:06
Your most likely problem probably IS the gas cap. When you tighten make sure it clicks a few times (no, that clicking isn't going to break it...)
And there is no way of knowing if you're looking at a big repair cost without knowing what the diagnostic trouble code is (a diagnostic trouble code is thrown by the ECU when one of the engine's sensors detects a problem. The CHECK ENGINE light is shown when one of these trouble codes is present.)
To find out what's wrong, have a mechanic scan the ECU with a scan tool to find out the trouble code. Some scan tools will tell you the problem outright, others will just show the code given by the ECU, leaving you to decode it. Usually these codes can be found on AllData, but your mechanic should be able to tell you the problem by doing that.
If you don't want to do that, go down to your local autoparts store and have them scan it. They will only give you the code however.
The problem doesn't necessarily have to be in the engine itself for the CHECK ENGINE light to turn on.
18th Dec 2010, 18:52
I have owned a 1999 Corolla for 8 years. It has been very reliable after 180k miles.
20th Dec 2010, 11:08
I agree with most of the other comments. I've had my manual Corolla for almost 11 years and it has reached up to 300,000 kilometers and I've had absolutely no trouble with it whatsoever. It is an extremely reliable car.
20th Dec 2010, 12:38
The '99 Corollas were actually pretty good cars, though still built pretty cheaply. The newer ones seem to be much worse. My friend just found out that the rear frame member has sagged on his 2009 Corolla, just from the weight of the car, and it can't be properly aligned. This is common with many Japanese cars. I had the same problem with mine.
20th Dec 2010, 17:44
Actually. frames bending under there own weight on Japanese cars is NOT common. I can't tell you how many times I've said this, but I'll say it once more: a simple google search turns up ABSOLUTELY NO REPORTS OF THIS HAPPENING. At least, not from what I can find. Your friend's Corolla has obviously suffered some kind of damage. Whether or not you'd like to believe that.
By the way, I've seen a few cars simply sag under there own weight over the years. All of them were American vehicles bought brand new by yours truly. I had a Ford Escort literally bend right in half only days after purchasing it! I guess Ford forgot how to weld the lower portion of the unibody on that one!
27th Apr 2013, 00:31
Your theory may be true. I used to own a 2009 Camry, plagued with problems, and one of them was that the car could never hold a straight alignment. The car never was in a collision, nor did I ever hit or run over something.
26th Sep 2005, 16:12
This guys a nut!!!
Toyota cars are one of the most reliable, if not, the most reliable cars on the road. My father has a 1992 corolla, it has over 380 000 km on it. since he bought the car, nothing major has gone wrong, just simple wear and tear. As for more recent corollas, I have several friends and family that own it and they are very happy with it as well. My uncle has been operationg a driving school for the past 20 years, he still teaches in the corolla he originally bought. moreover, all the cars on his fleet are corollas.