[AWD]

Originally Posted by abs182

clutch plate needed replacement along with a host of other things. I was quoted about Rs 30000 just for the part plus labour.

I've mentioned this many a times on this board, Corolla spare parts & maintenance is a costly affair. Its a useless car to own, uncomfortable, costly.

[avi@98]

ASS quoted 20000 for clutch replacement. Have to get quotes from couple of outside workshops.

[swami69]

Some Updates on my Toyota Corolla..

Spent a sum from my buffer to refresh the car to today's world

Ordered a seat cover from a small shop near Thillai Ganga Nagar Subway. Since I wanted a tight fit over the OE covers and the car being a old model, they had to order it from Dolphin factory somewhere in North of India (Agra or Uttarkhand). Delivery was 15 days from placing order and it costed me Rs. 7500 including the product, courier charges, fitting labour.

Product : DOLPHIN
OE skin fit
Better quality product within their range

I went in for a contrasting color trying to match the dash board of the Corolla as the biege was overwhelming for me. It turned out to be quite nice and the installer did a good job. There were some very little flaws, but could not help it as the product is ordered and couriered. Overall I am very happy and gives a great new feeling. Some photos to share.





The process as many of you know was to remove all the seats, pulled the pre-stitched strings through the OE seat by piercing small holes and fitted.

Two things that guy could not do it was - 1. The Centre Arm Rest piece did not come through, but he offered to do something locally, but, I thought this was contrasting in the middle very well and left it alone. 2. He is yet to do the Steering wheel cover matching the seats and I need to get that done.

Another upgrade was the music system - The OE music system is not modern to any standards and it can just play only the Audio CDs and Cassettes. I just had a chance to be in Portland/US for a week on business trip and I used that to purchase these stuff.

Pioneer Double DIN Bluetooth player FHX720BT - $ 104
Toyota Corolla 2003-2007 Dash Kit - $ 10
Wiring Harness - $ 4
Taotronics Reverse Waterproof Camera - $ 18
Lotfancy 3.5" TFT LCD monitor $ 19




Your will notice my Ganesha - hand made using MSeal !


These were installed by V.V. Car Decor in OMR near Asiana Hotel and they did a quick and fantastic job.

Both the items perform extremely well and the OE speakers are pretty good. I did not install my Focal 4 AMP as I thought these set of speakers were quite OK for the needs. The rear camera is extremely clear both during day and night and very helpful.

Overall update : The car is performing very well, giving me 12 KMPL in City conditions with 70% easy traffic and 30% tougher traffic.

I alternate between my Thar and Corolla to keep both active and I am enjoying it.

Thanks for reading.

Swami

[WorkingGuru]

Firstly, Congos on this amazing timeless beauty! These Jap cars just go on & on, dont they!

Btw, the interiors look very nice now! Does it get sweaty with those covers ?

[swami69]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

Firstly, Congos on this amazing timeless beauty! These Jap cars just go on & on, dont they!

Btw, the interiors look very nice now! Does it get sweaty with those covers ?

Sorry, somehow I missed your post. Thanks for your post. The weather in Chennai currently is nice and there is no sweat. But, I do not think it will happen even in summer as I have a similar material even in my Thar and does not have much problem. If the A/C is good, it should be all right.

Swami

[srivatsahg]

Hi Swami

Been following this thread since quite a long time and I must admit I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Since the beginning of this year I was planning to have an additional car in my garage. I already have a Fiat Punto 90HP Diesel Car and I'm particularly looking for petrol sedan which would give me a decent mileage but more importantly peace of mind. After much research on the available cars which would suit my requirements. I have decided on buying a pre-worshipped Corolla (not the Corolla Altis).

So here I am requesting you to share some bits of information / your experiences so far with your Corolla.

Much appreciate for your time

Vatsa

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Hello swamy69,

First of all thank you very much for your post on buying a pre-owned Corolla, solely because of your post, today I am a proud owner of Corolla.

I was looking at replacing my Hyundai Accent (bought as pre-owned in 2012) and wanted to again go for a pre-owned car (as I am not too interested to investing in depreciating assets) and was checking out on Verna, City, Linea & Fiesta. However, the prices for all these cars were above 3.8 lakhs for a well maintained car, which was above my budget of 3.25 lakhs (keeping in mind an additional expenditure of around 20k to 30k for any replacement or repair work). After checking out few vehicles, I had post poned my buying.

It is only after I checked this post in the 1st week of Sep 2015 that I came to know that I may get Corolla in my price bracket, and I was so glued to your post till the end. First thing I did after reading this post was to search all the online portals for the Corolla and after an hour or two of search I called a few sellers on a possible meeting for the next day being Sunday (precisely 5th September). Finally, I was able to fix up a meeting with one seller who had listed his car for 3.5 lakhs with a mileage of 50k.

I went with my dad on Sunday evening to check out the car and at the first look from outside it seemed like the car was good but not so good maintenance. It had a couple of dents on the body. But after getting inside, I felt like it was a sheer luxury. It was a H5 model with furniture finish on the steering. Both, myself & dad drove the vehicle felt the butter smoothness of the car. The car was driven only 45k on the odo when we checked and was driven by a Doctor mainly in the city. So, since the owner was a Doctor, I had no reason to doubt on the odo numbers (car is 9 year old).

In the next couple of days met the Doctor again in his hospital (this was deliberate as my cousin, also a Doctor was working in the same hospital and he knew the owner of the vehicle) and we quoted 3.1 lakhs. He repeatedly quoted 3.4, 3.25 & 3.2 lakhs. But since we did not wanted to go above 3.1 lakhs, he finally agreed for the price and we took the delivery in two weeks time.

Immediately after the delivery, I changed the tires to Yoko Earth-1 with a cost of 18k and the car felt much more smooth.

Now, after owning it for over 3.5 months and driving it for 5k kms, I am very happy and enjoying every bit of the car.

Sorry for the long post.

Regards,
KK

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

It was a H5 model with furniture finish on the steering. Both, myself & dad drove the vehicle felt the butter smoothness of the car. The car was driven only 45k on the odo
Immediately after the delivery, I changed the tires to Yoko Earth-1 with a cost of 18k and the car felt much more smooth.

Congratulations , KK , on the acquisition.

Having owned a 2003 H4 Automatic and a 2005 facelifted H5 manual(like yours) , I can tell you that have got the best car in India at this price.

You will observe that the Corolla virtually doesn't age . Fortyfive thousand kms is nothing on this car.You can use the car for as long as you want(even past 15 years if rules permit) and she will still go on and on and on.

You will also love its fuel efficiency for a 1.8 engine. It beats even the old 1.3 Swift DZire in this department.

The dark walnut finish adds a touch of class and complements the leather interiors very well.

I hope the seats, especially the driver seat are not chaffed.

Keep the driver seat height at the max. if you are of average height. You can use a 20mm thick foam cushion to help yourself sit even more high and you will feel the commanding view of the road.

Pull the black curtain on the parcel shelf up and hook that in the slots provided on the rear end of the roof to cut headlight glare from cars that follow you.

Do post a few pics of the car ;curiosity

PS: You did the right thing by changing the tyres - the ride quality changes significantly and this would give you a new car like ride feel.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Congratulations , KK , on the acquisition.

Do post a few pics of the car ;curiosity

Thanks vigsom.

I completely agree with you on the durability of the car. Even my friends who own Corolla Altis and the Toyota A.S.S guys whom I knew personally say that this VVTI engine can do lakhs of kms.

On the FE, I presume I am getting 11 in the city with 70% times AC and close to 14 on the highways with 40% AC.

I thought the use of rear curtain was to block the inside view of car, but was not aware of the use you mentioned. Thanks, will try that out.

Will surely post the car images in my introduction thread, wouldn't want to hijack this thread with my car images.

Keep driving,
KK

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Pull the black curtain on the parcel shelf up and hook that in the slots provided on the rear end of the roof to cut headlight glare from cars that follow you.

Does the Corolla not have day night Inside rear view mirror?
If the curtain is used, the police may object it.

[zee_bat]

I sold my 12 year old pristine condition corolla last July! Still miss it! Probably one of the best cars ever launched in India. The third gear power punch is exhilarating! The problems I corrected in the 11th year that you might face- suspension noise, replacing a few shocks, clutch and throttle cable change, engine mounting replacement- all from a reliable mechanic for 17k with parts and labour.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Does the Corolla not have day night Inside rear view mirror?
If the curtain is used, the police may object it.

It does.In fact the mirror should suffice.I needed the curtain up as I was using a Broadway tinted wide mirror and hence the day night feature was out.

The curtain is part of the H4/H5 standard OE package in 2004-2008 Corollas .I have been stopped by cops many a time to for "drink and drive" and documents checks but nobody ever objected to the curtain being up.

[dr. sen]

Hello, Swami Ji,

Where is the update. It seems you are enjoying 'Nirvana', which all Toyota users are use to. Please do put a monthly report atleast, which will keep the thread going.

Regards,

dr. sen

[vivek.ks]

Hi,

I purchased a Dec 2003 Corolla yesterday from one of my colleague who had too many cars to handle.

Car is 105000 driven and engine is in good shape. There are few dents and scratches throughout but I can live with them. I was looking around for a suitable second car and had my eye on corolla ever since I read this thread.

Took this car for a trial. Liked the stability and sense of security it provided. Clutch is getting hard but I guess will last me another 10k, same with tyres.

Steering wheel is something which is the only uncomfortable bit for me. It gives me proper road feedback and after driving on EPS for so long, I guess this is natural.

Talked to swami in between and asked for his advice as well. Since I was paying a decent amount 2.01 had less questions and was more or less convinced.

This is 2003 Dec, 1.8J Model which incidentally falls into Toyota's Airbag related recall. Need to call toyota for replacement.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by vivek.ks

Hi,

I purchased a Dec 2003 Corolla yesterday from one of my colleague who had too many cars to handle.
=======
This is 2003 Dec, 1.8J Model which incidentally falls into Toyota's Airbag related recall. Need to call toyota for replacement.

Congrats on your acquisition. Corolla is a very good choice and I am enjoying mine. Guess more people are inspired to buy pre-owned Corollas after this thread is started (including me).

Even I am feeling that my clutch is bit harder after driving my BILs Punto Diesel. I felt that being petrol car, clutch in my car should be smoother than the diesel vehicles. Checked this the SA during my recent annual service and he said it is fine there is no problem with the clutch (even he owns a Corolla).

Not sure if the clutch is generally harder in Corollas. Any other owner can confirm on this.