[arjunrudra]

Congrats on the great purchase.

Here is my corolla. Mine is a 2006 model, so 14 years old.

H4 Top- End Automatic transmission with all the bells and whistles.

The car is brilliant and still runs strong. In complete stock form with allOEM parts with Michelin XM 2+ rubber. Once a year I get the car serviced at Toyota and she runs so smooth. No problems whatsoever.

I have a little bit of OCD when it comes to car maintenance and i can confidently say mine is in perfect condition. Any flooding or uncertainty I take the corolla and it has never let me down. i have even gone through floods submerging the headlights and no issues whatsoever.

Its currently at 1,32,000 kms and on my recent pollution certificate round "the guy issuing said it pollutes a lot less than even the newer vehicles".

Super happy with the car and one of the best buys.

Clearly the most reliable in my garage ( I have a Octavia RS 2018, C220 CDI W204 Avantgarde, 2 Skoda Rapid's, Hyundai Creta Automatic).

I have no intention of ever selling it. But I do stay in Gurgaon and I'm coming up on the 15 yrs mark so looking for the procedure to retain the vehicle onwards. Suggestions are welcome here.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by arjunrudra

Mine is a 2006 model, so 14 years old.

H4 Top- End Automatic transmission with all the bells and whistles.

Wow !!!

I had a 2003 H4 in the blue shade; am surprised to see your 2006 H4 in this shade as I thought this blue was available only in 2003 on the Corolla and 2005 on the Innova.

Do not sell this car ever.

In 2021, when it is time for renewal of your registration, the best option would be to register the car in a town or village where you have a proof of residence; saying this as I expect the NCR ban on 15 year old petrols to extend to other metros too.

[v12]

So here is our Toyota story. The first Toyota that we ever owned (for a month) was a 5th generation E80 Corolla which we had bought in the late 90's - but Sold it within a month (or returned). It was DL registered and NOC was a pain to obtain - so we decided to return it back to the seller.

The second was a 2006 Corolla which we bought used in 2016 and sold in 2017. Although the car was not driven much by us, it already has 150,000 on the odo. But even then the car still felt like brand new and rock solid. We sold it to by a brand new Kwid ( the worst decision of our lives) since we were looking for a small car.

Would never miss an opportunity to go for the 2003 Corolla (or the 2006 facelift) if I ever Come across a good one. Toyota's are meant to just last.

And today was the day of Redemption. Came across a single owner 2004 model, 1.8 G Automatic which had done around 60000 kms. Didnt wantto lose the opportunity this time.

My requirements almost match with yours Adi and having read thrayn yours and Vigsoms thread - the decision making was simple. I primarily plan to use the Corolla for long drives. We normally or the Xylo for long drives, but frankly speaking, I don't feel very safe in it at highway speeds. I think the Corolla would be amazing on a long drive - and an Automatic would really be an added benefit.

Will be posting some pictures soon.

Thanks and Drive Safe!

[Concorde]

Congratulations on the purchase! I picked up the same spec and shade Corolla of 2007 make in December 2016.

It was quite poorly maintained by the previous owner and I have replaced almost all major parts in the last 3 years.

The cost of repairs and service has been more than 1.5 times of the purchase price and I have no regrets as I knew what I was getting into - more or less. I had a limited budget and this was the car I wanted to buy.

We are so happy with the purchase that we have a true Toyota sedan which we have always loved at the price of a entry level hatchback (all repairs and maintenance included) that I decided to pick up a 2010 Pearl White Altis last year. Loving the comfort and reliability of the Toyotas.

My big question is - what is the SUV equivalent of a 2007/2011 Corolla? I have been looking hard but haven’t been able to come up with an answer.

[Aditya]

Over the past weekend, I completed a Mumbai - Hyderabad - Mumbai drive in the evergreen machine. The total distance covered on this trip was more than 1,500 km. Both ways the journey was very comfortable and tireless and the car performed flawlessly. It carried a truckload of luggage and returned 16 km/l overall. Had my wife and daughter with me on the way to Hyderabad, so I was cruising at about 80 - 100 km/h most of the time. Don't think I'd trust another 14 year old car like I trust this one.

[comfortablynumb]

Value for money is an understatement for this car. A friend of mine bought a 45k run Aug 2011 1.8 V AT model in late 2018 for just 4.5 lakhs, and says it's even better than a pre-owned Innova that he had a few years back. He drove it from Gujarat to Assam in Oct 2020, when he was transferred there for work purposes, and the vehicle did it without any fuss.

[subbarp]

Not sure where to post but here it goes :

My 2006 Toyota Corolla H2 (120K km) had a peculiar whistling type sound while coasting. This sound does not appear to be there when I hit the pedal and accelerating but rather when take my foot off and let the car coast or slow down on its own. Have never faced or heard this before.

Could it be something to do with suspension / wheel alignment ? There were no alerts and I managed to drive a fairly long distance post that. This was not on city roads as I could hear the sound clearly when A/c was off and there were no extraneous sounds. Did not affect the driving but I was concerned for a while and chose to ignore it until I got home and am able to visit the service advisor over next few days.

thanks,
Subbarp

[Aditya]

A long weekend and another 1,500 km in the bag. Despite the increasing heat, the journey was tireless and stress-free.

[stallmaster]

Originally Posted by subbarp

My 2006 Toyota Corolla H2 (120K km) had a peculiar whistling type sound while coasting.

Go to a mechanic and ask him to check the condition of all your belts asap. Don't delay as snapped belts can leave your car stranded in the middle of the road.

[paramhanshapal]

Hi,

Has anyone installed an Android infotainment system? I have a 2007 H5 model, in which, I want to replace the original deck with an Android head-unit. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[NODA]

INTRODUCTION
Greetings to all BHPians. To begin with first let me introduce myself. I’m Noopur Dangui from Goa. I’m a BTECH computer science student who has a keen interest in automobiles. I’m a newbie on this platform and since it’s my first thread please forgive me for any mistakes from my side. This thread shares my ownership experiences of my 2006 Toyota Corolla 1.8E.

THE BACKSTORY
Since my childhood I have this strong love and passion for cars. My first favourite car was the legendary Qualis. The story rewinds back in 2006 when I was just 5 years old. That time My Dad used to work as an Assistant service manager in Toyota dealership. I remember they had once organised a drawing competition and had invited every staff member’s along with their kids. I remember I was least interested in the competition and was completely distracted by the cars which were on display in the showroom. That’s when I had the first look of the corolla. I recall it was in the pearl white shade. The first time when I sat in the car was when, My Dad had bought one of his client’s Car for service. Since then, I was very fond of this car.

THE NEED FOR AN UPGRADE
Our long term car was a 1999 std Maruti 800 (Heena green colour). This car is literally a God’s gift to us. It served us in our good as well as bad times. My Dad has still retained this car and it is in a mint condition.
Fun fact: I had my first driving lessons with this car.

Here’s a photo of our beloved Maruti 800


Fast forward the story to 2020. Our Maruti 800 was serving absolutely fine to our family but now it was the time for our family to upgrade to something luxurious. My Dad is very fond of driving SUV but since SUV’s were out of our budget, I somehow convinced My Dad for a sedan. Now the big question was “Which Sedan To Go For.”?
By this time, we had shortlisted some cars: Maruti swift Dzire, Honda civic, Mk1 Skoda Octavia, Toyota Etios. I personally liked the civic because of its looks but my dad somehow was not convinced with the Civic because of its very low ground clearance and pretty expensive parts. Chevrolet Cruze was out of question because GM had already vanished away from India and acquiring the parts was a nightmare. But the question of which car to go for was still unsolved.
One fine day I came across this thread by one of the senior BHPian in the username of @dkaile which was about his long term ownership review of a 2004 Toyota Corolla. I couldn’t resist myself reading that thread because the way he described his car part by part was just mind blowing to read. I would like to mention another Team BHPian in the username of @vigsom who I think is a master when it comes to owning Corolla’s. It is because of his ownership reviews and guidance that I ended up convincing my Dad to go with this car. My Dad was also convinced with my decision since he knew the reliability of Toyota and that it can outlast their owners.

THE HUNT
July 2020
Now the question of which car to go for was sorted. we had decided that we will go for the 9th gen Toyota corolla. Now some people may ask why not the newer Corolla Altis? I personally don’t like the interior of the Altis. The quality of plastics used on the dashboard is not up to the standards. Now the real hunt Began. I started my search for corolla’s online. That time there were hardly 6 of them in Goa. I guess it’s because most owners love and retain their cars. One car which took my attention was a 2005 H2 variant in pearl white shade. The car was looking in the mint condition and had hardly done 80k on the odo. I immediately decided that we should go and check out the car. That night I showed the car to my Dad and he too, was also convinced for the meetup. But to our bad luck the very next day on the site it showed sold off. I was disappointed because there were hardly any good cars for sale. My Dad confronted me and told me to have patience and wait for a better one.
Mid-August 2020
The search was still going on until one day somewhere in mid-August there was this 2006 Corolla H2 1.8 E in Champagne Mica Metallic shade which was for sale and had just clocked 52,500 on the odo. It was a 1st owner vehicle and was in excellent genuine condition. Me as usual full of excitement, showed the car to Dad and we tried to get in touch with the owner and decided the meeting day. But due to the lockdowns our meeting got postponed.
Finally, the meeting day had arrived. I was super excited to see the car. I remember it was drizzling that day and we had reached 15 minutes before the said time. We were waiting for the owner to come at the meeting point and then, the moment of truth The car arrived. Wow! what a sight. Turns out the car was looking even prettier in the real life. My Dad being the master when it comes to inspection directly went to inspect the engine bay of the car. Meanwhile I was looking at the interiors. Upon checking I found out that all the electronics were working absolutely fine, original company glass all around, no signs of accident, corrosion free and it had the Bridgestone Potenza RE 88 tyres with surprisingly good grip. I also noticed that the centre console flap operation was perfectly fine (many of the older corolla had this issue). At first, we were a bit sceptical of the 52.5k on the odo because it is very rare to find a 14 year old car with just 52.5k on the odo. We had a talk with the owner of the car. Turns out that the owner was working aboard and had hardly driven his car. We then took the car for a test drive and it was running buttery smooth as if it was new. So, our doubt about the odo was cleared. We then checked the car documents. we noticed that it was due for re-registration in 2021.The owner expected a price of 3.5Lakhs. But since the registration was due and to My Dad’s amazing experience in evaluation of the car, we got the price down to 2 lakhs. And finally, after many conversations and discussions we sealed the deal.
Back home, we all loved the car and decided that we shouldn’t make any more delays. But once again the lockdown was imposed. This time though, fortunately we were in frequent contact with the owner and to our surprise, he was quite cooperative for all the delays. With all the discussions with the owner we had decided to take the delivery on the 3rd of September 2020.
To be frank, I hardly slept the night before the delivery. The next morning, I got up early and was all ready to take the delivery of the car.


SEPTEMBER 3 2020
THE DELIVERY DAY
This is one of those special days in my life which I will never forget. Finally, we were all set to take the delivery of the car. We went to bank to withdraw the cash and then headed towards for the delivery. The car was ready, for delivery. It was a simple professional experience, nothing fancy. We again checked the car minutely if everything was intact. (Like the car stereo, car stepney, jack, tool box and most important, the spare key). Touchwood, the car was in intact condition. We handed over the remaining amount to the owner and were finally ready to take the car home. I insisted My Dad to drive the car as I was so used to driving the 800 that it was initially difficult for me to get the hang of driving such a long sedan.
We finally drove back home, where my grandparents were eagerly waiting to see the car. Dad then took them for a small drive and now it was the time for the rituals. But due to the covid pandemic all the temples were closed. Fortunately, we found one temple near our house and got all the rituals done.

THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Under this I will be mentioning my initial driving experiences in the form of likes and dislikes.
LIKES:
• Very silent But Powerful 1.8 litre engine with 125bhp which has enough
umph to scare you silly.
• It has a free revving nature (It does get a bit vocal past 5000rpm if you drive it hard. Drive it sedately and you won’t even feel that the car is moving).
• Very spacious engine bay space with which one can easily work with.
• It comes with Hydraulic power steering wheel which provides good feel and feedback in the corners.
• Overall good visibility from the cabin. (There is a small con here which I will mention in the dislikes)
• Very powerful and chiller AC which cools the cabin in no time. A small tip: Put the AC on auto-climate with the re-circulation mode on for better cooling. (I personally never felt the need of rear AC vents).
• Very Premium Interiors. (I personally like the soft touch material used on the dashboard. It gets wooden veener finish on the centre console and a leather wrapped steering wheel which adds to the premium feel. (I don’t like the wooden finished steering which was available on the H5 model because of it’s leather chaffing).
• Great seating comfort both in the front as well as in the rear seats.
• The combined setup of headlamps and foglamps are so powerful that whenever we gave a high beam the opposite car would immediately react by flashing the dipper.
• Auto-retractable ovrm. (A feature which was only available in the luxury segment back then).
• It has a very good low end torque (It shows in bumper to bumper traffic, where one can easily pick up the car in second gear. No need of downshifting to first).
• Decent fuel economy between 10-14 kmpl. (With the AC on).
• Height adjustable seat belts. (Another features which some car manufactures omit these days).
• Supremely comfortable seats with high fabric upholstery (Feels like you are sitting on the luxury sofa). Here I personally prefer the fabric seats over the leather ones as they tend to show cracks with age.
• optimal ground clearance for a sedan.
• Vanity mirrors for both the front passengers. (A feature which many car manufacturers omit in the name of cost cutting).
• Rear 60-40 split seats.
• More than sufficient boot space.
• For safety we have ABS, EBD & 2 SRS AIRBAGS
(Note: They did not skip with airbags even for the lower variants like the H1. Kudos to Toyota for that).
• Stupendous Brakes with Disc brakes for all 4 wheels.
• 10 spoke alloy wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE88 rubber (The alloys of my car are finished in gunmetal grey colour which compliments to the overall look of the car). I also appreciate that they gave an alloy for the spare wheel as well unlike the newer modern cars which do not offer an alloy and rather come with a smaller sized spare tyre.

DISLIKES:
• The bonnet is way too long, I’m 6ft tall and still, with the seat height set to max position, I still do struggle with the judgement.
• Slightly notchy gear shifts (Not an issue, ones you get used to it).

FEATURES I MISS
• Rear sunshade / sunblind (feature which was available on the H5 variant).
• An Auto-dimming irvm.
• Automatic headlamps (I don’t feel the need for this feature but would have appreciated if it was present. Again, available on the H5 variant).
• Average fuel economy display option in the instrument cluster would also have been appreciated.

SOME ADDON ACCESSORY
My corolla has the original 6-CD changer music deck which has support for MP3, FM and even cassette which is working absolutely fine but is a bit old school. And with all the new cars having music system with inbuild Bluetooth and Pen drive support, somewhere my car was lagging behind. I wanted an upgrade to Bluetooth feature without hampering the original deck.
I did my research online and came across this awesome product. It’s called the FM Bluetooth Transmitter. What it does is that it allows you to play music through a FM frequency wirelessly. I saw all the reviews and ordered one for my car. Now I can seamlessly play any music track wirelessly. (That too without fiddling with the wiring)
I was thinking of going for the Sony xav-ax3000 with 6.95inch display but I’m not sure whether it will perfectly fit my car. (Support for Bluetooth, Apple carplay & android auto are my requirements). I would really appreciate for your advice and suggestions for the infotainment system and also for the frame bracket for the same.
With this I would like to wrap up my first thread on My Corolla. I would soon do long trips once the pandemic gets over and would like to keep you’ll updated with more threads. I haven’t named my car yet so I would appreciate for some cool names.
Now enough of my talking. Set back and have a look at my beautiful car.

Pictures

Exterior











Interior













Current odometer reading with 54,550 km


THANK YOU!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by NODA

go for the 9th gen Toyota corolla

What a way to introduce oneself !

Congratulations, @NODA, for striking gold with champagne. This is a too-good-to-be-true example that your and your family's perseverance landed you. Seven members of this forum have/had this car in the same shade and mod @Aditya still has it if I am correct. His is the same year, same shade.

This is a rarely celebrated gen today, but I can guarantee that the 9th Gen Corolla will never die if maintained well. You're right about the Altis not having as great interiors but the 2008-11 Altis is an equally capable product.

A few observations:

1. The leather gear knob and the leather on the steering is still stock - shows how well she was cared for.
2. The gun metal alloys look really nice, and I know why the first owner got them done. Alloys tend to develop dark circles and a bit of bubbles around the center hub and the portion around the air filler nozzle, and that is when some correction is required.
3. The Potenza RE88 are average tyres and used to come as tubed ones on the stock Corolla in the early 2000s. Not sure if your car has tubeless. If they don't have much juice left, I suggest you have them changed to something better.
4. Try not to run the car on reserve fuel. Keep at least 1/4 tank of fuel always - this is to help the fuel pump run well and run long.
5. The bonnet is really long, and the driver will always need terrific judgment to navigate this car in traffic.

On the new Head Unit, you will need

a. a Double Din fill panel costing between 1000 and 1500 bucks
b. a stereo wiring harness to mate the stock wiring harness to your stereo (costs approx 500 bucks)

The double din fill panel that I got for my Corolla in 2010 was from DHC (DH Corporation Mumbai - not sure if they are around now), but there are kits from Metra (95-8204) and Scosche (TA2078B) and many others. The wiring harness is most likely the same for the older Innovas but will be in 2 parts - one for the main wiring and front speakers and the other for only the rear speakers.

Double-Din dash panel for the Corolla fitted in the stock frame


Stereo wiring harness for the Corolla(sample)



The same metal clamp holding the stock stereo can be used to fit the new Head Unit. However, to remove the stock stereo, you will need to move the entire center console back to access the bottom screws holding the stereo clamp to the car's frame. Moving the center console back is tricky as here is where the infamous center flap spring can get lost. The screws are deep inside and you should open and retrieve the screws carefully else they'll fall off inside.

If you ask me, do not disturb the stock set up if you can live with it. But do install parking sensors if they already haven't been installed, and a reverse camera as it really helps in reversing this long fella out in tight spots. If a camera is installed, please do so just above the rear license plate and not on the bumper.

[comfortablynumb]

There are few cars that are as VFM as a pre-owned Corolla.

A friend of mine bought a 45k run Aug 2011 1.8 V AT model in late 2018 for just 4.5 lakhs, and says it's even better than a pre-owned Innova that he had a few years back. He has driven it from GJ to Delhi and back on work related trips, from Gujarat to Assam in Oct 2020, when he was transferred there, and several long trips to various NE states (on roads where even SUVs would think twice before venturing). The vehicle did all these without any fuss, and continues to perform with aplomb.

Congratulations on getting this underrated jewel, and wish you a million miles of safe and happy journeys!

[pgoyal1996]

Originally Posted by NODA

INTRODUCTION
The search was still going on until one day somewhere in mid-August there was this 2006 Corolla H2 1.8 E in Champagne Mica Metallic shade which was for sale and had just clocked 52,500 on the odo.
THANK YOU!

Wait till the day you see our family's Vento 1.6 Petrol TL 2011(MK5) registered with just 23k on the odo
[Apologies for the blurr image - This image is from Feb 21 with ODO @ ~21k]

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by NODA

THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Under this I will be mentioning my initial driving experiences in the form of likes and dislikes.
LIKES:
• Very silent But Powerful 1.8 litre engine with 125bhp which has enough
umph to scare you silly.
• Great seating comfort both in the front as well as in the rear seats.
• 10 spoke alloy wheels with Bridgestone Potenza RE88 rubber (The alloys of my car are finished in gunmetal grey colour which compliments to the overall look of the car). I also appreciate that they gave an alloy for the spare wheel as well unlike the newer modern cars which do not offer an alloy and rather come with a smaller sized spare tyre.

Congratulations NODA for getting a stunning example. With Toyota reliability and Corolla being a globally proven platform, you have a winner in your hands. This will definitely last for another 15 years north of 4 lakhs KMS.
I like the the fabric sofa like seats and the butter smooth engine