[vigsom]

Introduction

After owning two 9th Gen Toyota Corollas, and being involved in the ownership of many more, the logical progression is to move on to the next gen – the Toyota Corolla Altis. This is an account of my journey with three such cars – a 2010 D-4D G, a 2010 1.8GL, and a 2011 1.8VL Automatic. Like the 9th Gen, the 10th Gen Corolla Altis was a virtual fill it–shut it–forget it car, but with some chinks in its armour. Those chinks are listed in the next few posts.

How did I end up recommending the Corolla Altis?

The following threads describe the 9th Gen Corolla in good detail with my experiences of maintaining them.

1. Blue (2003 Toyota Corolla H4 Automatic Review – The Blue Beauty!)

2. White (2005 Toyota Corolla Facelift H5 Review – Clean Pure Love!)

3. RedNSilver (Pre-owned Toyota Corolla | Two more shades, many more smiles)

Barring a mixed bag with my first Corolla, the others were synonymous with peace. So it was a no brainer that the petrol Corolla Altis was the best choice that a Corolla owner could make as a progression. However, the story of the diesel Corolla Altis was different. How? Read on..

2010 Toyota Corolla Altis D-4D G


2010 Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8 GL


2011 Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8VL Automatic

[vigsom]

Chapter 1 – story of a 2010 Pearl White Corolla Altis Diesel

The next upgrade

A close friend’s first car was a Maruti 800 in 2002 in Chennai, and then he upgraded to a Chevrolet Aveo 1.6LT in 2006 in Bangalore. When he moved back to Chennai in 2008, he continued to hold the Aveo, but by 2010, he felt the need to move to something better. The Aveo was doing good duty, but had gotten boring plus was a guzzler. When he asked me for my choice, I told him to close his eyes and go in for a 2010 Innova V, stating that he would never ever have to look at another car in life. I looked at the future for him, and knowing that he had kids who were growing up, and oldies at home, I felt the Innova V would be his best choice under INR 15 lacs. The Innova V facelift in 2009 had some upgrades over the earlier avatar, with the climate control being a good addition, and the car was a good choice then - in fact, it is a great car even today.

Off went my friend, checked out the Innova V at a dealership, booked a 7 seater in the Champagne Mica shade, and awaited papers to process this car through car lease via his company.

Armchair quarterbacks step in

When my friend started sounding his relatives, colleagues and others about this booking, pat came feedback about the Innova being perceived as a taxi, and not in line with his “image” of a corporate leader. A stable minded person, who had actually gone ahead with booking an Innova V, now did a U-turn and started examining the VW Jetta as an option, and he was offered a juicy deal on a showroom display car too. He then saw the Corolla Altis diesel and, somehow, fell for it. Until then, I wasn’t aware that he was moving off his original path, and only after he made the announcement of the Altis diesel, did I know all that had happened in the interim.

I even advised him that if he was keen on an Altis, he should look at the 1.8 petrol VL AT. I think it's on road price was a shade over his allowable limits under the lease option, so the VL AT was ruled out. That left him finally with Corolla Altis Diesel vs Innova V.

Decision making

My message to him was very clear – the Innova V was my choice for him. Why? Because I have always wished well for him and wanted him to have a well rounded car that would last him a lifetime, and not something that he’d need to or want to change after a few years. I told him that he was free to choose the Altis Diesel but under protest from me. All I told him was – if he did go with the Altis, he should go only with Pearl White.

Corolla Altis Diesel G-D vs GL-D

Armchair quarterbacks eventually won and he modified his Innova booking to go with a Corolla Altis diesel G in Pearl White !!!

Leather seats, walnut finish steering, foglamps, headlamp washers, and HID low headlamps in the GL-D variant weren’t too exciting for my friend, so he decided to stay with the D-4D G variant, which was a sensible choice for Chennai. He took delivery of the car in Nov-2010.

The 2010 Corolla Altis D-4D G in Pearl White

[vigsom]

Story of a 2010 Pearl White Corolla Altis Diesel (Contd.)

My first meeting with the Altis Diesel – Dec-2010

I was in Chennai in Dec-2010 on leave, and by then was approx. two months into owning my own 2003 Corolla H4 automatic. It was going to be interesting to see how the Altis stacked up against the 9th Gen Corolla. The first time I saw the Altis was in the basement parking in his building. I, however, felt that the old Corolla’s interior fit and finish felt much better than the plasticky Altis.

The first thing that struck me w.r.t the Altis was its low stance, in contrast to the slightly high up Corolla. I fired the Altis diesel up and the engine settled down to a mild murmur, with zero vibrations in the cabin. It sounded good.

July-2012 onwards

I’d moved into a new role in Chennai and had also acquired a pre-owned 2005 Corolla H5 1.8E. I also began driving my friend’s Altis diesel extensively, when we started pooling our cars. It was quite a challenge shifting from driving a Corolla 1.8 petrol to driving this 1.4 diesel Altis, and the head needed re-programming every time. In fact, a few months down the line, I ended up driving the Altis even more - whenever my friend needed to be on call , wasn’t keeping well, or after he was sloshed at a get together.

Initial observations on the Corolla Altis diesel

Likes

• Stately looks – the perfect executive sedan
• Refined engine at idle and low revs
• Brilliant and slick six speed gear box
• Light clutch – navigating in B2B traffic required manipulation of just the clutch with no accelerator input
• Good ride and handling – way better than the 9th Gen
• Fantastic fuel efficiency – 23kmpl on the highway was easily achievable at 120kmph thanks to the sixth cog
• Sudden power boost just above 2,000 rpm
• Seat belt warning even for the passenger – good safety feature
• Sliding center front armrest - very useful unlike the fixed armrest on the earlier gen
• 60:40 split folding rear seats – useful when carrying a lot of luggage with only four occupants
• Electrically adjustable and retractable ORVMs – useful when navigating tight lanes
• Outstanding air conditioning
• Less glass area compared to the 9th Gen Corolla – hence cooler cabin in summers
• Disc brakes on all wheels

Shortcomings

• Very very poor power delivery below 2,000 rpm – gets irritating when one wants that instant move forward
• Brake pads known to pack up even at 25,000 kms
• Plasticky dashboard – nowhere as class as the 9th Gen Corolla
• Overall ride refinement at city speeds at low rpms was poor – could hear the odd grind and grunt
• Seats could have done with better under thigh support
• Pathetic sound system like in the 9th Gen Corolla – Toyota would have done better by not providing a sound system at all
• Roots horns – the high tone horn packed up in 2 years – while the 9th Gen Corolla had Denso horns that would sound sweet and go on and on and on
• Door inserts and steering wood finish was a poor shade - Dark walnut finish should have featured instead

Useful sliding front center armrest


Twin glove boxes


Six gears


ORVM Controls - same as the earlier gen Corolla and the Fortuner


Rear Seat - 60:40 Split folding


Massive boot - expandable with the 60:40 rear seat feature


Alloy Wheel with 195/65R15 Turanza ER300 tyres

[vigsom]

Story of a 2010 Pearl White Corolla Altis Diesel (Contd.)

Ownership and maintenance experience

The car used to go to Toyota for its scheduled maintenance, and nothing untoward was reported. However, I’d noticed in 2013 that the Turanza ER300 tyres in the front wheels was indicating uneven wear, and that was thanks to missed alignment appointments in the inital 2 years. We eventually got all the four tyres replaced with Yokohama V550 AVS dB series tyres for INR 23,500 (tyres, valves, alignment, balancing, nitrogen all included) against an MRP of approx. INR 6,300 per tyre plus got INR 2,200 for the old Turanza ER300s. The unused Turanza ER300 was retained as spare.

Accessories

To keep the josh in the Altis alive, I advised my friend to improve the sound system which included a new head unit, a 4 channel amp, component speakers for the front, and a subwoofer. Execution was unfortunately hurriedly done from not the best place in town, and as a result the choice of equipment, and the execution, left a lot to be desired.

The final equipment included a Pioneer AVH2690BT touch screen head unit, an Alpine 4 channel amp, Alpine components, an Infinity subwoofer, Focal wiring kit, and DHC dash kit and steering control interface. Unfortunately, the installer succeeded in upselling some equipment to my friend and he fell for it, despite me telling him not to fall for the motive. In hindsight, we should have spent more on a superior single din head unit and less on the amp and the subwoofer. Anyways, the end result, while satisfactory, could have been much better for the INR 55k that was spent.

Departure

What I had predicted in 2010 came true, with my friend debating on retaining the Altis vs selling. He eventually realised that he didn’t have the patience to retain the car for longer. Exactly 4 years after acquiring the Altis, he sold the car for INR 8.05 lacs, a shade over 50% of his original on-road price of INR 15 lacs approx. Here is the content of the ad that was posted.



He went on to get an XUV500 W8 in Feb-2015, again under company lease for some INR 16 lacs, only to sell that off in Jul-2018 for INR 9.25 lacs. Think about what I'd told him in 2010 – had the Innova V been there, there was no way he’d have sold the car, and in the bargain, would have saved huge money. A pre-owned 2009-11 Innova, by the way, is an appreciating asset in TN.

[vigsom]

Chapter 2 – story of a 2010 Champagne Mica Toyota Corolla Altis GL

I’d narrated the story of a 2007 Silver Corolla that had suffered an unfortunate rear shunt (Pre-owned Toyota Corolla | Two more shades, many more smiles)

The owner, a martial arts master, already depressed because of the accident, and the damage to the car, sold the car off in Nov-2018, and waited for a good Corolla Altis as a replacement.

Apr-2019

There was this great looking Feb-2010 Corolla Altis GL, done just 42,000km that was advertised by the same dealership where I'd picked up my white Corolla. I asked this master to go, check the car out, and if satisfied, go ahead and finalise the deal. I wasn’t physically there in Chennai but helped the master out with his evaluation remotely. He eventually picked the car up for INR 4.7 lacs.

2010 Champagne Mica Corolla Altis GL








Jun-2019

I saw this car first time in Jun-2019 on one of my trips to Chennai, and found her in pristine shape. A 42,000km run Corolla Altis is as good as new, even at 9 years of age.

Ownership experience

The car gave him no issues except warranting a change of rear brake pads. He had done approx. 7,000 kms with a couple of drives to Andhra Pradesh, and only sang praises of the car.

2020 – Covid-19 strikes !!

Come Mar-2020, and we are all familiar with what happened – jobs lost, businesses shut, savings drained, and what not. All martial arts teachers suffered and earned zero revenue until, say, Sep-2020. This master had a housing loan to pay off, plus other expenses, and was eventually forced to part with his Bullet first. The Altis followed suit, later in 2020, for a mere INR 3.3 lacs. The odo at sale was just 49,800km, absolutely nothing for a Corolla Altis.

The odo reading at sale


Surprise package – a 2011 Black Mica Corolla Altis VL Automatic

Bhpian @Vasanthjn PMed me sometime in late 2018/ early 2019 when he was looking for a used Altis. After a few months of scouting, he got a high mileage, but good example in his favourite colour - Black. I had the privilege of meeting up with him, and his car twice when on my visits to Chennai.

Even with over 1,10,000km on the odo, the car functioned flawlessly when I saw her in Jun-2019, and again in Nov-2020. Vasanth got the front struts and rear shock absorbers renewed with aftermarket Gabriel units which didn't cost him much. He also put in a set of aftermarket front brake pads from Bosch; plus he had added an Android head unit to the car, which I felt lent a lot of character to the otherwise mudane looking cabin.

Bhpian @Vasanthjn's 2011 Black Mica Corolla Altis VL-AT













Android Head Unit in the Altis - sample


Android Head Unit in bhpian @Vasanthjn's Altis

[vigsom]

Ageing issue in the cooling system of a Corolla Altis

Someone in our building has a 2008 Corolla Altis VL, and had reported that two plastic components in the cooling system had snapped – when I inspected the parts, I found them to have aged. Now, coming from Toyota, this is surprising !!

The parts that had snapped were the bypass hose nozzles on the radiator inlet pipe and the radiator neck as shown.

Radiator bypass hose running parallel to the radiator


Damaged bypass hose nozzle on Radiator inlet pipe


Damaged Bypass hose nozzle on Radiator neck


On inspecting the OEM catalog, this is what I found – that there is this radiator bypass hose, and surprisingly, the Corolla Altis is the only car I know that has two nozzles on the radiator neck viz.

1. one below the radiator cap seat where the bypass hose is connected, and
2. one above the radiator cap seat, releasing to the expansion tank

Radiator neck - note the location of the bypass hose nozzle and the degassing nozzle


OEM Drawing for the radiator inlet and outlet - part 16577C is the inlet pipe and 16261N is the bypass hose


Radiator inlet pipe OE


A similar arrangement can be seen on the Altis diesel too, but here it directly discharges to the radiator pressure tank



The design is retained in the 2014 Altis too, as shown below



This bypass hose is surprisingly not there in the 2003-08 Corolla, and I wonder why this was provided in the later editions. The only argument I could figure out is that the radiator cap is normally installed on the hot side (inlet tank) of the radiator in a car, while here, it is on the outlet tank (cold side). Should there be gassing in the coolant circuit, it must get detected immediately to allow the cap to open and release pressure to the expansion tank.

However, I feel that this design of a bypass hose hasn’t been done properly from a long term reliability perspective. Polymer parts get brittle with age and these parts shouldn't fail like they did. I also observed that some aftermarket radiator inlet pipes for the Altis in the Far East are made of metal too - maybe failure of polymer parts is a common issue.

Radiator inlet pipe in metal


If readers have some thoughts on why this bypass hose was provided in the first place, please share.

Summing Up

Barring this observation in the coolant system, the Corolla Altis also proves why she is the most loved sedan world over. Where else can one get Quality, Cost, Delivery – all in one, at steal deals on pre-owned examples? A pre-owned petrol Corolla Altis at 10 years of age and 1,00,000 km on the odo for INR 3.5-4.0 lacs would still be a more reliable machine than newer machines from most other brands. Such cars will never be built again, unfortunately.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Sanidhya mukund]

A wonderful review of a wonderful car!

The Corolla Altis, Honda Civic along with the Skoda Laura and Chevy Cruze were some of the most sought after cars before the raised hatchback trend picked up.

The Altis didn’t have the rev happy petrol of the Civic or the fast diesels of the Cruze and Laura, but it had a different kind of charm - while the others looked sporty, the Altis looked stately. It was truly one of those cars that could go on and on without any hiccups. I had once travelled in an Altis taxi from Bombay to Goa sometime around 2012. The rear seats were so comfortable and spacious that even after driving continuously for 10 hours, I felt fresh and awake.

The Altis is a true embodiment of the statement, ”They don’t make them like they used to.”

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by vigsom

If readers have some thoughts on why this bypass hose was provided in the first place, please share.

I could only think of a engineer from Toyota being able to answer this. Could it be a fail safe system in the event the thermostat is stuck? It will atleast keep water flowing in the system.

On polymer or plastics being used on the cooling system, this has been going on for decades. Some brands execute them better, some don't. The thermostat housing on my Ford Ikon was made of plastic and it failed once every two years. It would spring a small leak and I'd end up having to replace it. It was not a cheap job too. It cost Rs. 3500 each time I had to do it. Either this was just bad design or quality. The experience of this one part failing so frequently has made me think twice over considering a Ford ever again. I mean, seriously, what were the engineers who designed this critical part thinking, its okay for the engine to blow!

The same problem can be found on several European cars. My 2013 BMW 328i has this by pass sort of thing right at the radiator and it is known to crack over a period of time. Many hoses are plastic. When you do need to get a particular polymer part for the coolant circuit replaced, the general advice is do it all in one go, so it holds up longer, works out cheaper in the long run and you don't make multiple trips to the garage. The Europeans started this trend a while back. Its less of any issue in colder climes but under wider temperature zones such as India or the Middle East, these parts fail a lot sooner.

I always thought the Altis was the model after, (E170), which had the sharper headlamp assembly.

[vishy76]

Great review on a great car(s). This generation of the Corolla Altis remains my favorite hands down. Was the last of proper, no nonsense Toyota designs with clean lines before they moved to the ghastly 2014 Altis.

Coming to the usage of polymers in cooling systems, the Germans have done it very often and fallen flat on their face with the implementation in many cases. The oil cooler and thermostat housing are both plastic on most German cars these days. Apart from being more susceptible to failing in general with age as you pointed out, another huge risk is the polymer isn't very resilient to engine overheating.

In case of an overheat, the plastic can melt given the right temperature and pieces of it can break off and block coolant passages or even worse, oil galleries (if the oil cooler is destroyed). Weight and cost saving tactics at play here IMO, nothing else.

[VWAllstar]

Great review of probably the last of 'Fill it -Shut it' executive sedan we would get in India.

Originally Posted by vishy76

Great review on a great car(s). This generation of the Corolla Altis remains my favorite hands down. Was the last of proper, no nonsense Toyota designs with clean lines before they moved to the ghastly 2014 Altis.

Not sure why this Generation Altis (Discontinued) is considered poorly designed. Toyota came up with a sharper nose and an oomphed rear, which wasn't ghastly atleast. Surely the simplicity and clean lines were amiss however it still looked good and with the time. The design has aged well with polarizing perspective at the start.

[TrackDay]

Nice review on the Corollas. Sadly they don't make them anymore. This car along with likes of the Cruze, Elantra, Laura were once the premium sedans that ruled a particular segment. From the cars made back then, those corollas are still running today, a testament to the build quality of the brand.

The corolla however was not a driver oriented car & the competitors were more suited for that kind of driving. However when it came to cabin comfort & peace of mind there was nothing else like it. The Corolla E140 was more composed, timeless and nice looking compared to the E17O. The E170 is not a bad car, but those interiors were really a let down

[Govardhansupra]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Ageing issue in the cooling system of a Corolla Altis

Someone in our building has a 2008 Corolla Altis VL, and had reported that two plastic components in the cooling system had snapped – when I inspected the parts, I found them to have aged. Now, coming from Toyota, this is surprising !!

The parts that had snapped were the bypass hose nozzles on the radiator inlet pipe and the radiator neck as shown.

Radiator bypass hose running parallel to the radiator
Attachment 2167903

Damaged bypass hose nozzle on Radiator inlet pipe
Attachment 2167904

Damaged Bypass hose nozzle on Radiator neck
Attachment 2167902

I'm facing the exact same problem on my Corolla Altis 2009 1.8GL too.

Attaching a picture, since I don't know the exact technical word.
Problem is from the part circled in red and coolant is leaking in minute quantities.

And yes, I will be cleaning the engine bay today

[madhavrchandra]

It is sad that reliable Toyota's like these are slowly missing from the Indian market. It is true that your friend could keep his car even today if he chose the Innova. Our 2012 Innova after 9 years still looks like a new car. By the way really enjoyed reading the thread.

[R2D2]

Thanks for this Vigsom. The E140 is my favourite Corolla design even over the E120 and 170 models. The new ones look sharp but sadly TKM discontinued them in India.

So far I have not faced any problems with the cooling system possibly because my 2008 Altis is very low mileage vehicle at just about 30K kms in 12.5 years (!!!). Yeah, the car is pampered mostly but the onset of covid in March 2020 has seen me neglecting it quite a bit. It was last serviced in Jan '20. I hesitate to visit the ASC due to the prevailing situation in MH. Hope when the 2nd wave subsides the car will visit the dealership again.

The plastic parts including interior and in the engine compartment the radiator are as they were when the car left the factory i.e. undamaged and zero leaks. So far so good, touch wood. If it is any indicator I always have the brake fluid and coolant flushed every 2-3 years. even though my car hardly runs about 3-5K kms a year. There have been no compromises, I treat my donkey as if she were a race horse.