Corolla Compressor

[andybst]

does anyone knowof any known faults on corolla compressors, im thinking of buying one and would like some info on what i could be getting into??

[reidy]

Nice cars, people seem to be struggling getting spare parts for them though!

Oh and don't double (or even triple) post buddy

[compress'rolla]

good wee cars had mine 2 year and not one thing has went wrong (touch wood) except the exhaust snapped and an easy fix from a stainless exhaust place but as said above parts aint easy!

[mcchunkers]

well, i've had mine for 2 years and it's given me nothing but hassle. in that time, i've spent at least 2 grand in repairs/replacements. known parts to fail are :- shocks (which toyota themselves couldn't even replace - ask etihad), exhaust (mine blew up and toyota wanted 1200 big ones for a replacement. yes, you read that right - 1200 quid). also, the supercharger requires a rare oil, and if the example you're thinking of buying hasn't had any from new, then the charger could be on the way out and could give up at any time. it has happened to people on here, although this should be highly unlikely. toyota dealerships don't know enough about these cars and certain parts are hard to source.

my advice (based solely on my experience of compressor ownership) is to steer clear, unless you're prepared to deal with a bit of hassle....

and, before people start hating on me - i've been brutally honest here, it's the way i am, and if i can save someone from going through the same crap, i'll say what needs said.

[reidy]

well, i've had mine for 2 years and it's given me nothing but hassle. in that time, i've spent at least 2 grand in repairs/replacements. known parts to fail are :- shocks (which toyota themselves couldn't even replace - ask etihad), exhaust (mine blew up and toyota wanted 1200 big ones for a replacement. yes, you read that right - 1200 quid). also, the supercharger requires a rare oil, and if the example you're thinking of buying hasn't had any from new, then the charger could be on the way out and could give up at any time. it has happened to people on here, although this should be highly unlikely. toyota dealerships don't know enough about these cars and certain parts are hard to source.

my advice (based solely on my experience of compressor ownership) is to steer clear, unless you're prepared to deal with a bit of hassle....

and, before people start hating on me - i've been brutally honest here, it's the way i am, and if i can save someone from going through the same crap, i'll say what needs said.

I suspect you wont be only owner to share this opinion

[etihad]

well, i've had mine for 2 years and it's given me nothing but hassle. in that time, i've spent at least 2 grand in repairs/replacements. known parts to fail are :- shocks (which toyota themselves couldn't even replace - ask etihad), exhaust (mine blew up and toyota wanted 1200 big ones for a replacement. yes, you read that right - 1200 quid). also, the supercharger requires a rare oil, and if the example you're thinking of buying hasn't had any from new, then the charger could be on the way out and could give up at any time. it has happened to people on here, although this should be highly unlikely. toyota dealerships don't know enough about these cars and certain parts are hard to source.

my advice (based solely on my experience of compressor ownership) is to steer clear, unless you're prepared to deal with a bit of hassle....

and, before people start hating on me - i've been brutally honest here, it's the way i am, and if i can save someone from going through the same crap, i'll say what needs said.

I suspect you wont be only owner to share this opinion

Yep the shocks were a nightmare, i was lucky to get them replaced by Toyota. The supercharger oil i was able to get from kluber, and replaced it myself.

Apart from that mine has been perfect. I think it depends on the compressor you get, i'd say take someone who knows about them with you. If you get a looked after one and not abused you should be ok, the shocks are a known fault, but you won't get much help from Toyota themselfs. Also if you get one get a warranty with it.

[andybst]

thanks guys,

you've given me food for thought.

[andybst]

Nice cars, people seem to be struggling getting spare parts for them though!

Oh and don't double (or even triple) post buddy

[/quote

thanks mate. Couldnt help multi posting sorry, navigating the site for the first time wasnt easy. lol

[Uber_Luke]

Come on you lot, let's get this straight.

Leaking shocks = coilovers = win

Snapped exhaust = custom cat back = win

Sourcing s/c oil = piece of mind = win

250 ever made = type R left wondering what the hell was that = win

Stupidly low price due to petrol = money in the pocket for mods and petrol = win

[reidy]

Luke, its always great when it's someone else's car/money

[illgryphon]

To date the only issue i have had with mine is a bit of a window rattle when going over potholes etc. The previous owner however kept all his service records from toyota, and its had new shocks and and a replacement clutch because he complained that the original was feeling heavy.

If the shocks or clutch go at any time I am looking forward to getting some aftermarket ones.

[Uber_Luke]

illgryphon = dude

yes i know what your saying reidy, you'd be looking at about £1k to buy those replacement parts, what I was trying to get at was there are worse things to spend your money on replacing. like a head gasket fault (no aftermarket alternative) or premature wear of other parts like drive shafts etc

we all want our cars slammed on coils and a raspy exhaust

Luke

[mathpac]

Come on you lot, let's get this straight.

Leaking shocks = coilovers = win

Snapped exhaust = custom cat back = win

Sourcing s/c oil = piece of mind = win

250 ever made = type R left wondering what the hell was that = win

Stupidly low price due to petrol = money in the pocket for mods and petrol = win

Hahahaha nice one Luke! I agree with everything upto the more money for tuning :( haha. Try 13mpg! On nothing but v-power everywhere.... Been wanting to get the oil for the s/c for ages (where do I get it from??) also need sum cash for an induction kit ....plus a new exhaust .....if money were to only grow on trees eh! :P

[Corrolla18]

Had mine for a while now and(touch wood) had no problems so far. After advice on here I checked the supercharger oil level and found that it was really low so after a top up I'm hoping for no hair raisers. That said as above if the shocks or exhaust do go I'll defo upgrade.

[compress'rolla]

Had mine for a while now and(touch wood) had no problems so far. After advice on here I checked the supercharger oil level and found that it was really low so after a top up I'm hoping for no hair raisers. That said as above if the shocks or exhaust do go I'll defo upgrade.

where abouts did u get ur charger oil and what sort of mileage did u check it at?

[reidy]

Luke - You make a good point, only problem is when someone wants to keep their car standard (i.e. insurance reasons)

Mathpac - 13mpg sounds conservative for you mate

This has been covered many times and it seems some have really solid cars and others don't, I think the main thing to watch on them is the S/C oil

[blutto]

Luke has got it spot on, yes one of my front shocks went and it was a no brainer to replace them with a set of BCs,

One shocker £600 one set of BCs £600ish, shocks are no longer available so dont I think the insurance can say too much about that.

Exhaust, well that went as it enters the back box but that was easily fixed and will be replaced with a cat back eventually.

Fuel, well depends how you drive it if I want to give it some beans well then it will be into the teens but 25/26 can be acheived, but I don't think any of us Comp owners didn't know this before we bought one.

[mathpac]

Luke has got it spot on, yes one of my front shocks went and it was a no brainer to replace them with a set of BCs,

One shocker £600 one set of BCs £600ish, shocks are no longer available so dont I think the insurance can say too much about that.

Exhaust, well that went as it enters the back box but that was easily fixed and will be replaced with a cat back eventually.

Fuel, well depends how you drive it if I want to give it some beans well then it will be into the teens but 25/26 can be acheived, but I don't think any of us Comp owners didn't know this before we bought one.

Haha, thats true, we all knew what we were buying let's be honest, if I wanted mpg I wuld of gone for a diesel or something! I read an interesting review on the comp not long ago , and this guy had an Audi RS4 and something else like an Aston or something, and both of these cars gave better mpg in comparison to his Compressor lol ...

But I love my car! :) polished her on the weekend and my god it's a stunning machine, proper wolf in sheep clothing! :)

[mcchunkers]

so, if you buy the compressor, be prepared for stuff that will go wrong. but that's ok, because you can upgrade the parts that need replacing (as long as you don't mind parting with a huge wedge of your hard-earned cash to replace something that should last a lot longer). this seems to be the trend in this topic.

basically, parts are known to fail, and with the compressor, it's always a question of 'when', not 'if'. it's very expensive to run (my uncle gets better mpg in his e92 m3 - and he doesn't have to use super-unleaded!), the dealerships don't know enough about them when it comes to basic trouble-shooting or sourcing proper tte parts. and - don't go believing that the 2zz-ge engine is bullet-proof. more and more problems are being reported nowadays, giving that they're getting on a bit. currently, my one isn't hitting lift and struggles to reach 7000rpm - and it sounds like the engine's about to blow up ffs. if it ain't the lift oil control valve or the lift bolts, then it's most likely gonna be something biblically expensive to fix. who needs problems like this?

i would strongly urge you to consider an alternative - unless your heart is set on it.

[reidy]

I agree with you on the dealerships not knowing enough but I wouldn't say there's any real problems with the 2zzge provided they are properly maintained - and that includes checking/topping up the supercharger oil level in the compressor

Compressors are for those with deep pockets

T Sports are for paupers

[dangermooser]

I have always looked at performance cars that if you wanna play you will have to pay!

If you know what you are getting yourself into and expect certain problems to arise then all is good....ish

If you go in blind there is only disappointment around the corner

[mcchunkers]

i check my supercharger oil once every 3 months and perform an engine oil change between the yearly services. also:- i seldom drive hard or race the engine, and i only drive about 9000 miles a year. i simply couldn't look after it any better, yet the hassles still arrive and i still don't get over 25 mpg. it's funny - my friend drives a ford focus st and i've actually become really jealous of him this last while. he's had a couple of niggles but his car is far better put together and it's a hell of a lot faster (although he has had the mountune upgrade!)

[mcchunkers]

I have always looked at performance cars that if you wanna play you will have to pay!

If you know what you are getting yourself into and expect certain problems to arise then all is good....ish

If you go in blind there is only disappointment around the corner

i completely agree with you mate, that's why i'm giving my advice to the guy looking to buy one, just so he knows the score.

don't get me wrong, i never expect to own and drive any car without problems arising, let alone a performance car, it's just that the guy asked if there were any common faults with the compressor and i wanted to give him an honest answer...

[Uber_Luke]

What other problems have you had?

The comp is just a t sport with a few extra bits bolted on. The T sport only has a few niggle itself.

I think most comp owners are more than happy with thier cars

Do it mate!! buy one...but don't rush into it

[reidy]

i check my supercharger oil once every 3 months and perform an engine oil change between the yearly services. also:- i seldom drive hard or race the engine, and i only drive about 9000 miles a year. i simply couldn't look after it any better, yet the hassles still arrive and i still don't get over 25 mpg. it's funny - my friend drives a ford focus st and i've actually become really jealous of him this last while. he's had a couple of niggles but his car is far better put together and it's a hell of a lot faster (although he has had the mountune upgrade!)

I can understand your frustration, I'm just glad the T sport doesn't have the same issues

It's such a shame there's no real aftermarket for T sport/Compressor, people who drive st's need knocking down a peg