Help Me Buy A Corolla!

[nordberg]

Hi,

I'm new here but a previous owner of Celicas so know a little bit about Toyotas.

So, my missus is expecting our first addition to the gene pool in a couple of months time. We need to replace her old VW Polo with something a bit more modern, reliable and safer. She's always been a fan of Corollas (someone told her when she was about 18 that they were great cars - and it's just stuck with her!) and so we're in the market for the last shape (2001 onwards?).

We test drove a 2003 1.4 T3 at the local Toyota stealers and it seemed to tick all the boxes. Coming from a 1.6 VW, she was afraid the 1.4 might feel a bit sluggish but it felt just fine. So we started looking through Autotrader etc for a 1.4 T3 for around £4k. Nothing much in our area but a lovely 1.6 T Spirit with all the toys has appeared in the results. So, question is - apart from a few more bells and whistles, whar will the 1.6 T Spirit give me over the 1.4? What's the economy differential? Insurance? Any gotchas we should be looking out for? It's a 2003 on an 03 plate (pre-facelift) in grey and a 5 door. Looks immaculate. Only 35k miles and FSH. Very tempting but I thought I'd ask the Oracle (you lot) your thoughts first.

Thanks in advance!

Matt

[Norfolk n Chance]

Slightly more BHP with the 1.6 and you only sacrifice a few MPG's.

And only 2 insurance groups between the 2.

More toys though!

I'd go with the T Spirit!

Corolla 1.4 T3

Corolla 1.6 T Spirit

[cabcurtains]

As the T-Spirit has only 35k and FSH, go for it, its hardly run in and will last forever. I agree with Norfolk, the 1.6 will be a little bit more expensive to run but will provide more pleasure to own and drive.

The chance of major mechanical issues will be more bad luck than anything else, as the likely previous owners/s will be on the older side :) i doubt it will have had a hard life

[nordberg]

Thanks guys. I think we'll go and have a look at it. I've done some comparison insurance quotes and there's only £25 in it for the year! Judging by the What Car? specification, MPG are fairly similar too. I presume they all have Isofix?

2003 03 Reg TOYOTA Corolla 1.6 VVT-i T Spirit

Blurb on car:

38,428 miles

Manual

GREY

PetrolHatchback1598 CC

Full Description:

5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 38,428 miles, Metallic Grey. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Alloy wheels, Climate Control, Computer, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Foglights, Electric sunroof, Head restraints, Folding rear seats, Immobiliser, Passenger airbag, Power assisted steering, Remote locking, Side airbags, Radio/CD, Rear headrests, Leather seats. Insurance Group:6, For more of our quality stock, click onto the dealer website. P/X welcome, Finance available. £4,490

Sounds lovely. Hoping I can knock him down to nearer £4000 though as it's a little above budget. I'm guessing the stealers are feeling the credit crunch too so hopefully they will be a soft touch...

[Norfolk n Chance]

I think they all do have Isofix, bu i'm not sure on that one! :D

Whereabouts in W Yorkshire you from?

[cabcurtains]

Thanks guys. I think we'll go and have a look at it. I've done some comparison insurance quotes and there's only £25 in it for the year! Judging by the What Car? specification, MPG are fairly similar too. I presume they all have Isofix?

2003 03 Reg TOYOTA Corolla 1.6 VVT-i T Spirit

Blurb on car:

38,428 miles

Manual

GREY

PetrolHatchback1598 CC

Full Description:

5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 38,428 miles, Metallic Grey. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Alloy wheels, Climate Control, Computer, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Foglights, Electric sunroof, Head restraints, Folding rear seats, Immobiliser, Passenger airbag, Power assisted steering, Remote locking, Side airbags, Radio/CD, Rear headrests, Leather seats. Insurance Group:6, For more of our quality stock, click onto the dealer website. P/X welcome, Finance available. £4,490

Sounds lovely. Hoping I can knock him down to nearer £4000 though as it's a little above budget. I'm guessing the stealers are feeling the credit crunch too so hopefully they will be a soft touch...

The price its up at is very good to be honest, dont be dismayed if they wont knock a lot off. There is nothing wrong with buying a proper car and having to pay a proper price for it, its better than buying a crappy car at what seems like a good price

Is it at a main dealer or a smaller garage?

It should have Isofix, to check run your hand down the back of the seat between the back of the base and the bottom of the back rest, you will find some protruding hooks, they may have Tags on them anyway.

[nordberg]

The price its up at is very good to be honest, dont be dismayed if they wont knock a lot off. There is nothing wrong with buying a proper car and having to pay a proper price for it, its better than buying a crappy car at what seems like a good price

Is it at a main dealer or a smaller garage?

It should have Isofix, to check run your hand down the back of the seat between the back of the base and the bottom of the back rest, you will find some protruding hooks, they may have Tags on them anyway.

Yeh I figured that by checking with a mate in the trade. He said it was a pretty aggressive price providing it's in good nick and all's kosher. No harm in trying to knock him down though as it is a bit over budget at window price.

It's a smaller garage but they do have a good reputation.

Whereabouts in W Yorkshire you from?

Leeds!

[cabcurtains]

I have just been on the A-Trader website, it looks a tidy car ;)

Gaz, you have a new friend!!

Up the whites

[Norfolk n Chance]

Whereabouts in W Yorkshire you from?

Leeds!

I have just been on the A-Trader website, it looks a tidy car ;)

Gaz, you have a new friend!!

Up the whites

Leeds Corolla meet then?

[takisawa]

Hi.

We've just traded our 60k mile 03' 1.6 T-Spirit in for a T-Spirit Verso.

Purely because we needed the extra space.

Yes, they have Isofix on the outer two rear seats. We bought a Britax IsoFix seat, a doddle to put in & take out. Also very very secure.

They have no facility to turn off the airbag for the front passenger so you cant use the front seat with a child seat.

Economy wise ours averaged about 37mpg. Power wise it was excellent, although you had to rev it hard to really make it go. We used ours to tow our caravan & it did a great job of that. The trim & general feel of the T-Spirit from that age is absolutely top spec. Really really nice velour all through.

I've driven loads of different cars from work, but the Corolla was in another league.

We looked at one of the last T-Spirit Corolla's & the trim was not as good as the early one.

That 03' 36k T-Spirit above will serve you well.

We miss ours...!!!

[nordberg]

Can anyone tell me what the 2003 facelift brought to the party?

[Norfolk n Chance]

As far as i'm aware the Facelift was introduced in the second half of 2004 (54 reg models)

But the Facelift had these additions:

Besides a new exterior look and higher-quality materials in the cabin, all models now feature more equipment as standard, however.

Air-conditioning and curtain airbags become standard across the board, while the steering wheel now adjusts for reach as well as rake. T3 models gain rear electric windows for the first time while T Spirit spec now includes an automatically dipping rear-view mirror and rain-sensing windscreen wipers.

[nordberg]

Nice one, thanks.

[nordberg]

UPDATE:

Went to view the car this lunchtime. Very nice. A few dings and scratches but nothing out of the ordinary for a 5 year old car. One thing though, the alloys were shot at. They all need refurbing. Preferably a proper sand blast and respray rather than the "Smart Repair" type. Anyone got any experience of this?

Other than that, it had a full Toyota history from the local dealership. Had covered an average of 7k miles between services. The leather seats were all in good condition and the back looked like it had never been sat in. Unused spare tyre. Overall a very honest looking car.

Price-wise, I couldn't get him any lower than £4300. He reckoned they had £3900 in the car + £100 for the detailing already done and then the MOT. If that's the truth then I don't begrudge him making a few hundred quid on the car. It's within budget I suppose, but I would be happier if I could get it a couple of hundred quid cheaper. He claims they've had loads of interest in it....

I'm taking the missus to view it tomorrow as it's for her anyways. I reckon she'll like it so we'll probably end up with it. There's a similarly aged on across the road from me at Toyota dealer that's up at £6995. One plate newer but without leather. I expect they have more to play with in terms of price so I will try and call in after work this evening and see what they can do.

[nordberg]

Deposit paid. Collecting Saturday.

Cracking car. HPI clear. FTSH and in very good nick apart from the wheels.

Been quoted £200 for all 4 sandblasted, powder coated and lacquered. Will most likely get it done.

[Norfolk n Chance]

The Leeds Corolla meet takes one step closer!

[smoftah]

Congratulations on the purchase!

[geoffb]

Deposit paid. Collecting Saturday.

Cracking car. HPI clear. FTSH and in very good nick apart from the wheels.

Been quoted £200 for all 4 sandblasted, powder coated and lacquered. Will most likely get it done.

There have been lots of issues with Toyota alloys not lasting very long before bubbling etc so what you experienced isn't a big surprise. The quote you got, at £50 per wheel, sounds really good to me. When you get it done it would be great if you could post some piccies of the wheels (assuming you are pleased with the result).

Hope you enjoy the car. I love my post facelift E12 T-Spirit. Build quality-wise a much under rated car in my view.

Happy Corolla motoring ;)

[nordberg]

Deposit paid. Collecting Saturday.

Cracking car. HPI clear. FTSH and in very good nick apart from the wheels.

Been quoted £200 for all 4 sandblasted, powder coated and lacquered. Will most likely get it done.

There have been lots of issues with Toyota alloys not lasting very long before bubbling etc so what you experienced isn't a big surprise. The quote you got, at £50 per wheel, sounds really good to me. When you get it done it would be great if you could post some piccies of the wheels (assuming you are pleased with the result).

Hope you enjoy the car. I love my post facelift E12 T-Spirit. Build quality-wise a much under rated car in my view.

Happy Corolla motoring ;)

Yeh I had 2 Gen7 Celicas. My first 140 went through a set of alloys (Team Dynamics 17in) every 8k miles! My TSport fared a lot better and they were mint when I sold the car at 18K miles. Credit to Mr T though, he replaced the Team Dynamics ones no questions asked.