Congratulations on your new purchase! I wish I could help you look out for problems - but over 6 years and over 70,000 miles (taking it to a total of 130,00) I didn't have many... What went wrong with my 1.6 2001 VVTI model: Front wiper motor broke at 110,000 miles (replaced for £180). Alternator died at 120,000 miles (replaced for £200). The one and only time it failed to start, ever. Battery died at 125,00 miles (replaced for £30). Exhaust finally fell off due to rust at 129,000 miles (replaced for £140). At this point it was 14 years old and covered in road salt, so fair enough. That's a total of £550 over 6 years for failed parts, and not one of those in the first 50,000 miles after I bought it. Many people I know have spent that much on other cars within the first 2 years of owning them. And if I'd shopped around for the parts or done the work myself it would've been cheaper. Otherwise it was just the usual consumables - tyres, wipers and bulbs. It did indeed burn oil at a significant rate; every 3 months or so I would have to top it up. I considered this a very minor expense and inconvenience given the almost complete lack of other problems with the car - just something to keep an eye on occasionally. Other than that I did virtually no maintenance other than checking tyre pressures and giving it the occasional clean, then each year got it serviced at an independent garage and only ever had one MOT advisory (for advance notice of the rust on the exhaust). You could take it to a Toyota specialist if you like, but these are fairly simple cars and there are millions of them around so any decent mechanic should be able to work on them. In terms of reliability it was bombproof - almost literally; in a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic world if I couldn't find a Hilux I would get another Corolla. I may have just been lucky, but if you take care of yours then I hope you'll have as many miles and years of trouble-free motoring as I did.