[accentgiri]

Congrats Swami on your new vehicle (12 year old). Hope to see the car in the next Chennai TBHP meet...... Keep us posted the maintanence / upgradations that is done for the vehicle.

[petrolhead_neel]

Hi,
Congrats on the bullet proof Jap beauty! Great choice done there Sir. Your car is an immaculately maintained specimen. Now, you have a superb garage. The Thar for you to enjoy, and the Corolla for your family.

I showed the pictures of your car to my family, and believe me, everyone had a hard time digesting that she is 12 years old!

Wish you many happy and safe miles. Do keep the thread updated.

Horses for courses!

Cheers,
Neel

[condor]

Originally Posted by swami69

Thanks Jack Sparrow for your observation on the battery.

Acutally, no need to remove that. The top part of the plastic cover has been removed, and the breathing happens from there. The plastic cover is on the bottom side, which will help reduce any leakage from getting on to the metal below. I think the previous owner has taken care of the car.

Can you post pics of the alloys after the paint work ?

[gopa99]

super cute Swami. Loved your report. Actually I was intending to follow the same path, but just held on thinking about the FE I will get in my traffic choked bangalore ride to office daily. How much FE is the car returning in the city?
Also some of the must do's that come to my mind is the "Interior Foam Cleaning and Disinfecting" as its the existing upholstery you are sitting on. Also a Fuel System Cleaning treatment possibly from 3M, not sure whether you would get it in Lanson, but no harm to check there, it would help flush out the Injectors and fuel path clean and make the engine younger and peppier.

[pamiboy]

Nice write up Swami. Congratulations on the new car. I am a fan of Civic but in your situation I too would buy a car using my brain and not with my heart. Thank you for the well balanced and mature thought process.

[landcruiser123]

A great purchase if you use the car sparingly. A well maintained 12 year corolla with 83xxx km has a lot of life left in it for sure. Pray that the government doesn't decide that the car's time is up.

Just do the periodic service once a year/10,000 km and you'll be happy.
Wishing you a happy ownership.

Just a question: Are you considering Duster AWD (or similar car) for purchase(in the future)? Or do you tackle terrain with your Thar which the Duster can't handle?

[gou]

What is the fuel economy that you get? I heard that corolla had better fuel economy than civic.

[Turbanator]

Congrats , I have a similar 2003 Model which has done over 300 Thousand , that too after 2 almost complete rebuilt's due to major accidents many years ago ( mileage less than 50 at that time )

This is so trouble free , will start after many months with a single crank , perhaps car's like these have built repo for Toyota . Will suggest you to not to change things before they actually stop working completely - these will last much longer than anyone can anticipate . Mine is still running with original clutch plates

[fergus]

I am also thinking of going for a pre owned corolla 2007 or prior. What would you advise a price for a Toyota serviced vehicle approx 50000 kms 2007 model. Since the engines are bs 3 have you faced puc issues with RTO. Fergus

[tazmaan]

Congratulations for the Corolla. I too bought a 2003 Corolla in 2013 for project use in Ahmedabad. I bought it for 1.5 lacs at 53000 kms. Its at 96000 kms as of now. I had to spend on replacing taillights, engine mount, gear mount and full front suspension overhaul. Nothing since that. It gives a good mileage, has a strong pick up, good space and a brilliant original paint quality. I can barely find any rust spots on the car.

These were the initial batch which were imported and not made in India. The engine is well protected by a thick metal plate, has all 4 disc brakes and 2 airbags. I frequently do Ahmedabad - Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad - Rajkot and Ahmedabad - Baroda in this old car without any issues.

You have got the right buy. Just keep a check on rubber parts, brake pad wear (corollas are known to use up the pads earlier) and you are set. If I may say, you might start enjoying this car more over the Thar!

[dr. sen]

Sir,

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

Congratulations! The car doesn't show its age, and looks less than 5 years old. It is when we see such well maintained cars, the NGT ban of vehicles based on their age seems plain rubbish.

I take serious offence to your sweeping and generalized comment on NGT 90-99% of the cars engine emits foul gases with age, due to different reasons, one among being neglect from the owners, beside adulterated fuel, lubes, bad and poorly designed roads, bad driving habits to name few.

the NGT has done a commendable job in taking a a far reaching decision on retiring over 10 yr diesel and 15 year petrol vehicle. Just ask the people of delhi for the cng conversion decision. delhi would have been in perennial fog in winter or other seasons like beijing, but for the conversion to cng.

cng has its own problems, but that is because of the maintenance issue of the public and goods transporters organizations.

Toyota, honda, suzuki (basically japanese) companies have consciously or unconsciously taken a wise decision to give clean and highly fuel efficient engines at VFM, unlike its more illustrious and highly promoted counterparts like bmw, merc, audi in (in high value) and renault, nissan (basically renault), ford, gm (in low value, high volume).

lets take tata and mahindra out, who have taken their lmv or tractor engine (to power their entire range), from scopio/bolero/ suv/ sumo/indica/indigo (not manza -quadra)/ to even nano). They were all derivatives of their prime mover tata 407 (the basic architecture) and mahindra tractor / commander dp engines). (the experts can come in here).

Please enlighten our fellow brethren bhpians how is NGT, to check each and every vehicle, and the manufacturer, and then give the fitness certificate. We all know about our RTO's. Most of us, we abhor them, hate them, may be some of us would accelerate if we see them crossing the roads.

Rest i agree with you regarding the Nano comment. (i was gifted one), it 3 year old, it stutters, emits black smoke every time we start after 7-8 days.

Hope we all feel grateful to NGT and the Supreme Court, who are trying their best to make our children live a life devoid of asthalin and inhalers. Both my kids in delhi has to use them in winters and rainy season. the other 2 who stay in kol and stalingrad, they dont have to. same gene, same father and mother. (we have 22 physician professors including my elder son and daughter, and wife.)

This write up was not aimed at you, but for the misconception people have against the NGT.

regards

dr. sen

[joshiviv]

Dr Sen, one of the biggest issue regarding pollution in India is bad quality of fuel, bad roads and lack of public transit inspite of the high taxes we pay. This will reduce any new car into an emissions bucket in no time. If NGT was serious they should make the government and car manufacturers accountable and not penalize the citizens who are already paying high taxes. BTW the cost of production of a new car in terms of emissions and material used is probably higher than the emission generated by an old car. The Pollution certificate process is broken and NGT should have taken some pain to fix that system. Or have a system where every car is taken to RTO every other year for fitness certificate. Again, NGT does not want to take on the government, rather harass the citizens.
IMHO, NGT is slightly disconnected from reality

Originally Posted by dr. sen

Sir,
I take serious offence to your sweeping and generalized comment on NGT 90-99% of the cars engine emits foul gases with age, due to different reasons, one among being neglect from the owners, beside adulterated fuel, lubes, bad and poorly designed roads, bad driving habits to name few.

Congrats on the car. It's in great condition and doesn't look any older than 2-3 years.

[GrammarNazi]

It's a very good decision to go for this amazing machine!

Btw, incredibly narrated. You sure have gotten us smitten by this car (all over again).

Have a great time with it!

[swami69]

Originally Posted by accentgiri

Congrats Swami on your new vehicle (12 year old). Hope to see the car in the next Chennai TBHP meet...... Keep us posted the maintanence / upgradations that is done for the vehicle.

Thanks accentgiri, will surely bring this one for the next meet, which I guess is a Mahabs drive on the October 2nd.

Originally Posted by condor

Acutally, no need to remove that. The top part of the plastic cover has been removed, and the breathing happens from there. The plastic cover is on the bottom side, which will help reduce any leakage from getting on to the metal below. I think the previous owner has taken care of the car.

Can you post pics of the alloys after the paint work ?

Thanks condor - I am half way through the alloy painting as I actually did it a couple of days back. But, I still see some blemishes in the wheels and not fully happy to say it is complete. I am going to wait for another week and will rework on that and will post pictures soon after that.

Originally Posted by gopa99

super cute Swami. Loved your report. Actually I was intending to follow the same path, but just held on thinking about the FE I will get in my traffic choked bangalore ride to office daily. How much FE is the car returning in the city?
Also some of the must do's that come to my mind is the "Interior Foam Cleaning and Disinfecting" as its the existing upholstery you are sitting on. Also a Fuel System Cleaning treatment possibly from 3M, not sure whether you would get it in Lanson, but no harm to check there, it would help flush out the Injectors and fuel path clean and make the engine younger and peppier.

thanks gopa99 - In my recent check up at Lanson, they did a Air Conditioner foam cleaning. The upholstery was cleaned only few months back as per the service record (Interior detailing was done). I will probably do it in the next few months. With respect to fuel system cleaning, not sure, because Lanson repeatedly said that I can bring it for the next service due in January 2016 and nothing is needed now as it has been regularly serviced.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

A great purchase if you use the car sparingly. A well maintained 12 year corolla with 83xxx km has a lot of life left in it for sure. Pray that the government doesn't decide that the car's time is up.

Just do the periodic service once a year/10,000 km and you'll be happy.
Wishing you a happy ownership.

Just a question: Are you considering Duster AWD (or similar car) for purchase(in the future)? Or do you tackle terrain with your Thar which the Duster can't handle?

Thanks landcruiser. I am currently happy with these two cars I have and the Thar is just an year old and running pretty well. I have not idea as of now.

Originally Posted by gou

What is the fuel economy that you get? I heard that corolla had better fuel economy than civic.

thanks gou - I am waiting for the next tank full which will give a good picture. I will update the thread soon on that.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Congrats , I have a similar 2003 Model which has done over 300 Thousand , that too after 2 almost complete rebuilt's due to major accidents many years ago ( mileage less than 50 at that time )

This is so trouble free , will start after many months with a single crank , perhaps car's like these have built repo for Toyota . Will suggest you to not to change things before they actually stop working completely - these will last much longer than anyone can anticipate . Mine is still running with original clutch plates

Thanks Turbanator - When I was insisting on Clutch, Suspension with Lanson, they assured me not to worry about it now and all in order. Both the service advisor and the experienced Test Drive Driver confirmed it. For my sake, they said, if I find some problem in between, bring it and they will check it out.

Originally Posted by fergus

I am also thinking of going for a pre owned corolla 2007 or prior. What would you advise a price for a Toyota serviced vehicle approx 50000 kms 2007 model. Since the engines are bs 3 have you faced puc issues with RTO. Fergus

Thanks fergus - When I was checking out, both the Civic and Corolla 2007 models were around 3.80 Lakhs, but all of them were close to 80-90 K done. On the pollution control - No issues so far, the agent changed the RC book recently to my name and the RTO have nicely endorsed it. So, I guess it is OK.

Originally Posted by tazmaan

Congratulations for the Corolla. I too bought a 2003 Corolla in 2013 for project use in Ahmedabad. I bought it for 1.5 lacs at 53000 kms. Its at 96000 kms as of now. I had to spend on replacing taillights, engine mount, gear mount and full front suspension overhaul. Nothing since that. It gives a good milage, has a strong pick up, good space and a brilliant original paint quality. I can barely find any rust spots on the car.

These were the initial batch which were imported and not made in India. The engine is well protected by a thick metal plate, has all 4 disc brakes and 2 airbags. I frequently do Ahmedabad - Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad - Rajkot and Ahmedabad - Baroda in this old car without any issues.

You have got the right buy. Just keep a check on rubber parts, brake pad wear (corollas are known to use up the pads earlier) and you are set. If I may say, you might start enjoying this car more over the Thar!

Thanks tazmaan - congrats on your Corolla. Yes, before I took delivery, I just knelt down as much and checked the underbody, there were no rusts. Also, there were no rusts in the spare wheel area (which I found in all those CIVIC I saw - not sure why). Then when I changed the tyre, I could get down underground and checked my Corolla and there were no rusts. But there were few spots on the exhausts line which seemed nothing big, but will check it out soon.

[Utopian]

Congrats swami for the Corolla. This gen corolla IMO still had more of that stately grandeur which is lacking in the newer gen models.
One of my friends happen to own one and touch wood there have been no problems so far.
Happy mile crunching.