[pradeepkc]

I have been looking for an Automatic transmission car for driving around the city usually during the week and on the highway on the weekends (Probably around 2K KMs a month). I zeroed in the Toyota Corolla mostly for it's reliability and quality. With a Budget of around 5L, I found 2 Toyota Corollas in Bangalore.

One of them is a 2004 Corolla H5 driven around for 67K KMs. The current owner is a Toyota Employee and has taken good care of it.

The other car is a 2012 Corolla Altis G which has run about 77K KMs. It's also in a good condition and driven by an elderly gentleman.

I can get the 2004 Corolla for less than half the price of the 2012. If I get the 2004 Corolla, I plan to drive it to the end of it's life (around 3 years, 75K additional KMs overall).

Which one would you guys recommend I go with? Is availability of spares for the 2004 Corolla going to be an issue? I hope the overall cost of maintenance is going be similar between the two and that the age of the car should not mean more maintenance.

Looking forward to your feedback. Thank you!

[GTO]

There is no question of which car to go for! Obviously, the 2012 example. It'll be newer, more reliable, have better interiors, safer, superior to drive & 2 levels up in every way. Since you are driving 2,000 km / month, it's very important to choose the right car. And you're anyway saving so much money by buying used.

Even if the 2004 model is for 1 lakh and the 2012 is for 5 lakh, I'd pick the latter. Unless there is a serious budget constraint or a sentimental attachment to a particular model, I cannot recommend a 15-year old car to anyone.

[2000rpm]

As GTO mentioned, unless budget is a constraint. This is an open and shut case.

The older corolla WILL give you higher maintainence, so the savings calculation which you are making currently, will go for a toss. This will be true for Rubber and plastics parts and moving parts like suspensions, steering set-up etc. The engine will be bullet proof for both.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by pradeepkc

2004 Corolla H5 67K KMs. The current owner has taken good care of it.

2012 Corolla Altis G 77K KMs. It's also in a good condition

Having owned 2 Corollas, and driven the Altis extensively, I would advise you to stay away from the 2004. It doesn't come with ABS and has only airbags on the H2-H5 variants.

The 2003-08 Corolla, although brilliant on reliability and interior comfort is a very poor handler.

The 2012 Altis is a better package with the newer 140 hp engine but will be expensive to maintain since this avataar was around only from 2011-14. Brake pads and filters are the only reasonably priced parts.

You are looking for an AT and my recommendation would be to go with a 2008-11 Type1 Altis VL AT which would be yours for a song. It is a brilliant package with the old IZZ-FE engine with virtually NIL maintenance on a well cared for machine.