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Old 28th October 2024, 23:52   #31
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Through the twists and turns of Konkan

If there's one time, I wake up early on my own it to go on a drive - I was up before 4 and started the checks.

All fluid levels and tyre pressure is good. I also carry a tyre inflator from Qubo, a 12V socket converter to household plug in case I need to charge my laptop in an emergency.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_6936.jpg

We were good to go!

Once we crossed the Pune expressway, had a hearty breakfast at McDonald for me and a tankful that increased Coco's value by another 5 percent

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_6942.jpg

My god was the Konkan route scenic. On the ghat roads, I stopped at a viewpoint to take in the view and snap pictures of Coco. This kept happening every couple of hundred meters until I realized that’s just how beautiful the views were, and I had to make peace with it to continue driving.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_6959.jpg

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_6971.jpg

Further into the journey, while passing through a peaceful village that is fed by its agriculture, I halted for a while on seeing some beautiful birds. Took out my camera and clicked a few pictures. Why is it that many car people are also fond of birds - a correlation that I never quite understood.


Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2729.jpg
Small Minivet

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2543.jpg
Purple Sunbird

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2696.jpg
Spotted Dove

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-screenshot-20241028-11.33.228239pm.png
Long-tailed Shrike

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-screenshot-20241028-11.33.428239pm.png
Golden-fronted Leafbird leaf birding

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-screenshot-20241028-11.42.398239pm.png
Siberian Stonechat

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-screenshot-20241028-11.33.288239pm.png
Lovely nests between the tamarind trees

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-screenshot-20241028-11.33.358239pm.png
In the world of birds, what would Coco be? A crow—useful, reliable, intelligent, and powerful, all while staying under the radar. If the 9th-gen Corolla were cheaper to run, like a Gen 1/2 Suzuki Swift, it would have fallen into the hands of young enthusiasts who would have modded it to death and abused it. If it were a bit more fun to drive and as expensive to keep running as it is now, it would have, once again, fallen into the hands of young enthusiasts who would have modded it to death, like the Honda Civic *cough* *cough* Ricers . The 9th-gen Corolla sits in this interesting place where it’s expensive to run and powerful yet not as fun to drive. It does its job without demanding much credit, like that boomer in every office who quietly holds the company together—just as a crow holds the ecosystem together without being showy about it.

Last edited by cefiljoseph : 28th October 2024 at 23:55.
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Old 29th October 2024, 20:48   #32
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What's better than a Corolla? Two Corollas

On reaching Goa, thanks to me gaslighting myself into believing the power-steering pump not working as well, the steering did feel a tad bit tighter potentially due to the heavy use in the ghats or the car being idle for a while because right now at home in Kerala it works better than ever.

In Goa, I was looking forward to meeting my friend and fellow BHPian Noopur (known as NODA on team BHP who owns a pristine example of the 9th gen Corolla (Buying a 9-year old value-for-money sedan : My 2006 Toyota Corolla))

Reached Goa after 6, filled petrol and met Noopur around 7:30. Filled petrol and air in Noopur's car and went to get dinner.

It was so much fun hanging out with a friend talking about our beloved machines and life.

We then drove each others cars, took pictures around North Goa. Noopur has a unicorn with him - his corolla has only ran for 66k kms which is insanely low for a car that's over two decades old. It was truly a time capsule to see a new 20 year old car which has not lost the newness especially in areas like the buttons, gear shifter knob, immaculate seats, cassette player. He even had the OEM CD folder provided by Toyota and factory floor mats. Was truly a privilege to have experience his car.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2782.jpg

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7075.jpg

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2748.jpg

Post our meeting, I headed to south Goa where I stayed the night.

Last edited by cefiljoseph : 29th October 2024 at 20:51.
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Old 29th October 2024, 21:10   #33
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Gokarna - What we want Goa to be

Woke up kinda late next day in Goa owing to the tiredness and long drive the previous day. I stayed in a hostel in South Goa called Whoopers who had a safe parking as well. Although it was a small budget friendly place, the staff were courteous and friendly and was a pleasantly surprising stay which I didn't expect for around five hundred

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7087.jpg

Palolem beach was walking distance and I decided to take a walk there and chart the plan ahead during the walk. It was peaceful and relaxing to walk on the shore with the occasional annoyance of someone trying to sell something.

I had a great breakfast from a place beside the beach and decided to travel to Gokarna and rest there for the night.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7094.jpg

Gokarna was only two hours from the South Goa and it was so much more better than Goa from what I experienced. Way more calm and peaceful without being overly commercialised - something I was expecting from South Goa.

Stayed at the Zostel in Gokarna which is perhaps the best hostel I have been to. It overlooked the cliff and provided an insane view of the beach.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7103.jpg

In the evening, went to explore Kudle beach, did some water sports and came back to my Zostel for dinner.

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_2796.jpg
Spotted some Asian Green Bee Eaters around the place.

The place next to the Zostel happened to be selling their in house Kombucha - I tasted a glass and bought a few bottles for home. The restaurant was run by a family who were so wholesome in interacting with their customers and created a great ending for the last night of the roadtrip.
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Old 29th October 2024, 21:55   #34
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Holy Cow!

Gokarna was so much fun! The next day started around six in the morning as we headed home. It was an uneventful and rather grueling drive of over 16 hours from Gokarna to Thrissur.

On the way back, the roads often surprised us with unexpected cow crossings. One misjudgment, and you'd be risking a beef (pun intended) with the villagers

Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7117.jpg

In Mangalore, I wanted to try out the popular Giri Majas for their seafood but I ended up reaching an hour and a half early hence had to continue driving. Had dosa at an Udupi restaurant and later lunch from MRA in Kozhikode. With the never ending constructions and the diversions, driving was no fun this time.

16 hours later, we were back to base. Coco's adventures continues...

Going big and going home
Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures-img_7129.jpg
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Old 30th October 2024, 09:10   #35
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Re: Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures

You know, whenever I come across a post about this gen of Corolla, I keep getting reminded of mine. I had an '06 1.8E for a short while about 6-7 years ago, and there are so many positives of that car. It didn't have a single squeak, the 1.8NA is as smooth as butter, reaches 70 in a blink of an eye without one realizing they're going that fast. So stable, and with the decent ground clearance, wasn't scared of taking it to unknown lands.
I always think to myself if the NCT govt. allowed RC renewals, I maybe would still have that car.

Glad this brought back some memories for me
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Old 30th October 2024, 17:50   #36
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Re: Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures

The styling of pre-facelift Corolla is timeless and hence even after all those years, Coco looks so elegant. Kudos for taking such good care of the steed. Thanks for sharing the coordinates for the South Goa property-I was looking for something similar and it perfectly fits the bill.
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Old 5th November 2024, 21:22   #37
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Re: Life with a 9th Generation Toyota Corolla (E120) | Ownership Review | Coco's Adventures

Oh, Coco, Coco. This thread that made me go looking for used 9th Corollas online (not necessarily with the intention of actually buying one, but you know )

I came across an ad for a 2nd owner car with 6xxxx km. The photos looked familiar. That's because they were taken right off this post: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post5140548 (Buying a 9-year old value-for-money sedan : My 2006 Toyota Corolla)

The ad seems to have been taken down now.

Has NODA sold his car?
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