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2003 Corolla owner upgrades to a used 2013 Corolla Altis: Experience

31st January 2023, 17:01 by Rahul Nagaraj

I started looking for used Fortuners as well but finalised on a Corolla Altis AT at the end.

BHPian vivek.ks recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Detailing steps that took me to a used 2013 Altis

Step 1: Selling my current car
Step 2: Which used car to buy?
Step 3: Inspection of used car
Step 4: Delivery

In Sep 2018, I sold my 2003 Corolla 1.8J and have been looking out for a new car since then. On 23 Dec, I went ahead and purchased a well-maintained 2013 Altis from an Individual Buyer via OLX. This log is for detailing my buying journey and the time I spent with this car in the future.

Previous Car

My 2003 corolla was purchased from a friend who was not able to keep his car with him due to a lack of parking. At that time odometer was at 1,04,000 km and the engine felt as fresh as new. However the front suspension was completely shot and the tires were really old, like 12 years old. By then I had read @swami69's 12-year-old corolla thread and was convinced that Corolla was great to buy at the rock-bottom price of 2L only.

I got the car home, got it cleaned in and out and slowly started replacing parts of the front suspension. To keep it short, I replaced the engine belt, 2 front shock absorbers, and front tires and put in a new head unit. The car was a pleasure to drive and felt comfortable during long drives. I even took it to Goa and what a ride I had in it. After driving my Corolla, when I sat in the 2010 ANHC driver's seat, I could see the difference. Corolla however old has spoiled me with its comfortable front driver's seat.

Finally, after 2.5 yrs of ownership, I decided to look for a new car and dropped Corolla at Car's 24 in Bangalore. Got a price which was low but with the registration expiry being the very next month, I decided to part ways with it.

On a trip to Mysore in 2016

Sold to Cars24

I learned 2 things from my corolla buying experience:

Used cars are a great value for money, especially D Segment cars
Check a used car thoroughly as much as possible before committing to buy

After a search of 3 months, I finally zeroed into a well-maintained Automatic Altis and got it home last week.

After selling my car, I decided to take a break from buying a new car for at least a year. This decision was due to the ease of commute via Ola Auto. My office is at a distance of 4km from my home.

I kept on browsing team-bhp on an hourly basis and my decision was getting diluted on a regular basis. Finally, I decided to start hunting for a new car.

I started with the idea of buying a hatchback for my wife and retaining an i10 for myself. Visited Honda, Tata, Ford, and VW on the same day. Decided to look for a used Jazz, Figo and Polo GT the same day. I was really against paying road tax for a new car and started hunting for 2017/8 models on OLX.

I made a few inquiries and realized that Jazz makes the most sense to me. Started discussing with a seller on Jazz VX AT @ 8L. He was not ready to budge an inch and I was not ready to pay 8L for Jazz.

My heart now was calling out Figo AT and Polo GT. I visited the showroom multiple times and did not like the rear seat in both of these cars. Figo was out as a facelift was not in the scene. In the end, no discounts, an 11.5L price tag and 4 months of waiting for the Polo GT made me decide against the new Polo GT. I would, however, buy the new model when it comes to India.

I listed all car models and started filtering them one by one.

I finally narrowed down my choices to only 3 AT models:

Tata Hexa
Toyota Fortuner
Toyota Corolla

Hexa seemed like a winner but there were only a few XMA Hexa available on used car sites. All of them were priced at around 17-18L.

At 17L, I started looking for used Fortuners as well. Came across 2-3 AT models with 1L km run, all sold via Toyota Trust. They also showed me a 2016 Altis with only 2k on the odometer. This car even has plastics on the back seat. The dealer started quoting 15.5L and was not ready to go down a bit.

In between, I had seen 2013 Altis AT via OLX which I finally purchased.

Buying used cars in India is a difficult decision because of so many choices and sources available. You can buy cars from used car dealers, company-affiliated showrooms and from individual buyers. I found OLX to be the best as there are tons of listing available compared to other sites. I am not associated with OLX in any way. OLX should add a filter for transmission while searching cars.

I fixed an appointment with the seller and inspected the car from the inside and outside. The car looked clean from the outside sans minor scratches on the bumper. The interior looked as good as new and was very clean. I immediately put forward my inclination to buy and requested another appointment for a detailed inspection at Toyota Service Center.

Photos from 2nd November 2018 when I first met the seller and inspected the car.

Keyless entry/start, 7 Speed CVT, Bluetooth Media Player, HID Lamps and more.

I also drove the car for around 3 kms the same day and found the engine responds with a bit of a CVT lag. No signs of rattling at all and the drive was very peaceful.

Post this visit, I requested the seller to get the car inspected at the authorised Toyota Service Centre. Fortunately, the seller agreed and we fixed a date for the car inspection.

On the planned date, I was super excited and visited Ravindu Toyota, Banswadi, quite early. I am typing this in 2023 and still remember the day. Seller Mr S came at the appointed time and discussed regarding inspection with service centre folks.

Now Mr S is a true gentleman. He patiently waited and answered my queries. He also requested a complete annual service for the car to be completed. This was a true surprise for me. If I am going to sell my car, why should I get the car serviced? But Mr S beat all my expectations. I meanwhile requested for having a look at the previous service history of the car. The service advisor was very patient and showed me all the records. Nothing very surprising came up. The car was regularly serviced and had a clean history. At that time car had approx. 38182 on the odometer.

Now I came across some interesting history of this car.

Owner 1 - Registered in name of the company in Mumbai
Car was then moved to Bangalore in the Bangalore branch of the company
Car was sold to Toyota Trust by Owner 1
Car was purchased by Mr S (Owner 2) on 15/July/2017 with an ODO reading of 35,057
After 1 year and 5 months, Mr S was looking at selling the car with an ODO reading of 38,177

I was going to be owner 3, which means a depreciation in my car value. This got me thinking for a while, but I decided to go ahead with it.

Problems identified during inspection:

1. The engine sump had one screw with a damaged thread. I lost my Bajaj Pulsar due to a similar issue and was surely worried. However, on talking and inspecting the underbody, I understood that this should not a problem as a seal has been applied which reduces the risk. The question for me still remained as to why the cover was removed in the first place or how it got damaged. It is still unanswered.

2. Damaged Front engine bottom guard - This was again not a deal breaker. The cover was hanging loose and was looking ugly, however with the help of a few zip ties, the service centre folks were able to secure it in place.

Now, with the car looking good and in good shape, the price negotiations started the next day. Mr S. had purchased this car in 11.5L a year ago and he was not ready to lose a lot. He started with 8.5L and finally settled on 7.5L. These negotiations took some time and finally, we agreed on a delivery date of 23rd December 2018.

Delivery

The car was delivered to me by Mr S. after payment of the required amount on 23rd December 2018. I took my friend along to be the witness. Collected both the car keys and the required documents. Took the car home and then to a Puja in the evening.

Immediately the next day I applied for a CC in the KA 03 RTO.

I also had a verbal agreement with Mr S regarding Insurance claims and he agreed to help me out in case situations arose in future. Later on, I was unable to transfer Insurance from Future Generali in my name and insured car via Acko.

Travels

I have taken this car from Bangalore to:

Mysore
Hassan
Goa
Munnar
A 11 day Kerala road trip in 2022

During all my trips, there have been 0 hiccups. There has never been a situation where the car refused to start or gave any kind of trouble. Now, this is the kind of experience that people look for while buying a car.