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Owning 2 petrol and 1 diesel Toyota Corolla Altis cars

28th June 2021, 15:38 by Chirag Moro

The 10th Gen Corolla Altis was a virtual fill it–shut it–forget it car, but with some chinks in its armour.

BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction

After owning two 9th Gen Toyota Corollas, and being involved in the ownership of many more, the logical progression is to move on to the next gen – the Toyota Corolla Altis. This is an account of my journey with three such cars – a 2010 D-4D G, a 2010 1.8GL, and a 2011 1.8VL Automatic. Like the 9th Gen, the 10th Gen Corolla Altis was a virtual fill it–shut it–forget it car, but with some chinks in its armour. Those chinks are listed in the next few posts.

How did I end up recommending the Corolla Altis?

The following threads describe the 9th Gen Corolla in good detail with my experiences of maintaining them.

Barring a mixed bag with my first Corolla, the others were synonymous with peace. So it was a no brainer that the petrol Corolla Altis was the best choice that a Corolla owner could make as a progression. However, the story of the diesel Corolla Altis was different. How? Read on..

2010 Toyota Corolla Altis D-4D G

2010 Toyota Corolla Altis D-4D G:

2010 Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8 GL:

2011 Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8VL Automatic:

Chapter 1 – story of a 2010 Pearl White Corolla Altis Diesel

The next upgrade

A close friend’s first car was a Maruti 800 in 2002 in Chennai, and then he upgraded to a Chevrolet Aveo 1.6LT in 2006 in Bangalore. When he moved back to Chennai in 2008, he continued to hold the Aveo, but by 2010, he felt the need to move to something better. The Aveo was doing good duty, but had gotten boring plus was a guzzler. When he asked me for my choice, I told him to close his eyes and go in for a 2010 Innova V, stating that he would never ever have to look at another car in life. I looked at the future for him, and knowing that he had kids who were growing up, and oldies at home, I felt the Innova V would be his best choice under INR 15 lacs. The Innova V facelift in 2009 had some upgrades over the earlier avatar, with the climate control being a good addition, and the car was a good choice then - in fact, it is a great car even today.

Off went my friend, checked out the Innova V at a dealership, booked a 7 seater in the Champagne Mica shade, and awaited papers to process this car through car lease via his company.

Armchair quarterbacks step in

When my friend started sounding his relatives, colleagues and others about this booking, pat came feedback about the Innova being perceived as a taxi, and not in line with his “image” of a corporate leader. A stable minded person, who had actually gone ahead with booking an Innova V, now did a U-turn and started examining the VW Jetta as an option, and he was offered a juicy deal on a showroom display car too. He then saw the Corolla Altis diesel and, somehow, fell for it. Until then, I wasn’t aware that he was moving off his original path, and only after he made the announcement of the Altis diesel, did I know all that had happened in the interim.

I even advised him that if he was keen on an Altis, he should look at the 1.8 petrol VL AT. I think it's on road price was a shade over his allowable limits under the lease option, so the VL AT was ruled out. That left him finally with Corolla Altis Diesel vs Innova V.

Decision making

My message to him was very clear – the Innova V was my choice for him. Why? Because I have always wished well for him and wanted him to have a well rounded car that would last him a lifetime, and not something that he’d need to or want to change after a few years. I told him that he was free to choose the Altis Diesel but under protest from me. All I told him was – if he did go with the Altis, he should go only with Pearl White.

Corolla Altis Diesel G-D vs GL-D

Armchair quarterbacks eventually won and he modified his Innova booking to go with a Corolla Altis diesel G in Pearl White !!!

Leather seats, walnut finish steering, foglamps, headlamp washers, and HID low headlamps in the GL-D variant weren’t too exciting for my friend, so he decided to stay with the D-4D G variant, which was a sensible choice for Chennai. He took delivery of the car in Nov-2010.

The 2010 Corolla Altis D-4D G in Pearl White:

My first meeting with the Altis Diesel – Dec-2010

I was in Chennai in Dec-2010 on leave, and by then was approx. two months into owning my own 2003 Corolla H4 automatic. It was going to be interesting to see how the Altis stacked up against the 9th Gen Corolla. The first time I saw the Altis was in the basement parking in his building. I, however, felt that the old Corolla’s interior fit and finish felt much better than the plasticky Altis.

The first thing that struck me w.r.t the Altis was its low stance, in contrast to the slightly high up Corolla. I fired the Altis diesel up and the engine settled down to a mild murmur, with zero vibrations in the cabin. It sounded good.

July-2012 onwards

I’d moved into a new role in Chennai and had also acquired a pre-owned 2005 Corolla H5 1.8E. I also began driving my friend’s Altis diesel extensively, when we started pooling our cars. It was quite a challenge shifting from driving a Corolla 1.8 petrol to driving this 1.4 diesel Altis, and the head needed re-programming every time. In fact, a few months down the line, I ended up driving the Altis even more - whenever my friend needed to be on call , wasn’t keeping well, or after he was sloshed at a get together.

Initial observations on the Corolla Altis diesel

Likes

Stately looks – the perfect executive sedan
Refined engine at idle and low revs
Brilliant and slick six speed gear box
Light clutch – navigating in B2B traffic required manipulation of just the clutch with no accelerator input
Good ride and handling – way better than the 9th Gen
Fantastic fuel efficiency – 23kmpl on the highway was easily achievable at 120kmph thanks to the sixth cog
Sudden power boost just above 2,000 rpm
Seat belt warning even for the passenger – good safety features
Sliding center front armrest - very useful unlike the fixed armrest on the earlier gen
60:40 split folding rear seats – useful when carrying a lot of luggage with only four occupants
Electrically adjustable and retractable ORVMs – useful when navigating tight lanes
Outstanding air conditioning
Less glass area compared to the 9th Gen Corolla – hence cooler cabin in summers
Disc brakes on all wheels

Shortcomings

Very very poor power delivery below 2,000 rpm – gets irritating when one wants that instant move forward
Brake pads known to pack up even at 25,000 kms
Plasticky dashboard – nowhere as class as the 9th Gen Corolla
Overall ride refinement at city speeds at low rpms was poor – could hear the odd grind and grunt
Seats could have done with better under thigh support
Pathetic sound system like in the 9th Gen Corolla – Toyota would have done better by not providing a sound system at all
Roots horns – the high tone horn packed up in 2 years – while the 9th Gen Corolla had Denso horns that would sound sweet and go on and on and on
Door inserts and steering wood finish was a poor shade - Dark walnut finish should have featured instead

Useful sliding front center armrest: