Toyota Corolla longevity

BrianD3

I know that Toyotas have a great rep for reliability and lasting a long time but I'm still surprised at the number of late eighties Corollas (and Carinas) still on the road. IMO it is quite nice to see given today's throwaway society. Other factors which result in cars disappearing off the road are abuse/bad maintenance, the NCT, government scrappage schemes and so called "scrappage discounts" from dealers.

The Corolla I see a lot of is the model AE90 and was made from around 1987-1992. They must be pretty bulletproof mechanically and seem to resist rust very well too. There are also some of the previous model AE80 (1983-87) on the road. However the model before that which was the rear wheel drive KE70 isn't to be seen anymore, rust killed these off. The KE30, KE20 and KE10 also rusted away although I did see a mint looking KE10 being towed on a car transporter the other day.

Delta_ie

Ya I really liked most of the old corollas.
I have always wanted a KE25 or a AE86.
There are a lot of rust free AE85 s and AE86 s coming from Japan
but they are going for crazy money for what they are.

mike65

Brian get some sleep and start taking the pills again. They may last foever but that does'nt mean they're anything more than the lowest common denominator in motoring. The scrappage deals were not always a bad thing!

Mike.

BrianD3

mike65 wrote:

They may last foever but that does'nt mean they're anything more than the lowest common denominator in motoring.

Nah, that would be the Starlet Anyway I don't really agree, I always hear about how Corollas are boring and have no "character" compared to other cars. But from what I can see virtually no mainstream family cars have much "character".

Then you have the hoards of classic enthusaist who all go for the same bloody cars all the time - Beetles, Morris Minors, Ford Anglias yet turn their noses up in disgust at something like an infinitely superior and rarer 70s Toyota Corona.

BrianD3

bazz26

mike65 wrote:

Brian get some sleep and start taking the pills again. They may last foever but that does'nt mean they're anything more than the lowest common denominator in motoring. The scrappage deals were not always a bad thing!

Mike.

They have sold over 28 million of them to date so they must be doing something right.

A neighbour of mine had a 1990 1.3 petrol saloon a couple of years ago and ran it as a taxi. He put 500k on the clock on the original engine and gearbox before he traded it for a Passat Tdi. The Passat was back at the VW dealers twice in the first six months with problems.

Silvera

I agree, BrianD3 - it's great to see old Corolla's still on the roads !

They are ultra-reliable and later models are fairly rust-proof aswell.
I have also spotted a few c.1987 Corolla saloons about, usually in mint condition !

You really know your stuff re model numbers
I only know about the KE30 because I learned to drive in one and owned a few, and the KE20 which were plentiful when I was a kid. I also used to see a few coupes about KE30 and later models.

Have you got a pic of a KE10 ? (doesn't ring a bell?)


Don't forget there is a mint KE20 about, I photographed it at Trim Car Show in 2003 !

Silvera.

CJhaughey

Interesting to note that there are more old Corolla's than Golfs I-II-II around maybe they are better built.
In terms of mechanical simplicity the Nissan (Datsun) 120Y was another simple and amazingly economical vehicle.
I had an old KE20 estate 3dr for a while and apart from the radiator giving trouble it had no problems at all.

Delta_ie

Silvera wrote:

Have you got a pic of a KE10 ? (doesn't ring a bell?)
Silvera.

Take a look at this guy's KE10, it is a 2dr with a turbocharged
5K and is making about 225hp. The thing looks pretty much
stock from the outside.
Click

BrianD3

One strange thing I've noticed is on honestjohn.co.uk the Corolla AE90 is criticised for having thin sheet metal and having poor rust protection. It also says that the older AE80 is less prone to rusting. Based on my observations, the AE90 resists corrosion very well.

Also, for its day it was a safe vehicle. I have an offset crash test from 1990 where the Corolla was the best of the 6 cars tested. Corolla and the Renault 19 both had very stable passenger compartments. The Golf Mk2 was slightly worse but got a higher rating than the Renault due to a problem with the restraint system in the Renault. The Opel Kadett came 4th and wasn't far behind. After that came the Ford Escort and Fiat Tipo both of which lagged way behind due to very weak passenger compartments. So while people often say that Corollas are "deathtraps" and "made of tinfoil" the facts don't bear this out.

BrianD3

Silvera

Thanks Delta_ie.

I've never seen a KE10 in Ireland ...... always thought the K20 was the first Corolla in Irl ?

It's got to the stage where it is very rare to see an old style reg (pre-87) car on the roads now - regardless of make/model !

BrianD3

As regards the K10, I'm not even sure that it was a K10 I saw on the trailer. I'd only be about 50% sure. However I can say for certain that what I saw was a small japanese saloon from late 60's/early 70's. If it was a K10, that is the only one of them I have ever seen in this country so perhaps silvera is right and the K20 was the first Corolla sold in the irish market.

BrianD3

Silvera

Now that you mention it, I recall seeing an early seventies jap car (in good condition) parked outside a garage near Rathcoole before christmas. It looked very like a K20, but definetly wasn't one.

Could be the same car ?
(I think it was dark green or blue?)

BrianD3

Now that you mention it, I recall seeing an early seventies jap car (in good condition) parked outside a garage near Rathcoole before christmas. It looked very like a K20, but definetly wasn't one.

Could be the same car ?
(I think it was dark green or blue?)

Well the one I saw was a kind of mustard yellow, so probably not the same car I can't remember where I saw this car even though it's only a couple of weeks since I saw it. This is because I do so much driving around the country that everything becomes a bit of a blur

BrianD3

CJhaughey

Silvera wrote:

Now that you mention it, I recall seeing an early seventies jap car (in good condition) parked outside a garage near Rathcoole before christmas. It looked very like a K20, but definetly wasn't one.

Could be the same car ?
(I think it was dark green or blue?)

Could it have been an old Galant?

Silvera

CJhaughey wrote:

Could it have been an old Galant?

No, I know my cars. It was a Datsun or Toyota.