Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2
Performance
Practicality
Reliability
Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2
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User Reviews
Performance
Practicality
Reliability
Value For Money
This Is My First Toyota Corolla T2 And Will Most D
This is my first Toyota Corolla t2 and will most definitely be buying another RECOMMEND them to any one..
Performance
Practicality
Reliability
Value For Money
I Bought The Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2 Vvt-i Second Ha
I bought the Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2 VVT-i second hand for £4,999 in "Carlo Blue" i.e. dark metallic blue, with 28,000 miles on the clock. It was very cheap because of a couple of scuffs on the rear bumper, one on each corner. You can only see them if you're looking directly at them so I didn't mind, and as the bumper is plastic, it won't affect the body work.
It was bought to replace a 1996 1.8 Ford Fiesta Classic, and what a difference! I thought the 1.8 litre engine in the fiesta was fairly good, but the Corolla's smaller 1.4 (even though it's a much bigger car) leaves the Fiesta in dust.
The acceleration in the Corolla - particularly in 3rd gear - is excellent. It can easily keep up with larger engined VW Golfs and Honda Civics from a standing start at the traffic lights!
The interior is very sturdily made, with a soft touch dashboard and flush central coloumn. All the controls are in just the right place for you to reach them without looking away from the road. The instrument display looks great at night with the dials lit up in green and bright red pointers. It also has nice chrome detail on the air-vents and door handles.
The seats are very comfortable, although I haven't made a particularly long drive in it yet. I'm driving from Buckinghamshire to Newcastle in a few days time which is a 5 hour trip, so I'll soon find out how comfy they really are! There is an abundance of storage with a flapped compartment in the center coloumn, large glove-box, small flapped box on the driver's side, and large compartment between the two front seats. Not to mention two cup holders by the handbrake, enough space for two more bottles in each door, plus normal side pockets, AND the cup holders on both sides in the back!! You could run a sizable bar from the interior of the Corolla! The boot is also pretty spacious for the size of car.
Passenger space is unlimited. I managed to get my Mum and her 6'3" partner in the back without having to move the front seats at all, and still have plenty of room for the front passenger. I've had no one in the rear middle yet, so I can't comment about that unfortunately.
The one gripe I have about the interior is how hot it gets when the sun is shining on it. I know all cars get hot, but this really is an oven. During this July (2006), I have had to open both doors to let the air circulate for a few minutes to let the hot air out before getting into the car. The interior is all black though, so that probably doesn't help. I've no idea if the same problem would occur with a lighter-coloured interior trim.
The electronics are good in the Corolla. The electric windows are smooth and quiet and also have a one-touch function. The driver is able to control both windows from the driver's door, as well as lock the windows open and closed. Next to the window lock button is also the door-lock button activating the locks on both doors. The key incidentally, has a good function in that you can "Double-Lock" the doors, with two presses of the radio central locking button on the key. This means that when the doors are double-locked, you cannot open nor unlock them from the outside OR the inside. So even if a thief does break a window, he still won't be able to get in the car without clambering clumsily through the window itself.
The windscreen wipers are very good with slow, fast and variable-speed intermitent settings. As well as the rear window intermitent and constant settings.
The trip computer is basic but handy, showing real-time miles per gallon, average miles per gallon and average speed. The odometer can also record the mileage of two seperate journeys.
The Corolla also has a delayed fade-out courtesy light in the middle of the ceiling, plus driver and passenger map-reading lights in the front.
All-in-all, and even though I've only had it for 3 weeks, the Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2 VVT-i is a superb car, very quiet on the road, even at speed. I have a feeling the 5-door will have even more room in it, but if you're on your own, you don't need any more room than the 3-door has.
I'm not sure I'd pay the starting price of £11,000 for a new Corolla 1.4 T2. Although it is very nice and I love it to bits, the spec doesn't quite seem to fit the price tag. But if you can find a second-hand one (and there are LOADS about) for between £4,500 and 7,000, you'll have a car that's well worth the money.
Performance
Practicality
Reliability
Value For Money
After 12 Years Driving Only Toyotas, Was Initially
After 12 years driving only Toyotas, was initially delighted with my brand new Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2. It handled beautifully, it was very economical, but then I noticed how hot it could get with the windows closed. In winter this was no problem, but in summer on the motorway, or if it was raining, the inside was like a sauna.
Toyota (GB) was about as unhelpful as is possible, and my main reason for getting rid of the car was that the overall Toyota experience was dreadful (dealer and Toyota GB). Also, Toyota kept closing their dealers, so I had to go 20 miles to my nearest decent dealer.
Toyota let me down and denied anything wrong with the car, but interesting that the new T2 comes with air-con as standard.
I'll never buy another Toyota after being treated like that.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for replying to my comment.
Yes, it is the gadgets and lights and cubby holes that impress me, because most (hell, ALL) of the time, when I'm driving the car, I'm sitting inside it. And I believe that as well as a car looking good on the outside, handling well, and being economical, it has to have appeal on the inside both visually and practically.
I completely agree that the interior fan temperature is a problem (I also commented on the cars ability to retain uncomfortably high temperatures), and that an improvement would be to have air-con as standard (which I've believe they now have), but reading the review, I felt that the temperature problem and of course, Toyota themselves had maybe overshadowed your review of the vehicle as a whole.
I feel there is a fine line between an enjoyable ownership of a car and enjoying the car itself, and agree that bad aftersales support can make you wish you'd never bought the thing, no matter how good the car is. However, as this should have been a car review, I still think the car itself should have been the main focus of it.
If it was a review of car dealerships, then I think the review would have been spot on.
Ian Forknall evidently didn’t read the bit where I said how beautifully the T2 handled and was very economical, etc.
I could have waffled endlessly about all the detailed aspects of the car, but if it is as uncomfortable as it was, then there was no point in wasting readers’ time further.
Yes, there was quite a lot about Toyota, because car ownership is more than the car itself, but also the after-sales-service and customer care. If these are poor, then it really doesn’t matter how good the car was when new. No car stays pristine for ever – not even a Toyota.
In the case of Toyota, during the 12 years I owned various models, dealers closed, so that I had to travel further and further from home for spares and servicing, eventually having to go about 16 miles each way to my nearest dealer. As they were quite small I sometimes had to travel even further.
Also the parts/spares became ridiculously expensive – comparable with Mercedes-Benz prices.
However, to return to the Corolla 1.4 T2 – later models have air-con as standard, which only supports my criticism of the earlier model.
Ian Forknall is entitled to write as much as he likes about the Corolla T2, but if he were unfortunate enough to get stuck in a traffic jam on the M25, with ambient temperatures of 35ºC (as we have been having), I suspect he would lose interest in the dials, the electronics, the cup holders, delayed fade-out courtesy light and anything else. Like me, all he’d want to be doing is to get rid of the wretched thing ASAP to some unsuspecting Toyota fan. And talking of fans, that's what you really need in the T2!
P.S. I went on to replace the T2 with a second-hand Ford Focus LS (2003 model), which cost a lot less than the T2. It handles better than the Corolla and is real fun to drive. Dealers are everywhere and parts are plentiful and reasonably priced. It has virtually all the gadgets that seem to impress Mr Forknall, PLUS air-con, which in the weather we've been having has been a joy. It also has ParkAssist and ClearScreen.
It's slightly less economical than the Corolla, but that is more than compensated for by the difference in price I paid. It lacks cubby holes for storing things, but I reckon it's one of the most enjoyable cars I have ever driven. Depreciation is probably worse than for the Corolla, but demand for the old Focus remains high, as people seem to prefer it to the new model.
Don't waste time on the Corolla, the Focus does it all, and overall rather better.
This review appears to be more about Toyota as a company rather than about the Toyota Corolla T2.
The fact that Toyota didn't help you, or the the car is warm inside neither tells me what the car is like nor helps me decide whether I should buy one.
You say you don't recommend the car, but apparently, the good points are that it is well finished, it handles well and is reliable. I can't think of three more important points to comment on in a car review, yet this review fails to mention any of them.
Performance
Practicality
Reliability
Value For Money
The Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2 Is A Great Little Commut
The Toyota Corolla 1.4 T2 is a great little commuter, my wife had a Yaris she loved, but sadly sold after we had twins, as it was too small. This car is a bit more grown up and has a higher quality finish. Handles like a go-cart, and quick enough for most in 1.4 form. I've only owned it for a month. I have stuck a set of smart aftermarket alloys on, and think I will keep hold of for a couple of years, which for me is a long time. very impressed!
I accidentally clicked "Unhelpful", when I meant to click just "Agree". Sorry about that...
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