Page 1 of 1

New daily driver (pics)

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:50 pm
by Tetrad
Okay daily driver is a misnomer since I'll only have two cars until I sell my Saturn, but I'm happy with it.

Image

Image

04 Corolla S. Yes, the body kit is stock. Got it on the cheap since a cousin of mine owns the dealership. And the service was good, as they drove it from Lufkin to Dallas (which is probably 150+ miles away) to my house to give it to me.

Ideally I would've gone with a dark blue color, but they only had white and silver on the lot. Silver isn't bad though.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:02 pm
by Tricord
Looks very sharp. What year and what engine is in this thing?

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:16 pm
by Avder
Cant go wrong with a Toyota. Good choice.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:16 pm
by Tetrad
Tricord wrote:Looks very sharp. What year and what engine is in this thing?
2004 model.
All-aluminum 1.8-liter DOHC 16-valve VVT-i 4-cylinder 130 hp @ 6,000 rpm; 125 lb.-ft. @ 4,200 rpm
So that's what they tell me at least. 130hp isn't much, but it gets good gas mileage, and it has at least 20 more hp than my old car.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:22 pm
by JMEaT
Awesome choice Tet. VVT-i engines are very nice little 4 bangers. I have a 2.0 VVT-i in my Rav4.

The engine will actually learn your driving habits and anticipate throttle response, maximizing fuel economy and power.

Keep her clean and the oil changed every 3K miles and she will go for a decade easy. I noticed no spoiler, I was pretty sure they were standard on S grade Corolla's? It was low profile enough not to be ugly.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:24 pm
by Tetrad
I don't think I really need to change the oil every 3000 miles. Manual says 5000, and that's if you're in less than ideal conditions (which I am, since I'm doing a bunch of short commutes). 7500 if you're doing a lot of highway driving.

I'm hoping this car does last a while though. Get my money's worth, so to speak.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:29 pm
by JMEaT
Yeah my scheduled maintenance guide says 5K under normal on road conditions and 7500 in dusty climate or if used for towing.

3000 miles may seem a little too often but oil is very cheap. To be honest your first oil change should be around 1500 miles. For the first few thousand miles the pistons will wear away the imperfections in the engine leaving small metal shavings in the oil. If you plan on doing the 5000 mile interval, make your 1st oil change early on and with low mileage.

Just MHO. I got bombarded with advice when I bought my new car. :)

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:33 pm
by Tetrad
Oh I'm planning on changing my oil really soon after the engine is worn in. I'm not going to wait until 5k to do the first change.

I've been reading up on corolla forums and whatnot, so I have a general idea of what most people seem to recommend.

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 5:16 pm
by Flatlander
His dad own dealership!

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 6:21 pm
by Sting_Ray
Nice lookin' little car... especially for a rice burner. Good color... almost the same as my camaro. Not TOO much of a fan of the body kit, but it's conservative, and will make it so you won't be stupid and decide to put anything more blatant on it.

Good buy... hope you have fun with it. Ain't nothin' like having a new car :)

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:32 am
by Ferno
a decade? heh you really underestimate toyota engines man. they can go for at least thirty years. I owned a toyota truck that was older than me and it still ran like a champ.

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:48 am
by Tetrad
I remember watching an episode of Top Gun (British car review show) where they tried to destroy a Toyota truck engine. Didn't happen.

They even tied it down to the top of a parking garage that was going to be demolished. Even though the body ended up being mangled almost beyond recognition, they still were able to get the engine to work with just simple tools.

Great stuff.

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:25 am
by Defender
I recently got the 03 model for that. Looks exactly the same execpt different hubs and mine has a greenish blue double stripe running the length of the body, front to back.

a w00t w00t for toyotas! :)

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:41 am
by Vindicator
Nice ride.

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 10:00 am
by Honest Bob
Nice Car! Silver rocks!

Only thing I dislike about it is that it looks like a 4X4. IMHO they shouldnt have put that body kit on it.

And get that advertisment off your front bumper :wink:

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 12:35 pm
by Tetrad
Honest Bob wrote:And get that advertisment off your front bumper :wink:
Family pride, yo.

I'll probably take it off when I get my plates.

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:10 pm
by JMEaT
Ferno wrote:a decade? heh you really underestimate toyota engines man. they can go for at least thirty years. I owned a toyota truck that was older than me and it still ran like a champ.
I have a Corolla that is approaching 200K miles and is 15 years old. My Rav4 is 3 years old and only has 25K miles on it. :)
Tetrad wrote:I remember watching an episode of Top Gun (British car review show) where they tried to destroy a Toyota truck engine. Didn't happen.

They even tied it down to the top of a parking garage that was going to be demolished. Even though the body ended up being mangled almost beyond recognition, they still were able to get the engine to work with just simple tools.

Great stuff.
I have that video. I'll see if I can dig up a link.

Edit: Here we go: http://www.cpdserver.com/video/car/topg ... kup100.wmv

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:21 pm
by Tetrad
Ah, Top Gear, not Top Gun. I was wondering why I couldn't find any information on the show.

Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:59 pm
by AceCombat
lol, we arent talking about Mavrick and F-14's

:lol:


sound on that video is crappy as anything

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:45 am
by Tricord
Good choice Tet.
I'm sure that engine will just keep going and going, and it will definitely get you good mileage.

Besides, for daily commuting, 130HP is more than enough. The VW Sharan we have (family car) is a 1.9TDI diesel engine with 130HP also, and it's all we need. It burns about 6l/100km which is nothing. My BMW does twice as much and it can only use (expensive) 98 oct gas ;)

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 12:32 pm
by Ferno
Tri: don't TDI's get 900 klicks to a tank?

Just FYI Grammer nazi's.. klicks is an abbreviation for kilometers

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 5:41 am
by Tricord
Fern: depends on your driving style, but at 140-150km/h on my way to Austria I did over 900km with a tank indeed. That was with 5 people and luggage on board, plus a ski coffin on the roof, and me flooring the pedal as soon as there was an opening in traffic. If you drive slower and without all the weight, you get way more than 1000km with a 60L tank. They're awesome engines, plus the 6th gear helps a lot to bring consumption down at cruising speed. It does 2500rpm at 140km/h!

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:42 am
by Scorch
130hp is almost 50% more than my car has :)