Are Toyota Corolla s reliable ?
My dad bought it new 2002 1-6 Vvti and had it serviced by Toyota by the book until 2011 , it had started to use oil needing topping up between services . It was a known problem on this engine dodgy oil rings . He was offered scrap money on a part exchange on a new Auris so I bought it for my girlfriend and showed her how to check/top up the oil .
It proved its reliability for 5 years only needing oil and loads of tyres and brake pads because she drives like a mechanical savage or a rally driver (never breaks the speed limit apparently!) .
The engine out photo was after a quik fit mot gone wrong .
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The exhaust cam centre bolt had broken and the sprocket dropped off the cam while they were doing the emission test , I thought the valves would be destroyed. The engine had to come out to get the head off because the cam chain cover on the side had to come off to find what had happened to the bolt head .
Much to my shock and surprise no valves were damaged and the bolt head and washer were wedged in a crevice out of harms way . New parts needed head gasket , cam bolt , head stretch bolts and engine crane rental came to less than £80 , the Corolla sprung back into life and passed the mot the week after .
It’s still going ok ish , she can wear out tyres and break pads yearly still using oil and the eml light is on for emissions but passes the gas check and the mot man says check engine light is not a fail on a 2002 car .
It’s mot time next month hopefully it go thru ok and we get it to twenty years old .
