Is the 2008 Toyota Corolla 1.4 petrol a good car?

Hi is the 2008 Toyota Corolla 1.4 petrol a good car? It's a Terra model with 103,000km on the clock and is selling for €8,950. Does this price sound ok? It has alloys (Borbet) added. I test drove the car and while it wasnt the most exciting drive it felt better than some other 1.2-litre cars I drove. Is it fuel efficient compared to say a Ford Fiesta?

Thanks

Pat English (Waterford)

Sep 2013 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Pat,

Hmmm. That generation of Corolla doesn't seem to be keeping Toyota's usual reliability standard up. There have been reported issued with brakes (squealing, not failing), troubles with the automatic gearbox, clutch failures, slipping handbrakes and noisy gearboxes. If your potential purchase isn't displaying any of those symptoms, then it might be just fine, but be prepared to raise merry hell with your nearest Toyota dealer if it starts to develop problems. After all, if you're selling your cars on the basis of their reliability, then you'd better be prepared to back that up...

In terms of efficiency, well, it's a quite a small engine in quite a large car, so no, I wouldn't reckon it would be more economical than a 1.2 Fiesta - quite the reverse in fact, unless most of your mileage is on the motorway, in which case the Toyota's extra torque and power should make it more frugal than an over-stretched 1.2.

That price sounds pretty good - maybe even a touch low. Have you done a thorough history check on the car with Cartell.ie?

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser
@neilmbriscoe