Toyota corolla replacement.

Grimley

Grimley

Grimley

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OK folks,

I thought I'd ask here first.

I'm thinking about replacing my car as I tend to when things get expensive £1200 repair on a 9 year old car.

I've been very happy with it up until now, I've had almost 7 years of trouble free motoring & I want that to continue.

I paid 7.5K for it back in 2006, 33K on the clock. I want similar this time round.
I also want bomb proof reliability & reasonable running costs. Not fussed about anything else.

95% of journeys are town mileage (work).

Thought about 09 or 10 Auris.

Talk me out of my decision. :)
 
Don't buy an Auris whatever you do.

My wife used to love her corolla for many of the same reasons you list, but mainly as the thing was bomb proof both inside and mechanically. She traded it in for an Auris expecting more of the same and was massively disappointed. The build quality was shockingly cheap and nasty and she couldn't wait to get rid of it as it gave her none of the reassurance that her old corolla did.

Mk6 Golf or a Focus would be my recommendations. Neither will set the world alight, but they are reliable and practical.
 
iaind said:
Similar to a corolla and with decent running costs for mostly down driving?
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Its a five door hatch with other engine choices available, I'd take one over an Auris any day of the week

Your right though the 2.5 might be excessive if the OP isnt after that kind of thing but like I say there are other engines
 
Relentless81 said:
Its a five door hatch with other engine choices available, I'd take one over an Auris any day of the week

Your right though the 2.5 might be excessive if the OP isnt after that kind of thing but like I say there are other engines
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It is a five door hatch and a very good car, it's also enormous - you could probably park an auris in the boot! I may be wrong but I expect he's after something smaller
 
I've never owned a Ford, whereas my dad has owned loads (He has a galaxy at the moment)

Golf - I have given some thought about that, never owned a German car either but I've driven a few & the work vehicle is German (7.5 ton merc :p)

Reading various threads on here Ford Focus seems to be the one to go for & there's loads driving round where I live with the Dunton Research centre & Dagenham just down the road from me. I may start inquiring about one. Thanks.

P.S. the mark 2 focus had a facelift?
 
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iaind said:
It is a five door hatch and a very good car, it's also enormous - you could probably park an auris in the boot! I may be wrong but I expect he's after something smaller
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It will depend on tax & insurance. I pay 300 a year Insurance (Fully comp, max protected no claims) & 170 tax. I'll assume the Mazda 6 will be a fair lump more. EDIT : it isnt.
 
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You wont know until you check, insurance for any run of the mill car is much the same for me regardless of size really (except tiny city cars).

If you're mainly running around town and the current car does the job it does sound like it might be overkill size and engine wise though. What draws you to the Auris? There's no harm in trying one but I'd look at the rest of the competition; Focus, Civic, Mazda 3, golf, octavia, C30, even the i30 / Ceed and see what you like. To be perfectly honest they're all much of a muchness nowadays if all you really want is something with a modest engine that's relatively cheap to run. Just avoid the frenchies really

Some are nicer to chuck about than others or come with better engines but the basic standard is pretty good now so I'm not sure you'll be too bothered? (No offence intended if that's not the case!)
 
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rodenal said:
If you're mainly running around town and the current car does the job it does sound like it might be overkill size and engine wise though. What draws you to the Auris? There's no harm in trying one but I'd look at the rest of the competition; Focus, Civic, Mazda 3, golf, octavia, C30, even the i30 / Ceed and see what you like. To be perfectly honest they're all much of a muchness nowadays if all you really want is something with a modest engine that's relatively cheap to run. Just avoid the frenchies really

Some are nicer to chuck about than others or come with better engines but the basic standard is pretty good now so I'm not sure you'll be too bothered? (No offence intended if that's not the case!)
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I'm not bothered TBH. Auris - I assumed it will be the same as the Corolla but someone else has said no it isnt.

As stated earlier I want bomb proof reliability, pretty basic (less to go wrong)
I want it to get me to work & back at 5am, no fuss.
Other need is not to low off the ground as I chauffeur my mum around at weekends & she needs to get in & out of it.

TBH, the Toyota dealer near me are muppets, They lost my appointment for my MOT a few weeks ago & I was not happy.

French car - You'd have to point a gun to my head to make me buy one & I'd still say no. The only french car dad owned was a piece of junk & the worst car I'd ever driven was a Citroen CX famillie, slower than a tortoise. :mad:

This is from a bloke whos driven pre volkswagen skodas too. ;)
 
Grimley said:
French car - You'd have to point a gun to my head to make me buy one & I'd still say no. The only french car dad owned was a piece of junk & the worst car I'd ever driven was a Citroen CX famillie, slower than a tortoise. :mad:

This is from a bloke whos driven pre volkswagen skodas too. ;)
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Depending on its age, I wouldn't completely disregard a French car.
 
The Auris isn't a bad car at all, it's just not a very good one in any particular area tbh. You'd be best off looking at all the competition, deciding on a few you like the look of then going to drive some. You'll be able to check pretty quickly if there are any known faults with a specific model / engine combo then make a decision from there.

I found Toyota to be a bit of a rip off when I had my mk3 mr2, parts and servicing were funny money and had loads of oem only bits, I also had bad experiences with the pars guys at a few different local Toyota dealers. I've found my Civic to be the same in terms of service and parts cost plus loads of oem only parts but in general the guys I have dealt with at two different dealerships have been very good.

On the other end of the scale Ford servicing is pretty cheap, oem equivalent parts are cheap and available everywhere as are oem equivalent parts for vag cars (though a vw main dealer will still try and have your pants down for servicing). I've no experience of the koreans parts prices but servicing seems ok. Swings and roundabouts really.

At the money you're looking to spend I can't honestly think of anything french that I'd be happy to drive over anything else that's been mentioned. I'm not saying they're terrible cars that will leave you stranded every week but for me they have fallen behind the competition at the kind of age you'll be looking at.
 
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