Colborne's $2,000 Used Car Challenge, Part 2--The Loaner '92 Corolla
Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.
- Mao Tse-Tung
Like so many of the trials and tribulations inflicted upon my family by the accursed Malibu of Malebolge, it could not have died at a more inconvenient time. Though I'm a firm believer in hoping for the best and planning for the worst, there simply was no possible financial plan available to us that would allow us to buy two cars of reasonable quality only a year after the birth of our son. So we planned around a fairly reasonable hope--drive the Malibu into 2010, save up some money in the meantime, then get rid of the Malibu before it leaves somebody stranded at the side of the road.
It wasn't the most ill-conceived plan in the world, but it was pretty close.
In hindsight, planning on reaching over 150,000 miles in a car that barely made it over 75,000 was rather naive, if not willfully ignorant. That said, this isn't the first time I've had to get creative with my transportation options, and I doubt it'll be the last. Consequently, though there wasn't much financial planning involved in dealing with a post-Malibu world, I already had a basic contingency plan in mind just in case, one based on prior experience and relying on just a bit of luck. The first step of the plan was to secure a loaner from a well-meaning family member, assuming one was available.
Luckily for us, one was.
The significant other's father had a 1992 Toyota Corolla LX lying around that he purchased for her younger sister for her graduation. The Corolla originally belonged to an older woman who passed away a while back. She never had a chance to drive it much--it only had 32,000 miles when we picked it up. Unfortunately, it had many of the problems that you would expect from a car that was driven less than 2,000 miles a year. The shocks were worn from years of underuse. The steering pulled hard to the right due to a failing cam bolt. The engine was significantly weaker first thing in the morning, suggesting possible compression-related issues. Heck, the windshield wipers were still the original OEM blades! A deal was quickly struck: We'd pay for a repair or two that he would've completed for her sister sooner or later and, in return, we'd have a second car that the significant other could use to get to work and school. Under the circumstances, we weren't about to turn it down.
The engine was a 1.6-liter four-cylinder, which was mated to a three-speed automatic. Unfortunately, when you mate a three-speed transmission to an underpowered four-cylinder engine, you have to make a choice: Do you gear it for acceleration and let it rev high at freeway speeds, or do you gear it for quiet, comfortable freeway speed cruising and sacrifice low-speed acceleration? With this car, it was clear that Toyota chose the latter option. The automatic was quick to upshift and very reluctant to downshift; meanwhile, first gear was exceptionally tall. The result was a car that took much longer to get from 0-30 than it did to get from 30-60, which made on-ramps an interesting exercise in hope and lane changes. Interestingly, uphill performance was fairly decent, suggesting some strong mid-range torque out of the small engine, which helped make up for the complete absence of low-end torque at the bottom of the power band. Fuel economy was decent, with the Corolla regularly securing roughly 35 miles per gallon in regular highway driving.
Inside the car, it was very clear that this was a Toyota. Even after 17 years, the doors still closed with a reassuringly solid *thunk*, which was devoid of all the rattling that I had come accustomed to from American vehicles of the same period. The interior vinyl wasn't even remotely warped, which showed that the car had been garaged for most of its life. The spacing between the various vinyl and plastic components inside the car were as narrow and even as they undoubtedly were when the car was made. If you ever wondered why people stopped buying American and started buying Japanese, this is why: With this car, Toyota made a basic, boring, slow, boxy sedan that just happened to be incredibly durable. I had a Lumina of similar vintage that had only 50,000 miles when I picked it up and had also been garaged for most of its life--the plastic surrounding the power window buttons was falling off, the doors rattled when I closed them. The Corolla had none of these maladies, and, by the looks of things, it will continue to avoid them for several years to come.
It's the little things.
Speaking of little things, take a look at those taillights. Notice anything strange about them? You should. They're red. Now, why would a Japanese car have red taillights? If you remember your automotive history, you already know the answer. Toyota manufactured this generation of Corolla at the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. plant in Fremont, Calif. Though this particular Corolla was manufactured in Japan, Toyota and GM were engaged in a joint venture that resulted in the Geo Prizm, a Geo-badged Corolla clone, and American-style red taillights.
Like so many of the things Toyota has done over the past few decades, NUMMI was an incredibly intelligent idea. Toyota wanted a manufacturing facility in the United States in order to stave off any possible protectionist policies regarding import-sourced automobiles, as well as to serve as a currency hedge if the dollar ever weakened or if the yen gained strength. GM, meanwhile, wanted to find out what Toyota's manufacturing secrets were, with the aim of adopting Toyota's quality control and manufacturing techniques to the rest of its plants. In exchange for access to this information, GM was willing to provide Toyota with an abandoned factory and enough capital to reactivate it to Toyota's specifications. Toyota, meanwhile, lost nothing of value; GM's management style and labor contracts were far too rigid to allow the necessary flexibility required to run a factory using Toyota's lean just-in-time techniques. In short, Toyota traded information that its passive, complacent competitor could never hope to use for a nearly free factory and political immunity.
Not bad, Toyota. Not bad at all.
Back to the subject at hand; the trouble with loaners is that, sooner or later, you have to give them back. That brings us to Part 3...
--David Colborne
Jed on December 03, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Last year, I purchased this car's sister dinghy, the 92 Geo Prizm for $500. Mine has 130,000 miles and some serious rust on the passenger side front door. However, a new A/C system and brakes from the last owner made the car a worthwhile buy as a station car/winter beater. All of my previous cars have been big, domestic and V8-powered, so the Geo was a real departure.
At this price, the car is proving to be a reliable, lovable tin can. It's probably the last truly small, generic Japanese compact. The big black bumpers, squared body, 13" wheels with silver plastic hubcaps and large glass area come together to produce a look that is the opposite of styling, antistyling if you will. In light of how seriously the Corolla is taken today, this slapdash approach is kind of endearing.
Open the door and the brittle plastic handle wants to break off in your hand. Not a big deal, as the HELP line of products have them in stock for $9.00 at my local parts store. Closing the door or trunklid produces a sound that makes you want to scratch off some paint to look for Budweiser markings. The interior is basic, but uses a low-nap velour that has lasted. The headliner, sadly, has not.
My car has A/C and an automatic transmission. That's it. Manual windows, locks, no intermittent wipers, ABS, etc. The defroster is a travesty, melting ice in geologic time and fogging the window more often than defogging.
When you get underway, the little weed whacker engine makes a lot of noise and eventually gets the car up to speed. Handling is pretty good, too. It feels like a go cart, and I have taken some fast curves with the Prizm. The go cart feeling extends to the highway as well. 60 feels like 100. Puddles become lakes and a passing Honda Accord feels like a semi. I have been up to 80 with this car and I can understand how astronauts feel upon re-entry to our atmosphere.
This car is at home in bad weather and in bad areas. I was in a storm that was a foot of unplowed, wet snow. The mighty tin can held on like a mountain goat, its $39.95 Kumhos digging in. It gets parked at the train station in a "questionable" area of town, in which my other car was keyed and a hubcap stolen. Nobody would waste their time with this POS. One of my fellow commuters was making fun of the Tin Can, saying it reminded him of something from the Iron Curtain. I agree, but that's the point. His new Accord Coupe already has scratches and dings from parking lot bandits.
I would finish up by saying you've got something cool here, if you play it tongue-in cheek. Toyota might have been making the world class LS 400 in 1992, but they were also producing some cars which were not very refined. In today's atmosphere of Toyota knows best, I find the Tin Can refreshing.
...m... on December 03, 2009 at 12:38 PM
...i drove a five-door 1990 geo prizm for ten years and it still looked, felt, and performed like a brand-new car the day i let it go - best car i ever owned...
...i've heard that toyota's build quality has declined in recent years, but in my experience they're gold standard against which all other marques are measured...
That Car Guy on December 03, 2009 at 01:13 PM
I'm not sure if the Japanese carmakers' build quality has lessened, or if everybody else's has improved. Just look at the Koreans. And GM. Ford's not doing bad either these days!
Taxiguy57 on December 03, 2009 at 02:32 PM
I've had a lot of personal experience with these [E90] Corollas/Prizms, all of them belonging to various family members. Two 1992 Prizm sedans that belong to my aunt, a 1992 Corolla Wagon that belonged to my mother, and a 1990 Corolla Wagon that belongs to my uncle.
One of the things that I've always noticed about these cars is how overly sensitive the gas pedals are. You really have to be careful when pulling away from stops not to violently lurch the car forward. Yes, these little 4-bangers don't have much power, but the majority of the oomph they do have feels like it's in that first quarter inch due to the way they regulated the pedal. My guess is that they did this to make the cars feel faster than they actually are. An overly sensitive pedal sounds like such a little thing, but it makes for quite an unpleasant and on-your-toes (no pun intended) driving experience until you've gotten used to the car.
I totally know what you mean about the sound of the doors. I pay a lot of attention to things like that. Even 20-year-old astronomically high-mileage Japanese cars will make a lovely tight sounding *clump* when you shut them. Yet for some reason you can hardly find an American car over 15 years old that doesn't rattle and clang, or make some sort of metal-on-metal noise as opposed to the cushioning soft rubber noise that the Japanese cars have. As you said, it's the little things.
Simon on December 03, 2009 at 02:50 PM
OK, just to get a jump on the 2k challenge...just cars from Craigslist in Nevada (I assume you are in Nevada from the license plate)
1987 BMW 325E Coupe. Great handling cars, and pretty god gas mileage
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/1484478714.html
1987 Fiero Se 4 cyl manual. Owner will take a gun in trade, which is a bit unnerving
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/1469326037.html
Here's the stand-out
1995 Volvo 850 Wagon
http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/1466241204.html
David Colborne on December 03, 2009 at 05:27 PM
Simon: The $2k challenge already has a winner - we just haven't made it that far into the story yet. That said, Sacramento is much closer to me than Las Vegas (I live in Reno), so the LV entries wouldn't do me much good. Considering the price range I was looking at, starting things off with a long drive home through the mountains would not have been all that smart, so even Sacramento was out.
More on that consequences of that stance later.
Simon on December 03, 2009 at 05:39 PM
David- A day late and a dollar short. Pity, the Volvo 850 is actually in Carson City.
jimmy on December 03, 2009 at 11:51 PM
I think $2k is much more than its condition & performance.
Fishing Boats
Pontoon Boats on December 03, 2009 at 11:55 PM
$2k is comparatively more then other cars Like some used old cars can buy providing some more amount then $2k. I think this is not worthy.
kenny heggem on December 04, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Fiero, for a Gun. That is AWESOME! ; ) Scary, but ...WOW.
kenny heggem on December 04, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Even my tinny 87 Sprint does not rattle when I shit the door.
I can say the same about my 92 GTI 16v...very solid "thunk"...I can attest that the older German cars are especially solid. More so as far I have have gathered than the Asian brands. It feels like a vault more than that rubber/well screwed together/but tinny feel of Asian cars.
Chris Hafner on December 04, 2009 at 12:10 PM
kenny: "Even my tinny 87 Sprint does not rattle when I shit the door. "
Most car doors wouldn't rattle in that situation, though a rather comprehensive cleaning might be necessary.
kenny: "Fiero, for a Gun. That is AWESOME! ; ) Scary, but ...WOW."
Yeah, that's pretty fantastic. Which is more dangerous? I vote Fiero.
Gherrit White on December 04, 2009 at 04:46 PM
I have a 1989 Toyota Corolla LE Sedan as a winter beater. 5-speed and power everything(Locks,Windows,Mirrors,even a power sunroof). Mine was also Japanese built but had the old style tail lights. I think exposed rear amber indicators are great looking, I don't know why manufactuers stopped using them.
425,000km as of this writing.
The weird thing about this generation of Corolla is that they were either fully loaded(like mine) or extremely basic such as yours. No middle ground.
Gherrit White on December 04, 2009 at 06:08 PM
Sorry about the double post, but Toyota was not the only Japanese Manufactuer to utilize all-red taillights. Mazda's Second generation 626 used all-red tailights on the sedan and coupe versions, but the liftback got normal(for the time, in both european and japanese cars) exposed Amber tailights. All 626's were built in Japan, so the change for the markets is puzzling.
David Colborne on December 05, 2009 at 05:47 PM
Gherrit: If memory serves, the early '90s was when Bush Sr. went to Japan. Assuming I'm remembering correctly, and keeping in mind that I was in early middle school when all of this was going down, there was a strong protectionist sentiment running through the country at the time, undoubtedly due to the rather serious recession that happened after Gulf War: Episode 4 ("A NEW HOPE"). Consequently, maybe Mazda and other Japanese automakers tried to "fake" being American by adopting American-style taillights?
It is rather puzzling.
kenny heggem on December 06, 2009 at 12:28 PM
LOL....OH My. Ummmm. Chris...yeah, I *think* I meant SHUT the door.
Neat. I must say.
I try to control my bowels in the Sprint.
jjd241 on December 06, 2009 at 11:10 PM
Here is one for the next car purchase challenge (spotted on the streets in Olympia WA).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgwuzQbz3dM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Milne
That Car Guy on December 07, 2009 at 07:33 AM
jjd241, I like that hearse! I can see it as a farm vehicle/camper.