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I had an '02 Corolla before I gave it to my son, and it was leaking oil around the oil cap. I would just put more oil in between oil changes. If I had to put in oil every week, it would be a different story. That car now has 109,000 miles on it, and it's still running great!
I recently replaced the Corolla with a new Mazda3. Even though my excuse was so that my son could inherit the Corolla, I probably would have bought a new car soon, anyway, as I was sick and tired of looking at the tan interior!
How much oil does the Corolla burn? I wonder if it may not necessarily get much if any worse.
My 2000 Integra burns a quart of oil about every 2000 miles, has done for a few years. It doesn't seem to be getting worse. I've got 198k on it and going for broke. (I look at and pick out possible cars but have no plans to buy a new one.)
I've even had a mechanic tell me that a quart of oil every 2500 or so can be considered within spec by manufacturers, on a brand new car! Maybe he's just making me feel better, but somehow I'm not seeing it as a problem that's getting worse or preventing me from racking up another 100k on this thing. I've had it since new 12 years ago, so any driver input that might have caused the oil burning is all my fault.
Of course if you want to buy a new car, then by all means, go for it. But what I'm thinking is, if you're feeling like you HAVE to buy a new car, not sure that's true. 2001 Corolla, that should still go for a long time, generally. Your particular example MAY not, but it still may be fine.
I've owned nothing but 5 Honda/Acura and one Toyota (my second car for just 1.5 years was an old Tercel). There are some long-running Toyota and Honda products in my family. But my favorites more recently as I look and occasionally drive as rentals over the last several years have been Mazdas. They appear to be in general pretty solid these days as well. Also had a good long drive in a Ford Focus a while back, very favorable opinion of that one in general, although I somehow expected better highway MPG. Only got about 32 overall on the 1500 mile or so trip, mostly highway, although to be fair some of the trip home was at above 80mph. (I was following someone else doing that speed.) I can get around 30 in my typical driving here in the old Integra (my 40 mile r/t daily commute is mostly highway), so that didn't feel so impressive. Perhaps Mazda's new engine tech will goose that mileage a bit more. The Fit mentioned above has impressive capability (both carrying and driving) for how small it is, but again I feel like it's lagging behind in MPG; the Civic is rated for more. A lot of press on the brand new Civic paints it very Edsel-like somehow.
Wow, my 2000 Camaro doesn't burn a drop, with 120k miles on it, and I drive it pretty rough.
Either way, your feers of Mazda, or even Ford, I am sorry are kind of irrational. You are comparing a newer Mazda 3, with a model you owned that is over a decade older. They share not 1 common part, or design.
The major manufacturers make lots of cars. They have made good models and crappy models. Of those models they have made good years and crappy years of these models.
You talk of 99 Honda Civic, which is great, but I would be leary of like a 2005 Honda Civic with an auto, they have had some issues with the transmission.
You have to look at each individual model, and then you have to look at what engine, and what transmission is in that model and what is the history and reliability of that.
That said the Mazda 3 is a decent vehicle. I woudln't rule out the Yaris, haven't heard anything bad, but nothing special either.
With subarus, if you are looking for long life, I woudl get a non-turbo.
Volkswagen relibility has improved of late, but it still lags that of the Japanese, Korean, and US manufacturers.
Just wanted to point this comment out. What proof has the Korean manufacturers proven that they create long term reliable cars?
Yes their current cars are greatly improved and may be great. But just a few years ago they built ****. No one knows if their new percieved great ad campaign cars are more reliable or not. Historically they have been piles of crap and not something I woudl reccomend for the OP right away.
Location: DFW Metroplex. Not TX-born but never leaving.
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I just bought a 2012 Ford Focus. Test drove a Mazda 3. Didnt care for it at all. Have a 2007 VW Rabbit that I adore but wanted something with better gas mileage. So I kept the Rabbit to drive here and there with the bulk of my driving in the Focus. The Rabbit (4 door) was an amazing value in my opinion for everything that came standard on a $17,000 car. Just wish it had a 6 speed manual and better gas mileage.
Test drive Chevrolet Cruze 1.4L turbo and the new Toyota Corolla. Other models to consider include the Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, Kia Forte, VW Golf. I don't know about reliability of the Chevrolet Cruze since it's so new. However, when I checked one out at the dealership, that thing felt rock solid and looked great with the RS appearance package. It's not a fast car but it is fairly efficient.
ford put a crappy tranny into the model of my first car mazda 626(1994) and it was proven defective and prone to failure. I am a bit afraid to venture into mazda territory given the latter having happened to me.
Well, by that logic, you should probably ditch Hyundai from your list as well. Find someone who owned a 94 Hyundai; I'm sure their reviews of it wouldn't be glowing, either. I'm not saying to not look at Hyundais, though. I'm saying that logic makes zero sense whatsoever.
If you're going to have an opinion on a particular brand, you should at least base it on a model year somewhat close to the one you're considering.
What I would do with the cue y cruze is look up the engine and transmission. I personally don't knowmuch about them. But even a Wikipedia search will show you when it came around what vehicles it is in etc....
The 1.4 is relatively new, but at the same time it could be closely related to the ecotec or it could be extremely common in European GM cars and been around for over a decade in millions of cars. It is worth looking into the history of the drivetrain to see if its reliable. It is hard to say by just the model.
It is funny how human emotion skews the quality of cars data may prove. People will say a Toyota matrix is a great car, it is basically a hatchback corrolla. Then down the pontiac vibe. Even though it was a joint Toyota/gm product and the drivetrain is 100% identicle in certain years. I will try to research the crises when I get to a regular computer.
How much oil does the Corolla burn? I wonder if it may not necessarily get much if any worse.
My 2000 Integra burns a quart of oil about every 2000 miles, has done for a few years. It doesn't seem to be getting worse. I've got 198k on it and going for broke. (I look at and pick out possible cars but have no plans to buy a new one.)
I've even had a mechanic tell me that a quart of oil every 2500 or so can be considered within spec by manufacturers, on a brand new car! Maybe he's just making me feel better, but somehow I'm not seeing it as a problem that's getting worse or preventing me from racking up another 100k on this thing. I've had it since new 12 years ago, so any driver input that might have caused the oil burning is all my fault.
Of course if you want to buy a new car, then by all means, go for it. But what I'm thinking is, if you're feeling like you HAVE to buy a new car, not sure that's true. 2001 Corolla, that should still go for a long time, generally. Your particular example MAY not, but it still may be fine.
I've owned nothing but 5 Honda/Acura and one Toyota (my second car for just 1.5 years was an old Tercel). There are some long-running Toyota and Honda products in my family. But my favorites more recently as I look and occasionally drive as rentals over the last several years have been Mazdas. They appear to be in general pretty solid these days as well. Also had a good long drive in a Ford Focus a while back, very favorable opinion of that one in general, although I somehow expected better highway MPG. Only got about 32 overall on the 1500 mile or so trip, mostly highway, although to be fair some of the trip home was at above 80mph. (I was following someone else doing that speed.) I can get around 30 in my typical driving here in the old Integra (my 40 mile r/t daily commute is mostly highway), so that didn't feel so impressive. Perhaps Mazda's new engine tech will goose that mileage a bit more. The Fit mentioned above has impressive capability (both carrying and driving) for how small it is, but again I feel like it's lagging behind in MPG; the Civic is rated for more. A lot of press on the brand new Civic paints it very Edsel-like somehow.
Right now I am 750 miles in(since synthetic blend oil change) and its running well.(no knocking or pressure light etc.). I am gonna see how far It will go then have my mechanic look at it anyways. Do you have any thoughts on additives to help alleviate the burning?
Yeah if I could not buy a new car I would wait.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyCo
I had an '02 Corolla before I gave it to my son, and it was leaking oil around the oil cap. I would just put more oil in between oil changes. If I had to put in oil every week, it would be a different story. That car now has 109,000 miles on it, and it's still running great!
I recently replaced the Corolla with a new Mazda3. Even though my excuse was so that my son could inherit the Corolla, I probably would have bought a new car soon, anyway, as I was sick and tired of looking at the tan interior!
that's interesting. I recently(750 miles ago) put in synthetic blend and seem to be having a little longer life. It appears that I have a good amount of oil left but im closely monitoring it as I am not good at telling.(second guess myself alot).
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboyslo
Well, by that logic, you should probably ditch Hyundai from your list as well. Find someone who owned a 94 Hyundai; I'm sure their reviews of it wouldn't be glowing, either. I'm not saying to not look at Hyundais, though. I'm saying that logic makes zero sense whatsoever.
If you're going to have an opinion on a particular brand, you should at least base it on a model year somewhat close to the one you're considering.
Mike
yes my logic is flawed. I understand that. Hence I am posting and researching. I have not much car knowledge and if my standpoint comes off as illogical then good. I would not buy a car based on my own experiences and knowledge because its not nearly enough. I mean I dont want to think that every mazda is gonna be bad, but that experiece is all I have. There are so many cars and special cases even with just the cars I have owned so reading isn't convincing enough yet. I like to read about experiences and supplement that with my own research.
Trust me Im not here to argue about how i think mazda sucks or anything Im sponging everything said in here and conducting research for my car choice so thanks guys
What I would do with the cue y cruze is look up the engine and transmission. I personally don't knowmuch about them. But even a Wikipedia search will show you when it came around what vehicles it is in etc....
The 1.4 is relatively new, but at the same time it could be closely related to the ecotec or it could be extremely common in European GM cars and been around for over a decade in millions of cars. It is worth looking into the history of the drivetrain to see if its reliable. It is hard to say by just the model.
It is funny how human emotion skews the quality of cars data may prove. People will say a Toyota matrix is a great car, it is basically a hatchback corrolla. Then down the pontiac vibe. Even though it was a joint Toyota/gm product and the drivetrain is 100% identicle in certain years. I will try to research the crises when I get to a regular computer.
Sent from my autocorrect butchering device.
while I do not know much about cars I DID KNOW THAT!!!!!! woot!
and that the geo prizm = corolla =)
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