Originally Posted By: lancerplayer
How much abuse can economy cars like Cavaliers, Sunfires, Civics, and Corollas truly take? Anyone have first hand experiences driving these types of cars very hard and never had a problem with them? It seems the 4 cylinder motor and transmissions in these cars are solid.
There is a lab in SLC that used 2001-2004 Toyota corollas for driving around to get and deliver samples and they were
trashed.
All of them (over a dozen) went well over 300k before they retired them (mostly due to body and interior damage(you should have seen the drivers seats
) and they all were running just fine.
They went to Cobalt, HHRs and Focuses... While the engine and drivetrain is holding up on all of them (the Fords are having issues with A/C I've heard), the bodys are having some serious problems. Everyone who I've talked to wished they went with Matrix or another set of Corollas.
They doubt that this fleet will make 200k without serious $$ to keep them running.
These days it is amazing how well 4 cyl cars do. I just got back from Montana/Canada and my Subaru 2.5l NA AWD Outback did great, went 80mph most places with 4 people and ALOT of garbage (some people call it luggage
) and returned 29.8 MPG overall (using miles traveled vs how many actual gallons pumped into the tank) for the 2,500 mile trip.
Take care, Bill