One week impression of a high mileage 2017 Corolla iM

Joined
Apr 27, 2010
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Suburban Washington DC
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I bought this at auction earlier in the week and have put a couple hundred miles on it so far. It has the CVT automatic and will turn 250,000 miles in a few days. It’s a one owner title and was used by a medical courier. I had pre-conceived notions that it’s going to be a bland, boring and slow Corolla. Reading the specs, it does have the same 137 hp engine as the Corolla so while it’s not quick, it’s perfectly adequate and has never felt underpowered. The CVT transmission probably helps by keeping it in the power band longer.

I’m also pleasantly surprised with the CVT. Compared to the Nissans I’ve had, this one is way better even with three times more mileage. This is a CVT I could live with. It’s free of the jerkyness and rubber band feel of the Nissans.

Reading up on this car, I see the suspension is tuned stiffer and for better handling than the Corolla and has wider tires. I can say it handles quite well while still having a smooth ride. I can take a corner at speeds that would cause tire squeal in other less sporty cars. And it’s a pretty heavy car right at 3,000 pounds, so gas mileage has averaged 37 mpg overall. Good but not great like the Chevy Cruze 1.4 turbo I had that got 40 mpg.

Mechanically even with these miles, it feels tight and nothing seems to need attention. Rides and drives like any 2017 with 80,000 miles would. I’ll get to the general maintenance shortly, but don't anticipate anything unusual. Cosmetically the body is very nice but there are many scuffs on the plastic trim and ground effects parts. The wheels are all pretty curbed. Interior is very clean and has little wear, but the rear door panels have taken a beating.

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What oil are you planning to use in it? What does it call for, I'm assuming 5w or 0w-20? How does it looks under the valve cover, can you see through the oil fill hole? Think it is the original CVT fluid? Hatchbacks are great for hauling stuff while still able to maintain a "sporty" feel. I loved my Mazda3 hatchback. Hope you get much use out of this!
 
What's the oil level on the dipstick. Was it low relative to the olm. Hopefully not, would be wonderful if it doesn't burn any oil. Even if it didn't I'd still use a 30 grade.

As for the cvt Castrol transmax is used a lot on these toyota cvt's with no issue. Someone on here actually just made a post about using it in their cvt equipped scion and it made it operate better. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-is-special-about-cvt-atf.369629/
 
Nothing goobles up miles like a Toyota, I bet the service/repair history on that thing will show next to nothing.

I own an Avalon, my wife a Mercedes. I have 122,000 on the Avalon, the Mercedes has 110,00. For the Mercedes I’ve repaired...a power window master switch, an idler pulley, a tensioner, a brake pad sensor, it needs a right front wheel bearing...just today I spent two hours trying to diagnose why the right front parking lamp won’t shut off (still can’t figure it out, might need an entire headlamp assembly). I’ve replaced the rear spring (snapped in half), and numerous buttons inside have broken.

For the Avalon I’ve repaired NOTHING. Nada, drives like it’s brand new.
 
Might be Toyota, but looks to have been painted by Honda, bwahaha... regardless of how it was maintained or environment no paint/clear should look that dull/rough in just 6 yrs.
 
Nice car. I bought a Toyota medical courier car several years ago that had 225,000 miles on it and it was white too. That thing ran perfect and I sold it and bought a 2 year old Suzuki Forenza with very low mileage. After driving the Suzuki Forenza I quickly realized it was not nearly as well built as the Toyota Corolla and I sold it within a couple months. I really liked the Corolla and I would like to buy a Corolla Hybrid sometime down the road. Nice report on your car and it should last many more years.
 
Modern CVTs from Toyota and Honda are really quite excellent when it comes to drivability. My Civic with the tiny 1.5t barely ever goes over 2000rpm in normal driving, even cruising on the highway at 70+. They are still not the most responsive when it comes to passing maneuvers, but for most conditions they are great and a better fit for a normal car than a DCT for example
 
Hit this milestone today,

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Also noticed two good safety systems in this car. Lane alert sounds a warning when you happen to cross a lane marker on ether side of your lane. Brake alert sounds a warning if you're coming up fast on a car in front of you (or they brake unexpectedly) and there is a risk of collision. These should be mandatory on all new cars and without the option to turn them off. Would reduce the number of texters and phone users who weave in and out of their lane while driving.
 
Yep this is when Scion went away and they just kept the same cars and put toyota badges on them. Built in Japan. Change all the fluids and drive it until you get tired of it.
 
Also noticed two good safety systems in this car. Lane alert sounds a warning when you happen to cross a lane marker on ether side of your lane. Brake alert sounds a warning if you're coming up fast on a car in front of you (or they brake unexpectedly) and there is a risk of collision. These should be mandatory on all new cars and without the option to turn them off. Would reduce the number of texters and phone users who weave in and out of their lane while driving.
Nope, people adjust for their level of perception of safety and would probably text more knowing the nannies are there to back them up. They did a study a while back where they improved an intersection on a road-- it got safer, but the rest of the road got worse to compensate.

It looks like your rear bumper just lost its "applique." On my wife's Prius that was a $69 optional "bumper sticker" that was meant to prevent the scuffs we see here.
 
Toyota Auris in other markets. I believe these had independent rear suspension also when the corolla didn't which is part of why it would handle better.
 
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