Before I get into the car details, you may question why I write this review. Being a 16 year old avid car fan who drives his mother's car for transportation to work,school etc. I may not know EVERYTHING about this car, but for the 300 some odd miles I've driven this car there has been alot of valuable things that I have learned, and right here is where i would like to share them with you.

I was 13 when my mom went to a Toyota dealer and bought this off the lot. Little did she know that 3 years later her "little boy" would be driving around,in the same car,by himself (yes I know its hard for me to even believe just yet). I'm not exactly sure how much she spent for it, I would guess maybe around 12-14,000; If it is important to this review i will ask her myself.

So,where shall we start??? Interior,Exterior,Interior,Exterior....OK OK lets go with the Interior.

Interior
Not too much to say, everything basic, pwr everything, overdrive, A/C, rear defrost. There is also a Digital Odometer and Daytime Running Lights; something i haven't seen in other cars so this is maybe what separates it from those other cars. This car provides a good amount of room; unless you are a professional wrestler or Shaq, you probably will not be fitting into this car. Room in the back is good. Room in the front however in the drivers side is a little different. I'm pushing 6'1 and I have the seat all the way back, and the steering wheel moved all the way up. All these efforts still do not eliminate the problem of my left knee hitting the steering wheel. Trunk space is quite good, I recall fitting 3 golf bags into the back, so if thats how you rate your trunk space then you're set. The system will not attract any attention really. Yeah if you turn it up 80% you'll get some bumping out of it, but I'm not very impressed. Putting some subs in the back will easily eliminate this problem.

The Exterior
I'm going to keep this short and simple, since it's late and I want to go to bed. This car will in NO WAY turn heads. It is a simple 4-door design, nothing really seems to be too special about it. Anything else you want to know about the exterior?? Too bad,because there isn't anything else to know. If you spend maybe 2 thousand for some ground effects, put a spoiler on there, then we can talk.

Under The Hood
Not much can be said about it. It's an l-4,basic for this type of car. It has a 1.8L engine, like I said, basic for this kind of car. This can make the car pretty weak. I drive up the same uphill road every day, and every day im having to push the car just so i can maintain a steady 65-70MPH highway speed. I find the acceleration to be all right, me being a person who loves to pour out of a turn coming off a red light, I can find that I can get up to 40 pretty quickly, and i find myself saying "Hey, that Ferrari 360 Spyder was just behind me,so where did it go???" Thats when my dreams get shattered and he's actually 3 miles ahead of me already. But hey, the pickup trucks and those Honda's eat dust. The Corolla redlines at 6000, so you can eliminate the drag racing up at race wars in the desert. The 4 cylinder smaller engine will make things better for you. If you hate gas guzzlers, then you know right now you'll be a bigger fan of this car. Taking the thing to the Mobil station for the first time, putting only 10 bucks in the tank and filling it up completely felt good. And if you liked that, you'll like the 30+ MPG that this car gets.

The Ride
It provides a really smooth ride, I haven't really found anything wrong with the ride yet, but if I do, you know that I'll keep you informed ;) . The brakes seem a little bit weak compared to my dad's Mitsubishi Galant or my stepdad's BMW 5 series. It's no huge problem to worry about, but when I go from driving the Galant to driving the Corolla, I can tell there is somewhat of a difference. Nothing wrong with the handling. Front engine,Front wheel drive, with new snow tires, I find minimal problems with the handling in the winter. Minimal problems means the few times you'll slide on the ice when taking a turn. I had the misfortune of taking my road test in the biggest snowstorm all year, but I had no problems with anything. Handling in regular weather is the same as it is for any car that I have driven. Nothing horrible, but nothing great enough that I can tell how great it is.

This car will not turn heads. Unless you have a half naked woman in the car or you have a 16 year old just getting his license who wants to drive and have his freedom, I do not think you will see a guy stepping into this car. If you want a car you can drive down the street and people look at you with the thought in their head of "Wow that guy is lucky", then buy a new red Trans Am, preferably with Ram Air and a black racing stripe with tinted windows and 2 '12 subs in the trunk (my dream car). But if you are looking for a car just to get from Point A to Point B, then you might want to definitely take the Corolla into consideration. And the reliability speaks for itself: YOU put in the work,the YOU will have a long lasting car. And yes we all know about Toyota's reputation for that very long lasting car. If these are the few things you want in a car, then now you know what to buy.

P.S. I had the TV going while I was typing this up, call it a coincidence, but right when I finished this review, a commercial for the new 2002 Corolla just came on.





Amount Paid (US$): 12-15,000???
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999