[Should I buy a Corolla?]

I'm not a Corolla owner, but some of my friends have Corollas...and they last FOREVER!!  My in-laws have a 20 year old Corolla that's still running great.  And even if something goes wrong with your Corolla, it'll still be far less than what you have to do on a Saturn.  If you get on Edmunds.com, there's a cost of ownership calculator...you can compare the Corolla vs. Saturn or anything else. 

Plus: you can drive a Corolla for 10 years, and still sell it for $2,000 or so.  A 10 year old Saturn is worth about $100.

As for service, Toyota's got a reputation to protect.  They'll take care of you.  Basic warranty 3 years/36k, 5 years/60k powertrain.

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My 96 has 163k on it, and it has had very minor problems, in fact just two, the master cylinder went out and they replaced the steering rack at the same time under warranty, but I just replaced front struts finally, still have a little noise though, I think if you maintain it, change oil so you don't get toyota sludge problem, your car will last along time. I bought it used for 10k and could sell if for 2k now with some blemishes, good bang for your buck IMHO.

[96 Corolla Gas Mileage]

The Tornado works. I am running one in my Camry and i picked up 1 or 2 miles per gallon, plus I changed the Iridium plug when I put it in.

Did you pull the fuse out to reset the ECU when you changed it or just disconnect the battery?

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That's strange, I changed out my O2 in front, EGR valve, and VSV, took all three to get the check engine light to go off, but my gas mileage went up by about 4 mpg. Try pulling your egr valve and cleaning it up ( it gets oil and carbon deposits), also pull filters off vsv and see if they have alot of soot and carbon in them, if so you should blow with compressed air and if that doesn't work grab the counter when you pay the dealer for that little peice!

Also might want to consider replacing your fuel filter?

[60,000 mile maintaince]

For the 2000 Camry 2.2L 4 cyl, I recall the toyota manual recommended 149,000 KM for a timing belt change, that is about 90,000 miles...To change it I saw the mechanic had to suport the engine and remove the front engine mount in order to access the timing cover etc.  I think they removed the wheel and splash guard also..

A hoist and air tools are great to have to do the job. It's a tricky job to do at home...

The prices vary from shop to shop.  Private shop is cheaper.

The dealer are a bit pricer I believe the dealer price was about $200 + taxes for a timing belt....  I replaced all the other belts at the same time at a private shop for about the same price.

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Check and see if you have a replaceable fuel fitler, also I recommend a compelte trans flush, as drain and fill doesn't get it all. You can do it yourself, I would advise, but I am trying it myself for the first time so search on the net, you can go auto-rx.com and look under the trans flush it will tell you how to do it yourself.

[Modifications]

Thanks for the advice, actually I did purchase a cold air intake....as for the ECU chip, I have to see if I can find one. I have looked some but I am sure someone must make one!

It's so hard to find performance parts for this car, dunno if its because its so new or because its a CAMRY.

The car has a nice body kit, small lip and 18" BBS Wheels & Z rated tires.

Thanks again,

John

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I am not trying to plug amsoil really, but I am switching to full synth for oil and trans fluid, amsoil seems best, and they just came out with a new air filter that tested shows more air flow using nano fiber, I will probably get one. K and N I have heard can allow more dirt into your engine, any feedback folks?

[Jacks and jack stands]

I can speak from authority on this. Just tell me what year your Corolla is. And this is a "bottle jack", correct?

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I just used a floor jack under my center member, that support trans, I don't know if this is recommended or not, anyone want to chime in?, but it sure jack my car straight up, and then I put jack stands where the factory jack connects to the rail, which did work well for sure.

[Snow Set Up]

I just found it interesting you were going through the hassle for steel wheels - i personally would have bought some cheap alloys and spiked tyres....

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A couple of suggestions for you........

Go to tirerack.com they have a nice setup of inexpensive alloys and blizzaks I believe. I live in Denver, the winters are more mild, so I went with BF Goodrich Traction TA which are supposed to be the best rated all season tires for snow other than Nokians which I have heard are quite good too. Search Nokian on google you will see for yourself.