I'm looking to purchase either a late model 8th gen Corolla, or an eraly model 9th gen with a 4 speed auto. Is this tranny known to be relialble, or a weak link? I figure a lot of people probably don't change, or get their tranny fluid changed as often as they should, and with some trannies, this could mean the difference between a long, trouble-free service life, or complete disaster. The Corolla I end up buying will probably have around 100K miles on it because of the price range I'll be looking at. I'm just wondering if I'm asking for trouble with this tranny with that many miles.
Are auto trans durable in 8th & 9th gen Corollas?
- Thread starter grampi
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Is this tranny known to be relialble
Yes it is, there doesn't seem to any common point of failure even at high miles.
These are very easy to do a line off fluid exchange the ones i have seen use a drain plug and filter in the pan.
I would feel more confident with one of these than a lot of others.
Is this tranny known to be relialble
Yes it is, there doesn't seem to any common point of failure even at high miles.
These are very easy to do a line off fluid exchange the ones i have seen use a drain plug and filter in the pan.
I would feel more confident with one of these than a lot of others.
I agree with Trav. We have an 06 Corolla and the tranny is humming along just fine at 60k miles. I did a drain and refill with Amsoil ATF around 20k, and then did a complete Amsoil flush and refill using the cooler line around the 50k miles mark. Very easy car to work on and there is tons of how-to info on the net.
IIRC, some of the late model 8th gen Corollas had an oil burning issue.
IIRC, some of the late model 8th gen Corollas had an oil burning issue.
9th gen corollas are where its at. Good cars, just need fluid changes every now in then. I put 30k miles a year on mine when I had it easy to do drain and refills on the trans (auto). Very hd to jack it up or ramps for the servicing i did on mine. They are smalls cars though so I had to upgrade.
I'm been looking around at these for a friend's new-driving teen. From everything I've seen, the 4-speed auto in these is bullet-proof, even more so that the 5-speed MT. One suggestion: check out the 3rd generation Prizm's as well. In my area at least you can find these quite a bit cheaper due to the name. In this category, I think this car is hard to beat.
hate2work
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
JOD
My '99 is a 5 speed manual and it's still all original, even the clutch. If the 4 speed auto is even more bullet proof than this thing, I've got nothing to worry about with the auto...
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
JOD
My '99 is a 5 speed manual and it's still all original, even the clutch. If the 4 speed auto is even more bullet proof than this thing, I've got nothing to worry about with the auto...
I'm on a Honda forum and a guy on there who works on these cars for a living has stated that his shop has several of these units with 300k on the original trans. He doesn't sugarcoat anything and is one of the most knowledgeable car guys I know.
Originally Posted By: grampi
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
Wow, you drive almost as much as BIU does. I think he has an 05 with about 220k on it. But yeah, that's what I had heard about those 8th gen Corollas, they tend to use a little oil.
I've always wondered if someone like you could just change the filter every 5k and stop changing the oil since you're putting a fresh quart in every 1200 miles, which means you do a complete change every 4800 miles. Would the oil slowly deteriorate, or would the fresh quart every 1200 miles keep it fresh?
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
Wow, you drive almost as much as BIU does. I think he has an 05 with about 220k on it. But yeah, that's what I had heard about those 8th gen Corollas, they tend to use a little oil.
I've always wondered if someone like you could just change the filter every 5k and stop changing the oil since you're putting a fresh quart in every 1200 miles, which means you do a complete change every 4800 miles. Would the oil slowly deteriorate, or would the fresh quart every 1200 miles keep it fresh?
to OP:
You worry too much.
We here in Beaverland pretty much have the town filled 80% with Toy taxis (from sienna van serving the disabled, to corollas and prius, etc. while the rest are either V-double-Us jettas or civics). Many of these taxis rack up over 300~500kkms before they were resold to civilians.
Never heard any catastrophic A/T gearbox failures from taxi drivers.
(*on a slightly different note: those late 90s GM V6 with intake manifold gasket issues, we had them as local taxis for a short duration (around 1998~ 2004) and saw them disappeared on the road one-by-one, guess why?)
Q.
You worry too much.
We here in Beaverland pretty much have the town filled 80% with Toy taxis (from sienna van serving the disabled, to corollas and prius, etc. while the rest are either V-double-Us jettas or civics). Many of these taxis rack up over 300~500kkms before they were resold to civilians.
Never heard any catastrophic A/T gearbox failures from taxi drivers.
(*on a slightly different note: those late 90s GM V6 with intake manifold gasket issues, we had them as local taxis for a short duration (around 1998~ 2004) and saw them disappeared on the road one-by-one, guess why?)
Q.
Originally Posted By: grampi
JOD
My '99 is a 5 speed manual and it's still all original, even the clutch. If the 4 speed auto is even more bullet proof than this thing, I've got nothing to worry about with the auto...
That's good to hear, because that's what we're looking at! The thinking being that a stick shift will cut down on the chance of driving and texting...
I don't want to overstate it, since it seems like a pretty small %, but there do seem to be some input shaft failures on the MT's of that vintage. Given how many on the road, I don't think it's incredibly likely, but it's out there. The AT's seem to have a really low instance of failure though.
JOD
My '99 is a 5 speed manual and it's still all original, even the clutch. If the 4 speed auto is even more bullet proof than this thing, I've got nothing to worry about with the auto...
That's good to hear, because that's what we're looking at! The thinking being that a stick shift will cut down on the chance of driving and texting...
I don't want to overstate it, since it seems like a pretty small %, but there do seem to be some input shaft failures on the MT's of that vintage. Given how many on the road, I don't think it's incredibly likely, but it's out there. The AT's seem to have a really low instance of failure though.
Originally Posted By: hate2work
Originally Posted By: grampi
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
Wow, you drive almost as much as BIU does. I think he has an 05 with about 220k on it. But yeah, that's what I had heard about those 8th gen Corollas, they tend to use a little oil.
I've always wondered if someone like you could just change the filter every 5k and stop changing the oil since you're putting a fresh quart in every 1200 miles, which means you do a complete change every 4800 miles. Would the oil slowly deteriorate, or would the fresh quart every 1200 miles keep it fresh?
I wouldn't mind finding out the results of that experiment, but I'm not gonna do it. I use the cheapest oil I can find, so it isn't like I'm spending a ton of money by keeping up the OCIs.
Originally Posted By: grampi
I have a '99 Corolla now with 270K miles. It's been using a qt of oil per every 1100 ~ 1200 miles for about the last 100K miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Change my oil every 6K and I put about 2500-3000 per month on the car. These 1.8s seem to be pretty good motors.
Wow, you drive almost as much as BIU does. I think he has an 05 with about 220k on it. But yeah, that's what I had heard about those 8th gen Corollas, they tend to use a little oil.
I've always wondered if someone like you could just change the filter every 5k and stop changing the oil since you're putting a fresh quart in every 1200 miles, which means you do a complete change every 4800 miles. Would the oil slowly deteriorate, or would the fresh quart every 1200 miles keep it fresh?
I wouldn't mind finding out the results of that experiment, but I'm not gonna do it. I use the cheapest oil I can find, so it isn't like I'm spending a ton of money by keeping up the OCIs.
We have an '03 w/ 88K miles and my wifes mom has an '05 w/ 133K miles. Both are solid and the '05 has had OK maintenance on the trans.
Originally Posted By: mikered30
I have a whine during heavy acceleration in my 06 that I can't get rid of but besides that it is fine. This occurred with the t iv fluid and redline d4 fluid.
These transmissions are bulletproof, but many of them do have this annoying whine issue under acceleration, especially when the fluid gets to normal operating temperature. I've done a lot of research on this and both 9 and 10 generations have this problem, so you really have to watch for it. There is no solution except to replace the transmission, but even a replacement can develop this whine in the future. The whine does not cause a failure or any other problems, it is just there and is very annoying. Some toyotas are louder than others, in some you can barely hear it, but they do have this problem. Dealerships consider this "normal" and will do nothing about this under warranty. My new 2010 corolla had this whine from day 1 and I could not get the dealership to do anything about it. I had to call Toyota USA and raise a complaint, this finally got the dealer to replace the tranny at 2000 miles, but even the new replacement unit has the same problem, except it is a lot less noticable. Unless it is over 70 F outside, it does not do it, but in hot weather under heavy acceleration it does whine, so beware of this issue.
I have a whine during heavy acceleration in my 06 that I can't get rid of but besides that it is fine. This occurred with the t iv fluid and redline d4 fluid.
These transmissions are bulletproof, but many of them do have this annoying whine issue under acceleration, especially when the fluid gets to normal operating temperature. I've done a lot of research on this and both 9 and 10 generations have this problem, so you really have to watch for it. There is no solution except to replace the transmission, but even a replacement can develop this whine in the future. The whine does not cause a failure or any other problems, it is just there and is very annoying. Some toyotas are louder than others, in some you can barely hear it, but they do have this problem. Dealerships consider this "normal" and will do nothing about this under warranty. My new 2010 corolla had this whine from day 1 and I could not get the dealership to do anything about it. I had to call Toyota USA and raise a complaint, this finally got the dealer to replace the tranny at 2000 miles, but even the new replacement unit has the same problem, except it is a lot less noticable. Unless it is over 70 F outside, it does not do it, but in hot weather under heavy acceleration it does whine, so beware of this issue.
Friend's 06 Corolla just ate its auto transmission last month at 103k. Not sure if it was the original fluid, maybe it was.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Friend's 06 Corolla just ate its auto transmission last month at 103k. Not sure if it was the original fluid, maybe it was.
ATF is cheap compared to this, changing it on a regular basis is the key to AT longevity, IMO.
Friend's 06 Corolla just ate its auto transmission last month at 103k. Not sure if it was the original fluid, maybe it was.
ATF is cheap compared to this, changing it on a regular basis is the key to AT longevity, IMO.
My grandmother's 01 Prizm has the oil burning issue. Aside from that it has been excellent. I'm not sure exactly what rate it burns at but it's quite a bit. We just do a once a year oil change which is about 8-9k miles. Current fill is Super Tech and a Fram Ultra. It has roughly 140k and has burned oil for half of those miles. No trans issues.
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