Sportin' new rims and tires, with a new stereo, my 2003 Corolla is ready to roll.
Now, we've been down on the Corolla in the past here, but my hats are off to my little blue buggy, now that I've gotten it updated, it's a pretty decent daily driver.
I got her back in 2008 with about 74,000 miles on her. I had just started an outside sales job, and I bought this car for its chief traits: fuel economy, reliability, and that it handled way better than my old hand-me-down '96 Suburban. And believe you me, this car is reliable.
How reliable you ask? Well, for starters, despite it being an incredibly bad idea and not recommended, I never took it in to get serviced during the year and a quarter I worked in outside sales (mostly due to the fact that we were so wrapped up on prospecting and making sales, trivial things like social life and sleep were often overlooked). During this time, I put about 50,000 miles on the car, and it still ran like a dream. Other than the regular oil changes, tire replacement, etc, the only thing that's really gone wrong with the car was over this Thanksgiving, when the starter went out. Currently, she's got about 174,000 miles on her, and that's a pretty good record for me.
Performance wise, it's not much to write about, but with the right tires on her, it corners well, and can hold its own in the twisties (particularly up highway 9, one of the best driving roads around). There is understeer, but it's also very predictable, and the short gearing offers decent acceleration.
Mostly why I'm proud of this car is this: Despite the Corollas typically being a penalty box, any one of this generation of Corolla is a good buy for a few reasons:
1) The 'new' generation has the same engine and transmission, practically speaking.
2) Any of the 'new' technology on the 'new' Corollas can be easily had on a previous generation for thousands less in terms of aftermarket upgrades.
3) The car is reliable as all get out. I'd bet good money this particular version will last long enough to the point where my kids are driving it.
That said, this isn't my favorite of our family cars. I present to you guys a TWOFER!!!
This is our other car, and the one we more commonly use on family outings. For the less knowledgeable amongst you, this is a 2010 Mazda5, and it's head and shoulders better than my Corolla, and indeed the '06 Jeep Liberty it replaced.
Yes, it looks like a minivan, and technically it is. It does have sliding doors, and a hatchback. It has three rows of seats, good for seating six people.
However, it's fairly small. At its tallest, it only comes up about 5 feet or so, and the wheelbase is as near as makes no difference to the Corolla. Plus, it has the same suspension, transmission, and 2.3 liter engine as its little brother, the Mazda3, arguably one of the best handling cars for the money. And this baby handles and drives like a dream.
The 5 speed manu-matic is crisp and intuitive, the steering is very responsive, with no dead spots and it's easy to put it where you want it. The suspension is firm without being rock hard (which is often not the case). Plus we can fit both my child's seats, two strollers, and a week's worth of groceries in the back (with the rear seats down).
What's nice in this car are the creature comforts as well. For instance, the first two rows of seats are made up of captains chairs. The week before Christmas, we drove overnight to Riverside and then came up the next day. During the whole 1200 miles round trip, my tail was nice and comfy in the driver's seat, which is often an issue for a c-segment car. The stereo has an auxiliary input jack, and, as a neat trick, adjusts the volume automatically with the road noise. For trips to Ikea, all four rear seats fold down flat, so you can fit anything up to a decent sized sofa in there.
Sadly, not 20 minutes after that picture was taken today, we got sideswiped in a hit and run at a stoplight. Fortunately, whether the hit was light enough or the car stood up to it, everyone's ok and the car is still going strong.
I love this car, and nothing is going to change it. I would heartily recommend a Mazda5 for anyone buying a family car today. Has enough room to haul your stuff, and an absolute dynamite platform to go hooning around mountain roads on the weekend.
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