2002 Toyota Corolla

LE Sedan

1.8L 1794CC l4 GAS DOHC Naturally Aspirated

Automatic

2T1BR12E32C575165

Clear

GAS

THE GOOD: This is an amazingly good running little car. Everything works as it should- cold air conditioning on hot summer days, plenty of heat on cold days. It has an Alpine AM-FM CD stereo system. Exterior has some scratches here and there, and a pretty obvious scar on the right rear bumper. No major dents to be found. Gas mileage is excellent. It never fails to start immediately, even on the coldest days. It runs perfect, and the engine is very smooth and quiet. In the last several months it's had new battery, new front struts/shocks, new tires (Goodyear), transmission serviced and fluid changed, coolant drained and replaced, complete brake service with new pads, etc new valve cover gasket and PCV valve, new air filter, engine tune-up. The interior is decent, no rips, tears, etc., it has gray cloth seats. It has a lot of miles, but then I've seen Toyotas still running well at 300,000. THE BAD: The car has one flaw I'm aware of- it consumes oil. I've had the valve cover replaced, as well as the PCV valve, both are normally suspect when a car is using oil. Once warmed up, there is not a trace of smoke from the tailpipe. However, on cold mornings, it sometimes produces a small amount of blue smoke for the first couple of minutes, then it goes away. I've had two different shops look at it and try to diagnose it. One was the Toyota dealer, who thought it was valve cover gasket (it's not), PCV valve (not that either), or oil pan gasket (haven't tried that yet, but I don't think that's it). The oil pan gasket is about a $200 job, and I don't see any sign of drips or leaks anywhere on it. The other shop thinks that it's burning a lot of oil on cold starts, which they say isn't at all uncommon for the 1.8 liter engine. You can park the car for days, and there are absolutely no drips or leaks anywhere. So I just make sure to check the oil very regularly, and add as needed. It's an inconvenience, but I simply can't find the culprit for where the oil is going! I think the cold engine theory is most likely, as that's when you can sometimes see a little blue smoke out the tail pipe. So, the bottom line is, it's a great running, very fuel efficient little car with a good maintenance history, and everything in working order. It has a few scratches and imperfections, but nothing real bad, and no rust. Decent interior, great stereo, and a nice ride. It has a lot of zip for a little 1.8 four cylinder engine. If you don't mind checking the oil very regularly, and keeping it topped off, it'll make a great little car for somebody, especially at the price! The car is for sale locally as well as on e-bay, so if you think you're interested, I really don't believe it'll last long. Kelly Blue Book in "good" condition with the miles on it is $2,581.00, and in "fair" condition is $2,081.00. So I accounted for the oil issue, and set the price accordingly. The car has a clear title, which will be signed off and turned over with a cash payment.