Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Toyota Corolla - 1 month later

My new car is now a bit over a month old, and this afternoon I'll go to the garage for a quick inspection. Just a routine inspection after 2500 km, to check if everything is okay. But that is the opportunity to also do a review of what I like and don't like in this car.

Generally I am very satisfied with my Toyota Corolla. The car is definitely big enough for me. By choosing the bigger 1.6 liter motor I have 81 kW (110 horsepower) and the car still accelerates sufficiently when loaded and driving uphill. The trunk, which on first sight looked a bit small, turned out to have hidden depth and be big enough for the holiday baggage.

There are only two minor annoyances. One is that the gas tank is too small. It has a nominal volume of 55 liters. But this morning the empty light turned on, I filled her up, and only managed to get 42 liters in. As the consumption is a bit over 8 liters per 100 km (30 mpg), I can only drive 500 km before running empty. That happens to be how much I drive per week, so I have to fill her up once per week. The previous car lasted a day or two longer. The car probably still drives 100 km with the empty light on, but I'm not the type to risk that.

The second minor annoyance is the instrument board. It is of the type that is totally invisible when the car is turned off, and becomes visible by being backlit. The problem is that whenever I turn on the headlights, the car comes to the logical conclusion that it must be dark, and dims down the backlight of the instrument board. When it is really dark that is okay. But sometimes I turn on the headlighs because it is grey and raining during the day, and then I can't see the dimmed instrument board any more.

Well, I guess every car has its minor peculiarities. I can certainly live with my car for the next couple of years.

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