Wanted: as new corolla sportivo

[bobbymag00]

Hi all,

apologies if this is the wrong place to post this, but I am looking for an excellent condition unmodified corolla sportivo with less than 80,000km. Would prefer an 05 or 04 model in silver, red or white. Thought I'd try here as would love to find one cared for by enthusiast owner who has genuinely looked after it. I live just south of Wollongong so would like to find something in the Illawarra or Sydney.

I am searching carsales etc at the moment but not having much luck - both cars I have looked at so far have been dodgy. 1st one had three different types of tyres and broken A/C (and only 4 yrs old!) and the second one which I thought was a great car and just about to buy turned out to be a repairable write off with an engine from another car (thank goodness for REVS check!!!!!).

Out of curiosity, are there are any typical things to look out for / any known quality issues? Any comments or known cars for sale would be much appreciated

Cheers,

robert

[IMB055]

G'day Robert,

I'm from the 'Gong, but my '03 is a little old for you! Also, I would only be replacing it with another Sportivo if I sold it anyway as I am still very ahppy with mine after almost 4yrs and 60,000ks

A quick search on carsales found a couple that would fit the bill, none of which are in Wollongong but a couple not too far away. I don't know any of these personally, but some of the other members on here might.

Use the search function on this site and you'll find tons of useful tips when looking for a sportivo. Best of luck, Nath.

Sportivo 1

Sportivo 2

Sportivo 3

Sportivo 4

Sportivo 5

Sportivo 6

Sportivo 7

[bobbymag00]

Thanks Nath, will do a quick search to find out tips on the stivo.

With regards to age of car, I'm considering low km 2003 & 2004 models too - age doesn't worry me too much. Just after something that is in excellent condition and has low km's it cause I'm looking for a car to keep long term and I'm an enthusiast owner (previously owned a RenaultSport Clio 182... really regret selling it as was best bang for buck I have ever driven, but unfortunately no good for a family).

Thanks for pulling up the results from carsales too - I have been looking into some of these. In case anyone else is reading this and looking for a sportivo at the moment a few warnings to let you know about cars 5 & 6 - car 5 has three different types of tyres on it and A/C doesn't work, and car 6 is a repairable writeoff for which the VIN and engine number don't line up on REVS. I normally doen't like sharing bad news like that, but I've wasted the past two weekends looking at these cars and have been lied to by both owners - not much fun when it's a 3 hr round trip!

Am planning to look at a few dealer cars this weekend so will hopefully find what I'm looking for.

[bobbymag00]

car found :-)

2005 silver sportivo from a dealer. Paid a bit more than I would have liked, but car it is exactly what I was after (excellent condition, unmodified, no accidents and relatively low kms) and have some peace of mind with the the little bit warranty it came with.

now comes the fun of detailing it (something I actually really enjoy!), and then driving it :-)

From the drive back from Sydney to Wollongong it feels like really comfortable car, especially given how well it seems to handle (need to do some runs up Mac pass to compare to previous car). I can now see why it's hard to find a low km car, because it's so nice to drive!

One minor thing I'm thinking of changing is gearbox oil - the box feels a little notchy, particularly changing up and down from 2nd to 3rd, which is something i've noticed in the 3 sportivos I've test driven. From similar experience with my RSC182, I found that by simply changing the oil to Neo Shockproof it made a world of difference. Although expensive and hard to get, it was worth every cent. Will search to see what other people have done.

[jaderd]

i think i have read somewhere on here that the shockproof stuff is really bad for sportivo box....some others may be able to shed some light

i have been happy with castrol syntrax 75w90 with the addition of Nulon G70 additive.....works well.

recently a guy posted much success of getting rid of notchyness with castrol syntrax 75w85 and nulon G70.

cheers

[2zz corolla]

car found :-)

2005 silver sportivo from a dealer. Paid a bit more than I would have liked, but car it is exactly what I was after (excellent condition, unmodified, no accidents and relatively low kms) and have some peace of mind with the the little bit warranty it came with.

now comes the fun of detailing it (something I actually really enjoy!), and then driving it :-)

From the drive back from Sydney to Wollongong it feels like really comfortable car, especially given how well it seems to handle (need to do some runs up Mac pass to compare to previous car). I can now see why it's hard to find a low km car, because it's so nice to drive!

One minor thing I'm thinking of changing is gearbox oil - the box feels a little notchy, particularly changing up and down from 2nd to 3rd, which is something i've noticed in the 3 sportivos I've test driven. From similar experience with my RSC182, I found that by simply changing the oil to Neo Shockproof it made a world of difference. Although expensive and hard to get, it was worth every cent. Will search to see what other people have done.

Congratulations on the purchase how do you compare it to a 182 i was considering buying one but yea ..... got scared by french reliability :P. No offense to any frenchies out there by the way

[bobbymag00]

Congratulations on the purchase how do you compare it to a 182 i was considering buying one but yea ..... got scared by french reliability :P. No offense to any frenchies out there by the way

In terms of comparison, it really depends what you're after in a car...

From a pure motoring enthusiast point of view, the sportivo is a wannabe hot hatch compared to the 182. The 182 has a much more linear spread of power so it pulls easily throughout the whole rev range (0-100km/h is 7.1sec vs 8.1 for the corolla), and it would have to be one of the best handling cars I have ever driven due to the awesome level of feedback you get (I especially loved been able to lift-off oversteer in it). Not only that, it has more far more features and ESP which honestly saved me on two occasions. Fuel consumption was awesome too - over 76,000kms I averaged 7.42L/100km. The worst I ever got on club drive days was 8.5L/100km. The other advantage with a second hand 182 is they are cheaper than an equivalent sportivo.

From a rational point of view, servicing and parts are much more expensive (about $350 - 400 per std service) and it only has two doors. Also, it has a timing belt that needs to be replaced every 4 yrs or 100,000km which will set you back $1500-2000 each time. Quality is another potential weakness - if the car is looked after well and has been serviced by Paul V (the guru on French hot hatches in Australia), then mechanically there should be no dramas. There is the odd rattle and electrical glitch, but overall I found it to be pretty good. If the car has been thrashed or poorly modified, then expect some issues. On the plus side, it doesn't have all the "look at me" body kit parts which means you don't have too many people wanting to race you at the lights, and the police don't look twice when cruising around.

I decided to go to a sportivo because I'm now married and we wanted something with 5 doors, something that I can get serviced locally and easily, and something that I know will last well over 200,000km. Also, I wanted something that would feel more like a normal car round town and on the highway, but still have fun on the twisties.

But if you're single, want some serious fun and don't too mind about maintenance costs, the 182 is a great car too.

[trd-benji]

^^^^How are any of those corollas posted as new? nearly most of them have 100,000 kms on the clock? I have an 03 and have 80 grand on mine. They may look new but i bet they had their engines thrashed.

Edited September 11, 2009 by trd-benji

[2zz corolla]

Congratulations on the purchase how do you compare it to a 182 i was considering buying one but yea ..... got scared by french reliability :P. No offense to any frenchies out there by the way

In terms of comparison, it really depends what you're after in a car...

From a pure motoring enthusiast point of view, the sportivo is a wannabe hot hatch compared to the 182. The 182 has a much more linear spread of power so it pulls easily throughout the whole rev range (0-100km/h is 7.1sec vs 8.1 for the corolla), and it would have to be one of the best handling cars I have ever driven due to the awesome level of feedback you get (I especially loved been able to lift-off oversteer in it). Not only that, it has more far more features and ESP which honestly saved me on two occasions. Fuel consumption was awesome too - over 76,000kms I averaged 7.42L/100km. The worst I ever got on club drive days was 8.5L/100km. The other advantage with a second hand 182 is they are cheaper than an equivalent sportivo.

From a rational point of view, servicing and parts are much more expensive (about $350 - 400 per std service) and it only has two doors. Also, it has a timing belt that needs to be replaced every 4 yrs or 100,000km which will set you back $1500-2000 each time. Quality is another potential weakness - if the car is looked after well and has been serviced by Paul V (the guru on French hot hatches in Australia), then mechanically there should be no dramas. There is the odd rattle and electrical glitch, but overall I found it to be pretty good. If the car has been thrashed or poorly modified, then expect some issues. On the plus side, it doesn't have all the "look at me" body kit parts which means you don't have too many people wanting to race you at the lights, and the police don't look twice when cruising around.

I decided to go to a sportivo because I'm now married and we wanted something with 5 doors, something that I can get serviced locally and easily, and something that I know will last well over 200,000km. Also, I wanted something that would feel more like a normal car round town and on the highway, but still have fun on the twisties.

But if you're single, want some serious fun and don't too mind about maintenance costs, the 182 is a great car too.

True yea the clios sure are the kings. Im sure you can mod a stivo to the same handling characteristics as a clio, the weight might be hard to shake off though. Don't believe that sportivo do 8.1 0 to 100 mate its more like 7.5s( i am guessing you got that figure from motor mag). I know for a fact they are quicker then 8.1. Far more features you reckon .... i reckon the stivo is pretty feature loaded its loaded with basically every thing you need then again i have never realy been in a clio , esp is not really needed in it, its torque takes to long to kick in :P. Would have been nice if it came with a diff though.

hope you have fun with the stivo.

Dave

[2zz corolla]

^^^^How are any of those corollas posted as new? nearly most of them have 100,000 kms on the clock? I have an 03 and have 80 grand on mine. They may look new but i bet they had their engines thrashed.

hehe i agree, theirs no way people wouldn't thrash a sportivo. If your not going to thrash it ( rev the thing to red line) then you may as well buy a levin cause thats realy all your driving. thats my point of view any way.