Corolla Sportivo 2003

[steve139]

Have had my Sportivo for 5 months, have done just over 3500kms (so still pretty new). Have a few problems.

- highway fuel consumption 9.2 litres/100 (they claim 8.5 city/ highway)

- light knocking sound from clutch (goes away when clutch engaged)

-I think front left strut has gone, or missing a "rubber"

- brakes skweel well when applied in reverse

- long warm up time - even on very hot days.

Anyone else having any problems ? Would appreciate if you could let me know.

Steve .

Sending it in to dealer tomorrow. I'll let you all know how I get on .

[BlackRolla]

I get the pretty much the same probs as well.

1. Mine goes 500 - 550 km on a full tank.

2. There is a knocking sound under the bonnet when it is idling (sometimes)

3. There is also a vibration/ticking noise under the car (sounds like metal to metal) when idling.

4. Vibration in the dash.

5. Squeels when braking

Does anyone have a prob with the LCD where the climate control panel is? When I turn the key to ACC, there are blotches of ink on the screen and then slowly fade away. Wondering if that is normal.

I also have 1 problem which no one would prob have. There is a patch on the drivers side door where it looks like it has been resprayed. You can only see it in the sun as the metallic stands out and can see a circle patch. I spoke to my dealer and they said they don;t know why and I will have to take it to the service department for them to take pics of it. Don;t know what will happen.

[Mr duck]

I am glad I read your post Black Roller!!! I just went out and gave my car the once over and the paint job appears to be ok.Your paint problem sounds to me like it is poor workmanship and poor quality control in the factory in South Africa.

I hope the dealer can fix the problem for you.

[yekim]

Does anyone have a prob with the LCD where the climate control panel is? When I turn the key to ACC, there are blotches of ink on the screen and then slowly fade away. Wondering if that is normal.

The liquid crystal in LCDs is heat sensitive, so it most likely is because of ambient temperature

[xTiGeRx]

i've got this feeling that....maybe...toyota didn't put enough R&D into the car...and just slapped it all together..and hoped for the best?

[influx]

i don't won't to gloat but my car hasn't had any of these problems, cept for the brake noise which is no longer as i mentioned after i lower/new rimmed my car it hasn't done it, maybe a bad batch or something. clutch is good, nil rattles, just lucky i feel sorry for you guys having your bad luck

[BlackRolla]

So does anyone have any probs with the LCD screen as I monetioned before? Coz if no one has any probs with it then I'm gonna go back to Toyota and complain!!!

[stauff]

i don't won't to gloat but my car hasn't had any of these problems, cept for the brake noise which is no longer as i mentioned after i lower/new rimmed my car it hasn't done it, maybe a bad batch or something. clutch is good, nil rattles, just lucky i feel sorry for you guys having your bad luck

Same.. my car runs fine.

On the fuel consumption, this tank I'm only going to get about 500km, but I've been giving it a bit of stick and running the A/C a lot, so that doesn't surprise me at all. By the way, 8.5l/100km isn't all that far off. I get 10 in the city on light driving, but the 8.5 is done to a standard test. My mate has an XR6T and Ford reckon it gets something like 13.5, which he reckons would only be possible if he dropped it out of a plane. Those numbers are only for comparison, they're not neccessarily real-world.

As for the LCD BlackRolla, as yekim mentioned LCDs do strange things when hot. If it takes a long time to fade, and isn't hot, it's probably got problems. If it fades pretty quickly after you turn the key, or it's particularly hot, I wouldn't worry about it. Mine has things appear but considering the nasty spike that goes through a car's electrics when it starts up, it's not all that surprising.

Cheers,

- Matthew

[Kevsta]

I haven't noticed any other probs apart from rattling noise behind dash in 2-3 gear and noisey brakes during reversing. LCD screen is fine. Paintwork is fine.

As far as petrol consumption is concerned, I have noticed that it uses a lot more petrol than a 1.6 but that's expected. I'm not fussed about petrol usage anyway - if it can deliver 141 kws then let it be.

I've already got two scratches on the rims for parking too close to the footpath in an effort to not get my right side mirror from being taken off in a narrow street.

[steve139]

Thanks for your advice guys !

Re: Noise in front end of car. Service department said it is a faulty "power steering rack". They are replacing it this Friday, and suggested that as there are so many in stock at the moment that would suggest it is a common problem. So one to watch out for.

Toyota claim the brake noise when reversing was "normal". I said B/S## and they are looking at it further. I said it is not normal for any new car to make that sound and if other cars are doing it (per the number of people with similar concerns on forum) then it must be a design defect and they should recall and replace what ever is causing it.

Will keep pu up to date

Steve

[Screaminrolla]

The steering rack is a common problem on most corollas no mater what model. I have the same problem but i gotta wait till january for em to fix it.

[xTiGeRx]

steering rack problems?

i've NEVER had any problems with my car...wat so ever..

well..maybe a little queak on the driver door..that's it.

i think it's only with the stivos...

i think...not sure..

[Screaminrolla]

i had the same thing with a 97 and 2000 model and now the sportivo