Hi Scotty, what's your take on the 2018 Toyota Corolla XSE with 8,500 miles in automatic? Bought from a dealer, how can I make it last forever? Thank you.
Nothing lasts forever. How much do they want?
The XSE is equipped with a 2.0 L M20A-FKS “Dynamic Force” straight-four engine (I4).
Not much is known about this engine yet. However, the design is so new and complex, that it often makes it prohibitively expensive or even impossible to repair. (oodles of computer control circuitry, and laser clad valve seats)
https://www.motorreviewer.com/engine.php?engine_id=156
The automatic transmission is actually a CVT, which are not known for their longevity, so it should be serviced religiously. It has no less than 10 "simulated" gears (which I think is mental)
Might also be useful:
https://toyota-club.net/files/faq/18-03-20_faq_df_r4_eng.htm
There are already recalls and known design issues - they’re under the “experience” section.
It includes some really bad ones like blow-by causing the same oil degradation effect as a blow head gasket.
And Toyota apparently is refusing to fix EGR systems in some markets as if it’s all of the problems aren’t caused by their terrible metal quality (no one else’s EGR system develops corrosion so early on or at all - so is it really “bad fuel quality”? Or is their system just not good enough to handle real-world quality fuel)
I’d avoid it and stick with the old ZR engines, expect for oil consumption on the early ones they’re as solid as small economical engines can get.
That's a cool site, @dan. Lots of technical detail.
It’s not great at all, but it’s as good as 2018-up cars get.
Personally I’d recommend a slightly older 2016~2017 3rd gen Mazda3 - they had proven engines and proven conventional automatics.
Well it's a good car if you had it checked by a mechanic before purchasing it and everything checked out. Change the oil and oil filter every 5k ish miles and also it's a CVT so I would say change the transmission fluid every about 35k ish miles.
