Thank you for letting me know 😄

Mine is a JDM spec, made in Japan and the transmission was ment for the Japanese market
(that’s why going over 60 mph - their national speed limit, is not great on this box, usually comes with super high rpm)
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The new Corolla (E210) sold in the US is European spec (it’s very mechanically similar to the Toyota Auris E180)
So I guess in the next 5-6 years we’ll know…
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Here, when someone looks for a new Corolla (it’s only a petrol) I usually redirect them to a petrol Mazda3 or the new diesel Peugeot 2008.
(The diesel 2021 2008 (I really hate the name on this car) is slightly cheaper, comes with a much more efficient engine, holds is value also really well because it’s an SUV, and instead of a junky CVT this one is a conventional AISIN automatic, not to forget to mention - quite reliable…

Also it’s weird that you never got an automated manual transmission in the US, some of them are actually great and swift.

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the EGS6 pretty much on all older Citroën and Peugeot models (the cars them selfs were kinda trashy but the gearbox) never breaks down, and if it does and it isn’t a clutch (like in 90% of cases) it records an error code that pin points to the exact issue.

Since the US is a big market for Toyota, maybe they are saving their best for us? 🙂 Scotty mentions how they test in other markets first and refine before bringing over to the US.

I mean they defiantly haven’t done enough refining on the DynamicForce and the regular (not launch gear) CVT.
Those are still very weak, even not by Toyota standards.
Refining an engine or transmission usually takes a decade or at least 4-5 years. Some engines get cancelled even before they get refined (like the Toyota ZZ series that was bad, and when it was replaced it still was terrific garbage)

I think cars are more reliable and low maintenance than ever. There was a time when odometers didn't reach 100,000 miles. Manufactures are just working towards an "engineered lifetime" because that's what most consumers want. They know that people who buy new cars don't keep them for very long, so there's no incentive for car makers them to make them any more durable than that. To them it's wasted resources.

"New vehicle buyers in Canada on average are keeping their vehicles 6.4 years and driving them 116,797 km (72,000mi) before trading them in on a new model"

"nearly a third of all new-vehicles are being leased for two or three years at a time,"
" U.S. motorists are increasingly upgrading their autos as frequently as they do their cell phones."

Manufacturers don't care about 2nd hand car owners at all. They'll never see any of that money. In fact, the used car market COSTS them money because each used car sale is a lost new car sale.

So there you have it. Those are the forces shaping the auto industry. The big question is actually why SHOULD car makers make cars more durable, when it's not even what most people want? Anybody who tries, immediately becomes less competitive, and it's a cut-throat industry to be in. Just look how unstable it is with all the mergers and take-overs.

Actually used cars account for the majority of their sales at their dealerships and the margins are higher on used cars so the manufacturers are still seeing profit from used cars. Plus when they start engineering planned obsolescence it affects their reputation.

Dealerships are not Manufacturers. They are completely different entities. Manufacturers only make money selling brand new cars.

Obsolescence only really affects the reputation if it happens during that new car ownership period.

No, if it happens to a subsequent buyer then that owner goes around telling everyone what a piece of garbage the car was and then no one will want to buy it

to some degree yes. But what percentage of the market do they represent? And the new car buyers don't care what they say because they're not buying used, and they're ditching cars before they develop problems. That's why the buzzword with marketing companies now is "initial quality" .

@billybob.
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Some companies go down, some come up. Some like Toyota peaked in 2010-2013, some like Renault peaked in 2014-2017 and some are currently at their peak.
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Currently Mazda are definitely at their peak, and Peugeot diesels are also nearing their peak even being close to beating the legendary 405.
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And yes I agree with @MountainManJoe, New car buyers ditch cars before they develop issues, a lot of the time right after their first minor issues (that’s how I buy my cars), “reliability” isn’t a requirement what matters is it being fancy.
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and that’s part of why Hyundai, Kia and lower quality cars from Toyota and Honda are on the rise.
Although in some of those the lack of quality is just almost criminal, like the picture I posted of a rusting clutch fork… reminds me of super old Japanese rust buckets.

Well, I have never seen one break yet. But I don’t see a reason why it would last like the automatics did…
It probably won’t be as outrageously bad as the K111 that made Nissan look like the better option (it’s probably the only CVT that wouldn’t stretch it’s belts, but would actually destroy the cones… and there was nothin you could do about that expect getting a new one)

If you take care of German cars and spend lots of money, they can last and some people are in love with the German cars and they are willing to do the maintenance despite the high cost. For Toyota, the situation is a bit different. Toyota owners usually do minimal maintenance (if any) and they expect the car to last a long time. This makes a huge difference when you compare the cars.

That’s probably old German cars the new ones don’t last that (unless it’s a automatic automatic with a diesel but those aren’t common where I live it’s 99% petrols with DSG)
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Someone I know has an early 2000s Octavia, with over 300k on the odometer, the engine sounds good and it’s still cheap to maintain and seems to hold up reasonably well.
I can’t imagine the new 2021 Octavia lasting even 220,000km with that tiny 1.0L and the 7 speed DSG that shifts what fees like every 2.5-3 seconds when going 0-60 not even pushing the accelerator hard.

@yaser yes, german cars cost more to maintain than. But european Toyotas don't hold as long as american ones do. One advantage is they are cheaper to buy than german cars.
@dan where I live is quite opposite, many of them are manual diesels 10 years or older. I hear VW 1.6 petrol natural aspirated engines are good ones. Do you perhaps know how reliable are previous generation Octavias Scouts 2.0 TDI 135 kW DSG (no manuals avaliable)? I'm looking at 2 years old, one with 11k km and one with 16k km, both for 27k €.

@g-t
I have little to no experience with the 2.0 EA288 but I messaged a friend and he said that "they're reasonable engines", The main complaints on that engine are that on most variants you must use only special oil VW licensed because of some exhaust system issues and also you must monitor the state of the timing chain once the car gets older.
That engine can last 300,000km (or more) if you take care of it,
But the DSG6 DQ250 (I haven't seen that one in years) is the same gearbox in the past has caused a lot of issues. and if the newer DSG7's are anything to go by I doubt it will last over 250,00km if even that.
Servicing the DSG is kinda rough, usually on these you'd have to replace the clutch every 100k-150k km and the transmission oil every 50k or less when the car ages - and maybe that won't be as bad pm a diesel (I remember the EDC6 on dCi diesel being much more reliable then the DPS6 on DuraTec petrol although they're the exact same transmission)
If you do not plan on keeping this car for more then ~230,000km although if you service it properly and use it mainly for highway mileage then you could maybe reach 250k but that's in my opinion somewhat unlikely...
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I wonder, what's the opinions on the Renault Mégane 115hp / Renault Captur 90hp (both 1.5L diesel)?
I know the gearboxes are the somewhat unreliable EDC7 7DCT300, but the 1.5L dCi engine looks good and I haven't herd many complaints on the rest of the car...

@dan thank you for your comment. I think I will pass it. I think it is not worth to put so much money for so 'little' reliability. I actually don't drive much, I make about 10k km a year. I live in hills and I wonder if I can get a reliable AWD for a reasonable price that I can keep for a long period of time.
I bought a 2002 AWD manual Suzuki Swift for 1000€ 6 years ago. It had only 85k km. In 5 years of ownership I made 50k km and had no serious repairs. Only issue was rust. I bought it rusted and it spreaded so much I gave up on it and sold it a year ago.
Then I got 2 years old manual Auris (yes, the 1.33L one, I wonder why there is no much online reviews about problems) with 16k km for 12500€. Now it has 22k km, so the engine has about 85% life left.
I think I won't lose much money if I can sell it. Otherwise I hope I will be able to have it at least 15 years.

Do you perhaps know how long will it go trouble free before the engine wears out? Any other issues to expect? I already noticed rear fender liners are loosened from their original position after mudguard set installation by previous owner. And I dislike strange odors from AC (interesting, we have also 2008 Golf V 1.9TDI manual 4motion and AC has never had any odor issues).

Do you perhaps know any reliable AWD vehicle that is 15 years old or newer? These days a relative got 6 or years old 4th generation 6-speed manual Audi A4 2.0 TDI quattro with about 100k km for 15k €.
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I personally have no experience with K9K dCi engines but I found two interesting articles. Probably you have already read them. If not, I hope they are helpful.

https://autospruce.com/1-5-dci-k9k-engine-review-problems-reliability/
https://www.motorreviewer.com/engine.php?engine_id=21

Also I'm familiar in Megane III dual mass flywheel tends to break down. Another issue is water can get inside of car if drain holes are clogged. If it stays in door, it damages power window systems.

@g-t
At just 22k, it’s almost brand new, you shouldn’t worry about the engine for quite a while.
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I do not know much about AWD systems or AWD cars…
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If you want a cheap fun off-roadster then it’s obviously a Dihatsu Terios. Get the Toyota SZ-series engine (I’d get the bigger 1.5L) also both the 4 automatic and the 5 speed manual seem to be good. I seen them go well over 250,000km.
I personally planed on getting one but it seemed too small for my usecase…
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If you are looking for something bigger or more comfy,
I remember that a few years back I drove for a couple of weeks a 2014 (2nd gen, pre-facelift) SX-4 Crossover 1.6L. It had about 230,000km The M16A engine is was perfect and had little to no sound but the gearbox was shifting harshly into 4th gear (Im not sure on the exact model of the gearbox but it was a 4 speed), there was a lot of body-roll in corners and it did feel slow accelerating above 80kmh. But it was quite capable and very nice to drive…
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Another AWD vehicle I remember for being nice was the Subaru XV but the Linetronic gearbox is not particularly reliable and I remember is using 9L/100KM on the highway
But it was a really good off-road and comfortable.

@dan thanks. If Auris will be the best option, I will keep it. It is practically the base model, no cruise control, no start-stop, no seat-heating, no sunroof, no parking camera, only rear parking sensors and rear fog light.
Are there any other problems beside the engine? Does engine just wear out or come other problems prior that? Do you perhaps know if Toyota have fixed oil drinking nature of 1.33 engines?
I noticed fuel consumption increased after it was serviced at the dealer. Do you think the petrol cleaner could be the problem?
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/question-about-toyota-petrol-fuel-system-cleaner/
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AWD cars are useful driving uphill in snowy conditions. For Auris and other FWD cars snow chains are the only options if there is a lot of snow. I had to use them on Swift only once.
Do you know anything about other Subarus? How long do engines hold? Any other issues those cars have?

this is off-topic. Please start a new question.

@g-t
I’m unsure why the 1NR got such bad ratings expect for oil consumption and timing chain issues.
My scan tools data base says this:

(“Presumed longevity: 200,000km”)
Usually the info on the scan tool does match what I’ve seen in real life.
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Toyota created engines to only slightly be better then their competition.
Toyota didn’t bother making it a quality engine cause their competition in the early-mid 2010s were using engines like the PSA EB0 or the EP6C that had the most outrageously terrible design choices.
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Subaru are generally weaker cars, they use a relatively weak gearbox, The Subaru Linetronic. They sometimes break the output bearings, burn clutch baskets, and wear out their cones - you can avoid most of it if you’re replace the transmission oil
every 30,000km. The differential oil is separate there i’d replace the fluid from both diffs every 50,000km. (The owners manual says that depending on the region it’s 70k-90k km, but I think that’s too long cause those that get serviced so rarely, don’t last over 200k km)
The only engine you should get on a Subaru is the 1.6L and NOT the 2.0L, the FB16B is actually ok-ish.
BUT, You have to use only Subaru special oil because the VVT system is weak, if the oil level drops even a slight bit - the engine may destroy it self, if you ever overheat a Subaru engine it’ll almost always always get destroyed. - so that’s not a trouble free engine…
(The FB16F from the LEVROG (a WRX wagon, absolutely insane car) is much more fun but those are even worse)
As much as I love Subaru, I’m not sure that that’s a good choice… they cars are very weird and not many mechanics know how to maintain them properly.
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I once rented a Subaru B4 from Hertz, it was very comfortable and fun to drive but I could feel that the clutch packs are worn (would jerk hard when starting from a standstill) and that because of a clogged valve body it was very slow to shift (almost felt as if it was slipping)… the car had only 120-130k km, maybe they just didn’t service it properly but that’s still an indication of how Subaru’s can be a nightmare…
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If you need a capable AWD I’d get a Dihatsu Terios 1.5, it’s pretty much a 90s Toyota although they’re not very good on the highway and their interiors are quite cheap. I know they have been sold in Europe and the UK, I’m not sure how common they are though…