I've been looking for a first car for me to buy, and i've been considering a Toyota Corolla 1.3 VII Liftback, 1994, gasoline (manual) from a dealership in my country. The car has 156.986 Kms (97.546578 miles). The car has a 1298cc (88hp).
I was recommended to get a japanese car due to their reliability and low maintenance (not most of them), since i don't wanna buy a car and a year later having to sink more money into it since i don't make much of it...
Any opinions?
Are you prepared to deal with the needs of a car that's nearly 30 years old? For starters all rubber parts are bound to be shot (brake hoses, fuel hoses, etc.) unless they've been replaced in recent years. Depending on where you live rust can be a big problem. How is parts availability for a Toyota that old where you live? Do mechanics in your area know how to work on them? Those old Toyotas could run a really long time but age inevitably catches up with them.
I mean i have no other choice, with 3000euros (my budget) it is pretty hard to find a car above 2001 and with decent milage! I live in Portugal it is a pretty moderate climate. I also have been looking at some Peugeot 206 1.1 for the same price with less millage, my only concern is that french cars tend to be a little "fragile" from what i've been told
I'm not familiar with modern Peugeot vehicles, they pulled out of the U.S. market decades ago. (The old ones like the 504 had the reputation of being pretty tough everywhere in the world but here.)
That '94 Toyota could be OK but you really need to have a mechanic check it over carefully. Even though Toyotas are reliable a lot can happen to a car in that period of time.
The Peugeot i'm considering isn't really new (2000) also has a lot less power, but in my country most cars you'll see on the road are Renault Clio's, Peugeot's, Opel's, VW and Fiat's, so i guess here those car types/brands have a lot of support. But I'm really thankful for a response considering the toyota, big fan of the brand, same as my dad that used to drive a Yaris (not the same but he really got a really good impression of the brand after that car). I will bring a mechanic when i check out that car! Thank you!