Hi Scotty. Love your show. I recently purchases a 05 toyota corolla run X right hand drive from Japan. It has only 5500km on it. I paid $6700 Canadian all in. What do you think. Other than fluids, tires and maybe belt. Is there anything I should just fix or replace to avoid problems with a car that has just sit for 17 years or so.
I doubt it, 200 mile a year average, like half a mile average in a day? No way, probably had the odometer rolled back
Even at 55,000km I'd say it's not believable.
It is actually believable. People in Japan don't use their vehicles like we do here. It's not the same car culture we have here in North America or Europe. Main mode of daily transportation to/from work is their trains. It's a very inexpensive and efficient way to get around. If they use their vehicles, they don't have very far to drive as everything is close. Mostly they walk (and they walk A LOT) or bike to go grocery shopping etc. Cars are something they have for occasional weekend trips and generally sit a lot in their driveways. I can't wait to go back once tourism is unrestricted again.
05 toyota corolla run X
That's just a Corolla Hatch...
It has only 5,500km on it
I doubt it, 200 mile a year average, like half a mile average in a day? No way, probably had the odometer rolled back
Even at 55,000km I'd say it's not believable.
to avoid problems with a car
Look in your manual, assuming it's an actual RunX, it probably has quite a lot of items.
I remember the 1.5 requiring coolant every 4th oil change, and OEM speaks every 2nd...
(but as far as the spark plugs, there are compatible Iridium TT versions that last 60k-100k miles)
Inspect for worn items especially leaks,
Replace the ATF just to be sure,
and replace the oil very frequently those 1.5L engines love burning oil,
And let it warm up when it's cold (at the very least drive conservatively until it's at OP temp)
Looking online:
people warn that the VVT channel filters can get clogged,
The VVT actuator/s is/are weak requiring replacement when it begins to rattle on cold start with an improved part,
Timing chains are weak, depending on who you ask their lifespan is from 100k - 150k,
The '05 model year was the first one to have an electronic throttle, these are notorious for unstable idle.
If your car is actually a "RunX S" then it's the same 1.6L as used in the US which was alright overall.
The 1.5L was the engine of choice for the cheapest Chinese cars,
it's known for being a rough and very average cheap 2000s engine.
(Link to pic, one of the car models that used the Toyota 1.5L a Chinese Gelly CK being driven in Cuba: )
It is actually believable. People in Japan don't use their vehicles
Well it's just not.
By conservative estimates I found, the average 17 year old Japanese car would have 160,000 km.
They average millage more than Italy, Portugal, Poland and are actually about the same as Spain.
Besides, the people who go out and buy brand non-kei new cars - drive double or triple the avg.
As a matter of fact, even considering the fact the Japanese replace their cars much more frequently than most,
The average car in Japan is a bit over 7 years old and on average has 70,300km more than a lot of euro counties.
The average is about 9,000km a year, with the lowest median I could find being about 4,000km - a far cry from 200km.
If anything, Japanese car culture is stronger than ours, they have more cars per capita than in places like the UK.
By Japanese standards the RunX is an ancient car that should have been on average driven >10km per year.
The chances that someone went out and got a "real" car and ended up in the lowest ~1% of yearly millage is unlikely.
The Japanese, generally, drive their cars more than you'd think.