honesty_counts
New member
...have on it now ? More importantly, do you think it will last another winter?
Last winter I tried opening up the windshield washer fluid container on my 1998 Toyota Corolla, it was only just below the freezing point outside (not too cold), but the plastic cap broke in two in my hand when I tried to loosen it !
I take this as a bit of a bad omen, when the car is litterally breaking apart in my hands !
I had to replace both rear drums as the rust got so bad that the rust on the drums was rubbing against stationary parts and causing noise. Eventually a large chunk just broke off, so I need to replace both drums. The stabilizer links went last year, so I replaced them myself.
Right front calipers froze, so I replaced that myself too.
Brakes seem to be going, my foot is going almost to the floor now, so probably need a new master cylinder or something like that in a year or two.
Great acceleration still, but after gunning it a while, when I come to a stop, I smell a strong burning smell, and that's a bit worrisome.
So much rust, the hood safety-latch won’t budge when I close the hood, I had to tie a wire onto it , then I pull it to close it shut ! WD-40 and rust penetrating oil won’t work, so i have to remember to pull that wire every time I close the hood.
The ventilation fan motor is making a hell of a racket sometimes. Most of the time its quiet, but then all of a sudden I hear a squealing noise, as if the bearings in it are burning out, so I just shut off the fan and crack open a window.
The driveway has weird rust-colored stains on it, something seems to be dripping from the car, not sure if its gas, or water, or some other fluid, but its making the driveway a bit of a mess.
I park the car in the garage, but sometimes I smell quite a strong smell of something burning. Cannot figure out where its coming from.
I would like to drive this car for another year or two, do you think its going to make it?
Do you think it will make it through another winter at least?
My neighbor’s mother has a 2006 Corolla in showroom condition (no rust anywhere), with only 50,000 miles, no accidents or liens or anything owing on it, and is offering to sell it to me for only $7,000 , but I have to decide if I want it in the next 2 months or she’ll put it in the classifieds for sale :
= Should I buy it , is it a good deal ? ( I really like Corollas. )
( I was thinking of buying her 2006 Corolla, keeping it in my garage through the winter (driving it just a bit on dry sunny days, to keep it in good shape), and continue to drive my older 1998 Corolla as a "winter Beater" through the salt-blasted roads that we have here in our Canadian winters here in Southern Ontario Canada. But what chances do I have of my old car making it much longer ? )
I’ve checked out her car: its SPOTLESS ! Both inside the car, outside the car, and in the engine bay too ! Even the rear drums have almost no rust on them !!! Inside the engine bay, even the exposed copper terminals to the battery still have that fresh copper shine on them, it looks as if it just came off the showroom floor ! Wow!
I think I’m going to get it, its just TOO good to pass up for that low price.
I took it for a test drive and it still has that fresh plastic-smell, like the new cars have too. I guess being in her 60’s she just didn’t drive it very much.
Yeah, pieces of my 12-year old car are breaking off in my hands, that’s the truth. But I don’t drive fast, and I always leave lots of room in between the car in front of me and myself to come to a stop, so a car like my old one which is barely working is still okay with me.
No family to protect or worry about, its just me in it.
Only paid $8,000 for it back in 2002 ( 8 years ago ) when it had 60,000 miles, so I guess I have more than gotten my money’s back from it. No maintenance in all that time other than new tires, oil-fluid-filter changes, alignments, and a new windshield due to a stone crack. Then, this year, I started replacing things that began breaking off / falling off as I drove, so this has got me to wondering “maybe I should get something else? “ ( YES ! )
I don’t have a rust problem with the actual sheet metal of the 1998 Corolla, for some reason it is everything ELSE that is corroding, but not the actual body of the car itself. On the passenger-rear of the car there is a massive scratch, where a patch of bare metal 1 inch by 2 inches is exposed to the elements. It has a layer of rust on it but only a thin layer, under it the metal is just fine. I’ve tried to paint it but the paint just flakes off. So for the past 7 years its just been like that, exposed rust, but the rust has not gotten any bigger, and it hasn’t turned into any hole or anything like that.
But the drums, the calipers, and the rotors all rust away like nuts !!!! And there is no way to oil those parts. Plus some of the hinges are suffering from rust, like the latch that holds down the hood, that is the ONLY hinge or latch I am having rust problems with. The Alternator ; my GOD, what a mess, its just a dark powdery ball of aluminum / copper rust / corrosion !
I have no idea how it still generates enough juice to power that car !!! Its totally amazing.
The A/C unit, its all just a ball of rust, I don’t know how its still pumping out ice cold air. The aluminum A/C lines seem to be okay , with no corrosion yet, but almost ALL the rubber hoses have deep cracks in them, they really do look just awful ! I have no idea how no gushers have sprouted up yet.
So the body of the old Corolla is just fine, but the various parts of the brakes and the engine are being eaten away by corrosion, and as far as I know, there’s no oiling these parts. But thanks for the advice anyways !!!
Last winter I tried opening up the windshield washer fluid container on my 1998 Toyota Corolla, it was only just below the freezing point outside (not too cold), but the plastic cap broke in two in my hand when I tried to loosen it !
I take this as a bit of a bad omen, when the car is litterally breaking apart in my hands !
I had to replace both rear drums as the rust got so bad that the rust on the drums was rubbing against stationary parts and causing noise. Eventually a large chunk just broke off, so I need to replace both drums. The stabilizer links went last year, so I replaced them myself.
Right front calipers froze, so I replaced that myself too.
Brakes seem to be going, my foot is going almost to the floor now, so probably need a new master cylinder or something like that in a year or two.
Great acceleration still, but after gunning it a while, when I come to a stop, I smell a strong burning smell, and that's a bit worrisome.
So much rust, the hood safety-latch won’t budge when I close the hood, I had to tie a wire onto it , then I pull it to close it shut ! WD-40 and rust penetrating oil won’t work, so i have to remember to pull that wire every time I close the hood.
The ventilation fan motor is making a hell of a racket sometimes. Most of the time its quiet, but then all of a sudden I hear a squealing noise, as if the bearings in it are burning out, so I just shut off the fan and crack open a window.
The driveway has weird rust-colored stains on it, something seems to be dripping from the car, not sure if its gas, or water, or some other fluid, but its making the driveway a bit of a mess.
I park the car in the garage, but sometimes I smell quite a strong smell of something burning. Cannot figure out where its coming from.
I would like to drive this car for another year or two, do you think its going to make it?
Do you think it will make it through another winter at least?
My neighbor’s mother has a 2006 Corolla in showroom condition (no rust anywhere), with only 50,000 miles, no accidents or liens or anything owing on it, and is offering to sell it to me for only $7,000 , but I have to decide if I want it in the next 2 months or she’ll put it in the classifieds for sale :
= Should I buy it , is it a good deal ? ( I really like Corollas. )
( I was thinking of buying her 2006 Corolla, keeping it in my garage through the winter (driving it just a bit on dry sunny days, to keep it in good shape), and continue to drive my older 1998 Corolla as a "winter Beater" through the salt-blasted roads that we have here in our Canadian winters here in Southern Ontario Canada. But what chances do I have of my old car making it much longer ? )
I’ve checked out her car: its SPOTLESS ! Both inside the car, outside the car, and in the engine bay too ! Even the rear drums have almost no rust on them !!! Inside the engine bay, even the exposed copper terminals to the battery still have that fresh copper shine on them, it looks as if it just came off the showroom floor ! Wow!
I think I’m going to get it, its just TOO good to pass up for that low price.
I took it for a test drive and it still has that fresh plastic-smell, like the new cars have too. I guess being in her 60’s she just didn’t drive it very much.
Yeah, pieces of my 12-year old car are breaking off in my hands, that’s the truth. But I don’t drive fast, and I always leave lots of room in between the car in front of me and myself to come to a stop, so a car like my old one which is barely working is still okay with me.
No family to protect or worry about, its just me in it.
Only paid $8,000 for it back in 2002 ( 8 years ago ) when it had 60,000 miles, so I guess I have more than gotten my money’s back from it. No maintenance in all that time other than new tires, oil-fluid-filter changes, alignments, and a new windshield due to a stone crack. Then, this year, I started replacing things that began breaking off / falling off as I drove, so this has got me to wondering “maybe I should get something else? “ ( YES ! )
I don’t have a rust problem with the actual sheet metal of the 1998 Corolla, for some reason it is everything ELSE that is corroding, but not the actual body of the car itself. On the passenger-rear of the car there is a massive scratch, where a patch of bare metal 1 inch by 2 inches is exposed to the elements. It has a layer of rust on it but only a thin layer, under it the metal is just fine. I’ve tried to paint it but the paint just flakes off. So for the past 7 years its just been like that, exposed rust, but the rust has not gotten any bigger, and it hasn’t turned into any hole or anything like that.
But the drums, the calipers, and the rotors all rust away like nuts !!!! And there is no way to oil those parts. Plus some of the hinges are suffering from rust, like the latch that holds down the hood, that is the ONLY hinge or latch I am having rust problems with. The Alternator ; my GOD, what a mess, its just a dark powdery ball of aluminum / copper rust / corrosion !
I have no idea how it still generates enough juice to power that car !!! Its totally amazing.
The A/C unit, its all just a ball of rust, I don’t know how its still pumping out ice cold air. The aluminum A/C lines seem to be okay , with no corrosion yet, but almost ALL the rubber hoses have deep cracks in them, they really do look just awful ! I have no idea how no gushers have sprouted up yet.
So the body of the old Corolla is just fine, but the various parts of the brakes and the engine are being eaten away by corrosion, and as far as I know, there’s no oiling these parts. But thanks for the advice anyways !!!