With our Corolla home in sunny Central Florida, we could finally wash the car and see exactly what we have. We’re happy to report that we found a few pleasant surprises.
For one, we seem to have every piece of paper ever drawn up on this car, going back to its 10,000-mile service. This paper trail continues through several different owners, and we seem to have a receipt for every oil change, light bulb, smog inspection and a/c tune-up. We even have some gas receipts. Fortunately, we haven’t found receipts for major bodywork or bizarre satanic rituals.
Since the car’s most recent owner was Toyota Racing Development, the Corolla came blessed with some neat hop-up parts. Inside we have a TRD/Nardi steering wheel and shift knob. Aside from the TRD pieces, the rest of the interior is incredibly clean, especially for a car with 145,016 miles showing on the odometer. One of the rear headrests needs some attention, so the car will soon head to a local upholsterer.
There are more TRD parts located under the car, including sport springs, Bilstein shock absorbers/strut inserts, short-shift kit, 1.5-way limited-slip differential and 5.37:1 final drive. (If all of our paperwork is true, then we may have some more TRD parts on the car, but we need to first verify their existence.)
While clean, the car does have a few used-car bugs that need attention. For one, right now we’re riding around on three no-name tires and one dry-rotted Dunlop. Amazing these tires survived their cross-country journey. Soon we hope to upgrade to 15-inch tires, but right now we’re looking at our options regarding wheels. Old-school or modern?
Our water pump also is on its last legs, as it weeps.
We also need to assess the condition of the clutch and transmission. Both were finicky during the cross-country drive, but their attitude has improved once in Florida. We know car problems rarely fix themselves, but this one has left us scratching our heads.
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