Thinking to buy a Corolla 141, but..

Cal-El · August 4, 2020

Hi, new guy here.

I'm thinking of buying a car and this would be my first car.

I want to buy a sedan and I try to not get into indian/chinese/thailand and malaysian made vehicles.

My first choice was Nissan Sunny FB15 and I'm kind of tired of being unable to find a good conditioned vehicle, almost all of the vehicles are in bad condition and some of them are fake (marketed as super saloons with just changed badge in Ex Saloons, put new shells on old shell vehicles which faced some accidents etc..).

Friend of mine suggested that Toyota Corolla 141 (2008 model) could be a good option. but I'm worried since, another friend told me that it's not a JDM and because of that spare parts are rare and could cost me a fortune on finding spare parts if needed.

Can you guys please help me with this? this is my very first car and I don't have more money for expensive parts nor I want to go to garages every few weeks/months.

please help...

MaxFirst · August 4, 2020

1. First get the list of parts that is expensive from your friend.

2. Then compare the same part prices for the model you are willing to buy . Call up few parts shops and the agent.

3. You will find the reality. Sometimes you will be surprised that non JDM has cheaper genuine parts. :D

iRage · August 4, 2020

Don't be hung up about the whole Thailand/Malaysia built thing. It is an old "thing" which is not valid for main stream models that you are looking at (in fact most of these JDM models that the car sales guys sell off are in reality assembled in Thailand and imported to Japan from there).

Parts wise....you will realize that a lot of the consumable parts are an exact match from other Toyota models. In fact, some of the parts are specifically for the Thai/Malaysian/etc...market models so the parts are a little bit cheaper than the JDM vehicle component. Places like Delkanda have tons of used body parts from the Japanese variant....you won't find that many body parts for export model cars and you might have to ask the agent..and the agent an most definitely provide the part for you.

You have a slightly better chance of finding a good condition Corolla 141 as opposed to an Axio or something because most of these cars have actually been maintained by the agent..and the typical Toyota buyer stays away from them because of the myths in the market.

HaeylM · August 4, 2020

16 hours ago, Cal-El said:

Hi, new guy here.

I'm thinking of buying a car and this would be my first car.

I want to buy a sedan and I try to not get into indian/chinese/thailand and malaysian made vehicles.

My first choice was Nissan Sunny FB15 and I'm kind of tired of being unable to find a good conditioned vehicle, almost all of the vehicles are in bad condition and some of them are fake (marketed as super saloons with just changed badge in Ex Saloons, put new shells on old shell vehicles which faced some accidents etc..).

Friend of mine suggested that Toyota Corolla 141 (2008 model) could be a good option. but I'm worried since, another friend told me that it's not a JDM and because of that spare parts are rare and could cost me a fortune on finding spare parts if needed.

Can you guys please help me with this? this is my very first car and I don't have more money for expensive parts nor I want to go to garages every few weeks/months.

please help...

Since its your first car may i suggest you to get a newer car? for the price of a 141 you can easily get yourself a newer Toyota hatchback if you are flexible with not having to stick to a sedan. (2013 ish vitz, 2016 ish Passo, Toyota Tank etc.. )

But as for sedans, The FB15 is a pretty old car at almost 20 years, Most of the cars in the market would have done well over 100K and gone through some extensive use.

Id say go for a 141 or axio. Most of the mechanical parts of 141LX are simillar with the axio including dashboard. Only difference is the 141 comes with a 1.6L while the Axio is 1.5L so the axio would be slightly fuel efficient in city limits. The car is actually really comfortable compared to a FB15 and packs more features and more cabin space. Knew a friend with a 141 lx 2008 Model and there were not many complaints other than an alternator replacement, new shocks and fuel pump repair. Thing to factor in is that most of these cars were brought under permits so you might be able to find a genuine one without any tampered meter readings and heavy accident damage. But the JDM version of the same 141 (axio) is also not a bad option. The axio is more popular and carries more value than the counterpart domestic 141 with more features like winker mirrors, Projector beam, dual multifunction steering, automatic climate control etc on the G grade. The closest to all of these features came for the domestic model 141 in 2011 with the GLX grade. Most 2008 ones are the LX.

As your friend mentioned, most of the spare part joints at delkanda import their parts from japan so they will mostly have ample parts for the 141 axio as opposed to the 141 LX. But, The LX domestic model imported by toyota lanka is the same model that runs in most european, american and asian markets but with variations in engine, transmission and grade options. Body parts and panels should not be that hard to find even at spare part joints, but as always if a need arises toyota lanka will source you the parts you need in the worst case scenario(TL parts will be a little expensive).

fuel economy on the 141 LX is about 8-11 in city and around 14-15 outstation.

Other options within the same budget as a 141 would be Nissan Tida (check for high mileage and gearbox, car is comfortable), Nissan G11 Sylphy bluebird(check dashboard issue and wheel hub assembly), Nissan N17 Sunny, Honda FD civic, Accord (Euro) and Mitsu CS/EX lancers.

MaleCortana · August 17, 2020

Good Luck on buying your first car!

I recently bought my first car as well ('98 Starlet) and I'd suggest you to call up a parts store and ask for the prices of parts (Ball joints, Timing Belts/Chains, Engine Mounts etc) and then ask the same parts for a JDM Car and compare prices. I would've said Toyota Lanka but the prices there are super bloated and they wont give you the price of a part without giving them the car number (which since you'll be asking before you buy a car, you won't be able to do)

Sri Lankans tend to propagate a lot of myths regarding JDM cars and some Sri Lankans act like the car gods themselves have touched these cars in production.

If you want to seek cars that would generally be avoided by the cheapskate Sri Lankans I'd suggest the Camry (they'll run forever) and the Grande Mark 2. I looked at these as they hover around the 2.5 Million mark, reason being 2L engines but decided a hatchback is easier to manage inside Colombo.

Note: If looking at the Grande Mark 2 look out for the Beams Engine, they generally have a repair around the 100k kms mark where you need to change the piston rings or something afair. But those cars are definitely the pinnacle of the JDM sedans!

Look at this beaut