Buying a Corolla Elephant Back EE 103

[trinity]

Hi Guys, 

Posting here after eons, hope everyone is keeping fine.

Need to know your opinion on buying a Corolla EE 103 (Elephant Back) these days as a second car. 

I've heard lot of good about the car, but basically clueless about the model. Much appreciated if you could shed some light on areas such as Inherent Issues, most reliable model out of the rage of models, availability of parts, areas to pay attention to before buying a one etc,

Thanks in advance for your support.

Cheers!

Edited July 1 by trinity

[iRage]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:07 PM, trinity said:

I've heard lot of good about the car, but basically clueless about the model

If the car is in really good shape then it is a trouble-free no fuss car. However, almost everyone I know (including @VVTi) who bought one recently or in the recent past has had to hemorrhage money to get one up and running in good condition. This will especially be the case if you are going to use genuine or reputed OEM parts and bring the car to actual stock operational condition. Having said that...the downfall of the car is that even if it is in bad shape, the thing will just keep running.

Diesel ones have PLENTY of torque. Being a light no frills car it can be quite a chuckable fun experience. They used to hold the coveted title of being Japan's fastest car (now held by the Probox and Suceed..spiritual succors of the elephant back and DX wagons). Why ? How ? Well..here is a hint...the fastest drivers on Japanese roads are businessmen on the clock  

Finding a clean elephant back in SL is a bit tough (it seems). Good ones don't come up for sale that often. A lot of them have been "converted" into wagons. Sadly, 99% of them are bad conversions, but still, people try to sell them off as original wagons. A lot of them have had poor maintenance as well where things were fixed using substandard parts by a monkey with a wrench.

Now, you get the van variants (the majority of what is in SL), the wagon (quite a few around, especially pre-1996)/1997 ones), and business wagon variants (which are vans with some additional features that make them sort of less van-ish).

Wagons are the easiest: Comes with the same model designation as the sedans but with a G. Has IRS with a coil over spring suspension from the sedan. Variants are

• AE100G: 1.5L 5A-FE
• CE100G : 2.0L 2C diesel 
• CE101G : 2.2L 3CE diesel engine after 1998 (not that common in SL).

Trim levels available in SL are G touring and L touring (plus weird packages of both of these). There are no original BZ Touring variants with the 4A-GE engine in SL (AE101G). There are a couple of conversions though.

Business wagons : Has leaf springs in the back.

• EE104G : 1.5L 5E-FE engine (EE104G)
• EE108G : 1.5L 3E engine (yes..carb)
• CE108G : 2L 2C diesel engine.
• CE102G : 2.2L 3CE diesel engine (after 1998 and not common in SL)

Trim levels are L, L Extra, GL and GL Extra plus there is a wierd low grade DX like trim level that is neither here nor there.

Vans : 

• EE106V : 1.3L 2E engine (carb) <- <- <- so this is what you want ?
• EE102V : 1.3L 4E-FE
• EE107V : 1.5L 3E engine 
• EE103V : 1.5L 5E-FE engine.

Trim levels are CUSTOM DELUXE, DX and GL.

I did not go into the AWD variants, which were either EE109 or EE104 (you won't find any in SL anyway) and came with the 1.6L 4A-FE engine.

In general, the wagons came with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic; business wagon and van variants with either a 3-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission for gasoline variants and a 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual for diesel variants.

Model years go from 1991 - 2000. The facelift was introduced in 1994 with a major tech update in 1997 (around the time the crystal light E110 was released). The 1997 facelift saw the introduction of dual airbags on all and ABS on all (maybe most) trim levels due to Japanese road safety regulations (EDIT: This applied for passenger vehicles but not commercial vehicles. Therefore, the wagon variants got the dual airbags as standard whilst the van variants were offered airbags as an option). Some worthless trivia...when the E110 series Corolla was released, it did not get a Corolla van/wagon variant. As a result, they continued the E100 series Corolla van/wagon until the E120 Corolla was released. However, they did release the E110 series Sprinter Carib wagon (which in some markets was badged as the Corolla).

You obviously want to get the EFI models, as maintaining carburetors in SL can be a nightmare. If going for a petrol 1.5L one would be better (sadly the 5E-FE with EFI apparently has a, sometimes unreasonable, premium over the 3E carb variants). For family use the wagon would be the nicest. However original ones are hard to come by. Especially one that is in good shape. You should also try to get a facelift variant. Again...hard to come by.

On to inherent issues: Oil seals. Especially the crank seals. Problematic when not properly maintained (as with any car). However, considering these cars are nearly 30 years old, they have reached their EoL a few times over, irrespective of mileage (and in most cases, fixed using substandard parts). Depending on how the car has been used, hubs may need attention. Apart from that, it is general maintenance (or lack of) related issues. A lot of these cars were modified. So you have the usual ID-10-T user-related issues like the fixture of weird accessories messing up the electricals, poor body repairs, etc. Oh, charcoal canister...all E100s and E110s have an issue with the charcoal canister just going bad.

Parts are available for the common engines and can range from genuine to good OEMs to cheap knock-offs. Sadly, most seem to have been maintained thus far using the latter.  Used body parts out of Japan are almost non-existent now. However, there is a good supply of aftermarket parts from South East Asia (some are even licensed). There is also a decent supply of used parts from the region. Also, the E100 Corolla has a bit of a cult following around the region. That does tend to push up the prices of some parts.

But yeah..that is the elephant back in general.

 

Edited July 2 by iRage

[trinity]

Holy shit @iRage! Machang,  that’s some fantastic set of information. Just as similar to a response from chat GPT. 
 

Thank you so much for taking time to write all those valuable details about the car. I need to change the title to the topic as I’ve made an error while mentioning the model, it should be corrected as EE103. The one with the EFI 1.5L engine and the auto box. 
 

I want to buy it for my wife. Yeh I know, an odd choice of a car. My daughter started to going to ‘play groups’ since recently. Currently the mode of travel is the tuk. I need this to change as quickly as possible, since it’s not a safe mode to take a kid up and down the Galle road. 
 

My requirement is sort of a bigger car, thus better safety than of an alto for the price range of what an Alto goes in the market these days. It needed to be an auto so wifey can get used to it easily (she first needs to get the license though). Yup, lot of boxes to tick before making this a reality. 
 

After careful consideration I decided that this would be the car to go for. The other options were, Carina GT, Honda EK or ES, Nissan N16 and Lancer CS. All are above the budget. 

Luckily a good friend has a fantastic specimen manufactured in 2000 and registered in 2004. He has maintained it to the T. He is willing to part with it only if I’m buying the car. He doesn’t want to give it to anyone else. 
 

So before jumping in, I needed to understand about the car a bit so that I know what I’m getting myself on to. 
 

let’s keep the thread active. I would love to hear about the car more. Especially about the places I could buy parts when required and about diagnosing issues before they turn in to big ass headaches.

I’ll keep the thread updated on the progress of acquiring the car. It might take couple of months as there are some prerequisites that needs to be completed before I get hold of it (hopefully). 
 

 

[iRage]

4 hours ago, trinity said:

Just as similar to a response from chat GPT. 

HA HA HA

4 hours ago, trinity said:

I want to buy it for my wife. Yeh I know, an odd choice of a car. My daughter started to going to ‘play groups’ since recently. Currently the mode of travel is the tuk. I need this to change as quickly as possible, since it’s not a safe mode to take a kid up and down the Galle road. 

We love our Corolla wagon. Having both the latest Corolla Touring wagon and the old Elephant back...the old one is far far more practical. Plenty of space in there. Easy to drive. Great visibility.

4 hours ago, trinity said:

It needed to be an auto so wifey can get used to it easily (she first needs to get the license though)

 

4 hours ago, trinity said:

Luckily a good friend has a fantastic specimen manufactured in 2000 and registered in 2004. He has maintained it to the T. He is willing to part with it only if I’m buying the car. He doesn’t want to give it to anyone else.

If it is in really good shape...it is a rare gem in SL. Buy it and keep it even if it means keeping it parked till your wife gets her license. Do you know what trim level it is ? Obviously in a van the GL would be the highest you can get.

[trinity]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

HA HA HA

We love our Corolla wagon. Having both the latest Corolla Touring wagon and the old Elephant back...the old one is far far more practical. Plenty of space in there. Easy to drive. Great visibility.

 

If it is in really good shape...it is a rare gem in SL. Buy it and keep it even if it means keeping it parked till your wife gets her license. Do you know what trim level it is ? Obviously in a van the GL would be the highest you can get.

It has the GL sticker pasted on the rear door. What are the distinguishable differences between the GL and DX variants? How to identify this from the chassis number. 
 

This car has fabric seats and does not have power windows. Drove it once in a night, pulls like a train. 
 

I’ve already confirmed to my friend that I will be buying the car. So, he needs to find a new car for him and I need to sort out the financials.  In about couple of months, I’ll be able to get it. 
 

The car is ideal for my purpose. With that in, I can let my Lancer take a breather from running small errands. That car needs some pampering atm. 

[iRage]

Literally impossible to say what the distinguishable signs of a GL are. In general it came with the rugged cloth seats, removable front head rests. Beyond those, things like the RPM meter, AM/FM radio, cassette player, etc..were optional so you get GLs with and without it. I believe the rear wiper and defogger were standard on the GL optional on the DX. Even the steering wheel, before the facelift and before airbags were mandatory, the GL had a 3 spoke steering wheel and the DX an ugly 2 spoke one but towards the end all the grades had similar steering wheels because of the airbags.

Easiest way to identify a GL would be by the model name on the ID plate.

GL Automatic : EE103V-AXHNK (the plate should say A13x type of transmission)

GL Manual : EE103V-AXMNK (the plate should say C5x type of transmission)

 

[trinity]

The car has rugged fabric seats as you mentioned and three spoke steering is also there. I think the original cassette player is also included. It does not have an RPM meter though. Rear viper and defogger is available.

Will check the car ID plate when I see the car next time. 

The chassis number starts with EE 103.

 

[iRage]

9 hours ago, trinity said:

The car has rugged fabric seats as you mentioned and three spoke steering is also there. I think the original cassette player is also included. It does not have an RPM meter though. Rear viper and defogger is available.

Yeah, it sounds like a no-frills GL van, which is quite a flex in itself if it is in stock condition. I just checked. Apparently, the dual airbag mandate was applicable only to passenger vehicles. So, only the wagon variants got dual airbags as standard, and the van variants got a driver-side airbag as an option. Sounds like you got the standard non-Airbag three spoke steering wheel.

Looking forward to seeing plenty of pictures of the car and your ownership experience. I have to warn you, though...use it...and then look at modern-day Toyotas...you will hate Toyota.

[trinity]

4 hours ago, iRage said:

Yeah, it sounds like a no-frills GL van, which is quite a flex in itself if it is in stock condition. I just checked. Apparently, the dual airbag mandate was applicable only to passenger vehicles. So, only the wagon variants got dual airbags as standard, and the van variants got a driver-side airbag as an option. Sounds like you got the standard non-Airbag three spoke steering wheel.

Looking forward to seeing plenty of pictures of the car and your ownership experience. I have to warn you, though...use it...and then look at modern-day Toyotas...you will hate Toyota.

Thank you @iRage for the clarification. I get what you mean regarding the older and newer Toyota cars. Where did the Japs go wrong actually is beyond me. 
 

They used to build great vehicles with lot of character, now that has long gone.

Coming back to the topic, I’ll surely post photos and keep you all updated regarding my experience with the car.

Im eager like a kid who’s waiting for a delivery of PS5 bought from US. 
 

Hopefully this one will be enjoyable similar to the CS and the EX. 

[iRage]

9 hours ago, trinity said:

Hopefully this one will be enjoyable similar to the CS and the EX.

In a different..very primitive way...yes...