Used 1993 Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon Consumer Reviews
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Wagon: Excellent Reliability, Good MPG
Bela, 06/14/2009
Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
I bought this car new in 1993 for about $12k. I now have 192,000 miles on it. Incredibly reliable - never a break down! I have had the brakes done, the blinker switch replaced, and that's about it for repairs. I have hauled bark mulch, gravel, garbage cans, 5 people and their huge backpacks, and my bike (separate events, of course), all with ease! When I get that much weight in it, though, it does dog down a bit. But on the freeway with just me and my stuff, it jams and runs up hills with more power than most cars out there, surprisingly. It does well on snow & ice - very stable. I have cable chains for it and can go just about anywhere in winter weather.
This car will probably outlive all of us
Andrew, Washington, DC, 04/03/2021
Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I bought my baby blue 93 Toyota Corolla Wagon used for $3000 in 2010, and have had it for 11 years now. I can say this was probably the best purchase I have ever made in my life. I purchased the car when it had about 85 thousand miles on it. It now has around 170,000. I've driven this car across the country twice, on all types of terrain: dirt, gravel, etc. I've driven it though hail, heatwaves, snow, and blizzards, including one absolutely terrifying descent near lake Tahoe where both my snow chains fell off and I was only saved because I coasted down the mountain in first gear. I've only seen two other baby blue 93 wagons in my life. Both have also been stick shifts, and both were also missing their front hubcaps. I made a point to chat with the owners and they also loved their cars. Most everything I've read here by other reviewers is accurate. The road noise is horrendous. You can't have a conversation in a normal tone with someone in the rear seat. It's so loud I sometimes drive with earplugs. The interior is cheap plastic. The latches connecting the clutch to the body have come off so I can stare into the car's chassis. I've bent two axles, one from when I was getting towed and forgot to disengage the e-brake, because my battery wasn't tied down (also my fault). Pretty much everything in this car that can break has broken. The tachometer is broken (but that's ok because you can "feel" the engine), the AC is broken (AC is for the weak), two hubcaps are missing, only 1 speaker works, the lights on the dash have stopped working, one tire has a slow leak so I pump it up with a bicycle pump every time before I drive. I can't remember the last time I got an oil change. I could go on... This car has been broken into twice (I used to leave it unlocked despite living in the city). Once when someone presumably attempted to hotwire it but couldn't figure out how to drive the manual transmission and another when someone slept in & peed in it (it took days to get that smell to go away). With the 1.8L engine this car gets up to about 100mph, which is pretty good, especially if you're driving through the wilderness of Wyoming and are bored out of your mind. This car hasn't seen the inside of a garage since I've owned it and it still runs.
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Great second car option
hokiecar1, Roanoke, VA, 11/27/2014
Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I bought a 93 Corolla Wagon DX (Automatic) with 115K on it. Drove it for 10 years. For some reason my car had a small oil leak which led to the need to add more oil than normal. Last few years car burned more oil than normal. I think this was related more to this individual car than Toyota in general. Motor shook quite a bit the last year and resulted in shearing off harmonic balance wheel. Regardless of the money put in I'd still say this car was a great second car purchase (with higher mileage).
It will last a lifetime
ihtishaam, 09/30/2005
Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
My mother purchased this car new in 1993. We took road trips in it all the time and put major miles in to it along with my mom driving it all over for work. In 2002 I bought it off her when the car was at 195K miles as I was having my first boy and again my wife and I have put on 50000 more miles. Currently 242000 and it still going strong. We have changed two water pumps(164k,240k), rear (210k,240k) and front struts(220k) and that is about it besides a few belts and other normal maint. still gets 30+ highway mpg and ~24 CITY mpg. I thank God that I actually bought it from my mom instead of just getting another used car. We took a 9hour trip in it in the dead of winter and it worked great.
great car
patty , 02/10/2006
Toyota Corolla DX 4dr Wagon
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
I have had my car over 13 years now. 110,000 and still going. Only had to relace the clutch, brakes and keep it well tuned and oiled. Love this car.