MM Retro Write-up: My Late Mother's 1994 Corolla Wagon
03-27-20, 08:03 AM
#16
Lexus Fanatic
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I remember the 1997 Camry coming out, I rented those too, and I felt hmmm I really liked the look of the 1996 better, it actually reminded me of a LS400. The 97 seemed like a box. And then, for kicks, I tried to buy a 5 speed. People were purchasing them off of allocation lists, 0-2 in stock at dealers. So I balked at list price? The salesperson said, "John, you seem like a nice kid. So let me tell you why I am not offering any discount on this car. One, I don't have a car to sell you, you're buying off of an allocation list. Two, I don't have to discount it."
If you closely compared the superb '92-96 Camry with the newly-redesigned '97 (and I noticed it in the first 60 seconds I looked at it), you could see signs of significant cost-cutting in the new '97....thinner sheet metal/glass, lighter-weight materials inside, less padding on the seats, a more tinny sound to the door-closings, and just a generally lighter, less robust feel in general. Still a good car, mind you (nothing really wrong with it), just not quite as outstanding as the Camry it replaced...and, for 1997, the useful wagon body style was dropped in the American market. The '92-96 Camry wagon, if you remember, though awkward-looking, was unusual in that it had two wipers for the rear window.....how often do you see that?
03-27-20, 08:13 AM
#17
Lexus Fanatic
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Yep.....none of us would be around if if wasn't for our Moms.
That must have been one from a while ago. The LeSabre (or any other Buick in the American market) has not had crank-windows for quite some time.
Lincoln, recently, did a limited-production run of its latest Continental with suicide-doors...price was off the charts, at more than 100K....probably more than that with dealer mark-ups.
Although modern door-monitoring electronics today prevent it, the original suicide-door Lincolns went out of favor in the 1970s for obvious reasons...with increasing emphasis on safety in that period, the company didn't want kids in the back seat popping them open at speed and having the wind tear them off or causing serious damage to the rear fenders.
In the mid sixties, my mom finally got a car with air conditioning "for the groceries" she kept chanting. LI, NY summers were warm for 12 weeks but it was only a 20 minute drive to A&P and she still kept a cheap plastic cooler in the trunk! It was a huge Buick LeSabre with crank windows and lots of room for a family of four.
She kept it for 10 years, about 50k miles at which point it went to my sister who had turned 16. Lots of room in the back seat to watch submarine races at the beach! It stayed in nice condition and was dependable. Around the same time dad bought a used lincoln continental with suicide doors. That was our holiday family trip car for one season as it developed electrical problems that caused him to trade it in for a new car. It was impressive to me as a child with lots of chrome, buttons and switches.
Although modern door-monitoring electronics today prevent it, the original suicide-door Lincolns went out of favor in the 1970s for obvious reasons...with increasing emphasis on safety in that period, the company didn't want kids in the back seat popping them open at speed and having the wind tear them off or causing serious damage to the rear fenders.
03-27-20, 01:32 PM
#18
Lexus Champion
Here's a close-up: The only significant thing missing, as I remember, was a tach, but in a non-performance car like this, with an automatic, a tach is not that important. Also typical of the period was the no-nonsense 10-20-30-40 increments on the speedometer that made it easier to read at a glance......not the later 20-40-60-80 stuff.
Notice how easy the clock-buttons can be reached (just to the right of the center dash-vents). You're correct.....the complexity of today's video-menus is simply absurd.
Notice how easy the clock-buttons can be reached (just to the right of the center dash-vents). You're correct.....the complexity of today's video-menus is simply absurd.
But this IP design is kinda embarrassing because it so blatantly is missing something.
Last edited by tex2670; 03-27-20 at 01:36 PM.
03-27-20, 04:20 PM
#20
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
If my memory is correct, the top-level Corollas hd tachks back then. The wagon doesn't because it was only offered in the lower-range DX trim-level.
Superfluous with the auto transmission--regardless of whether are car is "performance" oriented or not.
But this IP design is kinda embarrassing because it so blatantly is missing something.
03-27-20, 04:23 PM
#21
Lexus Fanatic
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03-30-20, 12:40 AM
#23
Lexus Fanatic
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03-30-20, 06:54 AM
#24
Lexus Champion
When my wife and I started dating, she had a 95 Corolla sedan. I did always like that generation's interior.
She had it for a good 10 years or so. We bought her an Acura TSX and sold the Corolla to a friend, who had it for about 2 weeks before a drunk driver plowed into it while it was parked in front of his apartment, and totaled it. Ugh.
She had it for a good 10 years or so. We bought her an Acura TSX and sold the Corolla to a friend, who had it for about 2 weeks before a drunk driver plowed into it while it was parked in front of his apartment, and totaled it. Ugh.
03-31-20, 12:04 PM
#25
Pole Position
Why did you let the dealer re-sell this for you? Couldn't you and your brother have profited by selling it yourselves?
My son was in the market for a Toyota wagon recently and I was surprised how few were for sale on the used car market. It was definitely a trip down memory lane checking out what was available on Craigslist. He ended-up going with the more modern version of the wagon...the Matrix, which is also a Corolla. He got a 2006 from a dealer with only 45K miles, with all the maintenance records! It always perplexes me to see or hear of people trading-in or selling these cream-puffs to dealers when it so easy to sell them "by owner." They sell themselves!
My son was in the market for a Toyota wagon recently and I was surprised how few were for sale on the used car market. It was definitely a trip down memory lane checking out what was available on Craigslist. He ended-up going with the more modern version of the wagon...the Matrix, which is also a Corolla. He got a 2006 from a dealer with only 45K miles, with all the maintenance records! It always perplexes me to see or hear of people trading-in or selling these cream-puffs to dealers when it so easy to sell them "by owner." They sell themselves!
03-31-20, 12:16 PM
#26
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
My son was in the market for a Toyota wagon recently and I was surprised how few were for sale on the used car market. It was definitely a trip down memory lane checking out what was available on Craigslist.
Had my late Mom lived, she would probably have been driving a crossover today, though she would have been well up in her 90s.....probably too old to drive, period.
He ended-up going with the more modern version of the wagon...the Matrix, which is also a Corolla. He got a 2006 from a dealer with only 45K miles, with all the maintenance records! It always perplexes me to see or hear of people trading-in or selling these cream-puffs to dealers when it so easy to sell them "by owner." They sell themselves!
Last edited by mmarshall; 03-31-20 at 12:21 PM.
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