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MM Retro Write-up: My Late Mother's 1994 Corolla Wagon
Since the great Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020 has so many of us living in our homes more or less like cocoons (I only go out on needed grocery or errand-trips now) I'm doing retro-reviews/write-ups of vehicles I've had previous experience with, instead of the usual new-vehicle reviews. The last couple I did, several of you all seemed to have liked, so I'll continue, at least for a while.
Today, I want to remember the first Toyota product in our family, an American-spec 1994 Corolla DX Wagon. Officially, it was not mine, but belonged to my late mother (God rest her soul). Poor lady, she had had so many unreliable hand-me-down used cars of 60s through 80s vintage, a couple of new poorly-built/unreliable ones like the 1982 Plymouth Horizon, and/or those without air-conditioning (which, during a D.C. summer, can be unpleasant to say the least). At her age, and with the tireless and unselfish service she did each day for the benefit of others, as a Chaplain's assistant at the local hospital, I felt that she deserved something better. And, in those days, with the possible exception of a few Honda products, it was hard to beat the basic reliability of a Corolla...which was also being marketed and sold by GM, with slightly different restyling, as the Chevy/Geo Prizm. She had had several hatchbacks, and was used to having four doors (for an occasional back-seat person) and a roomy cargo-area for carrying things. Unfortunately, the Prizm came only in a four-door sedan, she wanted a four-door lift-back....and Toyota clearly offered something that fit her needs.
So, after some discussion (she depended on me, of course, for auto-advice), we took off for Koons Tysons Toyota in the Northern Virginia D.C. suburbs.....home to some of the largest dealerships on the East Coast (Koons also has huge Ford, GM, and FCA dealerships close by). Not only did I know some of the Koons family, who owned a whole string of dealerships, from my church, but the salesperson who wrote us up turned out to be a guy I hadn't seen in nearly 30 years....I did my freshman year in high school with him back in the mid-60s. So, we spent a few minutes talking over old times, forgetting some the less-than-cordial moments we had had in school LOL...then got down to business. I walked up and down the big lot, did some searching, and found a nice baby-blue Corolla DX Wagon (American-spec wagons were sold only in the DX trim-level) with a medium-blue cloth interior...that was back when you could still get some real color-choices inside. It had the simple, reliable, easy-to-work-on N/A 1.8L in-line four (I did her oil-changes for her, in the driveway), a four-speed automatic, which, though with wide unresponsive ratios, cut down on the cruising-speed drone of the previous three-speed automatics, and, most important for her, factory air-conditioning. Although it was slightly longer in length than she would have liked (several inches longer than her previous Mercury Tracer hatchback), and she never got totally used to parking it while backing up, in general, it fit her needs extremely well, had the expected Toyota reliability, and she kept it until she passed away six years later. The only thing I didn't like about it was the somewhat tinny doors, which didn't close with the solid thunk that some of its competitors did...but my Mom didn't mind that.
As saintly as my late mother was, though (and she had previously worked as a bookkeeper, later helping people, as a volunteer, to prepare their taxes) she never, EVER was satisfied with ANY deal she herself made...or any of the ones I made on my own cars. No matter how good or bad the deal was in truth, she always thought she or I had paid too much....I learned to take it in stride, knowing that it was either that, spend endless hours trying to find a deal that she wouldn't complain about (which was probably not possible), or just do without a new vehicle for her...and IMO, she deserved a nice new car. I finally convinced her, knowing the family as I did who owned the dealership, and the sales-guy who wrote us up (he later got a promotion to Sales Manager) that this was probably as good a deal as we were going to get (the list price was around 16K, and we got what I thought was a reasonable discount. Indeed, the very next day, the press announced that the Japanese Yen had reached (for then) a all-time high against the American dollar, setting record-prices for Japanese imports....a factor that was out of the dealership's control.
That car became a real workhorse in our family....served my late mother faithfully until she passed away. As I said, I did the oil changes for her to save some money....my mom lived close by, only a few minutes' drive. I sometimes drove the car myself, as on Christmas Eve to church-services. Why her car?...it had dual front air-bags, unlike the car I was driving at the time (a 1990 Mazda Protege). Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, though not as bad as New Year's Eve, are notorious for drunks on the road, if one of them plowed into me.
Sadly, in 2000, my Mom, after so many hears of helping others in so many ways, got ill and needed help herself. She was diagnosed with cancer, which hospitalized her in the same facility where she had served so many others with the Chaplain, then a nursing home, where my brother drove both his own car and her Corolla regularly to see her, and, finally, when the cancer had spread to her brain and there was little more the doctors could do, to the hospice, where, just before Christmas of that year, she passed away. She had, in her will, named me as her Executor (my late father had passed away almost 15 years earlier), and I scrupulously took care of her estate and paperwork exactly as I had promised her, and according to Virginia law (that's another whole story, though...not one for this thread). My brother (who is still around) drove her Corolla off and on for a few months, and, since he already had his own car, we sold the Corolla right back to the very same dealership where we had bought it six years earlier, and split the money from it. I myself stayed at the dealership, after the re-sale, that afternoon, and watched while they put it through the washing/detailing/reconditioning process, answering questions the reconditioning guys had about it. A couple came out that very afternoon, looked at it, liked it, asked some questions about it (which, as the original owner there, on the spot, I answered)...and, from what I later heard, took it home the next day.
Here's a shot of the poster-board that the dealership gave us with the car, the day we took it home.....although it was obviously a different color from the baby-blue we had selected.
That's a dash and center console that would be ahead of many modern cars today. Things have now gone way too funky and out of balance. The 90's Toyota dashes and consoles were about as ideal as it came.
That's a dash and center console that would be ahead of many modern cars today. Things have now gone way too funky and out of balance. The 90's Toyota dashes and consoles were about as ideal as it came.
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.
love the big AIRBAG written on the passenger side, that was of course a big deal at the time lol
Dual front airbags were not Federally required until the later 1990s. Some vehicles, in a cost-cutting move, until then, used the motor-tracked belts, which were awful, and, depending how you were faced or leaning, when the doors were opened and closed, could yank the upper-belt around part of your face or neck as they power-slid back and forth.
Here's a close-up: The only significant thing missing, as I remember, was a tach, but in a non-performance car like this, wth 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.
Yes to all. But even more important, aesthetically things looked right. There's a stylistic balance and clean simplicity that is missing from today's crazy designs.
I like to flash back to what I was doing in various times. Well back then in 1994, I was finishing B school and had an office and corp AMEX. I got scolded by my boss when I took some ladies out to lunch in our VA site (big shot with an expense acct). He said the expenses have to be approved by me, and next time you do that, I'm not going to approve them lol
But renting cars in that time frame, two cars impressed me the most. The 1995 Camry, and the 1995 850, both of which were from Hertz. The dash pics of the 1994 Corolla actually remind me of the 1995 Camry for whatever reason. That's how dashes looked back then, nothing lacking or unimpressive really. So if the Corolla is a little sister to the Camry, it must have been an excellent car.
toyota has built good cars since the 1980's. My dad had a corolla and graduated to a celica [I think 1985] (man oh man oh man he would not spring for a GT-S). Back then options meant something, not simply badges. I think the GT-S got an independent rear, too bad, he would never get the "top" model or trim, unlike today, I think people start at the top and work down on price.
Thanks. She was deserving of any help I could give her.
I like to flash back to what I was doing in various times. Well back then in 1994, I was finishing B school and had an office and corp AMEX. I got scolded by my boss when I took some ladies out to lunch in our VA site (big shot with an expense acct). He said the expenses have to be approved by me, and next time you do that, I'm not going to approve them lol
Under some conditions, company expenses are tax-deductible, although lunch-bills might be stretching that a bit.
BrettJacks (if you're reading this), what's your take on that? ...You're our resident tax-expert.
But renting cars in that time frame, two cars impressed me the most. The 1995 Camry, and the 1995 850, both of which were from Hertz. The dash pics of the 1994 Corolla actually remind me of the 1995 Camry for whatever reason. That's how dashes looked back then, nothing lacking or unimpressive really. So if the Corolla is a little sister to the Camry, it must have been an excellent car.
The general dash-layout of the 3Gen Camry had similarities, but it came with standard tach, which some Corollas didn't have. The steering wheel was simple Toyota parts-bin.
BTW, I thought the 3gen Camry was the best one ever built. I discussed a possible Camry wagon with my mom, but she felt it was simply too big for her. She had driven larger cars before, but by then, parking and maneuvering had become too difficult for her....particularly in the region's constantly-growing traffic.
toyota has built good cars since the 1980's.
Actually, since the 1970s, if you consider durability and mechanical quality. Only glitch was rusting in American winters....which got licked as time went on....and the 70s Toyotas didn't drive with as much refinement as those of the 80s.
My dad had a corolla and graduated to a celica [I think 1985] (man oh man oh man he would not spring for a GT-S). Back then options meant something, not simply badges. I think the GT-S got an independent rear, too bad, he would never get the "top" model or trim, unlike today, I think people start at the top and work down on price.
Hope your dad enjoyed them. I had a Celica myself...for almost 6 years, but that is a story for another thread.
That cruise control stalk looks nearly identical to our 2020 RX. I guess not everything had changed :P
Toyota used that same parts-bin stalk for decades. As you note, it is still on some models today. It was also on some Toyota-derived vehicles like the Geo Prizm and Pontiac Vibe.
Thank you for a great write-up. This car reminds me so much of my dads car. My dad bought a brand new 1993 Toyota Camry LE back in the day. His was green with the gold package (my mom now makes fun of him for getting the gold package). The only reason he sold it was because he started his new company and needed a bigger vehicle. He sold it in 2001 to a father who wanted a reliable car for his son, which I have no doubt he got. That car only had 100,000 on it and I am sure it had plenty of life left in it. I remember I wanted to him to keep it as a spare car, so I could drive it when I got my license in 2005, but alas he got $6,000 for it so I can't say I blame him.
The quality is those 90 Toyota's are just off the charts. The only thing I ever remember going wrong with the Camry were the trunk latch broke and the D indicator light on the dash was dimmer than the PRN lights. Those cars were ahead of their time and part of the reason Toyota is so big as they are today. My mom used to get a company car every two years and normally it was the Grand Am, and the Camry was just SOOOO much better. It wasn't even in the same ballpark.
Edit: I can see after typing this you posted a photo of the Camry. That is exactly what we had and the same color. Man that was a great interior and that picture brings back memories of my youth.
This car reminds me so much of my dads car. My dad bought a brand new 1993 Toyota Camry LE back in the day. His was green with the gold package (my mom now makes fun of him for getting the gold package). The only reason he sold it was because he started his new company and needed a bigger vehicle. He sold it in 2001 to a father who wanted a reliable car for his son, which I have no doubt he got. That car only had 100,000 on it and I am sure it had plenty of life left in it. I remember I wanted to him to keep it as a spare car, so I could drive it when I got my license in 2005, but alas he got $6,000 for it so I can't say I blame him.
As I said earlier, I thought that 3Gen was (and still is) the best Camry ever built.....I still see a number of them, though well-worn and probably in need of some replacement parts if available, running around in my area today. In fact, the last time I saw an old girl friend of mine, a few years ago, she had a burgundy one.
The gold-trim package your dad selected was quite popular at the time...if your mom thought it looked ostentatious on a Camry, she should have seen the gold-trim Cadillacs of the time LOL. You had to be careful, though, how you waxed/buffed it, and what kind of cleaning/polishing ingredients you use on it......overdo it, and the gold-plating itself could wear off.
The quality is those 90 Toyota's are just off the charts. The only thing I ever remember going wrong with the Camry were the trunk latch broke and the D indicator light on the dash was dimmer than the PRN lights. Those cars were ahead of their time and part of the reason Toyota is so big as they are today. My mom used to get a company car every two years and normally it was the Grand Am, and the Camry was just SOOOO much better. It wasn't even in the same ballpark.
I agree with you that the 90s were probably the zenith of Toyota quality, though the flimsy doors on that-vintage Corolla were not very impressive. Perhaps the best example was the Celica....IMO, the 2000 Celica, which followed the superb 1994-1999 vision, was a joke. Also, the 90s' vintage Honda Accords were as well-built (if not better) than even the Toyotas of the period.
Thanks. She was deserving of any help I could give her.
Under some conditions, company expenses are tax-deductible, although lunch-bills might be stretching that a bit.
BrettJacks (if you're reading this), what's your take on that? ...You're our resident tax-expert.
The general dash-layout of the 3Gen Camry had similarities, but it came with standard tach, which some Corollas didn't have. The steering wheel was simple Toyota parts-bin.
BTW, I thought the 3gen Camry was the best one ever built. I discussed a possible Camry wagon with my mom, but she felt it was simply too big for her. She had driven larger cars before, but by then, parking and maneuvering had become too difficult for her....particularly in the region's constantly-growing traffic.
Actually, since the 1970s, if you consider durability and mechanical quality. Only glitch was rusting in American winters....which got licked as time went on....and the 70s Toyotas didn't drive with as much refinement as those of the 80s.
Hope your dad enjoyed them. I had a Celica myself...for almost 6 years, but that is a story for another thread.
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."
hahahahaha memories....but I don't regret that all of it let to a Maxima 5spd still in the driveway today...(I don't think they can be killed, they just rust)
Mom and car stories, we all have them. 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.
03-26-20, 06:18 PM
MM Retro Write-up: My Late Mother's 1994 Corolla Wagon
...You're our resident tax-expert.
You had to be careful, though, how you waxed/buffed it, and what kind of cleaning/polishing ingredients you use on it......overdo it, and the gold-plating itself could wear off.