As I explained in my previous installment, my family now had a full-size Toyota Avalon, and we no longer needed a Previa for road trips. I had always wanted a small station wagon (I had wanted to buy an early 1970s Opel Wagon, but my brother talked me out of it), so the interest in one resurfaced. Visits to the dealership for service were always an opportunity to see what the car market was like; in the mind, the idea: Is there any chance another “deal” is available?
Soon after, I was to purchase a 1994 Corolla wagon, which fit that need nicely. It was also the first Corolla we owned since our marriage — my wife had a 1977 Corolla before we were married — and more were to follow, four in total: this 1994 wagon, a 1999 sedan, a 1996 sedan, and finally a 1995 sedan. And then a Geo, another Toyonova! The story goes like this…
Bill of sale for 1994 Toyota Corolla DX Wagon.
1994 Corolla Wagon
We had lent our Previa to the church youth who went on a missions trip. While it was away, a five-speed Corolla wagon showed up at my local dealer. I couldn’t buy that one, but a few weeks later, a red 1994 Corolla wagon showed up, this one an automatic. The mileage was good and the price was right.
After purchase, I got a dealer-installed CD player as an added accessory. It’s the only car I ever had with a roof rack, and the only time I ever used one (on a two-hour trip to the Pittsburgh IKEA to pick up DIY office furniture, the first office furniture I bought that wasn’t a kludge or a hand-me-down).
This 1992–1997 generation, which Toyota called the E100, was the first to move the Corolla from the subcompact to the compact class in interior volume. Car and Driver tested a Corolla DX wagon in 1993.
I only had this Corolla for about two years. It was OK to drive, but the road noise in a wagon is greater than in a sedan or coupe, and I decided to move on.
1999 Corolla
Our Avalon was eventually totaled, so we bought a 1999 Corolla with a five-speed speed. We inspected it carefully and noticed water collecting in the recesses of the trunk, but the salesman didn’t want to hear about it because we were getting such a “good price.” I called the dealership principal about this issue, and afterward, the salesman was in a better mood, so we bought it. It turned out the water in the trunk was a fixable problem, and we didn’t own it long enough to have any problems with the car. As with others in our history, the car was totaled in a run-in with a Dodge Ram truck, which was mostly the truck’s fault.
1996 Corolla
Meanwhile, insurance proceeds from the Avalon accident allowed us to buy another E100 Corolla, this time a sedan, as our daughter’s first car. Before she was even licensed, and was practicing driving with me, we hit a curb and had front suspension damage.
For a high-mileage eight-year old car, the body was in good shape …
Until the day she hit a piece of metal on the expressway. Luckily. I knew a body shop expert …
After the door repair, the car had a distinctive new road noise. Still, this car lasted three years and went from 154,691 miles to 208,000 miles. It was used for pizza deliveries all over Athens County, Ohio.
1996 Geo Prizm
We had had a good experience with our “Toyonova” — a 1985 Chevrolet Nova built by the GM-Toyota NUMMI joint venture — and the Prizm was its successor. I let my son pick a black 1996, which was bought with proceeds from the 1999 Corolla that had been wrecked. We bought in July 2005, and it lasted until it was totaled in an incident with a guard rail in SE Ohio in May 2009, after we put about 50,000 miles on it.
1995 Corolla
We also bought the neighbor’s 1995 Corolla, which my son had until he got married. He was able to sell it when he bought a Toyota Tundra.
With two young drivers in the family, and insurance rates to match, and college tuition and fees to pay, we were happy we could keep four cars going. But their father and mother had their cars also, and those would need replacement.
Hah, the lead photo got my attention as our 1993 Corolla wagon (the same E100 style) was the same silver. And then the image of the sales invoice, from a Toyota/BMW dealer, made me laugh. You see, our Corolla replaced a troublesome BMW E12 528i, which had multiple mechanical issues but was my wife’s daily driver after the birth of our second child. Our other cars were a 4WD Ranger and a VW Vanagon camper which had its own idiosyncrasies. As we waited for a tow truck on the side of the freeway one day with an immobile BMW, and a newborn and a toddler, my wife informed me that we were going to get a better car. Brand new. Japanese. And small, but just big enough for the four of us.
We found the Corolla languishing at the dealership, an unloved stick shift un-air conditioned ‘93 two months after the ‘94’s had arrived. A little negotiating and we had factory air added and still paid below invoice. FYI our other cars didn’t have A/C. We had it for 100K miles, 10 years. Other than the obligatory Toyota water pump replacement under warranty, it was trouble free. But not really great to drive. As you mentioned, noisy, both road and wind. A mediocre balance of ride and handling, grabby clutch and mediocre shift linkage, poor rain and worse snow traction. But good fuel economy and a surprisingly tractable motor that pulled well on mountain grades even in 5th.
At some point it was replaced by an SUV for family hauler duty, becoming my daily until I bought a Forester, but not before a road trip to San Diego where it too was used to haul an IKEA-load back home for 400 miles on its often used roof rack.
I also bought a new 1993 Corolla wagon. Mine was ordered from the dealer with 5 speed, A/C and ABS. It wasn’t as nimble as the VW Rabbit it replaced, but it was smoother and quieter. The interior space was just right for hauling music gear, and I really liked the small size and good visibility. I ended up driving it for 28 years and 166k miles before replacing it with a … Forester.
Our ‘93 Corolla didn’t have ABS, so I suppose it must have been an option. It also just had rollup windows and no power locks, but it was a DX which was the base wagon trim, though sedans were offered at an even lower level of trim as the entry version. Our wagon was put to good use hauling our son’s cello, and by coincidence the guy I sold it to was also a cellist.
I was living in Michigan at the time, and the NUMMI Nova/Prism were incredibly popular. I briefly owned a $500 version.
They were good cars, the driver didn’t look like a complete traitor, and they were pretty cheap after you applied Uncle Bob’s GM Friends & Family discount.
Good writeup .
Did you experience any rust issues in Ohio ? .
-Nate
The 1994 Corolla didn’t have any rust issues, it just had a run-in with a car at a parking lot — I’ve been hit so many times like that I’ve lost count. The 1996 Corolla was a Maryland car before it ended up in Ohio, so it was pretty clean considering, it was about 12 years old when the engine went. The 1995 Corolla was starting to rust, it was about 12 years old when we bought it. The Prizm was definitely rusting at the 12 year mark.
Wow, it seems you and your family members often got into car accidents. Hope your later experience is much better luck.
As the featured vehicle in your story Corolla wagon was one of vehicles I was looking for when I was on the market for a car to replace my aged 87 Honda Accord in mid-90s, I was not able to get one. Unlike you, I often preferred to deal with private owners rather than dealers. Not until recently I got a 2011 BMW E90 station wagon from a Toyota dealer around Allentown, PA for my son — my family members and I like wagon, hatchback, SUV and van. My new vehicle is another lift-back, 2026 Tesla Juniper. Over year, we own 1992 Inetrega hatchback, 2023 ML350, 2011 Venza, 2011 E90 wagon, 2004 Matrix, 20015 Odyssey and now Juniper. These are just more practical vehicles for our income level and life style than sedans and pickups.
Back to your Corolla wagon, I find the first generation of 5-door Geo Prizm is a very attractive and practical vehicle too.
Back to Corroll
The whole family are now better drivers. My last at-fault accident was in 1985 but I’m still getting hit in the rear end.
The seventh generation Corolla (E100) sold in the U.S. for the 1993 through 1997 model years was arguably peak Corolla. The wagon was unfortunately discontinued after the the 1996 model year. All of the wagons (and a few of the sedans) were manufactured in Japan and supposedly had better assembly quality than the ones that came from Nummi or Cambridge, Ontario. I rented a Corolla sedan of this generation for an extended period of time and really loved it. Although supposedly not a “sporty” car, it was tight, well put together, handled surprisingly well and with the 1.8 liter four cylinder engine and automatic transmission it felt surprisingly responsive. Much better assembly quality than my rattletrap 2024 Camry.
Supposedly the Matrix was something of a replacement for the Corolla Wagon, but I always considered the Matrix to be more of a hatchback than true wagon. The current generation Corolla is available as wagon (called the “Touring”) in European markets and I really envy the Europeans.
Yes, the current Corolla wagon has it all over the “hatchback” wannabe wagon thing we have here. Mostly seen as a hybrid as well just to rub it in. Very popular, the wagons are all over Europe, the hatches and sedans are mostly unseen.
Yeah, SE Ohio roads will kill a good car quickly.