The story of this 1989 Toyota Corolla happened in 2002, during the worst years of my first marriage. We were two years away from separating. This car didn’t shape my life the way other cars did, but it reveals a little about what was happening in my family at the time.
An old Corolla sedan would normally have been a pretty good choice for a first car. But the one my oldest brought home looked like it had been to war: badly faded and peeling light-blue paint, several rust holes, and a garish chrome luggage rack screwed into the roof with wood screws. When he pulled into the driveway for the first time, the car sounded wheezy, buzzy, and just plain tired.
I’m not sure what the appeal was. Maybe he figured the near-faultless reliability of his mom’s ’89 Corolla coupe would somehow rub off onto this sedan. Maybe he’d simply been seduced by having $700 in his pocket and finding the first car he could buy, insure, and plate for that sum.
What truly baffled me was that his mom had gone with him to look at the car — and that they came home with it anyway. She’d bought and sold several cars in her lifetime, and she was a smart woman. How could she not see that this thing was used up?
“It needs a tuneup and a muffler,” she told me. Whoakay.
But when our mechanic tried to put the car up on the lift, he discovered the undercarriage was too rusty to support it. He also found several problems with the front end.
“This car is unsafe. It’s a basket case,” he said. “I can make a couple inexpensive emergency repairs that will hold it for a couple of weeks while you figure out what to do. But this car is done for.”
I wanted our son to feel the consequences of his decision. “Seven hundred dollars gone and you have nothing? That’s on you,” I wanted to say. “You can walk or catch rides until you save up for another car.”
But once again I accommodated what my wife wanted. I wound up driving the decrepit Corolla. My wife gave her car to our son, and started driving our minivan until she could figure out a new car for herself.
Fortunately, my job was only about five miles from home. Unfortunately, it was a scorcher of a summer. Immediately, the Corolla started overheating. I watched the temperature gauge like a hawk as I gingerly drove it to and from work. As soon as the needle crept toward the red, I opened the vents wide and cranked the fan on full blast. It vented just enough heat to keep the needle in the black so I could limp home. Even with every window rolled down, I arrived with a drenched shirt.
I drove the car that way for about a month while my wife figured out what she was going to do. Finally, she bought herself a little red Toyota Matrix — one of the first off the assembly line, as they were brand new that year. We sold the battered Corolla for scrap.
I was never so happy to climb back into the cabin of my unloved minivan.
Photos aren’t of the actual Corolla, but a lookalike I came across one day.
Been there with the rusty barely hanging on crap cans .
-Nate
I’ve driven a couple to that point.
Out here in the rust-free West, this would have been the perfect first car. They were golden for cheap wheels. I’ve been directly involved with more than one, including one for my younger son’s GF that I got from a tenant that thought it had a broken clutch but just needed some fluid for the clutch master cylinder. It went on and on…
For the most part here in Rustopia this would have been the perfect first car. I don’t know how they found one so clapped out.
Bad car. Bad situation. Not sure what else to say about that.
That summarizes it nicely.
The formula of “The Toyota I know is good = All Toyotas are good” is defective, but too commonly believed. What a sad story.
And easily believed. I wasn’t wise to the ways of old cars yet but even I knew on first encounter that this Corolla was used up.
There are still plenty of this generation of Corolla here on the Wet Coast. The lack of road salt means rust isn’t an issue here. My own car is seven years old and doesn’t have a speck of rust on it.
Recent immigrants drive these roaches all the time. They can still be had in running condition for $1000.
The world needs running $1,000 cars for people.
Yes quite true, especially when I read yesterday that used cars here in the Great White North are averaging $36K sale price, while new cars average over $60K. Mind you these prices are aggregate across EV, ICE, etc. Thirty six large is close to what new cars went for, before the pandemic. Just insane.
No way I am dropping that kind of cash on a user. I’ll be looking for a bargain of some kind next time I am buying.
I feel that. I bought new last time, late 2023, and paid sticker for the first time in my life because that’s how it was going at the time. Still, I bought relatively frugally for about 31k out the door.
A person around the corner for me, where I store the Ambassador, told me he got a 2002 Civic for $1000. My first question was what was wrong with it? The only issue was needing new front struts. Ok, and I wouldn’t be surprised if shops around me charged around $700 to do this job vs $180 DIY.
Labor is expensive, for sure.
The car, unsuspecting, as a mighty, foredooming signifier: which shall fall first fall in two, us, or it?
My youngest not long ago bought a small old car I recommended against (’02 Nissan Pulsar), mainly because he’d have got a lot newer (and safer) for the same not-much money, but with a bit more fussing about on his part to get it roadworthy. (Effort? A late teenager?)
I must admit to a churlish annoyance that the thing has been faultless, to date.
Nicely seen.
Pulsars are seldom seen here in Rustopia. Congratulations to your youngest for getting a good one.
Jim, you’re a saint. I would not have had the patience you showed dealing with your ex-wife. I’d have let my kid feel the full consequences of such a rubbish decision. Heck, I’d have given the kid her car, handed my wife the keys to the Corolla and said “figure this out”. Sometimes the best lessons come from living with your own choices. Sounds like an expensive education all round.
Saint? no. I put up with stuff I should have pushed back on.
I’ve not been getting reply notices and just now (Jan. 10th 2026) stumbled back to this, it’s interesting to read about the values of used cars in the rust belt .
Bummer about the failed marriage, me too but the good news is life gets oh so much better from here on out =8-) .
-Nate