Spaceship_small
Reputation: 1812
Follow 3
Follow 1

Do Corolla transmissions self destruct by 200,000 miles or something?

We love Toyotas, and have had good luck with Corollas...until last week. Suddenly tries to shift into park when driving at 20 mph. No wreck fortunately. Limped to a repair shop that confirmed transmission stripped. Limped two more miles to auto salvage yard.

Seem to remember something about Toyota or Corolla's loosing trasmissions about 190000 or so, but can't recall. Can anyone help?
Was there anyway to avoid this?
We loved that car...hate to have to scrap it.

O my captain asked in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…

Asker's Favorite

  • N510833790_3563_small
    Reputation: 387
    Follow 0

    A well serviced and not beat on modern transmission should last 200,000 miles most of the time. But it can vary from transmission to transmission. Do you know if it was well cared for and had it's fluid changed often?

    Andrew Beck answered in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report
    2 comments by O my captain and Andrew Beck…
    Share this answer with a friend:

1 Other Answer

  • Avatar_default
    Reputation: 51
    Follow 1
    Lack Thereof

    Until the past decade or so, Toyota transmissions required extremely frequent fluid changes - on the order of every 15,000 miles or less. If you get a secondhand Corolla, it's virtually guaranteed that a previous owner skipped the vast majority of the transmission services. Therein lies the source of the self-destructing Corolla transmissions. Even properly serviced, automatic transmissions tend to fail much more frequently than manuals anyway.

    The easiest solution is to simply have a remanufactured transmission swapped in (or swap it yourself). Daunting as it seems, It's not actually a very complicated job, you can trust pretty much any ASE certified shop to do it. Most transmissions shouldn't cost more than $2000, and one day's worth of shop labor is plenty to get the job done.

    If the rest of the car is in good shape (lights work, doors open, all the switches and knobs do their jobs), it could be well worth the investment. It's harder to find a car with a good body & interior than one with a good drivetrain.

    Lack Thereof answered in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend: