1996 Toyota Corolla CSi Seca AE101R Used Review

For those searching for their first car or even a small run about the Toyota Corolla will undoubtedly come up at some point in your searches. Being one of the most popular small hatches in Australia does mean that hundreds of thousands of them have been sold down under. We tested the 1996 Toyota Corolla hatch to see if you should consider it as a used buy.

Sold locally from 1994 all the way through to 1999, the AE101R Corolla had a decent run with a plethora of different models available, the model we have here is the entry level model CSi Seca.

Price & Equipment:

Being a 26-year old car at the time of writing, condition can vary from car to car, though being a Toyota they do seem to fair a little better than competitors. Expect to pay between $1,000 to $6,000 for a 1996 Toyota Corolla hatch with mileage ranging between 150,000-300,000km. Interestingly enough this generation Corolla was built in Australia.

Being a cheap car from the 1990’s the Corolla does have a rather sparse equipment list. There are 13-inch steel wheels with hubcaps, an AM/FM radio with a cassette player, a four-speaker sound system, central locking, a passenger vanity mirror, cupholders, intermittent wipers, folding rear seats, a tachometer, a tilt steering wheel, manually adjustable mirrors, front and rear mud flaps and a spare wheel.

As far as safety equipment is concerned, the 1996 Toyota Corolla doesn’t have too much. There is power steering and central locking and that is about it. There is no traction control, stability control, ABS or even any airbags as standard.

Other model 1996 Toyota Corollas such as the CSX Seca added alloy wheels, remote keyless entry with an alarm system, power windows, power mirrors, a larger 1.8-litre engine, ABS brakes, a vanity mirror and lumbar adjustment to the driver’s seat.

When it was new the 1996 Toyota Corolla CSi Seca hatch cost $22,890 plus on road cost for the manual transmission. Opting for the automatic transmission we have here brought the price up to $23,670 plus on road costs. Optional on the CSi seca was air-conditioning for an additional $1,995 which our test car was fitted with and a drivers airbag which was $990.

Being a rather basic car in the 1990’s there weren’t too many colour options to choose from. There was ‘Moonstone Blue’, ‘Panama Blue’, ‘Twilight Blue’, ‘Storm Grey’, ‘Aztec Red’, ‘Vermillion Red’, ‘Inca Silver’ and our test cars ‘Diamond White’.

Performance & Economy:

Under the bonnet of the 1996 Toyota Corolla CSi Seca is the near bulletproof 1.6-litre dual-overhead cam four-cylinder petrol engine known as the ‘4A-FE’. It produces 78kW of power and 135Nm of torque and sends power to the front wheels. The standard transmission was a five-speed manual but the vehicle we have here has the optional four-speed automatic transmission.

While the Corolla is no powerhouse the light nature of the car (has a tare mass of 1,055kg) means it is not as slow as you may initially expect. There is enough power to get out of harms way and the engine is not too loud when down low in the rev range. Pushing the little 1.6 can mean it gets a little vocal but for an older car we think this is more than acceptable. Not that anyone would ever ask but the 1996 Toyota Corolla has a 0-100km/h time of 12.9-seconds.

The four-speed auto gets the job done without a fuss. It’s not ground braking but also just acts as an automatic should. The shifts are relatively smooth and it engages gears in a reasonable time and manner. We can’t help but wonder if the five-speed manual is a better suited transmission to this engine.

Being as light as it is the Corolla handles corners well, the power steering does a good job of not making things too heavy and the suspension does a fantastic job of mixing comfort and semi-decent handling ability. There is some body roll, which is to be expected but other than that, the handling ability is good.

There is no getting around the fact that the 1996 Toyota Corolla was a small economy car. The claimed average fuel consumption figure for the automatic variant of the Corolla hatch is 7.55L/100km which even by todays standards is decent. There is a 50-litre fuel tank and the Corolla can run on 91RON fuel.

Interior:

Basic but functional. Two words that describe the interior of the 1996 Toyota Corolla well. There is nothing you don’t need in the cabin of this practical hatch. The quality of materials is rather good and there are some nice storage solutions too.

Being a Toyota you can see that even in bad examples the trim is in reasonably good condition. The only wear points of these cars is the headlining (like any car of this age) and the seats which can rip/wear with excessive use.

The radio and air conditioning are easy to operate and the clever pop out cupholders surprised us for a car from this era. Storage can be found in way of a cavity underneath the air-conditioning controls, an ash tray below that, a place to put a phone and wallet in front of the gear selector, a glove box, a small centre console and small door bins in each of the front doors.

Rear seat room in the back of the 1996 Toyota Corolla hatch is actually better than you may think. Taller passengers may struggle for head room but leg room is plentiful. There is no fold down-centre arm rest, nor is there any form of storage in the rear but for how much the Corolla costs we think the room in the back is impressive.

Unfortunately back in the 90’s Toyota didn’t quote boot space figures, but we are happy to report that there is a generous amount of cargo space. There is a spare wheel under the boot floor and a handy cargo cover to hide items from unsuspecting eyes. The rear seats also fold (though not flat) to load longer items.

Service & Reliability:

We’re not sure if there is another car that is known for its reliability other than the Toyota Corolla and this generation of the popular hatch is no exception to the name. The Corolla is an extremely reliable and cheap to fix car. There are examples of these little Corollas getting around with north of 300,000km on them but like any car there is a few things to look out for.

One small trait that is worth looking out for when shopping for an AE101R Corolla is if it uses an excessive amount of engine oil. This could be due to the oil pistons and/or piston rings. We would recommend checking the oil level against when the car was serviced last, if it has used a large amount of oil since the service then you know that car has an issue. Another tell tale sign is if the oil light is illuminated on the dash.

Another common issue for this generation Toyota Corolla is that the starter motors are rather weak. You will be able to tell if a car is affected with this issue if you can hear that the engine is turning over slowly or taking a bit to start. In some cases it can just be the starter solenoid rather than the starter itself.

Another thing that is worth checking is the transmission oil as failure to maintain the transmission properly can result in costly issues later down the track. We would recommend looking at when it was last serviced as well.

Servicing these Corollas is very simple and will cost only the price of the oil and filter if doing it yourself. Going to a mechanic or workshop will be more expensive but even they don’t charge much for servicing as it is relatively simple.

1996 Toyota Corolla CSi Seca Conclusion:

The 1996 Toyota Corolla is a dependable, cheap to own, cheap to buy and almost charming little car. It is relatively fun to drive due to the lack of weight and while it doesn’t have the safety features of a new Corolla, it gets the job done as a basic-but-functional runabout.

Whether it is a first car or a second car to drive around town in the AE101R Corolla is perfect few-thousand-dollar runabout that will be very cheap to maintain and likely last decades to come.