Toyota Corolla 121 / E120 Buyer's guide review

When we think about the vehicles that stole our minds, the vehicles that we all know or have heard of, the name Toyota Corolla holds a special place in that list. Any vehicle enthusiast will recognize this car instantly and say, "This right here is a classic". As a 1-liter-class sub-compact 5-seater Sedan, the name Toyota Corolla made its debut in 1966. After that, more than 50 million Corolla models across 12 different generations have been sold throughout the world. Toyota Corolla was the best-selling car in 2022, with sales of 1.12 million cars.

The word "Corolla" means "The small crown" in Latin, which ensures that the Toyota Corolla has all the features and comfort just a little less than the Crown, which is the best vehicle Toyota has to offer. Corolla is a vehicle with all the necessary features that we need for our daily work. This article will tell you all the details that you need to know about the 9th Generation cars of the world-famous Toyota Corolla.

This Toyota Corolla 121 could be seen in many different body shapes. Most of them have a Sedan body style, but some of them have a hatchback, sporty-hatchback, and station wagon style as well, which is very rare in Sri Lanka. This ninth generation of Toyota Corolla was released to the market in August 2000, but it took until 2001 for this generation to become a trend in the vehicle market. There's also a saying among the buyers and sellers of this car: "This vehicle is easy to sell and harder to buy." Because there will always be someone who's willing to buy a Toyota Corolla. In Sri Lanka, this vehicle has a very good market among the gem businessmen in Rathnapura district.

Even though we call this generation the Toyota Corolla 121, it's generally known as the Toyota Corolla E120 in the vehicle market. And this E120 generation also has some variants of its own that have many differences among them. The X-grade (the lowest grade), G-grade (most popular), Luxia grade, X assista package, and the Luxel package (with the highest options and functionality, also the rarest) could be seen in Sri Lanka. Then the Toyota Corolla Axio was introduced in 2006, as the 10th generation of Corolla. This article will mainly focus on the G-Grade of the Toyota Corolla E120 since that is the model that all Sri Lankans crave. And even though there are few other trims available for this vehicle, there's a huge demand among Sri Lankan users for the trims that were made in Japan.

When it comes to the 9th generation of Toyota Corolla, the whole generation has a complete engine lineup starting from 1.2/1.3 liter to 2.2-liter diesel engines. The DOHC 16-valve VVT-i gasoline engines, including 1.3-liter (2NZ-FE), 1.5-liter (1NZ-FE), and 1.8-liter (1ZZ-FE) units, were all newly developed. Also, a SOHC 8-valve 2.2-liter diesel engine (3C-E) featuring a direct-acting valve train could also be seen in this E120/121 generation. If we consider the engine of Toyota Corolla 121 G-grade vehicle, it has a 1.5-liter petrol engine, which is why it has been so popular among Sri Lankans.

The Luxel package comes with a 1.8L 1ZZ-FE engine. This engine has been used in many other Toyota models and has been very reliable. In fact, the 1ZZ-FE is the same engine that comes in the 1.8L 240 Allion/Premio. And when it comes to the Luxel package it is considered as the superior model of the 9th generation of Toyota Corolla. It is very rare to find it in the Sri Lankan market as it comes with a 1.8L engine that has a considerably large fuel consumption. There's also a common issue among Sri Lankan users regarding its engine oil consumption. The Luxel came with vehicle stability controls, a few extra airbags, and a navigation package as its options.

This is a front-wheel drive vehicle, and the engine creates a maximum power of 105 horsepower at 6000 rpm. And it has a maximum torque of 143 Nm at 4200 rpm. The transmission of this vehicle includes a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic Super ECT. As for the suspension, this vehicle has a torsion beam system, while 4-wheel-drive models adopted a double wishbone system. And it has a fuel consumption of 12-13 km per liter within the city limits.

When it comes to the maintenance of this vehicle, it might cost you some money to maintain this vehicle in good condition. You can use synthetic or semi-synthetic oil, according to your preference. As for the fuel cost, this vehicle consists of a fuel tank with a capacity of 50-55 liters, and you might have to spend around 6500-7000 LKR (as of January 2022) to fill up its fuel tank. Also, if you have enough mechanical knowledge, you can even do some of the maintenance by yourself.

With the beginning of the 21st century, Toyota company tried to change the appearance of the Corolla from its class 90s design and bring out a posh-looking appearance to the new generation of Corolla. And because of this bulky design, the 9th generation was the best-selling era of Toyota Corollas.

This car also has halogen lights that incorporate its design, but in 2004, these round-shaped lights were replaced with elongated lights due to the new facelift of the car. And when it comes to fog lights, you can easily identify a G-grade vehicle because it was the only model that had fog lights during that time. Throughout the years, these fog lights got modified with some chrome lines in the middle and some small changes, but it all happened within the same generation.

As you can see in Figure 03, the grill between the headlights has a chrome and metallic silver finish that increases its luxurious look. And the emblem on the top of that grill is shaped like the letter "C", which stands for Corolla. As you can see in Figure 04, the Toyota emblem is visible on the back of the car, along with the Corolla name and the G-grade badge. Also, this G-grade and the Luxel grade have a beautiful set of reverse lights next to their number plate that lights up when you reverse the vehicle. This is another way you can identify a G-grade Toyota Corolla vehicle from its exterior.

As visible in Figure 05, This vehicle has 14-inch alloy wheels, which is the original size (but the other models in its generation have a range of 14 to 19-inch alloy wheels). And it has a 4.6 m turning radius that makes taking U-turns easy. It has a ground clearance of 160 mm on both sides, and it has a good ground clearance of 175 mm on the front and the back as well.

This vehicle has disk brakes on the front and drum brakes on the back. It also has all the usual options such as ABS and ADB, along with traction control options. When it comes to the boot space of this vehicle, it has a 500-liter capacity inside, and a spare wheel and a toolkit can also be found underneath its mat.

The interior of this vehicle has a plastic and leather finish, which is totally worthy of its price. And with its beige color interior and the teak wood grain paneling, this vehicle has an elegant look like the Toyota Allion. It has a basic steering wheel, two airbags, fully automatic electric windows along with a lock/unlock lever, and fully electric-powered mirrors. The interior provides a great amount of legroom and headroom for a person of any height. A typical gear leaver could be seen in this vehicle, along with the shift-lock button and the OD button.

The windscreen provides a great view with almost zero blind spots for the right seating position, as well as the view from the side and rear mirrors. But based on user experience, there is a small blind spot due to the right chassis bar, and it's a bit difficult to make a turn that is less than 90 degrees because the chassis bar blocks the driver's view. The driver might have to lean forward to have a better view.

The 4.6 m turning radius makes driving and making turns easier. And since this is a vehicle that was made to carry out the "Convenience" factor for the regular activities of people and not for the speed, The developers have focused more on comfort while they are achieving convenience.

In addition, as of February 2024, the Sri Lankan market value of this vehicle is around 4-7 million LKR, mainly depending on the condition and the grade of the vehicle. You can find the latest price with more details and cars of this model for sale from the following link Toyota Corolla 121 Latest Price