This 1995 Toyota Corolla DX 4-door sedan has the original 1.8 L unleaded petrol combustion engine, with a 4-speed automatic transmission, producing (roughly) 110 HP at upper RPMs (5000-6000 RPM).

This car was originally owned by my mother, an elementary public school counselor living in Savannah, GA, USA, purchased new in the spring of 1995, as I remember, and driven, on average, 6-8,000 miles per year, primarily to/from work, grocery store, etc., with a few longer highway/interstate trips (1,000 - 1,400 miles round trip) to visit family, particularly after 1998-9, between the spring of 1995 and the fall of 2002.

This Corolla was passed on to me in the fall of 2002 (Oct or Nov 2002) with an original odometer reading of just below 60,000 miles. Between the fall of 2002 and the spring/summer of 2005, I added another 35,000 miles, roughly, through a combination of communiting between various rental/leased college residences, in the Atlanta metro area, and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA, USA), with round trip commuting distances of 16-50 miles, between Oct/Nov 2002 and May 2005; various errands (grocery shopping, etc.); and periodic (every 2-4 months, generally) highway/interstate trips home to Savannah (500-550 miles, round trip, depending on Atlanta area residence).

In the fall of 2003 (Oct?), the front end and front driver's side of the vehicle received minor-moderate damage in a low-speed front collision, when the car slid in heavy rain in congested metro Atlanta interstate traffic, at about 2:00 pm in the afternoon on a Friday, on the way to an exam, when a group of 7-10+ cars, in front of the Corolla, in the leftmost interstate lane, just adjacent to the HOV lane, on a 5-6 lane section of the I-75/85 connector in Midtown Atlanta, just south of the North Avenue exit, suddenly slammed on brakes and slid to an abrupt stop from a speed of 45-50 mph on slick, wet, oily roads, at a low point, just beneath an overpass, where oily water was pooling, for no apparent reason. I, then the driver of the Corolla, was maintaining a distance of at least 4-5 car lengths behind the car ahead of me, at the time, due to the erratic behavior of the traffic and the road conditions, while the members of the group ahead were all driving very close (within 1 car length or less of one another), but the brake fluid in the brake system of the Corolla had apparently never been bled and replaced in its 8 years of regular use, and the master hydraulic brake cyllinder apparently failed during the heavy braking, resulting in the front bumper of the Corolla sliding just beneath the rear bumper of the mid-sized U.S. 4-door sedan ahead, causing only minor scratchs/dents on the bumper of this other car, but resulting in relatively significant damage to the bumper cover (moderate), hood (major), driver's side fender [front, driver's side or left quarter panel] (major), driver's side head light assembly (major), driver's side front turn signal assembly (major), radiator (major), alternator (moderate/major), battery (minor/moderate), cosmetic radiator cover/grill insert (major), upper front tie bar (moderate-major), and various other, primarily sheet metal/body components on the front and front driver's side of the vehicle.

Within 30-45 days of this accident, I replaced the radiator, all or most radiator hoses, battery, alternator, hood, driver's side front quarter panel (fender), driver's side headlight assembly and headlight, driver's side front turn signal assembly, cosmetic radiator cover/grill insert,
and various other, primarily costmetic/body components on the car, personally. I received some minor assistance, one afternoon, from an experienced body repair specialist and former body shop owner (for only $50 U.S.), who used a basic, cable hand wench (aka 'load binder' or 'come along'), cable, and chain, to roughly pull out and lift the front, upper tie bar framework, including the radiator support, at the front of the engine compartment, anchoring this tool to the rear of his truck, which allowed me to remove the damaged radiator and install the replacement radiator, alternator, driver's side headlight assembly, and other key components that are mounted to this minor structural component at the front of the engine compartment. This front, upper tie bar assembly (including the radiator support and two headlight supports, if purchased as individual components; the much more structurally significant, heavier guage steel, lower tie bar, which is welded to the front, lower frame rails at the front, lower end of the engine compartment, seems to have been undamaged or only slightly damaged in the accident and does not appear to need replacement, thankfully) still needs to be replaced, but this would/will require, ideally, cutting and welding, as well as the removal of numerous front end components (bumper cover, bumper, battery, radiator, possibly alternator, etc., etc.), and I have not yet had the opportunity (time and/or disposable finances) available for this nearly final repair. However, I do plan on replacing this upper tie bar (radiator support, headlight supports, etc.) eventually, and I am considering various means of completing the repair without welding, using a combination of high-strength bolts with nylon locknuts and lock washers, 'liquid welder' type chemical bonding material, etc. I am also strongly considering the possibility of MIG/arc or spot welding, using a basic MIG/arc or spot welding outfit in the $100-$200 USD range (yet to be purchased), after some trial-and-error experimentation on scrap sheet metal, steel flashing, etc.

The driver's side, front replacement quarter panel/fender has been repainted with Rustoleum brand spray paint (pre-primed, CAPA certified fender, I believe; thoroughly sanded, primed with automotive quality Rustoleum primer, then painted with white, Rustoleum paint), as has a portion of the hood, but the hood still needs to be removed, thoroughly sanded, buffed, primed, and repainted, to complete restoration of these two most obvious replacement components. The front bumper cover will need to be replaced and painted, at some point, ideally, but it is still, basically, structurally sound; it suffered numerous scrapes, scratches, and gouges in the accident, breaking through the paint to the underlying plastic, but it was not cracked or broken in any way. However, the eyelets, underneath, where the bumper cover support brackets attach, were damaged in several places, so the brackets do not hold as firmly/securely as they did, originally. The scratches/gouges have since been touched up with matching 'Super White' paint, but the bumper cover is still not 'pretty', of course; replacement would/will be necessary in order to the more closely restore the original appearance of the car.)

Since June 2005, the Corolla has been driven very lightly, probably averaging well under 50 miles per month, being cranked and driven, generally, 2-25 miles once every 3-4 days, although, at times, 1-2 weeks up to 4-6 weeks have passed between uses. During this same time, the engine oil and filter has been changed 3-4 times, maintaining a consistent maintenance schedule (replacing oil and filter every 3-5,000 miles or 3-4 months, whichever comes first; at worst, 5-6,000 miles or 5-6 months have passed between changes, considering the entire life of the car, but most have been completed within 3-4 months or 3-4,000 miles; semi-synthetic oil has been used, primarily, since the fall of 2002, in each oil change). Also, the front brake pads were replaced in mid-late June 2006, along with a thorough cleaning of the calipers, front wheel wells, front wheels, etc., and a thorough reconditioning of the front tires (to help prevent and/or counteract the formation of 'flat spots', which adversely affect road performance and driving experience, particularly at higher speeds, and increase the likelihood of 'blowouts', particularly during extended, highway/interstate trips). The engine compartment has also been thoroughly cleaned/conditioned, during this time, along with cleaning and/or replacing of the Bosch 2 or 4 platinum spark plugs, replacement of the battery, replacement of the air filter, and various other maintenance tasks. (Essentially, I am making every effort to generally 'restore' the car, currently, since completing my university degree, prior to beginning my professional career as a 'Computer Engineer'.)

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