We bought our 1995 Corolla in January 1996, when it was a year old. We sold it in December 2012, at age 18 years. During those 18 years it had NO PROBLEMS. None! Sure, we had to replace the brakes and muffler periodically, but less often than on many cars - and that was all. We did regular oil changes. We replaced the timing belt at 100,000 km. No other repairs. And when we sold it - which we only did because the kids had left home, I had retired, and we really couldn't justify having two cars any more - it was still running as well as it did when we bought it.

Anyone looking for an inexpensive car that it extremely reliable and inexpensive to maintain should head straight for a Corolla from the mid-1990s.

Bought this car a year and a half old, with only 18,000 kms. It's been all that one could ask for. We were looking for a slightly used, reliable small SUV that did NOT have the spare tire on the back, so that the tailgate could open up and not like a very wide door. That ruled out the top-rated CR-V and RAV4. We are very happy with it and have had no problems at all with it so far.