First thing first, 90 percent of these Corollas have been abused or not maintained by their 1st or 2nd owners, thinking these do not need maintenance being a Toyota product. I have gone through something similar, bought a Corolla which was immaculate for it's age (2009 model) with very less kms and absolutely scratchless, rust free, shiny like it's just off the showroom floor.
Put a good 3 lakh into it (2020 money) during my ownership. had various issues such as a downgraded compressor, repaired rack, repaired head, bad clutch, bad brakes, choked cat, bad cooling system, horrible fuel mileage, gutless even on wot, vvt rattle at startup, blow by, a mysterious overheating problem (which I later diagnosed), etc. Once I was done with the car, it did drive better, but by then I got too weary of it and sold it. I will never buy an old-ish Corolla again. They're so abused by people that the next owner has to pay a hefty bill and chase after problems, even to keep it on the road. Seeing ads for Corollas on PW, I find most cars to be the same, high mileage, champi paalished, reverse odo cars.
