CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2007 Corolla. It is almost certainly misleading.
The problem with NHTSA data for the 2007 Corolla is that for months on end, the news media repeatedly told the public that several Toyota models have an unintended acceleration defect, & to go to safercar.gov (the NHTSA's website) to file a complaint.
So, the NHTSA received a disproportionate number of complaints about Toyota unintended acceleration issues because of the national news media attention, to the point where now the NHTSA data is unreliable taken in context with any other vehicle that did not receive national news attention.
CarComplaints.com typically receives more complaints per day about vehicles than the NHTSA does, but the news media did not repeatedly say "go to CarComplaints.com to report your Toyota acceleration problems" like they did about the NHTSA -- so although we have less complaint data than the NHTSA for the 2007 Corolla, our data for the Corolla is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Corolla's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.
Check engine light came on at 36,000 miles. I took the car to the dealership and was advised that this was a common occurrence with the 2007 Corolla because of faulty engine control modules The only fix at the time was to replace the ECM. It was under warranty, but I was irritated that such an important component failed so early in the life of the car. Unfortunately, it was not the last major failure on it.
This is my wife's car. We bought Toyota because of their high reliability and customer satisfaction ratings, and for the gas mileage (she gets 39 mpg combined highway and city driving). We have been extremely pleased with the car until the day my wife came out to start the car and it wouldn't rev up. She couldn't drive it. We had AAA (another great company - everyone should have a membership) tow it to the dealer, Cavender Toyota in San Antonio, TX. They put the code reader on the car and found that the engine computer was bad. Fortunately Toyota warrants this item for 80,000 miles so we didn't have to pay for it's replacement. However, I have worked in the automotive industry for many years and this is not an item that should go bad. It was very disappointing to say the least. Had we had to pay for this item it would have cost us $1200. The dealer couldn't give us any idea as to what caused the computer to go bad. Nothing else was found wrong with the analyzer so we're hoping it was just a weak part in the computer and the new one will last for the life of the car as it should.
- Mike C.,
Boerne, TX, US
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Check engine light came on at 36,000 miles. I took the car to the dealership and was advised that this was a common occurrence with the 2007 Corolla because of faulty engine control modules The only fix at the time was to replace the ECM. It was under warranty, but I was irritated that such an important component failed so early in the life of the car. Unfortunately, it was not the last major failure on it.
- seanatx, Austin, TX, US