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CarComplaints.com Notes: Was the 7th generation Corolla bit by the same spider as Peter Parker? Because these cars definitely have a super-power: invincibility.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1997 Toyota Corolla electrical problems

electrical problem

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1997 Toyota Corolla Owner Comments

problem #1

May 012002

Corolla

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On May 1, 2002 I left my office which is six miles from my home. When I started my car I heard a whining sound coming from under the hood. As the car started fine I decided to drive home. I had not had any problems with the car at this point. As I was driving home the whining sound increased. All the gauges read normal, the temperature gauge included. About 4 miles from home the whining sound increased so I turned off the A/C and the radio. I began to feel a sllight vibration when shifting gears. About 2 miles from home I began to smell a sickly-sweet odor. Approx. 3/10 of a mile from my home the battery light came on the car began to run very roughly. The sicly sweet smell became much stronger and I had a sense that my car was goin to catch on fire. The temperature gauge still read normal so I thought maybe I was wrong and possibly the alternator was failing. I drove the car home and parked it down by the road, the odor was becoming very strong. I grabbed the car keys and some of my work items and ran to get the water hose about 25 ft. From the car. I turned around, havig been out of the car possibly no more than 10 seconds and brown smoke was coming from under the right front of the hood. I called for my son to bring the cordless phone and told him the car was on fire. He began to spray water on the car in an effort to contain the fire. I called 911. Two fire engines responded but they were unable to save the car. The vehicle was a total loss, the engine was completely destroyed, everything under the hood had melted or fused together, the fire burned through the drivers side fire wall melting the dash and the radio, the hood liner and visors completely burned, the windshield cracked and melted, the fire began to burn through the passenger side front wheel well, the hood latch had melted shut so the fire dept had to use a chain saw to open the hood when the fire was out. The paint burned off the hood of the car. I have pictures to verify the fire damage.

- Orange City, FL, USA

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