From a 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue to a 2002 Toyota Corolla CE

For 6 years I'd owned the same car. A 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. I loved that car. It was black with a red interior. It had a 5.2 liter V-8 with a 2 barrelcarbeurator hooked up to a 3-speed transmission. A month ago I learned that thesuspension was about to bust and it would cost over $500 to fix it. I was veryunhappy to hear this news. Escpecially since that was more money than the carwas worth. I made the decision to get rid of the car. Shortly after I moved inwith my brother as I was starting a new job. The first day of my new job wasalso the same day I purchased my first car. I had scoped it out a couple daysprior. It was a 2002 Toyota Corrola with 77,000 miles. This was less than halfthe miles on my previous car not to mention 15 years newer.

The Corrola is the CE model, white with a gray interior. It has a 1.8 literengine with a 4-speed automatic transmission. This was quite the change for me.First off, I went from having a V-8 to a 4 cylinder. I went from carbureated tofuel injected and from pushrod to DOHC. Its funny because the Corolla actuallyaccelerates quicker than my Chrysler did. I also now have overdrive with the newcar, something my old car was definately lacking. Another thing I gained arestruts over the old coiled springs method. The biggest change, and the reason Ichose this car, is the gas mileage. The Fifth Avenue would get about 22 mpg whenI did all highway driving but would drop below 15 mpg during the winter monthwhich made it very costly to drive. The Corolla is getting me over 30 mpg, whichis exactly what I wanted.

As great as the new car is, there are some things missing. One was the powerwindows and locks. Towards the end of the the Chrysler's life they stoppedworking so this wasn't a huge deal. Another thing I lost was the wiper settings.On the Fifth Avenue I had plenty of control over the frequency of the wipers. Onthe Corolla I only have fast or slow, although you can hit it to do one quickswipe which is quite handy. Something else I'm missing are my nice andcomfortable power seats. Now I have just plain gray seats that don't offer muchcomfort. Last but not least, I don't have any cruise control.

All in all, I love the choice I made and would make the same decision again if Ihad too. Sure the car could be better with the extra features, but as it is itsgood enough for me. I bought a custom plate for it so it matches the car welland I have several upgrades for it planned already.

Here are the specifications of my car:
2002 Toyota Corolla CE
77,000 miles
White with Gray interior
1.8 liter DOHC 125 hp 125 lb-ft
4-Speed automatic with overdrive
30/39 mpg (city/highway)