Corolla 89 imported?

[DonCamote]

I have a 1989 Corolla 1.3 XL 4speed. Bought this third hand 7 years ago from a lady owner and it's still running quite well. Medyo na-intriga lang ako kasi when I brought this for a water pump replacement sa casa, one technician commented that my car seems to be the earliest releases of corolla when they returned in 88-89 and he suspects na imported CBU daw ito, as opposed to it being assembled locally. He told me na ingatan ko daw dahil matitibay daw yung mga CBU. Don't know if he's just pulling my leg.

One thing I notice is it does not have that gauge to tell RPM (tachometer baga yun?) compared to other 89's I see around.

Does anyone here still own such model and would you know how to identify whether it's locally assembled or imported? What would be the more noticeable differences.

Salamat po sa inyong opinion.

[eidref2004]

I used to own an 89 XL before and a 91 XL-5 ....... both don't have tachometers .

AFAIK, the XL variants don't have tachometers .... only the 1.6 GL 16 valve corollas . ;-)

[ssaloon]

yup CBU's yung early batches ng AE92 corollas. owned a 1.6 GL before. damn, i miss that car. lakas ng hatak for its time! and yes, may tach sila (GL only)

[the_wildthing]

If I'm not mistaken, ang ceiling mo matigas, hindi felt, tama ba? Ito yata ang isa sa mga differences ng CBU sa dito binuo (SKD ba yon?).

[pajerokid]

Yung CBU's afaik, yung wala pang paint ang bumpers. That's the time when Toyota just reentered the philippine market and have not yet established their plant.

On the claim na mas matibay, well, its a big maybe. Kung wala kayong bilib sa local toyota then that's probably true.

[DonCamote]

the_wildthing, no it's not felt. matigas nga. Marami ka na pala contribution dito kapatid. Take a guess who is this :-) I know you used to own one of the same color.

pajerokid, not sure if it's just painted black ang bumper or ganoon na talaga. I'm sure though that it is not painted the same as body color-white.

[the_wildthing]

I only know one guy who owns a 3rd-owned white XL4 and he married a dentist. Are you the same person?

[DonCamote]

the_wildthing, You got that right bro.

Cheers :-)

Am just doing a bit of research on my old reliable kasi matagal ko na gusto malaman yan.

Was your car of the same model year?

[the_wildthing]

Nope. 90XL4 it was. Very reliable until nagkaron ng singaw sa piston ring nagsimulang kumain ng langis at mag-overheat. Sold it in Lucena City. New owner replaced the engine with a 3E and it's still running to this day.

[mantoy]

doncamote, yep CBU's ang mga 89 corollas. i'm driving the same model as yours--white XL4.

[wickedjayjay]

its a great car, most of the 89 model are imported sabi nung owner nung car shop na pinagawan ko and yes it was one of the great sedans back then lakas hatak and all... may rpm un akin pro 1.6 akin... pro grounded ako since april.... aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh missssss my car!!!!!!!!!!

[carlocaraddict]

My family had a lot of Corollas:
1. Corolla DX 1982--
1.3 engine matibay Color white We sold it for around 30k kasi warak na yung body. They bought it nung dec. 1982 sa Delta motors. 3 months old palang ako nun.

2. 1990 Corolla 1.6 GL--
This is the car that I drive now. I can do a hundred twenty sa edsa (no stir). Lakas ng hatak. Major problem? Sa chasis:
Summer 2003
-Tranmission (sa may engine bay)
May 2004
-tie rod replacement
-ball joints replacement at marami pang iba sa ilalim.
Yun palang ang major service problem nya. Last May namin pinagawa sa Toyota Shaw. Present KM reading: 65, 751. I love this car so much!
My only complain: Pawis steering!

3. 1993 big body Corolla XE (car issued sa mom ko ng SEC)
maluwag. Nilaspag namin. It was with us for 8 years. Major repairs madami:
2x pumutok yung power steering pump
Overheating! butas and radiator
Wala na samin ito. I still see this car in the parking lot ng SEC. Kawawa. Dami na bangga.

4. 2000 Corolla (sabay ng Altis 1.8 SE.G)
Hmmm.... this car is with us since Sept. 2000. Wala pa namang major repair except na ningatngat ng daga yung wire linking to the spark plug.

Conclusion:
I prefer our 1990 Corolla than the 2000 corolla kasi mas mabilis at malakas ang hatak!

I also presume that the 2.0 GL Corona 1990 is also imported CBU from Japan.

[ssaloon]

hassle lang sa 89 GL, pawis lahat. the last models of the AE92, although SKD na sila, all power options na.

[carlocaraddict]

AFAIK, Delta Motors and distributors ng Corolla, Starlet, Corona, Crown, Hi-Ace, Celica dito noon, mga anong year ba nawala ang Toyota dito and anong nangyari? Wala pa ako kamuwang-muwang noon.

[AG4]

deleted

[Kicker15]

ok nga yang model na yan up to now madali pormahan. magkano na ba ganyan ngayon?

[ssaloon]

120k ata bentahan ngayon

[DonCamote]

89 GL is 120k? How about 89 XL kaya?

[badkuk]

'89 XL po ung ryd namin..yup, CBU sya, straight from the land of the rising sun -- except for the tires B).

[mongoose]

Originally posted by DonCamote
I have a 1989 Corolla 1.3 XL 4speed. Bought this third hand 7 years ago from a lady owner and it's still running quite well. Medyo na-intriga lang ako kasi when I brought this for a water pump replacement sa casa, one technician commented that my car seems to be the earliest releases of corolla when they returned in 88-89 and he suspects na imported CBU daw ito, as opposed to it being assembled locally. He told me na ingatan ko daw dahil matitibay daw yung mga CBU. Don't know if he's just pulling my leg.

One thing I notice is it does not have that gauge to tell RPM (tachometer baga yun?) compared to other 89's I see around.

Does anyone here still own such model and would you know how to identify whether it's locally assembled or imported? What would be the more noticeable differences.

Salamat po sa inyong opinion.

Hi there,
I also own a corolla 1990 XL5. All Xls made in 1990 below do not have the TACHOMETER. XE models do have them though. It's true, CBU parts are made in Japan.