Toyota Corolla: FAQs

The Toyota Corolla small car has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most reliable cars through its low average annual average repair costs over the decades.

Even today it has one of the most affordable capped-price servicing programs, costing less to service each year than almost all its small car competitors.

Like most modern cars, newer Toyota Corolla vehicles only have to be serviced once a year or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

This involves booking in a service with a mechanic or at a Toyota dealership or service centre, then dropping off the vehicle.

Toyota offers a number of capped-priced service programs for the Toyota Corolla.

Owners can maintain their Toyota Corolla themselves, which usually involves an oil change, spark plug change and ancillary fluid top-ups for the radiator, windscreen wiper reservoir and brakes.

Service intervals for modern Toyota Corolla cars are 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

It’s more challenging for older models that may not have logbook documentation or a service history, but it would be safe to adopt a similar approach, once a year.

Toyota offers a number of capped-priced service programs for the Toyota Corolla and other models.

Most Toyota Corolla models require an oil change every 15,000km or every 12 months (whichever comes sooner), but there’s anecdotal evidence some Corollas have operated reliably without oil changes for much longer.

This is not a recommended practice. Delayed oil changes are false economy and can lead to engine failures in extreme examples.

No. The Toyota Corolla is generally an economical car to maintain for several reasons.

Because it’s one of the world’s best-selling cars, spare parts are very common across most countries, and in many countries Toyota offers capped-price servicing – which means you’ll rarely pay more than a prescribed amount.

In Australia, the Toyota Corolla hatch with an automatic transmission costs $180 to service each year, for the first four years.

Other common maintenance costs such as tyres can add up, but overall the Corolla is a relatively affordable vehicle to maintain.

Oil changes on their own are not usually part of what modern Toyota dealerships and service centres offer.

Instead, they work with capped-price service plans.

However, an oil change for a Toyota Corolla will cost around $300 – sometimes dropping to $200 for promotional deals around Christmas or Easter – as part of a full service, which includes wheel alignments, brake checks and so forth.