Is an older corolla really that good?

Any car can be reliable if you take care of it. I've seen chevy cavaliers hit 350k miles with little sign of problems or wear. Keep it in a semi warm garage, clean it, change the oil religiously, Change the transmission fluid every 50k or however often the manual says.
Honestly I had more luck with cheap cars like a geo metro. Parts are VERY cheap. Eventually you get enough new in it. I'd set aside 50 bucks a month and replace every single common wear component first. Like the rotors, brakes, tires, cv joints etc.

Don't do it, a corrola is a boring a to b driver, buy a Crx/Honda hatch with a 5 speed, or a cool car with a blown engine (what I did in high school) and use your metal shop tools to fix it. Don't settle for boring, but something you can be proud of and that you can learn to be a better mechanic with lower risk.

at rusting

>Don't settle for boring,
No problem

Don't live in the rust belt then.

Whats wrong with a to b? Not everyone is a ricer or a real enthusiast. Some of us actually have jobs we have to get too.

why does everyone on Veeky Forums assume that everyone else has the money, time, experience, and equipment, to buy an old sports car and maintain it

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Unless the previous owner was a really bad driver or basic maintenance was ignored, corollas and most Toyota's in general will last a very long time

Just don't expect too much from it, it's pretty bland to drive, and it's not a very remarkable car overall

what

why does everyone on Veeky Forums assume that everyone must have the best, fastest, most expensive car there is?
Drives me insane.
Some of us are enthusiastic about shitboxes.
Some of us love our old cars or trucks.
I can guarentee that 99% of Veeky Forums has never seen a track. And maybe 60% even has a car at all.

>it's pretty bland to drive, and it's not a very remarkable car overall
Yeah man.

To add to this, driving a "boring" or "regular" car doesn't mean you're not an enthusiast. People could be driving said car for a number of different reasons. It doesn't mean they're not enthusiastic about cars

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It's honestly ridiculous
you can tell how inexperience and young these people are, when one of the first things they say is "make it RWD"
there is no idea of practicality, and people just criticism cars they have never driven
not even can buy a 30-40 year old sports car and fix 'er up and go have "fun" which is apparently objective and the only way to have fun is RWD
not everyone can just get a miata, they need to carry other people and things with them

everyone here seems to value the car over getting better as drivers. there are people here would be outdriven by people in "fwd shitboxes" while they're in some rx7,miata, or mustang pile.

it's insane how people here, and how the "car enthusiast" community at large act
I hope to never be associated with "car enthusiasts"

sometimes i want to drive a car that isnt technically a classic that i subconsciously feel i have to be ginger with
sometimes i want to drive a car, beat the shit out of it and have fun, and then later that day pile in my friends and my stuff and have fun
there is way more to a car than what you restrict yourself to

Go for it. It will be a reliable car that you could learn to wrench on. Learn to do maintenance and repairs on it. And when the time comes to move on, you can sell it for pretty much what you bought it from.

Sometimes, when you're a first generation car enthusiast and have no one to help you, dont have daddys money or your own money to piss away , you just cant fucking deal with owning a 30 year old car, especially if you NEED to actually go places and you're not just in car ownership so you can fuck around

Only true in the sunbelt. In the northeast you're lucky if the car isn't a complete piece of shit after 300k miles