.. After 16 years of service, our Black Beauty is finally scrapped 😔. We could have sold the Corolla anytime since 2015, but every time I drove the car, I just couldn’t give it up. No wonder the Toyota Corolla is the world’s largest selling car – its a pleasure to drive and it works without complaints.
One Day Purchase
I don’t remember why I had called Jayanth on April 30, 2006 but he told me that it was Akshaya Tritiya and we should get our car that day if possible. We had sold the Opel Corsa that we had a few days back since it was no fun to drive.
Ever since I saw the advert where a Toyota Corolla is driven inside a massive ballroom, I have wanted to own one. Krishnan was driving a company given Corolla at that time and we decided to buy one for ourselves.
Walked into MGF Toyota and they had a black Corolla available and we just fell in love with the car. I love the colour black except someone’s thoughts and heart being black 😁. We took delivery of the car in the evening !
Krishnan took another pic where I am sitting in the driver’s seat and a rickshaw puller is going by while speaking on a cellphone !! Have to find that pic and will post it here.
Mcleodganj Trip May 2006
My mother-in-law, Nachi, Kousalya and Dhanush were coming over in the next couple of days and we had plans to go on a trip to Mcleodganj. My nephew Dhanush was all of seven and very excited about the trip and wanted to go in the Corolla. We told him that the Corolla was taken back by the company so we will have to do the trip in the old Honda City that we had. He was so disappointed !
We had parked the Corolla in a different parking spot so that Dhanush wouldn’t guess. The night before our trip, Krishnan and I went down to “load” the luggage. We loaded the Honda City and shifted everything to the Corolla when we went for a “walk” 😁. The next morning, we all went down and Dhanush didn’t recognise the Toyota logo initially, but was super thrilled with the surprise !!
That 2006 Mcleodganj trip is a very fond memory and it was the very first trip where I did all the driving because we were five adults and a young Dhanush in a 5-seater car. Dhanush sat on Krishnan’s lap all the way.
Chennai Floods 2015
The Corolla came in handy when we lost the Skoda Yeti in the Chennai floods of 2015. See this blog post – Toyota Car-ulla to see the workhorse in action.
Vehicle Scrappage Policy 2021
The Vehicle Scrappage Policy got implemented across India in 2021 EXCEPT for Delhi NCR. In Delhi NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida) Petrol cars will be de-registered in 15 years and Diesel cars in 10 years. Its a huge loss for the common man but no one seems to care !
The NGT brought in this change in 2018 as a way to curb pollution and its an easy win – people who buy high-end Diesel cars don’t care about buying another one. But so many pensioners and others are stuck with this amended rule and they lose in the bargain. Cars that have not been driven much are still being scrapped under this rule.
Do read this brilliant article by Jaijit Bhattacharya – The flip side of ban on aging vehicles: It is regulatory destruction of economic value | OPINION.
Our Toyota Corolla had done just 51,477 kms 😔. It still smelt like a new car and we couldn’t have given it away if this ban wasn’t in force. For us its a loss that was totally avoidable. 🙁
Farewell Black Beauty
Here is the video of the Corolla on her last ride as a car …. we will have confirmation soon that she is now just a heap of scrap :(.