At the time I bought this car I was driving a Volkswagen GTI which I loved to death, but was not good for my family or keeping the car under the speed limit. After looking on Autotrader I found this car with only 26,000 miles on it for about $14,000 and thought a Toyota would be a good investment. The gentleman I bought the car from had told me Toyota had replaced the transmission at 17,000 miles but I thought maybe it was just a fluke. At around 60,000 miles the clutch had to be replaced, then again at 80,000 miles. I have drove this car with respect and not raced it in anyway, I needed it to last. At 70,000 miles I had lost 3rd gear but being a six speed and not having money for a repair I would just skip that gear and go into 4th. Now I am looking into replacing the transmission which could run between $2400 and $3000. I am taking it tomorrow to see the costs on having it rebuilt. I did call Toyota but they did not help in anyway, which has made me very upset. I have also talked with many people who have told me the transmission used in mar car was also put in the Ford Focus, and Mini Cooper and have had the same problems. I will repost new info as soon as it is fixed.

Update from Mar 16, 2011: Went to a transmission shop today only to find out the cost to fix it would be between $1100.00 and $1800.00 At this point I am having second thoughts about keeping the car. I would love to know if anyone else has the same problem owning this make and model.