2005 Toyota Corolla - Ultimate appliance or death trap waiting to happen?

Our household consists of a 2013 Ford Focus and a 2005 Toyota Corolla (wife's car). Now that I sold the TDI, the Corolla has assumed tow truck and road trip duties and we try to keep the miles off the focus. I love this Corolla, it's like the cockroaches of cars and it will never die. My only reservation is it doesn't have ABS (not that my Jetta did either) and I'm always thinking that that may be a necessary feature for my wife's safety. We also use this car for towing the boat (short distances) so ABS would be nice there as well.

What do you think? Am I over thinking this? Should I run this thing till it dies and laugh my way to the bank or start shopping for a Mazda CX-5?

Run it till it dies. Which it never will. The horrible thing is beige isn't it? I swear Toyota worked hard at building an invisible car in that era.

You're overthinking it. Run it until it dies.

We had an 04. Wife totaled it, then we kept driving it for a month until we actually got it into the shop to find out it was totaled (only totaled due to the cost of the repairs adding to more than the value; we could have had it fixed by insurance without a salvage title). Before that she had another 04 that she flipped and came out safe and sound.

I hated the car. Anemic automatic, boring, just blah. But if it wasn't for some family circumstances** and the totaling, we would have driven it until it died, even if it was relegated to family workhorse status. While I hated it, I can't say anything bad about it as a car. It was safe, reliable, cheap, cheap to run, etc.

**My FIL technically owned it, despite my and my wife's trying to buy it 3 times from him. I was tired of dealing with the bullE36 M3 and the "control" that he had over it--for instance, I wanted to put a trailer hitch on it since it had a 1500lb towing capacity. That created a E36 M3 storm.

Wife had an 04. Dreadful little car but damned if that thing wasn't cheap as dirt to run and never had a problem. I bought it from the wholesale lot of the dealer I worked at. It had been in 3 accidents prior to me owning it and she drove it for 2 years and it never required anything more than a serpentine belt and oil.

Some cars are not meant to be loved. Just make sure you keep decent tires on it and the lack of ABS shouldn't be an issue.

We just put Cooper CS5s on it which GREATLY improved wet traction. I'm about to upgrade the break pads and add DOT 4 fluid. The rear brakes are drum brakes which I've never messed with before...still need to look into what I need to do there.

This car is black, no accidents with a 5spd manual. The only issue we have is the little door on the center console broke and the clear coat has failed on the roof. I just did a vinyl wrap which makes it look much much better but eventually this thing will get a new paint job (likely Maaco).

Thanks folks.

I am far from convinced that ABS is a net positive safety technology. The FRS is the first car I have owned that had ABS and I would prefer that it did not.

I would have thought a 2005 automobile would have had ABS.

If you want to replace it because you're done with it, go for it. But I wouldn't sell it simply because it doesn't have ABS. It's a wonderful safety feature, but the car isn't a death trap without it. Just teach your wife threshold braking.

Corolla humor.
I recently read this article about leasing small cars.
http://leasehackr.com/blog/2016/3/4/compact-sedan-leases-ranked-civic-focus-jetta-cruze
For each model they had a manufacturer's pro photo such as:

For Corolla, they have these words and this photo:

With its renowned reliability and reasonable price, Corolla is great for those who simply need, well, a car. Those seeking an enjoyable driving experience should look elsewhere.

In reply to NOHOME:

I agree, I have driven cars that have it and those that don't, and I have never wished a car had it that didn't.