Alex, what kinda mileage does the Corolla get?

Actually, on the power thing, I just remembered something...over last Christmas, I used my aunt's '94 Geo Prizm (basically a re-badged Corolla) as a parts runner for the axleshafts and whatnot for my car...and, although I don't know what kinda mileage it gets, I think that my 300D could actually out-accelerate it. The acceleration (or relative lack thereof, compared to her Grand Prix) of my car was my mom's big turn-off...maybe after driving a couple of Toyotas around, she'll appreciate the oilburner more.

Also, Alex, what makes you say that operation's simpler? Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, but I don't see how a computer-controlled fuel injected spark-ignition engine's simpler than a completely mechanical compression-ignition engine...

BTW, my grandmother has a '90 Corolla with less than 40K miles on it...probably it's because it's not driven much, but it's got a problem with carbon buildup in the cylinders or something similar, making it detonate whenever you apply throttle...I don't know if she's had any other problems with it, but again, it's a very low-mileage car...