Toyota Corolla

Price Paid:  $16070.00 from merced, ca

Year / Model Reviewed:
2008 base

Summary:
2009 Corolla, base model w/ 5 speed MT is a good buy in this crowded market. Standard height adjustable driver's seat and telescoping steering kept tall me and short wife from considering the Yaris or the Fit, neither of which even offer these basic features. Power mirrors, decent radio, MP3 plug and cloth seats are standard. The 132 horse 1.8 engine pulls strong! My wife uses the car for commuting to and from 3 jobs in our mountain community and is averaging 32 mpg. The standard MPG meter in dash is quite accurate! Highway driving yields 40+.

Strengths:
Seat and steering adjustments.
Mileage -- 42 mpg on first trip which included a steep mountain pass.
Interior space and trunk storage.
Relative quiet for budget car.

Weaknesses:
Clutch (manual tranny) is a bit too close to brake. Big guys: Don't wear sandals when driving this rig!
Steering is okey, but electric steering does not feel as positive as hydrolic. Room for improvement here, Toyota.
Rear vision, due to high trunk lid, is restricted. Get used to using side mirrors. Good thing they are large!

Similar Products Used:
2000 Jetta

Price Paid:  $16000.00 from hertz

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 toyota corolla le

Summary:
I just rented a 2007 Corolla LE, drove 500 miles to Reno and back. Good power. It was a windy day and the car was hard to handle at freeway speeds. The engine is very loud with hard acceleration. Why I would not purchase this car. Driving at freeway speeds to Reno and in California over not perfectly smooth surfaces the tire , road and suspension noise is very loud.Stretches of the road to Reno are rough so it was a good road to test the car. Also heavy vibration in the steering wheel. The car is nice around town, on smooth roads , but at a cost of $15k to $18k + I expected a better car.

Strengths:
Nice a low speeds around town.

Weaknesses:
Road noise, handling in the wind.

Similar Products Used:
I will be checking others soon. Mazda, Honda,

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $17500.00 from norwood toyota

Year / Model Reviewed:
2006 toyota corrolla

Summary:
47,000 miles car has been very good. Only one problem with transmission shifting hard. Dealer replaced computer under warrantee.

Strengths:
great gas mileage,interior room good for a small car.

Weaknesses:
little noisier than expected

Similar Products Used:
pontiac sunfire ( more problematic than corolla )

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $14000.00 from Orlando

Year / Model Reviewed:
2006 Corolla CE automatic (new)

Summary:
I heard that Toyota has a good reputation on quality and with gas hovering around $3.00 a gallon, buying a fuel miser Corolla was such an easy decision.

I am very surprised that I've had three significant issues with the car in first year.

Issue #1) Within days after I drove off the lot, I noticed that the engine temperature guage indicated overheating when I was in bumper to bumper traffic. I immediately took it to the nearest Toyota dealer and was told that the radiator fan fuse or relay was never installed from the factory. The problem was fixed and the engine has not ran hot since. If this was not noticed, it could have caused severe engine damage or failure.

Issue #2) Within 4 months I noticed that the front tires were not wearing evenly and there was excessive wear on the edges. I went back to the dealer and was told that the car needed two new front tires and an alignment. I debated that the alignment must have been bad from the factory since I didn't recall driving over anything significant which would cause a misalignment. To no avail, I was told that I would be responsible for the tires and alignment. Obviously, I took my business elswhere and bought two new tires and an alignment.

Issue #3) I had 15K miles on the car when I noticed the transmission knocking hard when I was driving on the highway. I pulled in the nearest Toyota dealership and was told that I would have to leave the car until they could work on it.
I was initially told that the problem was a faulty transmission relay switch. Two days later I was told that the problem was that the computer module had gone bad and the dealer was having difficulty finding a replacement. The dealer had the car for a week to fix it. Thankfully, it was under warranty since I understand that the replaced parts are very expensive.

I would ordinarily wait to review a car after I had gotten another model, but this Corolla has given me every indication that it is unreliable and not worth recommending. Although I cannot trade it in now, I certainly do not recommend buying one out of warranty.

Strengths:
The outstanding gas mileage is the only reason why I still have this car. There's really no other strength worth mentioning. I will get rid of the car as it approaches the expiration of the full warranty.

Weaknesses:
I came to the conclusion my car is a lemon. Everytime I drive it, I anticipate something going wrong with it. I bought the car hoping to keep it for the long term, but it has demonstrated it's lemon-like qualities enough for me not to keep it longer than I have to. I will not take it on long trips.
Hopefully it will make it to its warranty period without any other significant issues, when I plan to trade it in.

It seems that Toyota is building these so fast in leu of the high gas prices that it may be affecting quality.

So much for Toyota quality.

Similar Products Used:
2000 Nissan Sentra GXE(A great car, not one problem in the five years I owned it!) I should have kept it although it had 125K miles.

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Orlando

Year / Model Reviewed:
2006 corolla CE

Summary:
I am following up to my May 12, 2007 review of the Corolla I bought new. I was not intending to write another review but I must point out another recent potentially dangerous and unpredictable mechanical failure which recently occurred.

The car now has 40,000 miles. Last week driving on the highway the front end of the car started to shake violently going around 60 mph. I immediately took it to service and was told that the right brake caliper was frozen. The mechanics were very surprised since this rarely ever happens to a car with the miles mine has and it was likely a factory defected part. I was told that the wheel could have easily locked up and I could have been in a very dangerous situation such as a roll-over at that speed. I went along with the repair and was told that the brake hose must also be replaced with the caliper since the extreme heat it generated corrupted the integrity of the hose and it would take two days to get the part since it's a special order item. In essence, I was stranded 40 miles from home.

Strengths:
The only reason why I kept it is because of the gas mileage. In the previous review I said I was going to trade it in when the full warranty expired but I didn't because of the good gas mileage. But this reason is not good enough to keep a car.

Weaknesses:
Read my May 12, 2007 review. From my miserable experiences parts are not easily availabe to get for this car. I had to wait for a week to get a new computer chip module from the dealer and two days for a common brake hose. DON'T LET THE GAS MILEAGE SWAY YOU TO BUY THIS CAR. I HAVE NEVER HAD SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH A CAR IN THE TWO YEARS I'VE OWNED THIS TURKEY. Since fuel prices are so high Toyota is building these cars too fast and the quality is being compromised. Given the unique mechanical failures this car has developed, I would advise against buying a Corolla!!!!