Overview & Reviews

Well into its fourth decade of production, the compact Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car in automotive history, and for good reason. Small, inexpensive, fuel-efficient and as reliable as the day is long, the Corolla is the quintessential economy car. As long as you change the oil on time and don't hit a tree, any Corolla should provide dependable transportation well past the 100,000-mile mark. That's why so many shoppers keep buying Corollas year after year.

Since its 1968 introduction in the U.S., the Toyota Corolla has come in a variety of body styles, including a sedan, coupe, hatchback and wagon. More recently, however, it has only been available as a sedan. Today's Corolla has almost as much rear passenger space as a midsize sedan and its fuel economy is impressive. Although rivals boast sportier designs and more entertaining driving dynamics, a Corolla is nonetheless an excellent choice for smart consumers on a budget.

User Reviews:

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  Not Sure Yet. - 2010 Toyota Corolla
  By corollamon - August 22 - 9:10 pm

  I previously owned a 2004 corolla and was excited to purchase the 2010. The interior is much nicer and feels bigger than the 04. Didnt consider other brands due to the success Ive had with Toyotas reliability, resale value, and quality. The 2010 model has had recalls but the items I have noticed have not yet been recalled. (See Cons). Gas mileage is great and 7000 miles have gone by without an issue mechanically.

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  Great Little Car - 2007 Toyota Corolla
  By Fixx33 - August 21 - 7:53 pm

  I bought this car for my daily commute (about 55kms one way). I bought the SE (special edition) so it came with a sunroof. I was a little annoyed it didnt come with cruise control. The car has plenty of pickup for merging onto the highway and bombing around the city. Gas mileage was a little less than promised but still good. I would agree that the steering wheel position is difficult for taller drivers. It can be difficult to grab the steering wheel while finding a comfortable location for you legs. Plenty of space for a commuter car and lots of trunk room. Almost two years later no mechanical issues and the price was right.

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  I LOVE this little car - 2005 Toyota Corolla
  By Tom Hudson - August 21 - 6:26 pm

  This is my first Japanese vehicle in 20 years. I am 57, the car is PERFECT for my needs. I drive from Richmond to DC, once a week on I 95, and in city driving 6 days a week. The car gets fantastic gas mileage. My LE has all the bells and whistles that my former BMW HAD and MORE.

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  Ok for what it is, but headlights are bad - 2014 Toyota Corolla
  By Chris - August 21 - 7:37 am

  Ive owned this car for a little over two years. Prior to that, I had a 4-speed 2001 Corolla CE that I owned for 5 years. Pros: - The engine is a typical Toyota engine, which means it hasnt changed much over the years. While it might lack some of the power compared to its competitors, Id be pretty confident with it lasting a long time. - The CVT isnt too bad in this vehicle. Toyota put in artifical shift points so it feels more like a conventional transmission. Reliability seems to be pretty good as I havent seen any failures posted online. - The interior is pretty nice. The S model has some nice stitching that makes it feel upscale. - The back seats are pretty roomy and comfortable. Granted, this generation is larger than the past ones, but its good if you need to shuttle people. - MPGs are pretty good. I get 35 average with mixed city/highway driving. This drops to 32 in the winter. But Im in general pretty light on the throttle. Cons: - The headlights are awful. I dont understand how so many people rated them as good. Theres a "lid" on the LED headlights to prevent it shining out too much. What this does is creates a sharp cut-off for low-beams. To make things worse, because the lights are bright white, it means you cant see anything beyond the cut-off point. It also is very blinding to other drivers. I cant stand it when another Corolla comes up behind me. I honestly try to avoid driving at night with this car, but that becomes impossible to do in winter. I never had this issue with my old car. - Handling is poor and requires a lot of manual correction. The steering doesnt transmit a lot of feedback to the driver. - The CVT loves to rev up everytime you apply the gas even in small amounts. This causes the engine RPMs to jostle around a lot. Even with the artifical shift points, its still a CVT at the end of the day and rather dull. Engine braking with it is barely there as its designed for fuel economy. - The Entune system doesnt allow mp3 files and folders to be read like a directory on a computer. It insists on reading all the tags and sorting them that way. If you want to play files on a USB stick or CD, make sure they are all tagged correctly first. - The dashboard and interior lights are all bright blue or white and are constantly illuminated. Id much prefer a softer color for night driving. - The automatic headlights were removed in this generation. Between this and the previous issue, Ive seen other Corolla drivers with headlights off at dusk. Thats not a good thing at all. If it wasnt for the headlight issue, this would be another Corolla that I would keep for many years. But because of the headlight issue, Im probably going to trade it in for something else.

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  Mostly yes! Some no - 2007 Toyota Corolla
  By Russ - August 21 - 1:43 am

  This is my fifth Toyota product since 1992, and the only problem Ive had was one blower fan, which I bought from a used parts place for $50 and installed myself. I expect the reliability tradition to continue. The car cost more than Mazda 3 or Cobalt, but Im counting on savings on gas and resale value to cover the difference.

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  Best Car for the money. - 2010 Toyota Corolla
  By Lukasz - August 19 - 10:50 pm

  We picked up this nice little Corolla LE 1.8 Gray last week. So Far so good, we like the color, engine size, comfort, electric steering witch is so light. We put 200 miles on it so far and we have no problems like other people have described. My wife loves this new car. There are only two little things that bug me. One is the clock it is definitely too low there is a lot of space to move it higher and the other thing is that it doesnÂ’t have a place for sun glasses. But besides this the car is grate and it sips gas! For what we paid we dont expect more or less, just perfect.

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  great daily driver - 2014 Toyota Corolla
  By toyotamanno1 - August 19 - 2:02 pm

  This is a car that is great from getting from point A to point B, without flashiness. It works great for quick trips and longer drives. The cvt transmission takes a bit to get used to, but works fine and pulls the car up hills better than a regular automatic transmission. I have 5800 miles on the car, it has been a great car. At 5,000 miles it was .25 qt low on oil. That is within my acceptable range (80% full). I also changed the oil at the initial 5000 mile mark. The engine was broken in and i changed it with royal purple full synthetic. The broken in motor had dirtied the oil quiye a lot. At the 5,000 mile mark, it was light to medium in darkness, but drained oil was very dark.

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  A Great Car - 2010 Toyota Corolla
  By JDR - August 18 - 4:53 am

  I have put 1200 miles on this car and I love it. I looked at several similar cars and it came down between the Corolla S and the Civic EX. I have driven a 95 EX for fifteen years and it has done an excellent job. Being 6Â’ tall I need good legroom. I drove 3 new EXÂ’s, a very good car but who decided to put the park brake handle where my knee rest, this was unacceptable. The legroom Corolla S is fine the seats feel great. The mileage has been 36, 37 and 38 MPG, wished it was 48. I read that some did not like the electric steering, but I think it is fine. I also drive a Miata, the Corolla just goes where I point it and does not wander. Bought this 2010 at dealer invoice, no extra fees.

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  Reliability with no comfort! - 2003 Toyota Corolla
  By ODonnell - August 18 - 2:00 am

  Bought the Corolla merely on name and reliability... For me it was a mistake! I get 34 around and around 38- 40 on hway. Now, for the cons... The engine is quite spunky, but merging onto highways is nearly impossible and not without heavy lagging. The shocks and struts are terrible. I feel every bump in the car. The seats are extremely uncomfortable for any person over 50" and 130 lbs. I weigh 200 and am 6 tall. Never comfortable. Radio design is not natural and hard to reach. Cruise control should be part of steering wheel, not an extra lever easily debunked. Overall, great looking and gets good mileage, but uncomfortable and lacks stability...

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  disappointed with the big T - 2006 Toyota Corolla
  By 2006 black S model - August 18 - 12:16 am

  Finally broke down and got a new car last year. Its riddled with rattles, loud and not too comfy on long trips. Great gas mileage!! Good power, even in the mountains. Wont be looking at Toyotas again.