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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  Quality is going down - 2005 Toyota Corolla
  By Mike - June 21 - 4:10 am

  Ater owning it for less than 2 years, I have had so many problems with my 05 Corolla. I drive it under very normal conditions, no abuse or anything close to it, did all scheduled maintenance. Here are the problems so far: (1). In 6 months, the left mud guard fell off. (2). In 18 months, the fual pump broke, left me in the middle of nowhere on the interstate, after the car was towed and fixed, (3) service light went on about 6 hours after I got my car back from the dealer, another thing broke, and it is back to the dealership. In conclusion, this Corolla is awful!!!

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  Boring!!!!!!!!!!!! - 2009 Toyota Corolla
  By Ugh! - May 28 - 5:13 am

  This is absolutely the most boring car Ive ever owned. Ive owned everything from sedans, to coupes, to convertibles, and trucks - this is the least inspiring car I could ever imagine to own. I drive a lot for work, and I just wanted something with good fuel economy and a reputation for reliability. I suppose it has that in spades, but thats all it has. In a practical sense, there is nothing wrong with the car. It does what its meant to do, but I hate driving this car. I cant wait until I get rid of it. The engine is lifeless, and the steering and handling are non-existent. Boring, boring, boring, boring!! I will probably never buy another Toyota, and would never buy a Lexus either.

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  Dangerous in High Winds - 2006 Toyota Corolla
  By FrankLloyd - May 12 - 1:40 pm

  Basic transportation at best. It is not built to the quality level of Honda. High Wind / Rain on the highway blow the vehicle all over the road, and provides for tense driving. Two hands on the wheel are mandatory. The car "sails" with virtually no feel of the road in rain conditions. Numerous dash rattles, squealing brakes, and a front drivers seat which doesnt sit in the track properly are primary complaints.

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  Reliable car...costs too much - 2010 Toyota Corolla
  By ajayuppot - May 6 - 7:35 am

  this a 2010 Corolla S Automatic canadian edition, drove 16000+kms for 5 months now. my last car was a 1998 corolla VE, drove it for more than 6 years and 200000+kms. Not much changes to the basic car, drives without much problem. i drive around 150kms a day on weekdays and averages 7.2liters/100kms. Good traction on snow and ice when combined with michelin X ice tires. Observations- Paint chipped off with few months, On cold mornings the accessories belt/pulley whines while starting. Both these according to Toyota Service advisor are usual and they can do nothing about it! Gear change from 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 had a slight delay, the dealership corrected it during 2nd service

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  Not bad, but could be much better! - 2009 Toyota Corolla
  By Corolla Driver - April 25 - 9:23 pm

  Its a good car but does not stand out in any way. Redesign the interior, clock in the radio area (add date/day of week); Improve steering feel; Illuminated controls for power door locks & mirrors; 8 way power driver’s seat w/ lumbar support; Radio backlighting should be blue to match other controls; Make the LCD bigger & higher resolution so it contains more info at a time, not force to toggle the TEXT button. Every cheap gadget these days offers high-res LCDs with a wealth of info! & get rid of the pixelated fonts; Make available fog lights on XLE. Heated outside mirrors standard on the XLE (Elantra offer them standard on all models); No intrusive hinges on trunk.

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  Decent Car - 2010 Toyota Corolla
  By BillZ - March 23 - 9:43 pm

  Overall it is not a bad car to drive. The transmission is really smooth and the car provides enough power for most drivers in this segment. Steering is electric and feels every bit of it; that is okay for some but not others. This is my first Toyota and I have to say Im left underwhelmed. Its bland which is Toyota, but my car has not been "reliable". The interior dash rattles due to hard plastics it seems, had to take it in for the recall, fix a loose bracket on the muffler, and replace the front struts - all with under 8000KMS on it, and the bumper half came off when it brushed up against a curb. I dont suggest not buying it, but Toyotas quality might be slipping with this one.

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  Its an okay car - 2016 Toyota Corolla
  By Redline056 - February 27 - 1:36 pm

  Its an amazing car in the summertime. It handles good in the rain. The car sucks at accelorating in the first gear but when you get past first gear the car comes alive. But the winter time sucks in it it becomes very slick the car mostely slides around and the car gets stuck in small amount snow (had a lot of problems with that) because the car is so low to the ground. But once again good for summer. The sports button in it doesnt seem to make alot of difference in the cars acceloration. The only thing i have noticed is that it holds the high rpms in the auto part of the tranny. The interior of the car is very user friendly with a good sounding radio. The trunk space is amazing in the car i also love how bright the lights are on the car but tend to get flashed alot because people keep thinking i have brights on. Its a good car to buy good fuel mileage but not a winter car. For winter i would suggest to buy something different.

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  Lexus it is not!! - 2003 Toyota Corolla
  By Glen - February 25 - 10:00 am

  I have had every type of car you can think of and have been trying to find a new car to replace my wifes Grand Am. We drove the Civic, Focus, Matrix,Protege,Sentra,and the corolla the Focus and the Protege were the only ones that held the road. The corola we drove buzzed terribly, rattles, the build quality was not there at all! On the highway at high speeds (75) was a very nervous feeling. I had a Camry in 93, when they carred about build quality, what happened Toyota. I think they only care about the Lexus line!

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  Lexus it is not!! - 2003 Toyota Corolla
  By GLEN - February 25 - 10:00 am

  I have had every type of car you can think of and have been trying to find a new car to replace my wifes Grand Am. We drove the Civic, Focus, Matrix,Protege,Sentra,and the corolla the Focus and the Protege were the only ones that held the road. The corola we drove buzzed terribly, rattles, the build quality was not there at all! On the highway at high speeds (75) was a very nervous feeling. I had a Camry in 93, when they carred about build quality, what happened Toyota. I think they only care about the Lexus line!

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  CVT performance is disappointing - 2016 Toyota Corolla
  By Calvin Winnager - February 15 - 2:45 pm

  Overall, the 2016 Corolla LE is a reliable, adequately functioning car, ride is comfortable. At low to moderate acceleration, the CVT functions well. At moderate to hard accelleration, the CVT forces you to learn to accelerate from a stop. For your safety, I suggest you not attempt to merge into high speed traffic from a full stop. If you floor it, it will not shift until 5000RPM. It acts like it is hung in its current gear while accelerating slowly. What you learn to do is pre-select your level of desired acceleration, rev the engine the related RPM(2000, 3000, 4000), hold it there while the CVT goes through its shifting. However, at highway speeds (55-75mph), it performs well at maintaining its speed. I contacted the local Toyota service department and they assured me this performance by the CVT is as designed by the Toyota engineers. He said that due to tight manufacturing tolerances there should no fear of thrashing the engine up to redline if it is properly maintained. I have driven personal and rental cars and trucks with 3, 4, or 5 speed automatic transmissions for over 30 years. If you decide to buy a 2016 Toyota Corolla with CVT tranmission, you might want to test its hard acceleration from a dead stop to to see if you are satisfied with its performance.