What do you think of the new 2007 Toyota Corolla?

Question

I am thinking about buying the Corolla S and it's about $17500 at the dealership. Is it worth it?

Just give me your overall thoughts of the corolla too. It doesn't have to be of the 2007 model.

Thank you all in advance.

Answer 1

Ignore the above comment, he is just bitter that Toyota is about to overtake GM as world's largest automaker.

The Corolla is an astonishingly good car for the price. The other cars in it's class is the Mazda 3, Nissan Sentra, and Honda Civic. However, for $17,500 you would only get a bottom of the line Mazda 3, LX Civic, and mid-level Sentra.

The Corolla has a very refined and quite ride. Very comparable to the Camry. Even in S trim, the Corolla soaks up bumps and road irregularities nicely. It's also a very peppy car and gets great gas mileage. My friend has a 2006 Corolla S and he averages 30-35 mpg.

Also you will NOT pay full price on the Corolla. It's somewhat of a dated design and a new Corolla will be out by 2008 with a new body and engine. This is to your advantage as dealers are willing to bargain with you on this car. My friend's Corolla had the Extra Value Package 1 which included alloy wheels, spoiler, power windows and locks, 6 disc in-dash CD changer, and a few other goodies. It was about $17,700. His out the door price with tax and license was $17,500. However you have to have good credit to obtain that kind of a deal.

Hope that helped, BTW if you live in SoCal buy from Claremont Toyota. They give you free oil changes for life (and a car wash everytime you get your oil changed also free).

Answer 2

In 2007, we bought a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe. We were very skeptical at first, but since we have had our car, we have about 22k on it and not one problem has arose, It has been great! However, now that the Elantra is off the list (and yes, I'd be a bet reluctant to buy an Elantra as well) its between the Corolla and the Civic. I personally have not had an encounter with a Corolla but I know that they are good cars. However, I used to have a 1995 Honda Civic LX and there were absolutely NO problems with it at all - besides a stuck door lock at 98,000 - we had no problems. It made it to 130,000 miles and we sold it in 2005 due to wanting a larger car, and purchased a 2005 Toyota Camry LE (which also has been very good, at 50,000 miles now, no problems besides sometimes having soft breaks, which were fixed easily with a free adjustment by the dealer). Speaking of Hondas, my Aunt had a 1998 Honda CR-V, which they had for 180,000 miles (they towed it with a boat, and I'll admit, it could barely do it, but still, with that, it lasted) and traded it in for a Honda Pilot due to the growing size of their family. I know in the 2002 year or around that of Civics, there was this one transmission they used of which was extremely unreliable and in return, many complaints were pointed towards Honda. However, I think they fixed this with the new Honda Civics, including the 2007. To be perfectly honest, its a toss up. Pick the one that you think looks better/rides better/prices better, whichever. Both are very good cars.

Answer 3

in one of Car and Drivers test the Corolla scored 5/6, the winner was the Volkswagen RAbbit. If you want a speedy car the Corolla isnt it. Good options are the Saturn Aura (midsize sedan) and Chevy Cobalt SS (small sedan/coupe). For the same price as the lack-luster, dated Corolla you could get a new design. The Saturn is basically an Opel Vectra, has great styling, costs thousands less than equally-equipped Camrys, tons of standard options, un-matched satisfaction, loyalty and reliability, and best of all is fun to drive. The Cobalt is nice, came runner up in Automobiles test to the Honda Civic SI and was not in Car&Drivers, good looks, good performance, well-regarded Ecotec engine, still not too common, and almost no bad reviews. Last year Toyota had the most recalls, but the media "failed" to notice since millions would stand against them because of thier reputation. These days reputation is nothing, technology advances so fast it cant keep up. For ex: three years ago GM was one of the worst companies, now they have the most top-rated vehicles, and the quality/reliability surpasses Toyota. Honda is still on top of the reliability ratings. Ford also had more recalls than GM and DaimlerChrysler combined, for reasons like exploding engines and wheels falling off. Here is a quote from the Washington Posts review of the Toyota CAmry "one of which is the Chevrolet Malibu, which in my real-world driving experience has been every bit as good and reliable as the much-ballyhooed Camry but has been maligned primarily because it is a Chevrolet". Oddly enough that was an '04 Malibu VS the totally redisigned '07 Camry. Common problems with Toyotas are plastic rattling until it falls off. People then complain that when they take it to the dealer to be fixed they just say "The cars are made with so much plastic its practically impossible to fix" GM is also the worlds fastest growing manufacturer, and that dosent happen by accident. If you test the Saturn Aura, I Guaruntee that is what you will buy.

Answer 4

I think it's a wonderful economy car. I almost bought one, but since my lifestyle changed and I don't drive as much, I decided fuel economy wasn't as big of a deal for me anymore.

For the size of the car, and for the excellent fuel economy, it has an astonishingly good ride. If you sit in one and close your eyes while riding (hopefully not drive with eyes closed) you'd be hard pressed not to tell you are in a Camry or greater car.

I think the very idea that you can get 40mpg in something that smooth and drives that nice is a huge plus. The Honda Civic and competition is NO WHERE near as efficient. You even get as good of economy as a Yaris, although the Yaris is cheaper.

Another thing is that - while that Honda Civic was considered "hip" with the young crowd, the Corolla never achieved such status. Toyota recently discontinued the Corolla "XRS" (or similar badging) with a more powerful (yet less economical) version of the engine to try to hip it up but it didn't sell so well.

I think this is personally an advantage, as the Corolla is much less likely to be stolen, have parts stolen off it, or vandalized. More than one guy at work has had parts stolen off his "hipped up" Honda right outside his house as he slept. I don't consider this to be much of an advantage.

People are very opinionated in their beliefs of whether or not Toyota (or any brand) is a good car. Don't go with opinion - go with **FACT** and look up Toyota reliability in Consumer Reports guides on most bookstores' news stands. You'll see that the proven reliability is a documented fact, not some know-it-all's opinion.

I think Toyotas are kind of expensive, but they are quality.

Answer 5

As a suggestion, I am a Toyota fan, however, chevy has a new model car out called Cobalt. It is very similar to the Corolla except for the price...it is less. You will actually get more for your money and better warrenty and is more economical. They are made in the same place. Nice car. You will not be disappointed.

Answer 6

I just happened to own 92 corolla with the miledge of 150K four years ago. Then on, I had put 100K on it. I changed only water pump twice, belts, generator once. Of course changed the oil every 4000 miles. But that was it. I sold it at 900 dollars to my neighbor because he used to see me working on this car every Sunday. Very durable, reliable and it can hold resale price. A lot of experienced mechanics in Japan really recommend Toyotas.

Answer 7

For my personal opinion, I would suggest you to buy Honda Civic, because it is more power, inside more luxery than Toyota Corolla.Besides, the prices are pretty much the same.

Answer 8

Toyota's are nice, don't get me wrong. but from my experience with them, the replacement parts can be very expensive, and in my opinion they aren't worth the money. you could buy a fast, luxurious car such as an acura or Audi cheaper and they tend to be nicer.

Answer 9

I think that they are very good reliable cars and they can go easily over 200,000 miles without any major repairs.