2010 Toyota Corolla User Reviews

Pros

Fuel Economy, Comfort, Aux Jack, Smooth Ride

Cons

Underwhemling Stereo, Power-Challenged on Big Hills

Purchased As New

I was a little apprehensive, based on some of the reviews out there, to buy this car. I ended up trusting the Toyota nameplate, having been extremely happy with past Toyota vehicles, and I'm glad I did. This is exactly what I expected - another great Toyota.

Firstly, I bought this car to be a fuel-efficient commuter. To that end, I have been extremely pleased. I get about 35 mpg combined driving, but that's only because I have rarely had a day without traffic jams. On the rare occasions where I get some space on the freeway, I easily best 40mpg.

The ride, for me, is better than I'd hoped. It's very smooth (for the price-point) and extremely quiet in the cabin. I have a '99 Avalon, which is still a fantastic car, and the '10 Corolla is approaching that level of smooth ride, though not quite there.

The power of the 4-cylinder is perfectly sufficient for highway or city driving. The only time I have felt like the engine was strained was when I drove over the mountain pass after I picked up my vehicle. Even then, the car certainly had the power to do 70 up the pass, but probably best to keep the RPMs down and do 60. Like i said, there are no power issues on the flat. You can definitely punch the gas to merge into a space and know you'll get there just fine.

The cabin is more spacious than I expected. I am average height for a guy (5'11") and I feel like I have plenty of head room, and plenty of leg room in the passenger seat. The back seats look a little more cramped, but i haven't had anyone sit back there yet. I think that it would probably work fine to have one person with longer legs and one with shorter in a front / back combination, but two taller people in a row means something has to give.

I also really like all the controls; they are very intuitive. The stereo system ( I have the base system with a 1 CD Changer) is very clear but underpowered. It's perfect for NPR, but not so great for Rock. Still, the clarity and crispness of the sound is very nice, and the extremely quiet cabin makes quieter decibel levels sufficient. The AUX jack is conveniently placed by the 12V outlet, so using a charging cradle for your ipod and plugging it into your stereo is very easy. Also, sounds great, and no need to use one of those annoying FM tuners that never work.

One thing I especially like about the cabin is the in-dash "computer". It is just a little screen that mirrors the one for the odometer, but I use it all the time. You can set it to clock (there is another dedicated clock in the dash), current fuel economy, average fuel economy (which can be reset whenever), outside temp, average speed, and total driving time. I love using the fuel economy readers for some reason. I reset it in the morning and try to break my record for round-trip-to-work-fuel-economy. So far my best is 43.2.

The one option I got was cruise control / keyless entry. If the model you want doesn't come stock with these, then splurge for the upgrade. The cruise control is great and the controls are very easy to use. You can bump up / bump down 1MPH at a time, and there is also a resume feature to return to your last preset speed. The keyless entry on the LE model is great. The buttons are built into the key itself, so there is no FOB. Very convenient, and also has a trunk release button that pops the trunk up.

The look of this car is not as sporty as the MAZDA3 or probably the Accord for that matter. Even the S version doesn't look that sporty to me. However, the look has really grown on me. I like the slightly bubbled head and tail lights, and the "fin" for the antenna. The car has a really clean, classic shape and, when viewed at several angles, is almost impossible to differentiate from a Camry.

All told, I really love this car for the money. I paid 18, but got mine in the middle of cash for clunkers when there was no inventory left. I'm sure better deals are out there now. You can't miss with this car.