Corolla hybrid GR Sport 2L weird design features

[Louie]

The central console  comes with a random cloth and a 4 hexagonal bolts in recessed holes.Its as if the assemblers went on their dinner brake and forgot to finish this off.

The location of heated switches is bad as you can turn on them by simply inserting your mobile into the slot.

The electric door switched are unmarked why ?

I am totally baffled by  some of the various operations of the active cruise control on the steering wheel.

Anyone reading do you know if you can get mud flaps for the rear wheel arches.

Why is there not an option for the rear hatch  door  to be electrically operated  as there is one for the touring estate version. The rear of this vehicle is a road crud collector.

The media display centre is far too busy and main criticism is the air con adjustment is too complex with too many controls.

A similar criticism can be applied to the media screen which has poor definition particularly the satnav display.

I suppose I will have to try Google Maps with Mirror cast or use my Tom Tom.

Toyota really have to have a major rethink on the front dash design as its basically a disaster area with lots of other manufacturers beating them at this game. 

[TonyHSD]

Hi and welcome in the game of hybrids. I personally agreed with you on most of the things, some parts of the interior are awkwardly designed, plus the plastics doesn’t much the car  that cost £30k. If you had previously something like Audi or above you will need some time to adjust to the more basic level of materials, design and craftsmanship, I am not saying is bad, I do like Corolla a lot but if you compare with Vw or Audi mid range and above will understand. However I am prepared to sacrifice some bells and whistles but to have the hybrid drive train, comfort, efficiency, simplicity and reliability. If there is a option to build my car with choice of different manufacturers for body, suspensions and drive train I will use many and will create the best car. The Corolla is actually very good car with some little negatives,. Enjoy your new car and don’t worry too much about little things. 
Regards 

[Louie]

Hi

I am suffering from PTSD  after relinquishing ownership of  a 2018 Golf GTD mk7.x  which was  superb to drive.

.I have to admit that you are correct on all your points but what baffles me most is that the world's biggest car manufacturer cannot put that little bit of effort to make this car 99% right. I do agree that that the electric motor coupled with the CVT and 2l engine is near perfect.  

Now on the more positive side i have had a Corolla in the past and although it was not exciting  it never missed a beat. The reason we have now gone for a Toyota is  quite simple namely a lot of the features you get as standard on the Corolla are all optional extras on German vehicle manufacturers costing not an insignificant sum of one's hard earned money. I will hang on to my Corolla for the following reasons reliability, comfort,road handling(with Michelin Pilot sports 4 fitted), engine performance and last but not least economy.

[rafletcher]

Yes you can get mud flaps. Probably available separately, but are part of the “protection pack”. I got them (front and rear) thrown in as part of my purchase. 
Non illuminated door switches are a pain. 
The loose cloth in the cubby is just plain cheap. 
A/C I leave in auto unless demisting (which is poor IMO). 

Generally the displays are too busy and distracting, especially the drive train animation, and the animated consumption one. 
 

Much as I like the economy, and reliability, I’m not sure I’ll have another. 

[Chattacks]

Surely you saw/test drove the car before buying it?

Whilst not perfect (especially the infotainment system) on the whole its a great car. I came from a BMW F30 in Luxury spec and the Corolla to me is a nice place to be in and has a better dashboard/layout than what I came from.

Regarding the cruise control etc its worth reading the manual to see what it actually does. More features means more complexity so takes some time to get used to...

[Timmon]

Having had my Corolla for 8 months now, the niggles are minor, and mainly around the vast expanse of technology around me, some of which I don't / have never used. My last car was 17 years old, and I had a basic computer which gave me stuff if I could be bothered to look at it, I had cruise control, which i rarely used, and that was about it. It was a car you had to drive, and I loved it, and it went like a bat out of hell, if that is what I wanted. 

My old car beat the Corolla on power, some aspects of fun to drive, and although the Toyota sales person raved about how comfy the seats were, my old car being a SAAB, the seats were unbeatable, so the Corolla seats , to me, got some getting used to, and I actually ached a bit until I got used to the hard Corolla seats, and the driving position.

I come from a position of having a car with few luxuries, to a car that is more computer than car. And I can't really fault the interior. The things I didn't like, such as the black lining everywhere (my last car was black up to the roof struts, then light lining above), I got round by having the panny roof, which is utter luxury. 

So things like the odd switch in an unexpected place, just don't worry me. Everyone will have things "They must get used to". And the next car, if you are lucky enough to have another new one, will be different again.

If you go onto the Corolla site and "build your car" again, you will be able to see what options are available, and the dealer will supply and fit, if you forgot to order something you would now like.

[Louie]

Hi 

Yes i did have a test drive in the GR Sport 2l before my purchase. However most sales people and under great pressure and I felt that everything was done in a rush also the GR Sport has only just become available  in January of this year. I pushed very hard to get information from Toyota UK on specs but kept getting brochures on the Exel and got nowhere. I was pretty desperate to get on the road having disposed of my GTD (sadly).  I shall persevere with the Corolla as i think it handles the road well but not as good as the GTD but that is only to be expected and i just have to get used to it. I am looking to implement some minor low cost improvements such mirror casting of Wyse from my mobile to replace the awful satnav. I was thinking of a  2020 Golf but the new gesture controls for the new front panel  has completely put me off. The sound systemin y Corolla  is not bad at all so i will leave that alone. Unfortunately i have been spoilt on SAAB's,BMW's,VW's and Honda's. Many thanks for the info re mudflaps etc.

 

[Timmon]

Well, it is always difficult when you need a car in a hurry. I was able to spend a long time researching cars, and almost bought a Mercedes 250, but the attitude of the sales manager in the dealership lost them the sale. I spent more than I was going to at Mercedes with Toyota because I was impressed with the sales attitude at Toyota. Like you, I bought my car having not seen it, they had 1.8 in the dealership, the 2.0 Excel was not released. I find the Excel handles better than the SAAB, but the twitchy steering was part of the SAAB's character.

Once you accept the Corolla is different and not a VW, I'm sure you will enjoy.

[Wheresmywig]

On 2/2/2020 at 5:32 PM, rafletcher said:

Yes you can get mud flaps. Probably available separately, but are part of the “protection pack”. I got them (front and rear) thrown in as part of my purchase. 

Do the mud flaps make much difference to the back end getting coated in muck? Mine is  absolutely coated after 3 days of driving 😂 the rest is still sparkling! 

[rafletcher]

Well I can’t say, as the back of mine is filthy.... 

[TonyHSD]

They will for sure, but once you driving on motorways with speeds of 60 mph or more even the mud flaps can’t stop the mess, it is due to the shape of the car and aerodynamics. Hatchbacks and estates are creating an turbulent air stream behind the car and not the tyres are to blame. Saloons and Prius like shapes stays clear, an example is old ford escort vs golf 2 , the golf has always been dirtier. 

Regards 

[RabButler]

On 2/2/2020 at 5:32 PM, rafletcher said:

Yes you can get mud flaps. Probably available separately, but are part of the “protection pack”. I got them (front and rear) thrown in as part of my purchase. 
Non illuminated door switches are a pain. 
The loose cloth in the cubby is just plain cheap. 
A/C I leave in auto unless demisting (which is poor IMO). 

Generally the displays are too busy and distracting, especially the drive train animation, and the animated consumption one. 
 

Much as I like the economy, and reliability, I’m not sure I’ll have another. 

Door switches in my 1.8 Icon Tech are illuminated. Not bright, but visible. 

If you are talking cheap finish, then you must include the sun-visors. 

I have had hatches for ages and the Corolla is the muckiest tailgate since my Alfasud TI. If anyone tries the mudflaps and find they work, let us know!

[rafletcher]

Yes, of course the door switches are. The ones in the ceiling console aren't though, so I'm always scrabbling between lights and pan roof controls.  And the back - I have the mud flaps, its still by far the filthiest car I've driven. And because of the sticking-out "bumper" and slope of the hatch I keep getting the knees of my trousers dirty. An electric hatch with the switch down near the tail lights would solve that.

[OXYGEN]

I have the mud flaps on my Estate - barely visible any difference...if at all...

But kind of expected based on the tiny size of the flaps... 

[AndrueC]

On 2/4/2020 at 12:42 PM, TonyHSD said:

They will for sure, but once you driving on motorways with speeds of 60 mph or more even the mud flaps can’t stop the mess, it is due to the shape of the car and aerodynamics. Hatchbacks and estates are creating an turbulent air stream behind the car and not the tyres are to blame. Saloons and Prius like shapes stays clear, an example is old ford escort vs golf 2 , the golf has always been dirtier. 

Regards 

True but the Corolla HB seems to be particularly prone to muck. I've owned HBs for nearly 20 years now and the Corolla's is the only one that I've had to clean the number plate. And I'm having to clean it every couple of weeks. On the plus side the reversing camera seems to fair better than the one on the Jazz. This is what the back of my Jazz looked like after 11 months without ever being cleaned:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HTUPiRBvBUMqQvg2A

I know it was 11 months because the car was serviced every February and that's when it got cleaned (by the dealer, lol). For what it's worth the reversing camera is under the door handle on the left (you can just see it poking out).

[Timmon]

Yes, it is a mucky back side! Not as bad as the Ford Sierra Lazer estate car I had as my first regional manager job, but a close second i would say. Reversing camera soon gets a film over it, but having never had a reversing camera before, I still look over my shoulder to reverse anyway, forgetting it's there!

 

[rafletcher]

With the window line as it is in the rear of the Corolla, and the fact that I sit quite far back, I find looking over my shoulder doesn't give great visibility, and so find the camera extremely useful.  What would be more useful is if it were the same as the Golf has/had - the camera there was built in to the VW logo on the tailgate, but the Badge pivoted, so in normal use the lens was hidden inside, only pivoting out into position when reverse was selected. Result - a clean lens all the time.

[TonyHSD]

I haven’t got Corolla, not yet, but the first gen Auris that looks similar to Corolla and is mucky as much but are been all my hatchbacks,  Prius plus included. I had before Mitsubishi space start, similar to jazz in shape and was getting dirty as hell. What I can see in US market Corolla XSE trim comes with larger rear wing mounted on top of the existing spoiler that all Corollas comes in UK, if one of those fitted perhaps can change aerodynamics and help reduce the dirt that accumulates on the back, or is just there for aesthetics purposes.? Maybe someone can ask Toyota about it. 

[rafletcher]

Here you go...

https://www.carid.com/2019-toyota-corolla-spoiler/pure-rear-window-mount-spoiler-1472855379.html

Better pictures here...

https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/accessories/toyota-corolla-rear_window_spoiler.html

I think it's a factory option in the US, so you see it on the press cars, but not necessarily on all customer ones.  ETA: its is, at $375 from a dealer.

https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Corolla-Hatchback-MZEA12R-Spoiler/dp/B07SPWNHLQ  Though you might have to get it painted here, as I doubt the US colours are the same.

[TonyHSD]

That’s right, but will it work? Any aero engineer here to help? 

[rafletcher]

I assume it's purely cosmetic 🙂