Corolla Design/Excel Rear Window Tints

[Gunner786]

Hi guys,

Want to buy the Corolla Design or Excel, but dont need the rear tinted windows as im going to be using it as a taxi and can only have clear windows. Cant find any on eBay and i dont think theres gna be many Corolla's in scrap lol.

Any advice what i can do? 
Based in Bedfordshire UK

[Timmon]

Some owners on the forum are using Corolla as a Taxi, maybe they can help. Has your dealer said that you can't have non tinted windows? Or would a window replacement company like Autoglass be able to quote for you?

[Gunner786]

9 minutes ago, Timmon said:

Some owners on the forum are using Corolla as a Taxi, maybe they can help. Has your dealer said that you can't have non tinted windows? Or would a window replacement company like Autoglass be able to quote for you?

Hi mate,

I haven't actually been to a dealers yet. I was looking to order a brand new one but i have just had an accident in my vw passat which is written off so now will just have to make do with a used one. Had i bought a brand new one i would have requested it but now no choice

[Gunner786]

Cant be off the road for 3 months while they build my new one lol

[Timmon]

I guess your best bet would be to have a word with a glass replacement company then. The money you will save on a used Corolla compared to buying new, should make it worth your while.

[AndrueC]

Wish it was an option. I've never wanted privacy glass on any car I own. I think it looks silly having just the rear windows darkened. I also don't understand the need for privacy. What're people doing in their cars that requires them to hide?

[Gunner786]

3 hours ago, Timmon said:

I guess your best bet would be to have a word with a glass replacement company then. The money you will save on a used Corolla compared to buying new, should make it worth your while.

Was going to use my uber discount on brand new one. 20%

[Geoff W]

Why don’t you buy a Corolla Icon Tech? If you buy the Design you’ll be paying several hundred pounds for the tinted glass you’ll be throwing away and several hundred more to replace it with clear glass. You’ll also be paying for low profile tyres which will give your passengers a harsher ride and increase your running costs (both fuel consumption and increased replacement tyre costs) which will all add up when you are presumably going to be doing a high mileage as a taxi.

What aspect of the Design is worth all this cost and bother to you?

[Gunner786]

Design adds auto wipers, electric folding mirrors, led fog lights all of which sounds very good. Plus the 17" alloys look beautiful lol

[Geoff W]

Well, I wouldn't deny that the 17" wheels look good but I drove a 70 reg Excel a few days ago and you definitely pay for them in a harder ride. My old IQ had the folding mirrors, automatic wipers and fog lights - they were nice but not worth paying much for them.

I imagine you must be in a hurry to get back on the road. It might be quicker and a lot cheaper to get the Icon Tech and upgrade it by fitting some new wheels and tyres if this really appeals to you rather than buy a Design and downgrade it by fitting clear glass. Note also that the upgrade will increase the residual value when you come to sell whilst fitting clear glass will reduce the residual value of the Design. There will be a good market if you want to sell the original wheels and tyres, or you could fit the original wheels with winter tyres which could help keep you in business if we get a hard winter.

[AndrueC]

I don't think the ride on the 17" wheels is all that harsh. It's no worse than any other car I've driven. If you got the 70 reg from a dealer as a courtesy car it probably had the tyres pumped up too high. That seems to be a common theme on these forums.

[Geoff W]

The car was the Service Manager's own car and had just 27 miles on the clock! It was loaned to me while I had a warranty repair repeated for the second time (another story). It probably did have the tyres pumped too high (my own cars were both delivered like that), but during a long chat with the service manager he said that whilst he was given the top of the range model with all the extras so that it could if necessary be offered for test drives his personal choice would have been the 1.8 not the 2.0 for the considerably greater fuel economy and the smaller wheels / fatter tyres for the improved ride. Just one man's opinion, but certainly the opinion of someone who had driven a lot of different Corollas.

Even if the ride is a little harder I can understand why the difference may be a price folk are happy to pay for the kerb appeal of big wheels! My main point to Gunner 786 was that if he would like big wheels and clear glass it is a lot easier to change the wheels than the glass. I speak from experience - the warranty repair I referred to was to replace my rear window!

[Auris James]

Icon Tech 1.8 litre would be my choice too. Good levels of kit and other trim specs not a lot added.

If I had a Corolla, I would like Blind spot monitoring, electric adjustment front seats and total leather seats in more colour options. Believe 2020 model Excel is full leather.

I would definitely have the estate version for a taxi.

I have an Auris Icon plus with tinted rear windows and they don't bother me.

James.

[Gunner786]

Just went to toyota edgware and realised the Corolla estate 1.8 boot is smaller thsn the auris estate and also not much bigger than the prius lol

[Gunner786]

But to be honest theres alot of points in what you say. Its better to upgrade the wheels than change your glass.  And the other design features are not worth all the glass headache

[FROSTYBALLS]

The subject of privacy glass in vehicles used as taxis has been raised before on these forums. Some local authority licencing regulations don't allow privacy glass as a safety measure for drivers and passengers. Not sure whether this is the case for where the OP resides.