1.8 or 2.0l Corolla?

[Bettz]

Hi I've test drove a 1.8l version twice excel trim now but I'm still unsure if I should get that or the 2.0l? But I've been reading people are having problems with the 2.0l version? 

People also comment about the design spec being better due to the alloy size? 

I think the 1.8l would be an improvement on what I'm currently driving anyway a 62 plate 1.25 Zetec Fiesta 80bhp? 

Speeds never interested me I just want something that will be used about 4k a year to the shops and occasional motorway with good MPG. 

 

Any advice? 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

the 1.8 is bulletproof engine and slightly older tech which seems to be a bit more reliable. The engine + e motor gives the car plenty of power for all your needs  and you may only ever need more if you about to race in the fast lane on the motorway, other than that it’s a perfect day to day cruiser or as occasional drives.
The 1.8 has slightly better efficiency too, between 5-10mpg better than 2.0. The best choice for Corolla is top spec excel with retrofitted 16” wheels from icon models.  

[sportse]

I had the same choice this year, was looking at 2 litre cars but went with a 1.8 in the end due to several people having issues with the 2 litre.

There was a great deal on an Icon car, the only thing I miss from the Design is the rain sensitive wipers. I previously owned an Auris excel, but never used the self-parking and found the leather seats too hot in the summer.

Performance on the 1.8 is good enough for most, I've driven various cars with 150-180hp and the 1.8 is fine up to normal UK motorway speeds. It's also very relaxing to drive compared to peaky cars I've had.

[Bettz]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, 

the 1.8 is bulletproof engine and slightly older tech which seems to be a bit more reliable. The engine + e motor gives the car plenty of power for all your needs  and you may only ever need more if you about to race in the fast lane on the motorway, other than that it’s a perfect day to day cruiser or as occasional drives.
The 1.8 has slightly better efficiency too, between 5-10mpg better than 2.0. The best choice for Corolla is top spec excel with retrofitted 16” wheels from icon models.  

Thank you 

I'm sure the 1.8 will be fine for me, I think my current fiesta is only 80bhp anyway so it'll feel faster anyway. 

I'm torn as well due to the infosystem change in the newer cars. Is the old system that bad? I'm mainly going to use android auto anyway and Spotify. 

 

 

[Bettz]

3 minutes ago, sportse said:

I had the same choice this year, was looking at 2 litre cars but went with a 1.8 in the end due to several people having issues with the 2 litre.

There was a great deal on an Icon car, the only thing I miss from the Design is the rain sensitive wipers. I previously owned an Auris excel, but never used the self-parking and found the leather seats too hot in the summer.

Performance on the 1.8 is good enough for most, I've driven various cars with 150-180hp and the 1.8 is fine up to normal UK motorway speeds. It's also very relaxing to drive compared to peaky cars I've had.

Thank you I do love the interior on the excel but worried it's not v dog friendly.

The one I test drove had a sunroof which made the inside alot brighter, but it seems to be extremely difficult to find in used corollas atm. 

That's put my mind at ease with motorway driving as long as its fine overtaking occasionally. 

Would it be a problem driving 4k miles a year with the Battery? 

[AndrueC]

14 minutes ago, Bettz said:

I'm torn as well due to the infosystem change in the newer cars. Is the old system that bad? I'm mainly going to use android auto anyway and Spotify.

I have a 2019 Corolla and there's nothing significantly wrong with the infotainment system. I believe there is an issue switching between bluetooth and wired operation for voice calling and the handling of large amounts of music on a USB drive is poor.

If you want Android Auto make sure that the update has been applied before you buy because older Corollas didn't ship with it.

I play music over bluetooth most of the time and only use AA if I want satellite navigation. In both cases I use PowerAmp and the transition is seamless - that is it picks up where it left off regardless of which connection method I use.

What the 12v Battery doesn't like is being left unused for a couple of weeks especially in combination with the car only being used for five minutes at a time.

As long as the car gets half an hour's use every week I think you'll be fine.

[ThomasL]

From what I've picked up reading here...

1. Latest 1.8L is much better than MY19, so much so that the 2L engine is pointless.

2. People have more annoying problems with the newer infotainment glitches.

3. Newer Excel apparently has the saggy "leather" seats that balloon out, MY19 is better material I believe?

4. Latest safety sense is more annoying (unreliable annoying stuff keeps turning itself back on).

5. Pandemic-era cars seem to have worse 12V batteries and possibly other parts? Not sure if we're fully out of that generation of cars yet, especially with the shipping problems in the Middle East and manufacturers scrambling to fit whatever they can find...

 

 

[sportse]

2 minutes ago, ThomasL said:

From what I've picked up reading here...

1. Latest 1.8L is much better than MY19, so much so that the 2L engine is pointless.

2. People have more annoying problems with the newer infotainment glitches.

3. Newer Excel apparently has the saggy "leather" seats that balloon out, MY19 is better material I believe?

4. Latest safety sense is more annoying (unreliable annoying stuff keeps turning itself back on).

5. Pandemic-era cars seem to have worse 12V batteries and possibly other parts? Not sure if we're fully out of that generation of cars yet, especially with the shipping problems in the Middle East and manufacturers scrambling to fit whatever they can find...

 

 

Having the newer 1.8, as well as experience driving the earlier models I'd say:

 

1. Yes, there is rarely any mooing now and response to normal accelerator responses is EV level fast. They have really programmed the accelerator/drivetrain well in the Mk5

2. The only issues I've had were getting it set up initially and registering my account to the key. I did have the 'updating' message issue but that has gone now

3. At least they are better than Mk4 Honda Jazz - several people had the leather seat sides split on their less than one year old cars.

4. I've found it to be great, completely different to a 21 Honda I used to drive which I had to disable every drive. On the Corolla I leave all the systems on and do lots of small country lanes as well as mainly motorway. Only the speed sign assist isn't much use, but that's due to poor road signs not being consistent.

5. Mine seems to have the larger Battery that used to be fitted to the higher spec cars

[TrackLink]

3 hours ago, sportse said:

There was a great deal on an Icon car, the only thing I miss from the Design is the rain sensitive wipers.

I have a MY23 1.8 Design and I don't think the rain-sensing wipers are that good. I tend to operate the wipers manually and vary the speed as required via the rotating switch on the right hand stalk. I love almost everything else about the car though! The Icon is very well equipped for a base model.

[Daniel815]

I also went with the 1.8 touring sport and so far satisfied with my choice. As it has been mentioned, the 1.8 engine is bulletproof and has been on the 4.generation Prius since 2016. There are many examples with high milage cars like this one.

https://youtu.be/jB3rgga-D3M?si=YAlwT_ffyJoQe183

[sportse]

13 minutes ago, TrackLink said:

I have a MY23 1.8 Design and I don't think the rain-sensing wipers are that good. I tend to operate the wipers manually and vary the speed as required via the rotating switch on the right hand stalk. 

Thanks, that's good to hear. The auto wipers on a Honda Jazz I had weren't very good but worked fine on a VW.

[AndrueC]

51 minutes ago, TrackLink said:

I have a MY23 1.8 Design and I don't think the rain-sensing wipers are that good.

I agree. They start and stop more or less okay but don't seem very good at matching their speed to the rain. To be honest no car I've owned since my second Jazz has been much good in this respect.

With that Jazz I could pick a speed then leave it there and the wipers were always keeping pace with the rain no matter how hard. But since then I've always had to adjust the speed of the wipers as conditions alter which renders the 'automatic' aspect almost pointless.

I've also noticed that if the car is cold the wipers sometimes operate when not needed. I suspect that condensation is forming instead the sensor triggering false operation.

But if you want to really here me moan ask about the automatic dipping headlights.. 😠

[sportse]

1 hour ago, AndrueC said:

But if you want to really here me moan ask about the automatic dipping headlights.. 😠

I've had those on several cars now, and they have never worked properly.

They seem to work on fairly straight roads such as dual carriageways, but on the windy country roads I sometimes drive on they never manage to cope as well as someone who can see the glow of oncoming lights before they go round a corner.

Also, they never work for pedestrians so I'm always having to override them.

[Bettz]

Are the lights worth going for the excel trim? 

[Bozz]

8 hours ago, Bettz said:

Hi I've test drove a 1.8l version twice excel trim now but I'm still unsure if I should get that or the 2.0l? But I've been reading people are having problems with the 2.0l version? 

People also comment about the design spec being better due to the alloy size? 

I think the 1.8l would be an improvement on what I'm currently driving anyway a 62 plate 1.25 Zetec Fiesta 80bhp? 

Speeds never interested me I just want something that will be used about 4k a year to the shops and occasional motorway with good MPG. 

 

Any advice? 

I have a 2.0 design MY2021 and now approaching 30k miles with no issues and running mostly on supermarket e10.  I also had extended use of a 1.8 at the time I bought it.

I chose the 2.0 for the better overtaking performance and response when fully loaded. The pre MY23 1.8 cars also used engine braking much more than the 2.0 in my experience.

Regarding the ICE the requirement to plug in a phone for Car play is annoying but I'm not into all the MyToyota app stuff so have all that disabled. Also all the nannying assist stuff like lane assist is defaulted off. 

Soundwise the radio head unit is rubbish but actually if you feed a decent source say Tidal HiFi quality via Carplay then the amp and Speakers do a reasonable job.

Oh and the retrofitted Goodyear EGP 2 tyres are performing and wearing well but are still a bit lifeless through the steering.

Body and trim wise it also seems to be pretty resistant to our miserable winters roads and the reflector style LED headlamps are acceptably bright. The auto wipers are also better than my previous cars (Fords).

[Bozz]

37 minutes ago, sportse said:

I've had those on several cars now, and they have never worked properly.

They seem to work on fairly straight roads such as dual carriageways, but on the windy country roads I sometimes drive on they never manage to cope as well as someone who can see the glow of oncoming lights before they go round a corner.

Also, they never work for pedestrians so I'm always having to override them.

Never used the auto dip or the park assist on my car 

 

[AndrueC]

I did have a thought about the auto-dip lights last night as I drove home. Are the main beams the same brightness as the dipped beams? The reason I ask is that it seems like the car doesn't dip the lights if the approaching vehicle is already inside the dipped beam area (which can happen when the approaching vehicle is below you or has just appeared round a bend and is close to you).

But I still have my doubts. My last Jazz had far better auto-dip.

[Cyker]

Yeah I never use them in my Yaris too - Had a play with them, but I just find I'm far faster and better at picking when to switch them over than the automatic system. It also makes it easier for me to flash people back when their lights are blinding me!  

I also find I have to tweak the auto-wipers, although not excessively, and I kinda like that I still have some say in the matter. I find the collar switch oddly pleasing to click over, it just has a really nice click to it  

 

[Chainbreaker]

On 2/22/2024 at 3:17 PM, ThomasL said:

From what I've picked up reading here...

1. Latest 1.8L is much better than MY19, so much so that the 2L engine is pointless.

2. People have more annoying problems with the newer infotainment glitches.

3. Newer Excel apparently has the saggy "leather" seats that balloon out, MY19 is better material I believe?

4. Latest safety sense is more annoying (unreliable annoying stuff keeps turning itself back on).

5. Pandemic-era cars seem to have worse 12V batteries and possibly other parts? Not sure if we're fully out of that generation of cars yet, especially with the shipping problems in the Middle East and manufacturers scrambling to fit whatever they can find...

 

 

1. I wouldn't go as far as to say the 2.0 is pointless. I have driven both the 2.0 and the 1.8 5th gen engines. 2.0 has noticeably more performance without sacrificing much economy. All depends on your usage. 2.0 is great on long drives. What I would say is if you're going for a hatchback, I'd get the 1.8 as the boot is larger than with the 2.0 due to the Battery being moved to the boot on the 2.0. 

2. There's always going to be people that have issues with infotainment, but many of us haven't and the new system is a HUGE step up from the old infotainment system. Plus you can use remote climate on the app with the new system which is a big thing for a lot of people.

4. Incorrect. Safety sense 3 is less intrusive than the old safety sense 2 system simply because it's a lot smarter. A lot of the motoring media praise SS3 as being one of the better systems out there among manufacturers. The old system will also switch things back on when you restart the car, so no difference there.

[sportse]

58 minutes ago, Chainbreaker said:

 

2. There's always going to be people that have issues with infotainment, but many of us haven't and the new system is a HUGE step up from the old infotainment system. Plus you can use remote climate on the app with the new system which is a big thing for a lot of people.

 

The remote start is a major benefit for me.

I park outside in the open, North facing so have heavy ice on the car in winter.

Previously I've had to use a lot of chemical deicer to clear the windows, then sit in the car until the inside windows were clear to see through. The ice is way too thick to clear with a scraper, and I only live in the South UK.

Being able to remotely start the car to defrost the windows is great. I used it today, normally it runs for up to 20 minutes, but I stopped it in less then 10 and could just get in and drive away. 

 

PS does anyone know if you can change the time remote start runs for? It used to be 10 minutes which was all I need, but since the update the standard timer is now 20 minutes.

[Bettz]

12 minutes ago, sportse said:

The remote start is a major benefit for me.

I park outside in the open, North facing so have heavy ice on the car in winter.

Previously I've had to use a lot of chemical deicer to clear the windows, then sit in the car until the inside windows were clear to see through. The ice is way too thick to clear with a scraper, and I only live in the South UK.

Being able to remotely start the car to defrost the windows is great. I used it today, normally it runs for up to 20 minutes, but I stopped it in less then 10 and could just get in and drive away. 

 

PS does anyone know if you can change the time remote start runs for? It used to be 10 minutes which was all I need, but since the update the standard timer is now 20 minutes.

Is the remote start only on the upgraded versions 2022?

 

What's all this MY19? MY21 is it just the year. 

[Chainbreaker]

3 minutes ago, Bettz said:

Is the remote start only on the upgraded versions 2022?

 

What's all this MY19? MY21 is it just the year. 

Only on facelift models, MY23 onwards with the 5th gen engines and new infotainment system 

[Chriss27]

If you are only doing 4K a year i am  not sure a hybrid is for you, better off getting a non hybrid as you will save money on the outlay for a similar non hybrid car, plus hybrid batteries like regular use to prevent flat Battery issues. Just my opinion

[Bettz]

21 hours ago, Chriss27 said:

If you are only doing 4K a year i am  not sure a hybrid is for you, better off getting a non hybrid as you will save money on the outlay for a similar non hybrid car, plus hybrid batteries like regular use to prevent flat battery issues. Just my opinion

My mileage should go up atm I'm not driving much due to waiting for a heart op just wanted something that will be a bit future proof for a good few years,with good MPG. 

 

I've also looked at the Kia Niro but worry about the reliability and it's a Suv 💩

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, Bettz said:

My mileage should go up atm I'm not driving much due to waiting for a heart op just wanted something that will be a bit future proof for a good few years,with good MPG. 

 

I've also looked at the Kia Niro but worry about the reliability and it's a Suv 💩

Toyota currently offer the best cars in the world ( hybrids) and this can be seen by the prices their cars went up. Even so the most sensible choice to put money on a car its still a Toyota hybrid, just pick the model you like and suit your needs.