Disappointment!!! with New Corolla Touring Sport

[VanHiggy]

Hi all... Just taken delivery of my new 24 plate Corolla Touring Sport after trading in my 21 plate C-HR and to be honest I'm a bit deflated and disappointed with it. for instance they've cheeped out on the reversing light and rear fog light as now there is only one of each on either side of the car and it just looks like one of the bulbs is out. Also the reversing camera looks far worse quality on the corolla than on the C-HR. Not to mention the elephant in the room that is the inability to permanently turn off the RSA beep for going over the speed limit. What is the point of having the option setting 'Visual Only' notification, for it to then reset back to audio and visual every time your turn off the ignition. I'm sure some smart alec will just say... "well just don't go over the speed limit" but if you go over by 1mph and find yourself going over and under the limit by only 1mph the warning beep is never ending and drives me bonkers. It appears you cant even set the notification limit to say... 5 or 10mph over before it audibly warns you. So all in all, after owning numerous various Toyotas over the years, it seems I've finally found one to be a bit disappointed in even though it drives great, is very comfy and looks brilliant. What does everyone else think about the issues I've mentioned? Remember these issues are on the new 24 plate corollas as older models are able to save their owners setting preferences. 

[Paul john]

7 minutes ago, VanHiggy said:

Hi all... Just taken delivery of my new 24 plate Corolla Touring Sport after trading in my 21 plate C-HR and to be honest I'm a bit deflated and disappointed with it. for instance they've cheeped out on the reversing light and rear fog light as now there is only one of each on either side of the car and it just looks like one of the bulbs is out. Also the reversing camera looks far worse quality on the corolla than on the C-HR. Not to mention the elephant in the room that is the inability to permanently turn off the RSA beep for going over the speed limit. What is the point of having the option setting 'Visual Only' notification, for it to then reset back to audio and visual every time your turn off the ignition. I'm sure some smart alec will just say... "well just don't go over the speed limit" but if you go over by 1mph and find yourself going over and under the limit by only 1mph the warning beep is never ending and drives me bonkers. It appears you cant even set the notification limit to say... 5 or 10mph over before it audibly warns you. So all in all, after owning numerous various Toyotas over the years, it seems I've finally found one to be a bit disappointed in even though it drives great, is very comfy and looks brilliant. What does everyone else think about the issues I've mentioned? Remember these issues are on the new 24 plate corollas as older models are able to save their owners setting preferences. 

Your profile still says Yaris Design not CHR or Corolla TS

things are changing in the UK. 
pre 2015 daylight running lights were not Required to be permanently on. 
pre 2020 RSA detection was not required to reset at Start

pre 2024 Lane Control warning and RSA reset at startup. 
 

just wait til 2025.  Oh boy. 

[APS]

Regarding the reversing and fog lights, it is ver common that they are single lights. This will help distinguish them from being seen as twin headlights/brake lights at a distance. Nothing specific to the Corolla. I'm surprised if the C-HR didn't have this as it is pretty much standard.

I'll let someone with a TS share their thoughts and tips about the speed alerts. Sounds annoying and it's probably a case of settings. 

Given time, I'm sure you will come to like the car. 

[J2024IE]

my 23 TS does not beep if I  go over speed, just a visual display  on screen. ( turned  off the beep in settings)  yes the reverse light is very bad, when I got the car first I thought that one of the reverse bulbs was not working.  the resolution on the reverse camera is not great but you get used to it. 

what I find great is the parking sensors with automatic braking, if you get too close to something when parking it automatically applies the brakes. 

happened me a couple of times on the motorway  in heavy rain, the adaptive cruise control, lost sight of the car in front and started to accelerate fast, and I had to apply the brakes..

overall its a nice car, plenty of space.

[sportse]

The speed alerts defaulting to on is a new regulation unfortunately, so every new car will have this as standard now. Matt Watson tested the 24 CHR recently and said it was an issue on that.  
 

there is a hidden menu in my 23, for speed alerts on or off hold ok instead of tapping it to bring it up. There are then settings for an mph allowance, etc. hopefully that’s still there on the 24  

my speedometer isn’t accurate (most cars aren’t) so without this I’d be getting speed alerts at a genuine 66mph not 70mph shown. My auris hybrid was less accurate, real speed 63mph against 70mph on the dash. So you would be driving on the motorway either slow or with constant bonging unless you turn it off every time  

the one reverse bulb and fog light is normal, I’ve had several different cars from various manufacturers and they have all had this. 
 

the reverse camera is ok, it’s the same quality as ones I’ve had on new Skodas. Perhaps they use lower resolution sensors that are more reliable so it lasts longer than the higher resolution ones. 

[Auto-engineering Geek]

I have also just taken delivery of a new 24 plate Corolla Excel TS. I am extremely pleased with it indeed, it came with a JBL 8 speaker sound which is amazing and while not totally unexpected it wasn't guaranteed. It is my first automatic and it is great, so smooth and quiet. Fuel consumption is good and improving by the day as the engine beds in, and that's a comment from somebody who has been driving a diesel VW Golf for the last 9 years! Furthermore the adaptive main beam headlights are incredible. The only negative is that mentioned by others, namely the inability to permanently set the Road Sign Assistance system to visual alert only, however I understand though this is almost certainly a regulatory requirement for all 2024 cars.

[Roy124]

3 hours ago, sportse said:

speedometer isn’t accurate (most cars aren’t) so without this I’d be getting speed alerts at a genuine 66mph not 70mph shown. My auris hybrid was less accurate, real speed 63mph against 70mph on the dash. So you would be driving on the motorway either slow or with constant bonging unless you turn it off every time  

Quite.

In the short term you will be relegated to lanes 1 and 2 on a 3-lane.  In time all the lane 3 speeders in BMW and Audi will also slow down or 'mute' the sound with selective hearing.

The brain is amazing.   In high stress situations pilots have been known to blank out a stall warning horn as they wrestle with a less important fault.   Ground impact usually silences the warning.

[MC1216]

13 hours ago, VanHiggy said:

Hi all... Just taken delivery of my new 24 plate Corolla Touring Sport after trading in my 21 plate C-HR and to be honest I'm a bit deflated and disappointed with it. for instance they've cheeped out on the reversing light and rear fog light as now there is only one of each on either side of the car and it just looks like one of the bulbs is out. Also the reversing camera looks far worse quality on the corolla than on the C-HR. Not to mention the elephant in the room that is the inability to permanently turn off the RSA beep for going over the speed limit. What is the point of having the option setting 'Visual Only' notification, for it to then reset back to audio and visual every time your turn off the ignition. I'm sure some smart alec will just say... "well just don't go over the speed limit" but if you go over by 1mph and find yourself going over and under the limit by only 1mph the warning beep is never ending and drives me bonkers. It appears you cant even set the notification limit to say... 5 or 10mph over before it audibly warns you. So all in all, after owning numerous various Toyotas over the years, it seems I've finally found one to be a bit disappointed in even though it drives great, is very comfy and looks brilliant. What does everyone else think about the issues I've mentioned? Remember these issues are on the new 24 plate corollas as older models are able to save their owners setting preferences. 

I can understand your issues as they are the same as mine.

I haven't bought a 24 plate corolla yet(i can change my profile but i am still driving a VW Golf) but it is on my short list of 2 along with the Mazda 3

I joined as you do to learn as much as you can before i purchase as at 61 this will be my last car in the UK.

I have narrowed my choice to the 2.0 Corolla GR sport and your 2 issues are the only reason i haven't bought one yet.

The constant warning when exceeding the speed limit is so annoying and to have to go in to the menu to disable it every time you re start the car makes it worse.

They could learn from Mazda who have a button that disables the sound warnings for RSA so just a simple push of a button every time you start the car.

Also i couldn't believe how bad the rear camera is compared to the Mazda and my VW Golf and it's something i use a lot.

Overall the Toyota is the one i want to buy as i prefer an automatic(if an ecvt can be classed as one)

I am hoping a bit like the VW someone comes along so you can code out the sound warning.

The thing that makes me laugh the most is that they say it's for safety yet stick a large ipad on the screen that is even more distracting.

[taxidriver50005]

I'm sure there will be an app that will be able to silence these alarms as there is now with seatbelts ect... Car scanner can do various things that don't show up on your car screen and this will only get more features. 

[Roy124]

Avoid the beeps,  save fuel.

[Roy124]

If you drive through a  typical 30mph zone in a village at an indicated speed of 30mph and no beeps you should be doing no less than 27mph.

What will this cost you in time rather than a 30mph true?  It is a staggering 13 seconds.

If we chose a less probable measure, consider a 100 mile journey at a true 70mph (unrealistic I know) it would take exactly 1hr 25min 43 seconds. However if we set the cruise control to 70, worst case should be a true speed of 63mph.

This would cost us just 9min 31seconds on our journey.

Is it really worth it defeating the warning beeps and increasing your speed by a legal 10%?

If you want to exceed the speed limit then consider the consequences. 

[VanHiggy]

Hi Roy124... I think your missing the point a bit here. I never intend to exceed the speed limit, but no one is looking at the speed dial all the time while driving and if your hovering around the 29, 30mph mark in a 30 zone you only have to go 1mph over before you get the warning beep so you drop your speed a little only to find that you end up 1mph over again and get another warning and so on and so on. The only way to break the beeping cycle so you dont accidentally go over is to do 25mph in a 30 or low 30s in a 40 zone. If you have a car that does this you will totally understand the frustration of either having to put up with the beeping, or go into the menu everytime you start the car and manually set it to off or go deeper into the menu and set visual only. Even just to have a setting adjustment warning of 5mph over the speed limit would have been better... but no... 1mph over and it beeps. Not to mention it beeping when it misreads a sign which I have also had. Look,  I'm not saying or complaining about the car in general. I love Toyotas. They are fantastic cars and if all makes of car are destined to have this speed warning beep that can't be permanently turned off then it's not Toyotas fault... but boy oh boy is it annoying.

[Jiff]

My main problem with this would be the accuracy of the speed limit system. My 2019 Corolla TS is often indicating the speed limit is 30 mph when it's actually 40 near me. The car changes the symbol to 40 about 20 yds before the 30 limit restarts. On the A4 it sometimes thinks the limit is "motorway symbol" after passing the  motorway junction till the next speed limit sign. 

On the variable speed limit motorway areas the system doesn't always see the maximum speed limit sign, at the end of the ruduction, so thinks the motorway is still 50 for many miles when actually it's 70.

I hope they've improved the recognition system in the last 5 years. I'd seriously consider not buying another car unless the mute is sorted or the recognition is improved. 

[Obsidian Estate]

Mine is often wrong, usually in well signposted areas. Start/middle of last year they changed a section of my drive to work from 50 to 40, all well signed. Car says goes to 40, then straight back to 50 after passing the sign. So I guess the GPS data over-rides what the camera sees.

 

[Paul john]

23 minutes ago, Jiff said:

My main problem with this would be the accuracy of the speed limit system. My 2019 Corolla TS is often indicating the speed limit is 30 mph when it's actually 40 near me. The car changes the symbol to 40 about 20 yds before the 30 limit restarts. On the A4 it sometimes thinks the limit is "motorway symbol" after passing the  motorway junction till the next speed limit sign. 

On the variable speed limit motorway areas the system doesn't always see the maximum speed limit sign, at the end of the ruduction, so thinks the motorway is still 50 for many miles when actually it's 70.

I hope they've improved the recognition system in the last 5 years. I'd seriously consider not buying another car unless the mute is sorted or the recognition is improved. 

Not improved. RSA still gets it spectacularly wrong. Even in my 18month old car. 

[Roy124]

Agree RSA is probably the greater issue with poor signage by Highways a runner up.

@VanHiggy my point is that you have nothing to gain by trying to achieve the indicated speed exactly speed-1.  I might annoy you if I cruise at 27 or 28 but you will only loose a few seconds per mile. 

At higher speeds overtake if you must and use the annoying beep as a reminder to drop back to the limit once safe so to do.

 

[bigblock]

That annoying beep will save you money, points on your licence, and a higher insurance cost if you speed. I welcome such a device personally.

[Cyker]

No it won't - As we've been saying the whole problem is the system is not fit for purpose because its accuracy is just not good enough - It won't stop you getting a speeding ticket if it thinks the speed limit is 120mph in a 20 zone!!

Conversely, can you imagine it beeping at you for the entirety of a 2 hour journey because it thinks the speed limit is 20mph on the motorway? Or, as is also common, 20kph!!

The system needs to be *much* more accurate before being deployed into the real-world, not this beta-test quality garbage that we currently have.

Like the Smart Motorway, all this system is doing is training drivers to ignore the warnings because they are so inaccurate and can't be trusted.

 

Anyway, these systems are just a reaction to the real problem - Driving standards.

I've not gotten a single point for speeding in my entire life without needing such systems, because I don't drive like a cock.

Attempts to control driving behaviour with such half-ubiked systems is just going to make people push harder against them.

[VanHiggy]

Hi Rov124... I do take your point about only losing a few seconds a mile but my point is that... 

1. If the speedo reads 30 I'm probably only doing 26, 27mph in reality according to my dash cam. So if I slow down to 27mph like you suggest I'll probably be doing more like 22, 23mph. Driving too slow in my opinion leads to other drivers getting frustrated and taking risks to get past.

2. The more often you have to glance down at the speedometer to check your speed the less time your eyes are on the road (unless you have a hud).

3. But my main point is that a visual notification has always been adequate to let me know I'm over the speed limit. Why now has this option been taken away unless I'm prepared to take the time to delve into the menu settings and turn it off every time I start the engine. Thats just a nonsense. It just takes away another bit of the pleasure of driving. 

I presume the car you currently own does not have this annoying feature... am I correct?... beep, beep, beep, beep

[Cyker]

The beeping is also very distracting, which of course will definitely help with driver concentration! No, wait...

 

[bigblock]

I agree it's far from perfect but most of the time it does a pretty fair job of picking up the correct speed limit. I like it when you know you are in a particular speed limit section and you know that the car has correctly pick it up. So all I have to do is listen for the bleep rather than keep looking at the speedo. It's only an aid for now and should not be relied on as is the case with all the other safety aids fitted on the car. At least for now it doesn't activate the brakes to slow you down but I can see that coming in the future. Interestingly which is the greater distraction, the bleeps or constantly looking at the speedo. 

[Cyker]

And that is why I love my HUD  

But 'most of the time' isn't good enough for safety systems, especially if they are going to take over control of the car like the upcoming speed limiters; If my brakes only worked 'most of the time' I would send the car to the scrap yard!

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

The old speedos over read at around 3-4 mph.

So you could confidently drive at an indicated 32-34 mph with no fear of a ping.

 

[bigblock]

23 minutes ago, Cyker said:

And that is why I love my HUD  

But 'most of the time' isn't good enough for safety systems, especially if they are going to take over control of the car like the upcoming speed limiters; If my brakes only worked 'most of the time' I would send the car to the scrap yard!

 

Agreed. If safety systems are going to take control like speed limiters then at present we are way off the mark. I forgot HUD systems. That must be very usefull. Never had that on my cars so far.

[Cyker]

I know right?? I still can't believe you can get a HUD on a smegging Yaris of all things!  

There are much more expensive cars that you can't get a HUD on even as an option, but there it is in my ickl Yaris!   I like to think my whinging about why I didn't get a Mk3 and the lists of stuff I wanted in a Yaris that I kept sending to cr@toyota.co.uk helped influence that a little but (Probably not really, but you never know...!)

It's what sealed the deal over the Honda Jazz hybrid for me (Which was a strong contender as it has much more flexible rear seats similar to the Mk1 and Mk2 Yaris!) - I'm used to the digital dashboards in the Mk1 and Mk2 Yaris, which are IMHO the best dashboards ever put in a car - They're in the middle in line with the rear view mirror, instead of hidden and obscured by the steering wheel, and are right in the corner of your eye line so you can see the big digital speedo without having to look away, and are collimated 5 or so metres forward so you don't need to refocus your eyes between the road and dash as much, which I find *greatly* reduced eye-strain and fatigue. I still think it is an incredibly innovative design that more cars should have, and just couldn't face going back to a ye olde Ford Model-T-esque analogue dials  

But people are scared of the new and unusual and Toyota feared they lost sales because of it so went back to crappy old analogue dials in the Mk3 (Booo), but at least the Mk4 has a digital dash even if it isn't collimated and is hidden behind the wheel. But thankfully because of the HUD I don't have to care about that