Thinking Of Getting A Corolla

[Al J]

Hi, I'm hoping you can help me out here, please.

At the moment I've got a 2002 Yaris 1 litre. Great little car but it's just had its first MOT and I'm thinking of changing my car for a new one this year.

Usually only myself or my girlfriend and me in the car but I'm thinking a bigger boot for those trips to IKEA and a little more speed for travelling to my caravan in North Wales might be nice. Not a boy racer by the way but a youthful (!) 50 year old.

I had toyed with getting a Yaris T-Sport for a while but I'm now finding myself strangely drawn towards a T3 1.6 5-door Corolla.

Not much to go on for you to give me advice I know, but some general opinions would be appreciated. Also anyone here move from a Yaris to Corolla?

Thanks in anticipation.

[andy_twincams]

sod it sell the yaris and get a ae86 drift bus

sorry just kidding,all toyotas are good and what ever you get will be good

[fatgazzer]

So whats this about being too old too be a boy racer at fifty. Blast down the A55 in a T sport :D

Gaz (aged 48 1/2 ;) )

[Al J]

So whats this about being too old too be a boy racer at fifty. Blast down the A55 in a T sport :D

Gaz (aged 48 1/2 ;) )

←

Just meant I don't race people from traffic lights! Got to go to Llandudno for work a few times this year so I do know what you mean!

[PaulT]

Not much to go on for you to give me advice I know, but some general opinions would be appreciated. Also anyone here move from a Yaris to Corolla?

←

Yeah, I started with a X-reg Yaris GS 1l, ex-demo car. After a year I was able to trade up to a Corolla T-Sport, 2003 model.

Thought the Yaris was a great little car, but the CTS is in a different class :D :D :D

Cheers

Paul.

[JT]

get a T-sport. you'll die of boredom otherwise

[corollags]

Cant comment on the Yaris coz Ive never driven one! Love my rolla tho! They are brill cars! Sad to see mine go but it is for sale if your interested.

My Car On Ebay

Ad

[Al J]

Looks a clean motor you've got there, mate but it's a new one I'm after. Anyone with a recent 1.6 (particularly T3) care to comment, please?

Getting the general idea that corollas are liked by their owners but then I suppose they would be if those people are on TOC. Doh!

[toy fan]

try looking at the corolla colour colection its a t3 in silver thats a hell of a lot cheaper

also it might be worth considering the 2.0 d4d its a flyer

[Twincam.GTi]

Al J Posted Today, 05:49 PM

 

Getting the general idea that corollas are liked by their owners but then I suppose they would be if those people are on TOC. Doh! 

Yes I like mine (both of them, so impressed with first one, I went out and bought another :D...8 years later.).

Only been on TOC since last year, but had my first Corolla (and first ever Toyota) for 12 years...which I still drive today.

[Andy R]

Bought a 1.6 T3 5 door on an '04 plate back in September. Doesn't handle as well as the Focus we had before, but it goes well and reasonable economy too (about 40mpg average if you take it steadyish). We had a test drivein a 1.4 at first and it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding....1.6 is far better.

Andy R

[Al J]

try looking at the corolla colour colection its a t3 in silver thats a hell of a lot cheaper

also it might be worth considering the 2.0 d4d its a flyer

←

I saw a colour collection at my dealers and though it was cheap (well, cheaper) but hadn't realised it was a T3. Thanks for the advice.

[jfly17]

:) HI ,MY WIFE HAS A YARIS TSPORT AND I HAVE A COROLLA 1.6 TSPIRIT AND I LIKE TO DRIVE THE COROLLA MORE . ESPECIALLY ON LONGER RUNS .

HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP .

[Al J]

Yes, indeed. Everyone's been very helpful. Thanks to you all.

It's looking like a 1.6 Colour Collection now it's been pointed out to me that it's a T3 so all the bits I want at £1325 less than a T3 with metallic paint. I had said to my girlfriend that silver wasn't an option as there were too many silver corollas on the road already but the price is very tempting and it's growing on me!

[Tawse57]

I went back to my Toyota dealer today to look at the Avensis. I have decided the Avensis is simply too big for my needs. Many months ago I had ruled out my first choice car - a Corolla - as when I sat in one I had no head room.

Today, I sat in one and there apepared to be alot more room. Reason being that I was sitting in a T3 as opposed to a sunroofed T Spirit. I wish I had time to get more of a chance to look one over but I had a, IMPO, very poor sales guy lurking who seemed not the slightest bit interested in being helpful but was hanging around in case I bought.

I am 6 foot 2 inches tall - anyone got any views on how suitable a 4 door Corolla is for someone of my height?

The Focus, which I had a good look at today, is a lovely looking car but it has that blue oval Badge on it.

[Fmrl]

I went back to my Toyota dealer today to look at the Avensis. I have decided the Avensis is simply too big for my needs. Many months ago I had ruled out my first choice car - a Corolla - as when I sat in one I had no head room.

This might be a dumb question so let me apologise in advance but did you try lowering the seat? (there's a second lever on the right hand side of the drivers seat for this).

Today, I sat in one and there apepared to be alot more room. Reason being that I was sitting in a T3 as opposed to a sunroofed T Spirit. I wish I had time to get more of a chance to look one over but I had a, IMPO, very poor sales guy lurking who seemed not the slightest bit interested in being helpful but was hanging around in case I bought.

I actually prefer it if the salesguys don't bother me at all when I'm looking round - I can't stand it when the go for the hard sell.

I am 6 foot 2 inches tall - anyone got any views on how suitable a 4 door Corolla is for someone of my height?

I'm 6 foot - I've never had a problem with the Corolla (and I fit in a Yaris too!).

The Focus, which I had a good look at today, is a lovely looking car but it has that blue oval badge on it.

I was thinking of getting a Focus ST170 just before I decided on the Corolla. The Focus is supposed to be a really good car, the only thing that swung it for me was that my local Ford dealer weren't interested in budging on price so I walked away.

[ariovistus]

Hi all - new user/first post! I just had to drop a comment into this one ...

(Tawse57 @ Feb 3 2005, 02:31 PM)

Today, I sat in one and there apepared to be alot more room. Reason being that I was sitting in a T3 as opposed to a sunroofed T Spirit. I wish I had time to get more of a chance to look one over but I had a, IMPO, very poor sales guy lurking who seemed not the slightest bit interested in being helpful but was hanging around in case I bought

I'm 1.85 meters (6'1" ??) and have a T-Spirit (2002 version in Neptune Blue) with no probs once I got the seat adjustments all worked out, although I've noticed everyone at the Toyota service centre seems to be very short

I must admit that I've found the sunroof a bit of a waste of time, but I got the T-Spirit rather than the T3 'cos the dealer did a nice deal compared to getting the latter with the full aircon (was I conned?) All in all a nice car and I felt a better drive than the Focus (although Ford have upgraded that a lot since then.)

Now: what am I going to get next?

HTH

[Tawse57]

Thanks guys... Yes, I did lower the seat. I think the problem was twofold. One was the sun-roof which does intrude quite a bit and, second, the hassle from the salesguys when I was looking on a few occasions. I've just posted this in the Avensis forum:

Dealers can be terrible. I was put right off Toyotas after 3 visits to my local Swansea dealer and getting some incredibly rubbish attitudes, IMPO, from the staff. On one occasion, when I made serious enquiries about the Prius and asked to book a test drive, the salesguy, when asked how many they had sold, said:

"All my serious customers have bought one!"

So, for that ***** comment alone, the Swansea Toyota dealership will not get my money. I actually went back today to compare Avensis with Corolla and left feeling that the attitude had not improved.

However, prior to Christmas, I visited the Cardiff dealership and, boy, what a difference, They were welcoming, friendly, informative with a no pressure attitude and I will certainly be visiting them again the next few weeks. If I do buy a Toyota it will be from them and not from Swansea.

So, I suggest that you try another Toyota dealership.

It's reassuring that other 6 footers don't appear to have a problem although I did read one review, think it was on Parkers, where someone commented that they had problems in a Corolla re their height.

I spent about an hour in a Ford dealership today trying to get comfy in the new Focus. Thankfully the sales people left me alone and I managed to get pretty comfy. The Focus is a nice car, and I have not seen a bad review of them, but I am having 'buying a blue oval badge' car problem - if you see what I mean, But they are supposed to be top quality now and I read that VW poached quite a few of the Focus team to build the new Golf.

I wouldn't buy a Focus new though whereas I would buy a Corolla or Golf. My neighbour's mother-in-law's deceased husband worked in Ford and yet, decades after he passed on, they still get enormous discounts on new Fords... so they get a new Mondeo each year for something stupid like £150. It is nuts. I am ranting now!

I love the Yaris and, oddly, I feel more comfortable in it than in a Corolla or Avensis... but I looked at a Yaris in a different dealership so maybe I had more time to get comfy.

Out of interest, when you are comfy in the driver's seat what room do you have behind you - can you go and sit behind the driver's seat and still feel comfy in the back?

[Fmrl]

Thanks guys... Yes, I did lower the seat. I think the problem was twofold. One was the sun-roof which does intrude quite a bit and, second, the hassle from the salesguys when I was looking on a few occasions.

My car doesn't have a sunroof (I don't think they're available on the CTS?) so I didn't know about this.

The salesguys at my local dealer were really good when I bought my car (dealership changed hands recently so I guess they're all a bit keen to impress their customers). It does vary from dealer to dealer though, I don't know if it makes any difference if you report any good/bad experiences to Toyota GB (I guess if they get enough complaints then they'll do something about it).

Out of interest, when you are comfy in the driver's seat what room do you have behind you - can you go and sit behind the driver's seat and still feel comfy in the back?

I always have the seat pushed as far back as possible so I doubt that there's any room in the back at all (I don't have any kids and I'm too tight to take my mates anywhere so it doesn't bother me).

[ariovistus]

Tawse57 Posted Yesterday, 08:31 PM

... Swansea Toyota dealership will not get my money ... However, prior to Christmas, I visited the Cardiff dealership and, boy, what a difference

Thanks for that: I'll be moving down that way sometime in the next few months and also in the market for a new motor. It's useful to know peoples' experiences with different dealers

Tawse57 Posted Yesterday, 08:31 PM

Out of interest, when you are comfy in the driver's seat what room do you have behind you - can you go and sit behind the driver's seat and still feel comfy in the back?

A good point: I do have the seat a fair way back. Enough that I have to adjust forward slightly when the rear seats are all lowered to open up the storage space. But then I rarely have anyone sat in the back.