As a father, I have to rationalize my automotive wanderlust at times. I can’t go buy a sportscar on a whim, no matter how great the deal, as I still have to feed and transport my children. But something interesting with four doors gives me pause. Also, as my oldest child creeps closer to driving age, I ponder what would be ideal for her.
The Corolla hasn’t been an exciting car for decades, and I’d imagine that few Americans even considered the vaunted AE86 chassis to be a performance car until a dozen years (and countless imported DVDs) had passed. The Corolla is the car that cemented the “beige” reputation of Toyota. Reliable, boring, dependable, slow.
After all, my mother has driven nothing but Corollas for 25 years. Need I say more?
Occasionally, however, someone in Toyota City accidentally switches from decaf for a day, and something special happens. The 2005 Toyota Corolla XRS is the result.
The 170-plus horsepower VVTi engine, typically found in Celicas and Lotus Elises, makes the basic commuter penalty box a relative rocketship. A six-speed gearbox was the only transmission available. Beware when shopping, however, as the XRS nameplate came back a few years later. That car offered a big-bore 4-cylinder out of a Camry that had some extra power, but never had the high redline of the early car.
There are a half-dozen or so of these for sale right now. At $8,300, this is priced right in the middle, and looks pretty good save for a possible dent on the passenger door — it’s hard to tell in dealer photos, so often taken with Motorola RAZR phone at best.
I love the deep grey paint; perfect for blending in with the rest of the more basic Toyotas on the road.
I’d consider the door dent a bit of urban camouflage: I’d even consider pre-denting a bumper or two.
The only Corolla I desire.
And the only one you couldn’t buy in 2005! It was pure bait & switch at the dealerships! They advertised XRS, they sold “Corolla S” which is just the regular Corolla with the body package.
The interior, the paints, that dent, the color, the fabric.
Haz too many sads. Seriously, I’ve driven and ridden in more than one of this model Corolla. Each time I got out my thought was “My GOD I’m glad I don’t have to drive around in one of those.”
Just say no. Especially for that wacko price, which is similar vintage LEXUS money.
Actually, I think that vintage Corolla is the last one that really earned the reputation the nameplate has. The new ones are crap. Eventually the fanbase will figure it out.
They’re reliable, yes. Just awful in most other ways. Anybody who has driven a decent car to any extent should hate that model Corolla.
Did any Corollas really drive that well?
Well, beyond the much loved AE86, which drives so great that people cant keep themselves from modding it.
I’ve driven – extensively, like DD for a year – a 2005 Corolla LE.
It’s not awful.
The only real problem it had was a squeaky center console from the factory – and pulling the fascia and putting in some foam and RTV fixed that.
It’s not even that *slow*, from any reasonable perspective; 130HP in 2500 pounds, and 8.9 to 60 is perfectly good.
If it’s “slow”, you’re either too used to sports cars, or you’re *forgetting to put the pedal down*.
It drives just fine, too.
Lol, it IS awful!
And when I was driving them, it was when I had a GS430. I was like “OH CRAP WHAT IS WRONG!?” at the first entrance ramp.
Corey, you crack me up. “WTF won’t this little car get me up to speed like my V8 luxury sedan?! I can’t believe toyota thinks this can compete with the GS and BMW 5 series in the marketplace!”
I didn’t think it was a competitor to what I was used to!
I DID think it was awful, not as good as the prior 90’s Corolla, or the equivalent Civic.
So there!
Corey, if you can’t appreciate 130hp routed noisily through 4 wide ratios all while being coddled by unsupportive front seats swathed in the best mouse fur fabric borrowed from the 1990s, I don’t know what to tell you.
I say good day to you, sir ;)
I think my $700 Buick could be faster than one of these Corollas.
It’s certainly a lot more comfortable!
We owned an Escort for ages. Loud, tinny, and crude. That’s what an economy car came to mean to me. I don’t want to go through that ordeal again!
I once drove an ’07 rental Rolla, the only notable trait it had was terrible throttle response. Heck, even my old Volvos respond better!
No. The new ones are not crap.
Yes they are, they dont even have a front bumper!
Toyota bungled a lot of details I’m not sure the aftermarket can fix. The biggest one being the fact that the 1-2 and I think even the 2-3 shift take you out of “VTEC”. Personally I feel like the one with the 2.4L is a better buy. It’s the same motor out of the Camry and more importantly the Scion TC, so there is a lot of aftermarket support for it. And of course there is no replacement for displacement. Won’t rev to 8K because it doesn’t have to.
Haha beat me to the punch on the 2.4L recommendation! We both drive non-Si 1.8L Civics as well I think. Weird how that stuff happens.
Same, I’d take the big motor vs the high strung motor every day.
My mother owns an ’09 Matrix XRS now at 125K. It isn’t anything special. Very noisy on the road and while not SLOW, it isn’t really quick either. Gets about 25MPG.
Reliability has been alright but the valve cover was leaking badly around 110K and it has recently started smoking at startup and consuming oil. Also had a rear window switch fail and needed to replace the battery cables.
It never really felt like a high-quality product and it seems pretty used up at this point. She’ll probably be replacing it in the next year and I’ve told her to check out the Verano as that seems to be the quietest compact car in her price range.
On the other hand, my stepfather’s Tundra is still roaring along just fine at nearly 200K. It seems like the best built Toyotas are the trucks/SUVs and hybrids.
Read Davefromcalgary’s comments before you encourage anyone you care about to buy a Verano.
I’m hoping that the 2.4-auto combination will hold up better than his turbo-manual one.
Anyway I’m not thrilled about giving GM money but there just isn’t a quieter new compact car available in her price range.
It really does look like the issues I have had mainly stemmed from the MT. I think you have a much higher likelyhood of solid reliability with the AT, and the 2.4. NA ECOTEC motors have always been solid for me.
Except for the massive frame recall on the Tacomas & Tundras, of course.
“The Corolla hasn’t been an exciting car for decades..”
My doofus kid brother needs his shoes to be exciting, too.
All the time showing up with neon colors on ’em or bizarre materials NASA let leak.
Is he much younger than you or something?
These are the people that go for Mitsubishis, because they’re cool.
There is a difference between lime green shoes and a classy pair of black dress boots.
These people choose luxury cars. Ironically, they’re cooler than a fart-can Eclipse will ever be. And, the best part- not many people will even notice.
Earlier this week, I leaving the grocery store, when I notice someone has just parked beside me in a late-model Jag XJ8, in pewter. The driver’s a middle-aged woman in track pants and lime green shoes.
Mind you, I rattlecan’ed my winter tire hubcaps a similar shade and have neutral coloured shoes, so who am I to judge?
No sale. I test drove the almost identical Matrix XRS that year and was severely underwhelmed. There was nothing glaringly wrong with it, and I appreciate they’re reliability superstars, but everything about it was just so utterly soulless, even with the 2ZZ-GE.
Toyota tried to rekindle the old Corolla GT-S spirit with this and the Matrix XR-S, but the basic cars were just too far gone down the boring/mediocre scale to save with a hot motor. Anything short of ripping redline shifts, this is basically no different than any other 03-08 Corolla except it rides worse. I almost find the successor 09-13 XRS a more appealing choice, as it got the torquier 158hp 2.4L motor. I find both the 03-08 and 09-13 Corollas to have a weird seating layout where either I can’t get the steering wheel close enough with the seat moved out far enough (03-08 issue), or I feel like my head is way too close to the a-pillar (09-13). They’re still incredibly competent, simple, and durable A-B cars, but they’re not comfortable for taller people IMO.
As an aside, I’m starting to see the 03-08 gen Corollas rust, mostly in the area where the rocker panel meets the rear wheel well. Matrixes are starting to “bloom” around the rear wheel arches as well. Similar age Civics seem to hold up better, Honda really nailed the corrosion engineering side of things after the 6th gen Civics, the last to suffer the famous Honda rear quarter panel rust. GM Deltas (Cobalt, G5, Ion) are perhaps the biggest standouts, my brother works on them regularly and commends them for almost-Teutonic levels of rust-resistance on bodies, suspension hardware, etc. A nice departure from the old J bodies.
Martixes? Matrices?
the matrix/vibe is the best variant of that vintage corolla. it is more solidly planted to the ground. however, millions of examples of corollas still sell like hotcakes and enthusiasts can eat crow.
So it’s grounded to the ground, right?
It’s hard to not respect the Carolla, though. I could swear a decade ago every single one of my wife’s single female friends drove one.
I can honestly say I never knew this car existed until today. A Corolla with an 8000rpm redline?! Who knew?
If they would put the 2.5L in the current Corolla, I would buy one.
Heck just buy a Camry! My gf is amazingly eking out close to 35mpg in her mixed commute with her “driving Miss Daisy” driving style behind the wheel of her 2012 2.5L SE. My one complaint is the interior occasionally has a few un-Toyota like buzzing vibrations in the awful dash. Amended with the 2015 refresh thankfully. No other issues in 54k miles, as expected. Synthetic oil changes every 10k, oil still looks fine and barely any gets consumed. Other than that just wiper blades, one air filter, one cabin filter, and a set of tires this past spring.
I wouldn’t buy a Corolla even if the motor was a matter/antimatter reactor – the thing feels junky. So many better choices in this segment now.
Depends. I’d personally take a chance on something more exciting, for my DD. If its for our secondary car, a “big block” Corolla would be hard to beat in terms of uptime.
Oh really and what would those be? Dart? Built by the worst automaker in the industry. Focus? JunkTransmissions. Sentra? Lol. Elantra? Same old Hyundai with fancy styling. Cruze? Government Motors. And I can guarantee I’ve had more stick time in each of these far more than anybody here
The New Civic might be better and it should be for having a three year leap on the current Corolla, but then it will be vice versa when the Corolla gets redesigned.
I would take the cruze or dart over the corolla. I haven’t driven a new civic but for me I haven’t fit well in any of the previous versions (6’3″) The dart and cruze feel like bigger more expensive cars on the highway while still feeling like the large compacts they are around town. The NVH in a dart/cruze vs a corolla is night and day.
I was seriously impressed with the NVH and the ride quality of the suspension when I test drove a Cruze last fall.
The Focus rides and handles better, is quieter, and has a better interior. I’m not familiar with any long-term transmission problems. I assume you are referring to the auto transmission.
The Sentra rides better, is quieter, and has a better interior. It is also quite spacious with a huge trunk, and Nissans often sell at discounts. I blame their fleet volume for that, because the car seems perfectly competent to me.
The Cruze has body control and NVH refinement levels on par with luxury cars circa ’00. It’s quiet for anything short of modern luxury cars, nevermind a C-segment. It might not encourage aggressive driving, but it isn’t a floaty mess either. Again, I think it has a better interior than the Corolla.
Then there is the Mazda3, with an interior more on par with Acura than anything in the segment, at least in the upper trims. Although subjective, I also think it’s the best looking in the class.
Meanwhile the current Corolla has a noisy unrefined engine, a floppy mess of a suspension, a flimsy feeling chassis, cheap interior, I think laptop speakers for a sound system, and road noise that I did not know was possible in a modern car. It’s reliability is a demerit – you’ll wish it would die after a few weeks. I found it a thoroughly hateful vehicle.
It’s a stealth bomber. If you feel it’s fun to drive, should be a winner.
As for the price, I like to compare the percentage of original you’re paying vs the percentage of useful life remaining. So at 75,000 miles it’s consumed about 1/3 of the useful mechanical life. As pointed out upthread though, it may be pretty rusty after another 10 years in Penna.
Eight grand for an 11 year old Corolla! I want some of what he’s smoking!
They are vanishingly rare cars.
Corollas are easy targets to pick on, and one with an 8000 rpm redline perhaps doubly so. However, this generation was a good car. Arguably better than any Corolla since the Toyota glory days of the mid-1990s. It came out in the early 2000s, so remember what it was competing with back then. The front seats and driving position were terrible though.
For me it’s 93-97>>>98-02>03-08>09-13, focused mostly on interior, exterior styling, ergonomics, overall quality of finish, and how they compared to their contemporary rivals within each time frame.
I’d swap the 98-02 and 03-08 but otherwise agree. I wish Toyota would take note that as a Toyota customer you see a 20-year linear decline in the desirability of one of their top sellers. But it is still a top seller so they probably don’t care what you or I think.
The Cutlass was a top seller so Olds didn’t care either. And it’s not like this is 1990, when the choice was between a Corolla and a few other Japanese models, or utter garbage – those days are gone. Based on how it drives, and its perceived quality, I think the Corolla is by far the worst car in its segment, and the junky feel makes me wonder whether the reliability is still there.
Complacence = death in the auto biz. That’s what enabled Toyota to become what it is today, and I can’t believe they’re ignoring this lesson.
There is truth to that, but Corollas aren’t falling apart on their owners, conspicuously behind on features, or seem to be missing their target audience, so I don’t see how they will alienate customers in the way you’ve suggested.
I personally see no draw in a bland 140hp appliance sedan in the Year of Our Lord 2015 either, but it does exactly what people expect it to do. It runs cheap, it runs forever, it holds value, and with that backseat it is now a midsize sedan at compact car prices.
What competing car should Toyota be emulating? More interesting choices like the 3 and Golf don’t sell. Premium cabins with cramped backseats (Focus, Cruze) haven’t caught it. H/K makes a couple more stylish Corollas but don’t exceed the Toyota in any of its fundamental strengths. The Dart? The Sentra? The incoming Civic seems to have the best shot at dethroning it, but that could be said of just about every generation in the last 20 years.
It’s a compact car that serves its target buyers well. For some reason that bothers people around here. Since you have alternatives, it probably shouldn’t.
30 mile fetch, you get it, most do not.
We have a new 3 and a ’03 Matrix (my car). I do appreciate the 3 but I still really like the Matrix because it still does what I need it to do, over and over, years later. If only for that wonky driving position.
30-mile –
The Corolla’s drawing card has always been durability. Problem is, the competition is catching up in this regard. The same is true of the entire lineup.
The entire Toyota line is coasting on reputation, which I think is dangerous for them. Their buyers are a loyal bunch, but the loyalty was largely earned 15-20 years ago, when Toyota products were vastly superior to most of its competition. That’s a lot less true today. It will take time for their buyers to figure out that they can get 90% of the reliability of a Toyota with none of the accompanying dullness, lack of style, and tinny feel, but when they do, watch out.
Buyers will sacrifice a bit of drive-it-until-it-begs-to-die-300,000-miles-later reliability for some style and driving fun, as long as the alternative is reasonably reliable.
This doesn’t mean Toyota’s set up for a Oldsmobile-style fall, but it does mean they risk losing sales in the near future. I’d like to see them use some of that technical expertise and produce some cars that are fun AND bulleproof. If anyone can do it, Toyota can.
Time’ll tell, Mike, this relative equalizing of quality between brands is interesting to me and who knows how it will play out long term. There’s no doubt you are correct that Toyota is no longer head and shoulders above competition, but Toyota as a brand is still coming out ahead of just about everyone in the most visible reliability surveys.
I could be wrong, but in this class of car I’m guessing that most buyers are in it almost entirely for cost effectiveness and utilitarian aspects. Hard to beat the Corolla by those metrics and the interior is no longer the Playskool krap of the 2009 refresh.
“It will take time for their buyers to figure out that they can get 90% of the reliability of a Toyota with none of the accompanying dullness, lack of style, and tinny feel, but when they do, watch out”
In a world of dull-driving Hyundais, tinny Hondas, loud Mazdas, stylish but fundamentally flawed domestics (Malibu, Focus Powershift, Chrysler 200, Dodge Dart) and unloved Nissans, this comment doesn’t resonate strongly with me. Enthusiasts will rightly look elsewhere. Mainstream buyers are still served well by Toyota.
“I’d like to see them use some of that technical expertise and produce some cars that are fun AND bulleproof. If anyone can do it, Toyota can.”
I’ll certainly agree with that. Their 3.5 V6 and the chassis of the Lexus IS and GS show they’ve got the talent but aren’t prioritizing it.
FreedMike literally has no grasp as to how the market works. I’m glad you’re not running (ruining) a car company.
Reliability is the NUMBER ONE aspect people look for in a car. Period. End of discussion. The notion that people will sacrifice reliability for a “more stylish” car proves you’re out of touch. Toyota dominates pretty much every single reliability survey each and every year. I’ve heard the same crap about how so and so has caught up, how new Toyota’s are going to fall apart blah blah blah for the past 10 years from “enthusiasts” on the Internet and yet, their dreams are not reality.
And Toyota’s whole lineup is not uncompetitive with other makes, save maybe the Yaris. Once again another fallacy and disproven argument.
I agree with Mike. People won’t take a less reliable, but stylish car. But, they will take a reliable and more stylish car everytime.
That’s where Toyota’s lost their way- they used to have a massive reliability lead. Today- they still do, but not nearly as much. Especially for lease customers, this doesn’t matter. Honda builds a nicer product, and does well. Toyota I think is in the same spot as GM of the 1970s- resting on their laurels, waiting for something to happen.
The Civic follows more or less the same pattern, we’ll see if the 2016 sets them back on the right track much like the 2013 Accord turned things around. Having said that, I’ve been very pleased with my 2012 Civic within the constraints of reliable, efficient, comfortable commuting. My ’90 Wagon was much more interesting but it’d knock your kidneys loose going over bumps, and was a more fragile, spindly vehicle mechanically speaking.
90% of drivers never drive anything with a third pedal and don’t know the difference between torque and horsepower, understeer or oversteer etc.
They need a bulletproof reliable economical appliance.
Corollas are perfect for this 90% of the drivers.
Many cars are perfect for that too, and in some ways better.
Or get a similar vintage Lexus IS300 for roughly the same price, but far better driving dynamics and interior features?
It’s weird how we all looked down on the original IS as a 3-series also ran when it was new, but these days recognize it as a worthwhile competitor that is FAR more reliable as a daily driver and FAR cheaper to maintain. I’d say the trade-off between reliability and performance/feel is a wash. I’d get an IS. In fact I almost did, if my wife hadn’t nixed the deal for reasons she didn’t care to explain (I think she just couldn’t get past the idea of buying a car with almost 100,000 miles, even if it was only $8600).
My ideal IS300 would be a Sportcross with a manual transmission! The IS300 is still one of my favorite Toyotas, especially since they were RWD and had a solid aesthetic about them, inside and out. Also, the only place where Altezza lighting looks appropriate (fancy that…)
I prefer the MatriVibe twins, you still get a dullard car but at least it looks different whike offering a hatch.
Otherwise I dont really care for Corollas, or their strange following. To admire Corolla is to admire that clothing hangar you brought at the Dollar Tree.
“To admire Corolla is to admire that clothing hangar you brought at the Dollar Tree.”
…crows the “enthusiast” and connoisseur of worn out, used up jalopies.
You realized that to 99% of the population, the guy making fun of someone for buying a practical, reliable, new car while driving the proverbial crapcan looks pretty insane?
For someone that loves my posts, you have pretty bad reading comprehension.
I never mentioned new car buyers, I meant Corollas worshippers, which can mean a brand new model or a battered 3-speef rust bucket.
What do you drive?
An old Volvo 740 turbo with too many miles, it was a risky if insane purchase but its held up pretty well.
No I wouldnt but it over a new Corolla, maybe an equivalent used model though.
Ugh, so many typos on my part!
Youre free to tell me that Volvos are ugly, overated, blah blah blah. I dont quite get some of their fans myself.
To appreciate a Corolla is fine, to brag about it, worship it, treat it like theyre your own kid, that Ill never understand.
“to brag about it, worship it, treat it like theyre your own kid”
You’re moving the goal posts, no one on here has ever bragged about or worshiped the Corolla, but some of us have taken it upon ourselves merely to defend it on its merits against the childish Jalopnik mindset that some commentors insist on taking any time there’s an article about a Corolla or Camry.
The current Corolla has an absolutely cavernous rear seat for the class, gets excellent real world fuel economy, and still holds a very real edge in reliability over most competitors that people keep bringing up (Cruze, Focus, and especially Dart come to mind). Some shoppers have other priorities like a sportier, more engaging ride or more interesting styling, but to very many people, the Corolla is just the ticket and they love their new cars. They can look forward to a ‘very boring’ ownership experience defined by very few in or out of warranty claims or repairs, straightforward servicing, and very low total cost of ownership when things like depreciation are taken into account. It’s not my top choice either, but I can understand and respect why it is the choice of so many.
I cant really knock the Jalopnik crowd when they get get shadow-banned frequently on that site, but whatever floats your boat.
As far as the new Corolla goes I’d rather have the latest Scion IM personally.
Surprise surprise, the Toyota hating moron brigade is out in full force. These are great cars, very reliable and easy to maintain. The XRS is a hoot to drive and the 2ZZ is a gem. I’d take a 9th gen Corolla over any of the cars 99% of the ignorant haters here have.
“I’d take a 9th gen Corolla over any of the cars 99% of the ignorant haters here have.”
Which model do you currently own, then? Seems you’re able to give unbiased opinions, and I’d like to hear more from you.
Ah, typical Corolla worshipper I see. Extremely defensive and very dismissive of other opinions.
@ Ryoku75
Nah, he’s just tired of the only opinions coming from people being solely negative and relegated to “LOLCRAPBOX” banter between the community at large.
I actually owned one of these exact cars; 2005 XRS in black sand pearl, a surprisingly hard to find color on an even more hard to find car. Made in Canada and didn’t have any glaring manufacturing defects / oversights. The XRS models came stock with a front strut tower stiffener, stiffer shocks and 17″ wheels (slightly larger than the base models). In fact, the wheels and the rear badging are the only way to tell the car apart from it’s bland brethren from the outside. The only thing that went wrong with my car were the gear syncros in 6th, but apparently Toyota has issues with the manuals in the Matrix and other cars. They’re certainly no Honda when it comes to engineering a solid manual tranny (even though Honda has it’s own set of gearbox syncro issues in certain cars… that’s a topic for another article)
Inside, the car did it’s job. Nothing fancy, but then again, if you were driving the XRS model, that’s kind of how you wanted it anyway (at least I did).
I currently drive an ’05 Acura RSX Type-S and while I view that car as the more well-engineered economy sport package, there were things that the XRS did better. The turning radius on my XRS was tighter and the sound system inside wasn’t BOSE so that automatically makes it superior. The two cars drive very similarly; driving both, I’d have no problem keeping up with myself on a twisty road in the XRS. Road noise was a bit better inside the Corolla, though neither car will fool you into thinking they aren’t econoboxes at their heart.
The Corolla gets a lot of flak for being boring (and really, doesn’t do much of anything except a) to b) travel). But the XRS is a rare example of Toyota doing something to try and rekindle that old bygone era when Toyota actually cared about driving enthusiasm. I wouldn’t mind owning one again if it came with reasonably low miles.
He needs to get used to it then, besides I see more very positive Corolla comments on a regular basis.
04-07 Corolla-Matrix-Vibe have Takata air bags and the worst failure rate of all Takata equipped vehicles of over 2%. Manual transmission bearings on 5-speeds might as well be made of plastic as they can’t even take the torque of the 1.8 under the hood and suffer from a ridiculous high failure rate for a row your own gear box.
Whuz that? An UNRELIABLE COROLLA?
You’re just hater! Go back to your Chevy Prizm!
BWHAHAHAHAHA! I see what you did there.
I’m surprised that nobody has made the comparison with the Lotus Cortina yet.
$8300 for a 10 year old Corolla with Takata air bags and the highest failure rate of all Takata equipped vehicles of over 2%..Unrepaired body work screams deferred maintenance.
Forget it.
One thing that I’ve learned from this series is that used car prices remain way higher than what I’m willing to pay.