2007 Corolla

I didn't see it this morning, but I was just on www.toyota.ca and saw the new 2007 Corolla and Matrix. I didn't check out the differences yet to '06. I guess that makes our cars a year older now.

 

I looked at the site briefly, but didn't notice anything different as far as styling is concerned. I'll have to read more into it.

There aren't any differences between that 2007 and my 2005 or a 2006 other than the couple of options that they decided to bundle together differently. They aren't any new options available, only new packages, well except the 16" wheel option for the 'S'. They also took the leather option off the 'LE', not like that is a loss, becuase no one bought it. There is one new colour for the 'S' model only, and it is a brighter blue called Speedway Blue.

I doubt Toyota made any real changes other than dropping the XRS. The Corolla is in its second to last year for this design and all they are likely to do is to change up some options, add some parts they already had from another model that are compatible and maybe that one colour. Otherwise the cars will be identical.

The 2008's will be coming out soon and your car will be two years old.

The 2009 won't come out until March of 2008 or possibly later than that depending on how major of an overhaul Toyota is planning. My lease began in mid-May 2005. Therefore my car won't be two years old for 9 more months. When my lease is up in mid-May 2008, the new model will have been out for a while already. If I like it, I may lease a 2009 Corolla. If I don't, I'll either keep my Corolla or upgrade to a nicer car like an Accord Coupe.

I'm not upset I got a 2005 instead of a 2006 model. The differences between the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 models are non-existant in my book, and the deal I got on the 2005 when I leased it has yet to be repeated for the 2006 or 2007 models. Had I leased a 2005 Civic, I'd be upset right now. The 2006 Civic was such a vastly improved car over the 2005 that I would feel as if I was stuck with an outdated model for 3 years instead of not being stuck with a 9th generation Corolla after the 10th generation comes out.

I am stuck on the 7th generation Corollas.The new styles don't yet appeal to me.

I had the oppertunity to purchase a 2002 Corolla LE auto with 12k on it for 9,000 USD. This car was driven by an older woman who had every maintenance performed by our local dealer based on time because she didn't drive a lot. She was the car's only owner. This car had never been in an accident of any sort, not even a parking lot dent by another car's door. The car was loaded, ABS, 6 Disc Changer, Side Airbags, Sunroof, Leather Wheel, Cruise, Tilt, AC, Power Everything, Folding Seats, Auto Lights, Etc. The interior was immaculate, the floormats didn't show one sign of wear, neither did the seats.

Everything about the car was perfect. However, I had three problems with purchasing it. One was that the loan on the car was only for two years which meant the payment was almost double the lease payment on my new car. Two was that the car was no longer under warranty because it was more than 3 years old. Three was that, for my taste and needs, the 8th generation Corolla has three problems. One is that the trunk is too small and not shaped in a way conductive to my stuff. Two is that the backseat is way to small for my friends. Three was that the car seemed too tiny when compared with other cars I'd driven.

Because of the higher payment, the lack of a warranty, the smallness, and the fact that it was bright Red, I passed it up. It was such a shame, because I could have overlooked the smallness if the payment could have been lower and I could have got a good extended warranty included in the purchase price of the car and still kept the payment reasonable. But I'm so satisfied with my 9th generation that I really don't seriously regret my decision to get the 2005.

The XRS will be sadly missed.

And Toyota don't even want to use 195/65/15 for tires now.

I know I am doing the right thing by continuing to look for that perfect stick 01 Corolla S for my next little pig. I am totally sold on the 8th gen.

(I'm in 3rd gear! Woot!)

I enjoy the lack of crap on my 2003 CE such as the $100 keys related to the engine immobilizer.

In my opinion, junk like that needs to be optional. My spare key was $2.00 at Ace Hardware.

You need to look at production systems and think about what you are saying. You are actually claiming that you want to pay more for a more stripped down car. When they make certain things standard and package things on the car, they do it to save you money. For every stand alone option, you add many differnet configurations to the finished car. The more configurations you have, the more the car costs to make, the less reliable it is, and the more it costs you to buy. By making those $100 dollar keys optional, you would end up paying more for your car. The reasoning behind this is as follows: Say only 15% of Corollas have the TI key for 2004. Toyota is paying $300 per equipped car for the keys, programming and ECU. They don't charge the 15% of the people who want that option $400 for it, they charge every Corolla owner $15 dollars extra in the base MSRP and then charge the people who want it $300 for it. In that case, you are paying for a feature you don't have. Had they made the feature standard, they could have bought the initial parts at a much lower price and you would have paid what the MSRP was for the car without it when it was optional for a car with the security system.

By packaging options together they ensure that a higher number of cars will come with any given feature and using the logic above they can not only charge less for the options but bake less cost into every car.

This may sound like Bullsnip, but it is true, baked into the MSRP of any given vehicle is the fact that the car has so many configurations available and that this costs Toyota more money to make the car. Just think, you paid more for your car because Toyota gave me the option to order a car with power everything, a sunroof, ets, etc. Had Toyota only made one model of Corolla with one set of features and only 1 transmission with only 1 color, you could have probably paid 3 or 4 grand less for your car. However, that production system wouldn't fly today because nobody wants to drive a car exactly what everyone else has.