Prospective Corolla Buyer

The the US, the CD changer is standard on the LE. We got the most basic LE possible (even a 5sp) and it has the CD changer and upgraded heater with rear vents, and fake wood trim. If the CD changer isn't standard, I would go after market. The stock stereo (even the upgraded one) isn't that good at all.

I've never been in a Corolla with leather. If you can find one, compare the leather to a Lexus. It "should" be real, but then it might only have leather on the top part and the rest might be vinal wrapped. If you really, really want leather, you might get nicer seats if you go after market. You can install them DIY, or find a shop to do it for you.

http://www.katzkin.com

Welcome to the Corolla Forums!

I'm in Delaware, USA, so I can't speak to your Canadian-specific questions. However, I've owned two Corollas, and I keep an eye on what comes into my local dealer all the time. I've NEVER seen an LE with leather seats. The sales manager tells me that there just isn't a demand for them, since the package they come in makes the Corolla cost as much as a mid-level Camry. About the only way to get them, and have some control over other options like colors, your 6-disc CD changer, etc. would be to special order the car, which would take around 6 - 8 weeks, if it is even possible at your dealership.

The really high-end features in the overseas (non-North American) Corollas are available there because over there smaller cars are more widely accepted, what with gasoline prices 2X or more than we're paying in the U.S. and Canada. Again, to include a digital climate control system in a Corolla would blow it's price point here in the North American market.

I've always thought that Toyota should capitalize on the Corolla's reputation for reliability and make a Lexus version called, the Lexus Corolla. Yes, the Lexus Corolla. Not the Lexus XYZ or something like that. The Lexus Corolla. It would have the same basic exteriors, but with a more plush, leather interior, the digital climate control, and other available features like the automatic parking, etc. It could start in the mid-20's and drivers who wanted a compact, economical, and reliable car with a true luxury-car look and feel, would probably snatch them up as fast as Toyota could build them! The deliberate combination of the Lexus and Corolla names would drive home the luxury/economy/reliability points.

Toyota -- I know you're reading this. The question is, are you afraid of making money? BTW -- for coming up with the idea, I want one of the first production Lexus Corollas! And three million dollars, US.

http://www.toyota.com/

go aftermarket for audio stuff, and even leather seats. i'm not a fan of leather but i'm sure whatever leather seats come on there are most likely not very good.

My CE came with rear heater vents as standard, but I guess it's because we need them here more.

According to the '07 Corolla flyer, an option is the "LE Package", which states it comes with "leather seat surfaces" as well as a few other goodies.

As for the stereo (as I've said many times) you can get a darn good MP3 player for less than the cost of an upgrade. That way you have equal to several cd's. If you want, you can add a cd changer and then have enough music to travel across the country and never hear the same song twice.

I was about to give the same advice as Muzak about the mp3 player. I use my iPod in my Corolla, simply playing it using a cassette adapter. It works great, sounds great, and requires no modifications. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, the newer Corollas have a jack to plug in an iPod or generic mp3 player. If not, the cassette adapter or an FM transmitter work just as well.

Note to Toyota: On the Lexus Corolla, make the mp3 compatability standard equipment.

All you late model Corolla owners must be rich. I don't know how much you spent for your cars (or what your monthly payments are), but I haven't had to make a car payment since I purchased a new minivan in 1990. I sold that car in 1997 and have been buying e-bay specials ever since. I don't have a new car with all the options, but I have no car payment either. No one in my family (we all drive Corollas - with one Tercel exception) makes any car payment.

If you have enough money, you could order a car with every option you want and if you can't get it there - have it put in after market.

For the right price - leather seats are available.

The average commuter just wants a reliable, dependable basic transportatin vehicle.

All the extras are just a plus on the cars, if they come with some options.

All the extras are just a plus on the cars, if they come with some options.

To me, those extras are what is necessary to justify buying a new Corolla over a 5 year old BMW.

I haven't had them and therefore don't know what I am missing. To me even a 5 year old BMW would be a step up.

Well, nOOb poster to this forum here. I have been reading here for about 6-months or so, same time we started looking for a car. Were a three car family 2003 G20 mine, 2004 Neon daughter and the wifes 2006 Corolla.

When the wife was looking at cars gas prices were high enough to influence which car we bought and she loved the Corolla when we looked at it. Make a long story short we were down a few cars to chose from and the Corolla won her over with the leather package. On the 2006 you could get a leather package from the factory (or dealer installed, I think) that covered part of the seat and a few other places. The second option, which we purchased, is full leather seats, door trim etc. (cost of about a grand, if I recall correctly) This package, at least in our case was purchased from toyota when we bought the car, however installed by an outside company. I did find a similar leather retro fit on the web, however I don't remember the cost, so the package can be ordered even if not available from Toyota.

The leather is of very good quality, seats not as comfi as my G20, but hey, that may have to do with driving the G20 for the past 5 years.

My wife calls her Black Corolla a mini lexus and loves it. 6058 miles on 190.5 gallons of gas for average of 31.8 mpg for our normal driving which is probably 80%/20% (city/highway), never under 29.5mpg yet.

Well, nOOb poster to this forum here. I have been reading here for about 6-months or so, same time we started looking for a car. Were a three car family 2003 G20 mine, 2004 Neon daughter and the wifes 2006 Corolla.

When the wife was looking at cars gas prices were high enough to influence which car we bought and she loved the Corolla when we looked at it. Make a long story short we were down a few cars to chose from and the Corolla won her over with the leather package. On the 2006 you could get a leather package from the factory (or dealer installed, I think) that covered part of the seat and a few other places. The second option, which we purchased, is full leather seats, door trim etc. (cost of about a grand, if I recall correctly) This package, at least in our case was purchased from toyota when we bought the car, however installed by an outside company. I did find a similar leather retro fit on the web, however I don't remember the cost, so the package can be ordered even if not available from Toyota.

The leather is of very good quality, seats not as comfi as my G20, but hey, that may have to do with driving the G20 for the past 5 years.

My wife calls her Black Corolla a mini lexus and loves it. 6058 miles on 190.5 gallons of gas for average of 31.8 mpg for our normal driving which is probably 80%/20% (city/highway), never under 29.5mpg yet.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your imput.

My wife calls her Black Corolla a mini lexus and loves it. 6058 miles on 190.5 gallons of gas for average of 31.8 mpg for our normal driving which is probably 80%/20% (city/highway), never under 29.5mpg yet.

My wife calls her Black Corolla a mini lexus and loves it. 6058 miles on 190.5 gallons of gas for average of 31.8 mpg for our normal driving which is probably 80%/20% (city/highway), never under 29.5mpg yet.

As of last fall....the licence plate "JR LEXUS" or "LEXUS JR" was available as a personalized plate here in Ontario. I almost bought that for the wife's Echo, but she didn't want it.

 

Actually..her father can't drive anymore as of last week, so we are thinking of trading in the two (03/04) Echos in on a new Corolla or Camry. She is the one who can't decide and I told her to wait until the new Corollas come out, which is what will probably happen.

We will never..ever.. drive an Echo on the highway again after having a gust of wind blow us right into another lane (for the third time) on a major highway here.

Actually..her father can't drive anymore as of last week, so we are thinking of trading in the two (03/04) Echos in on a new Corolla or Camry. She is the one who can't decide and I told her to wait until the new Corollas come out, which is what will probably happen. We will never..ever.. drive an Echo on the highway again after having a gust of wind blow us right into another lane (for the third time) on a major highway here.

Get the Camry (or Accord 4 cyl. who beat all newcomers in a CD comparo last month). Unless the upcoming Corolla is a major step up in handling, tracking, NVH and driving position.

Actually..her father can't drive anymore as of last week, so we are thinking of trading in the two (03/04) Echos in on a new Corolla or Camry. She is the one who can't decide and I told her to wait until the new Corollas come out, which is what will probably happen. We will never..ever.. drive an Echo on the highway again after having a gust of wind blow us right into another lane (for the third time) on a major highway here.

Get the Camry (or Accord 4 cyl. who beat all newcomers in a CD comparo last month). Unless the upcoming Corolla is a major step up in handling, tracking, NVH and driving position.

Corolla is an economy model, so many high-end gadgets simply don't make sense on the option list.

The gadgets are what will make you cry if they fail after your warranty ends. Computerized HVAC controls can run over $1,000 to fix if they die. Older analog controls are a whole lot cheaper to fix.

Given BMW's abysmal reliability (see Consumer Reports), a five year old Beemer might be a most unwise purchase. Consumeraffairs.com just reported many transmission failures with absolutely no help from BMW.

I searched hard for a base CE and am happy with my choice. My son prefers his LE.

Different strokes for different folks.

It is true that a lot of the newer gadgets and options on the new cars are truelly amazing and wonderful to have, but after a few years they become nightmares to fix when they don't work. The simplest and most basic stripped models cars actually are less trouble for maintenance, in the long run.

Sorry for the lapse in posting, lost internet access for a bit due to trouble with switching ISPs...

Just thought I'd give an update...I'm going to go for the Camry XLE V6, probably in black color. Any dealers in the Vancouver area anyone can suggest as 'better' than the others?

Another question pops up though. My neighbour, after hearing I was going to buy a Toyota, asked me this, and I'm not sure on the answer. His son owns a Pontiac Sunfire which has a few problems (nothing really mechanical), and is looking to trade in the car for a more reliable (used) 2003 or newer Corolla..trim level 95% chance to be CE unless he finds a reasonably priced S or LE. The question was are there any common issues with the 2003-2005 Corolla models that he should be on the lookout for (or ANYTHING else he should know about the Corolla) when scouting out the used market for a vehicle?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I know someone is going to refer me to the TSBs and recalls issued for those model year vehicles, but two questions...first, are there any other issues noticed by owners not covered in TSBs, and second, if shopping for a used Corolla, how would my neighbour be able to tell if a TSB has been applied to a vehicle?

Nothing??

Alright, I'll send your message onto my neighbour. So he should just check any potential vehicles for these problems along with the usual detailed inspection you'd make with any used car along with a Carfax report, yada yada yada

Good post guys....you all make some good points.

I bought a CE 2004 corolla with CD and am/fm, auto, ac and nothing else. I agree with Bikeman for the most part and that cheap economical transportation is the main objective for us Corolla people, however I will make one exception to that and that is AUTO DOOR LOCKS. Wish I had em'. It makes me feel really stupid running around my car in a high theft area making sure the doors are lock. YES YES, I know there are work arounds, but my advice it to just get the factory door locks and windows - it's worth it.

But overall the Bikeman's perspective is my favorite. The objective is to drive CHEAP and for that - Toyota rules

Good post guys....you all make some good points.

I bought a CE 2004 corolla with CD and am/fm, auto, ac and nothing else. I agree with Bikeman for the most part and that cheap economical transportation is the main objective for us Corolla people, however I will make one exception to that and that is AUTO DOOR LOCKS. Wish I had em'. It makes me feel really stupid running around my car in a high theft area making sure the doors are lock. YES YES, I know there are work arounds, but my advice it to just get the factory door locks and windows - it's worth it.

But overall the Bikeman's perspective is my favorite. The objective is to drive CHEAP and for that - Toyota rules

Should've gotten a '98. You can reach all the door locks from the drivers seat with barely any stretching or contortions.

jim

PS, the above was meant to be funny, not insulting.