2009 Corolla Test Drive - Toyota Corolla (2009 until 2018-19 “TNGA”)

I went with a friend of mine for a new car day shopping trip. we stopped at a toyota dealer for a corolla 2009 s drive. The first car he suggested had a dead battery. the second car was far worse. As soon as we pulled out of the lot we noticed something wrong. There was a vibration at our feet that shook the whole car. Also the acceleration was jerky and uneven. It was so bad that my foot was numb for 10 minutes after we rushed that pile of junk back to the lot. We told the salesman and an assistant took the car out. They wanted to get us another car ,but we told them to keep their junk. We high tailed it out of there. So much for the vaulted toyota quality. Both cars were built at the numi plant because my friend insists on union made cars . Never again.

Wow - sucks! Sounds like they have a batch of bad cars there - should have never left the plant like that. Either shame on Toyota to push the cars out or shame on the QC people that checked the cars before they left the plant. Probably a little of both.

Sounds very similar to my shopping experience almost 15 years ago at a Chevy dealership. Was looking at the Chevy Impala SS - the one with the detuned LT1 Covette powerplant. The three that they had on the lot - two were down (broken transaxles, one had serious piston slap, the other a leaky waterpump) and the third would run OK, but was sticking in gear. Couldn't test drive any of them, so I rolled - the sales guy actually chased down my car and was pressing prices against the window to buy the car. Was a good price at the time - but there was no price that would have made me buy a brand new POS.

I think that any car can get damaged in transit or have someone leave a light on , but a dealership should be much more aware of the junk it demo's off the lot. Its no wonder that Toyota's reputation has slipped lately.

Thats o.k. the kia dealer wanted us to buy a 2008 optima sold as new ,but it had almost 5000 miles on it. I specifically asked if it was a demo and he said no. liar liar .

Oh it hasnt slipped just lately believe me. Almost every car on the lots were crap when I bought mine back in '00 too. Parts missing, hanging or fallen out of place, unbalanced wheels with vibration down the roads too yet were offered for sale right on the lot where everyone could see them. If it were me I'd had those cars in the back where no one could see them until they were fixed. There's a good reason mike rowe is on Ford commercials now saying that their quality is better than toyota.

Oh it hasnt slipped just lately believe me. Almost every car on the lots were crap when I bought mine back in '00 too. Parts missing, hanging or fallen out of place, unbalanced wheels with vibration down the roads too yet were offered for sale right on the lot where everyone could see them. If it were me I'd had those cars in the back where no one could see them until they were fixed. There's a good reason mike rowe is on Ford commercials now saying that their quality is better than toyota.

I agree with 01loadedLE. My 03' Corolla is nowhere near the build quality of my 90' was. The 03' has been a decent car for me, but stuff is breaking and falling apart after 6 years that should last forever. Rubber window seals, and the weather seals inside the doors etc. Trim pieces that were not put on straight from NUMMI from day one.... I just don't think Toyotas quality is what it used to be.

Their quality back then showed inconsistency also since the 85 corolla that I drove had great quality and the carpet still held its proper position after 15yrs and 250k miles, and all the dash and door fittings still looked great also. Compare that to the 88 sc mr2 I had with the carpet that didnt fit properly from the day I had it, and its rubber inserts between the body and ground effects that werent properly fitted and were curved back and forth between the gaps instead of being straight like they should have been from day one also. They had the problem with the fake leather steering wheel and shifter rubbing off as well which really helped the car look even worse in quality. It was a very fun car to have but the quality shouldve been better.

I talked to the dealership today. They called to follow up a reaming from corporate. Rebeca , the sacrificial lamb ,apologized at least 10 times. They will let me know what was wrong with the shaky car. She promised me that this was the worst situation she had encountered at that stealership. yeah ,right. I was probably the only one with enough moxie to speak up. I only did this because they lost a potential lifetime customer and my respect. I just wanted someone who was responsible put on notice. I do not like to see anybody lose their job , but in this case , i believe someone should.

If i were an owner of an independent franchise and one of my supervisory employees failed this miserably , I would replace them , because who knows what else has slipped by their lack of attention to detail. Totally indefensible and inexcusable.enough said!

that dealership just sounds like a bad apple, the one near me always has very nice cars and friendly staff...until they find out i'm not there to buy a car.

that dealership just sounds like a bad apple, the one near me always has very nice cars and friendly staff...until they find out i'm not there to buy a car.

A friend of mine recently bought an '09 LE with 9000 miles on it. Besides the factory warranty, it was a certified car. Looks good and runs/rides good, but the second day he had it we got a little rain, and when he turned on the wipers every light on the dash came on and the engine died. He shut off the wipers, started the car, and it was fine until he turned on the headlights that night and the same thing happened. Well, the dealer fixed that problem (a broken ground wire), and a few days later he discovered the windshield washer didn't work (dealer replaced the pump).

This just shows me that Toyota is slipping across the board-- The cheap interior in the LE, the radio antenna that doesn't do the job, the delay in the drive-by-wire, the over-sensitive electric power steering, the oil filter cartridge joke, and whatever else. I've had 7 new Toyota's, but I'm going to buy Honda next time.

The dealers I use always do a PDI (inspection) and state inspection before putting a car on sale.

Southeast Toyota Distributor also does a PDI.

Must be a terrible car followed by a careless dealer.

Could shipping damage be involved?