We were forced into a new car unexpectedly when our 96 Subaru developed expensive tranny problems at 46,000 miles. Price point was a BIG issue for us, and we looked at the Ford Focus, as well as the Toyota Corolla. We stumbled upon an "S" version...5 speed, black interior, red stitched steering wheel, CD, cassette, moonroof, and factory mounted rear trunk lid wing ( VERY useful ! Ha !). As Corolla's go, it's pretty sharp, and we were pleased to take it for a test drive.It was very spirited, and actually fun to drive. The high-tech variable-valve timing makes it very responsive for an economy car, and chain-driven 100,000 mile timing chain will keep maintenance costs lower than like cars with rubber timing belts.

At first glimpse, the Toyota and Focus were within 500 bucks of one another...but after wheeling, dealing, and dickering on our somewhat lame trade-in (we were honest about the tranny upfront !) there was about a 2400 dollar difference between the two. The Toyota dealer was more generous with our trade-in, and the Corolla had a MUCH better warranty extended into 5 years/60K powertrain, versus 3 years/36k max. on the Focus. The Corolla also felt, and appeared to be more substantially built, and our previous as well as current other car experiences with Toyota have left nothing to be desired. (Side note....every Focus I have seen on the road, has some body "pressure" dings, small dents resulting from people leaning against, or pushing on the sheet-metal, rather than the door handles, to close the doors or trunk. The result of body panels being made from extremely thin sheet metal !)

We bought the Toyota S, and have experienced nearly 40 mpg throughout our first 2000 miles of ownership.
Additionally, keeping up with traffic in town and on SW Riverside county's I-15 (75 -85 mph or they'll run you over!)
is not a problem with this little gem. We look forward to a real road-trip of 500 miles or so soon, as this little Corolla is a freeway flyer ! We look forward to a long and economical relationship with our new, OTHER Toyota...and are quite certain we won't have to buy another for 10 years !



Amount Paid (US$): 11544.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: Corolla S (Limited availability on S version)