2016 Corolla rental review

[Huie83]

I rented a 2016 Corolla to take on a 800 mile trip last week, thought i'd post my findings. This was the S trim, 25K miles when I picked it up.

Good:
- Great fuel economy, 40.3 MPG over the 800 miles. 98% highway.
- Fit and finish was excellent, interior materials while all hard plastics, looked good.
- Drove great, smooth 4 cylinder and plenty of power. The steering was tight and nimble, fun to drive.

Bad:
- The CVT sucks big time. It had major lag between the time you's step on the gad and the time you actually started moving. This made rush hour traffic painful to drive in. Once moving it was OK to drive.
- After about 5 hours the ride started to wear on me. It was pretty firm and beat me up pretty bad. Not a good long trip car.
- The seats are too flat, no arch support so my back was killing me after a few hours.
- Interior was loud, like really loud. Had to turn up the radio to drown it out.
- Speaking of the stereo, it sounded horrible unless you had it turned up. At low levels it had no mid or bass. I checked all the levels etc, just a bad setup. Also, it was annoying to have to use the touch screen to adjust anything, I like buttons.

All in all this would make a great commuter car IF you can get used to the CVT. That was my biggest gripe and what would make me think twice about buying one. CVT aside, it was great for zipping around town. NOT a great road trip car, anything over a few hours would get rough. I should have upgraded to a full size, lesson learned

.

 

[Doog]

next time rent an Avalon...

 

[wemay]

Nice review.

You're right about about initial tip-in or taking off from a stop, it's definitely geared towards mpg. Once moving though, it is actually 'fun' to drive for a Corolla as you mentioned. We haven't gone on a road trip yet but i can understand your concerns for comfort. Luckily, i'm only 5'7" and my wife is 5'4" so that might help us where the seats are concerned but the road noise is always present. I do disagree about the dash being hard plastics. I believe all models come with padded upper dash and passenger facing dash as well as padded center console and door elbow rests.

The CVT does take getting used to, but in normal driving it doesn't make itself known. Hard acceleration is where you know it's there, even with the incorporation of faux shifts.

All in all, i'm very happy with the purchase. The CVT can be a deal breaker for many and i too was one of the anti-CVT/DSG aficionados for a long while but i've been converted.

Thanks again.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

IMO, the previous Kia Forte Sedan was THE KING in this segment. But I havent driven the Focus, and a Fiesta with the DCT was better than a Mazda 2 I rented in Fort Myers, and I reallyt was impressedwith the DCT. I wasn't too keen AT ALL on a Sportage I had this spring; My old Nissan was MUCH better on most all counts.

Loving the Charger 3.6 with phenomenal power and comfort(blew past a WOT mustang 4.6 convertible in an impromptu highway "race" i95N naples to ft myers. I might chance a small suspension upgrade would get this car handling great.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
IMO, the previous Kia Forte Sedan was THE KING in this segment. But I havent driven the Focus, and a Fiesta with the DCT was better than a Mazda 2 I rented in Fort Myers, and I reallyt was impressedwith the DCT. I wasn't too keen AT ALL on a Sportage I had this spring; My old Nissan was MUCH better on most all counts.

Loving the Charger 3.6 with phenomenal power and comfort(blew past a WOT mustang 4.6 convertible in an impromptu highway "race" i95N naples to ft myers. I might chance a small suspension upgrade would get this car handling great.



Hi Arco'
I-75 maybe?
Since Naples and Ft.Myers are on the west coast and I-95...the east.

 

[bmwjohn]

they used to put undercoat on cars primarily for noise reduction, although "rustproofing" was also claimed. Same for hood pads on inside of hood. Any recent experience?

 

[Huie83]

This Corolla had neither. Either metallurgy is way better or they don't care if the cars rust away. I think the hood pads depend on the model, my 2013 Explorer had one.

 

[VNTS]

Typical Corrolla, terrible interior, ride, and other than cheap price and gas mileage not much to write home about.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
Typical Corrolla, terrible interior, ride, and other than cheap price and gas mileage not much to write home about.



I think this is typical of many econobox cars. MPG is the main goal, so sacrificing 2 or 3 mpg for a quieter more comfortable ride or materials that weigh a few ounces more are out of the question.

 

[Chris B.]

I wonder how the new civic stacks up against the new Corolla? I'm betting the Honda has a nicer interior an overall better handling? Reliability between the two I'm guessing is a toss up?

 

[Huie83]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
I wonder how the new civic stacks up against the new Corolla? I'm betting the Honda has a nicer interior an overall better handling? Reliability between the two I'm guessing is a toss up?


I bet either would serve you well for a long time. The corolla handled really well around town, it was fun to drive albeit a little harsh on the highway. I'm not a huge fan of Honda anymore, I've owned 3 and they have all had weird issues. If I were in the market for a small car i'd probably get a Focus, I rented one last year and loved it. The interior was better than the Corolla for sure and way quieter on the highway.

 

[Silverado12]

The Cruze is comfortable, has a real automatic transmission, is quiet inside and gets good gas mileage.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
The Cruze is comfortable, has a real automatic transmission, is quiet inside and gets good gas mileage.


Agreed, however one thing I really don't like about it is the hood latch release is the absolute cheapest thing I've seen. It's a thin plastic flap. No pic on it, it almost looks temporary.

 

[CKN]

They sell a TON OF THEM-
Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, surpassing the Volkswagen Beetle.[1] Toyota reached the milestone of 40 million Corollas sold over eleven generations in July 2013

Link-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Corolla

 

[dlayman]

I owned a 2014 (same generation) for about a year. I agree with most of the review, although I didn't find the CVT so bad. I had the ECO model. I agree the stereo was terrible, but mine was ALL bass, even with the bass turned completely down it was overpowering. Although roomy for its class, it was a very uncomfortable car. The seats are too hard, and positioned at an odd height, not supportive. The ride is harsh and noisy, and the doors sound very tinny when closing them. I used to regularly get 45-50 mpg on mostly highway trips. The car was just too uncomfortable for me, fortunately I was able to sell it for just slightly less than I paid for it.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

.Corolla and Civic have been surpassed a few times.

Benn there Btter off with a larger car optioned down.

Actually I find sedans useless these days. For juts a little ( or no ) more you can get a hatch or wagon.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: Doog
next time rent an Avalon...

 

[Hokiefyd]

Was the delayed response at tip-in due to CVT programming, or a dead spot in the first half-inch or so of pedal travel? That is one of the factors that drove me nuts about the 2011 Camry I had, and one of the reasons I traded it. There was no response in the first half-inch or pedal travel. It was completely dead -- the engine wouldn't rev while in Park...nothing. It's like it was a programmed dead-spot, perhaps an over-reaction to the safety zombies with the electronic throttle. It had a regular stepped automatic transmission (six gears).

The car was downright maddening to drive in traffic. The dead-spot was consistent, but somehow still impossible to predict. Even after owning the car for 14 months, I never got used to it. The '07 Corolla I had didn't suffer from such a problem. Good thing, too, because it had a manual transmission. Pairing a manual with that Camry's throttle pedal would have been a quick ticket to the asylum.

 

[Huie83]

I'd say both. you would press the gas and nothing....little more...nothing...little more....then you'd get going a bit but not enough so you'd press more then finally it would zing you along. If you pressed hard on the accelerator, like half throttle from the get go it would lag for a second then rubber band you along. It was definitely programmed for fuel economy. I agree, maddening to drive in traffic because if you are slowing down and speeding up a lot, you are modulating the throttle with no response until it zings you ahead too fast and you have to brake and do it all over.

I just hate CVT transmissions in general, I don't care how "good" they are programmed. I rented a Nissan Altima for 4 days while my car was in the body shop last year. It was so bad I brought it back after a day and exchanged it.

I also rode in a co-workers brand new Subaru WRX with the CVT a few weeks back. That was better than the Corolla or Altima but still bad compared to a regular transmission. I don't like the disconnected feeling CVT's have and would never buy one. I like when you press on the gas and the acceleration is instantly there. This being said, I daily drive a manual trans Subaru Outback, going from that to a CVT is quite the change.

Quick note about manual trans and electronic throttles. I had a 2014 VW Sportwagen that had that pair. While it was pretty easy to drive I stalled that thing more than any other manual in my life. The throttle was very hard to guess when it was actually going to rev the engine. I ended up trading it mainly because I could never get used to that.

 

[Hokiefyd]

The throttle and transmission did certainly take getting used to in my '07 Corolla. Aside from the throttle programming that comes along with an electronic throttle, you actually lose engine feedback because that direct cable is replaced with a wire. With an automatic, it's not quite as troublesome. But with a manual, where that tactile feedback through your foot is valuable information, lack of that feedback can be a challenge.

Both of our current vehicles take an interesting approach to the throttle. The throttle pedal is a mechanical pedal, attached to a real throttle cable. The cable goes through the firewall and into the engine bay, just like any other older vehicle, but it runs over to a throttle position sensor over on the passenger side fenderwell. There, the cable position is converted into an electronic signal that is sent to the electronic throttle body.