2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Consumer Reviews
Pricing
New 2021 Corolla Hybrid (8 month update)
i just purchased a new corolla hybrid 2021 sedan (Sept 2020) and am very happy with my purchase after doing extensive research. i test drove both the corolla le (non hybrid) and the corolla le (hybrid). for me reliability, price, gas consumption and road noise were my big factors in assessing the car. i found that the basic non hybrid corolla had more road noise at lower speeds (10-40 mph) compared with the hybrid. On the highway both cars seemed relatively the same as far as road noise (mild to semi high). most reviews state the fact that road noise is an issue with the corolla. however, i found that the hybrid was more quiet (from road noise coming into the car - not engine noise) on basic service type roads. it also just seemed to ride much better than the basic corolla. i really wanted to go with the basic corolla since it is a very reliable car and a better value (at around $19000 w/o taxes, ~$3K less than a hybrid). it was a tough decision to make but the hybrid won over due to a better ride and better on gas. I've owned it for one week now and am getting 65-67 mpg combined. (note - this is very non aggressive driving going ~55-60 on the highway and with very slow accelerating from a stop.) Some concerns: this car does not have a spare tire donut but only a tire inflation kit. these are not good because if your tire blows out you are in trouble. i intend to purchase a spare for the car. i will update this review in the future. the Edmund's fair market price tool is a very good guide to get a good deal. Try for a good deal because i don't think these cars are flying off the lot. (MAY 2021 UPDATE, 8K miles) After driving the car for 8 months in various conditions - here are some of my findings: GAS MPG: ~60-63 MPG mixed driving (20-50 MPH - conservative, slow starts, driving in town, short trips, country roads, some highway, hills and flat, some traffic) / ~50 MPG highway driving (55-70 MPH, gas MPG goes down quite a bit when driving over 65 mph) BAD: fair amount of road noise on rough roads (smooth paved roads are quiet), wind noise at speed of >55 MPH, on roads with holes and bumps the ride can get a bit irritating. GOOD - Seat comfort (fine after 5 hr straight highway drive), leg/head room (i'm 6 ft), play songs direct from USB stick, steering feel, fit/finish, automatic features (auto headlight brights dimmer, cruise, cruise with auto traffic slowdown, lane assist, etc). CONCLUSION - This car is the best if you live in an area of nice roads like CA. But where i live in PA , the roads are bad and bumpy and this car can get you a bit agitated after a long drive. Can't beat the gas mileage at 50-63 MPG. Love the fact that the engine automatically shuts off at a traffic signal and restarts with the electric motor.
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Lotta bang for the buck
Essentially gave up car shopping and bought a corolla hybrid. While initially there was a ton of regret it’s grown on me to the point I actually like this little car. You get a LOT of features found in way more expensive cars for your money. The interior is pretty nice looking and supremely quiet around town and even on freeways with good roads. Like reviews say hard acceleration into freeway is a loud event but it does have a little oomph and I generally don’t fear death merging onto major high speed traffic. Safety features are amazing for this class and Toyota was offering some sweet deals on price. Have managed to maintain a 64 mpg average with pokey driving which seems unreal but fill ups are few and far between. No regrets in this purchase here.
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Lives up to billing
I acquired my ride at the end of December giving me a chance to experience Northeast winter, spring and summer driving. If I have one pet peeve about the Corolla Hybrid it's Toyota's misguided belief that Corolla Hybrids don't need a spare tire. There's room for full side spare and flat fix kit if you remove the molded foam flat fix kit holder. This is my option. That goop kit is useless for a large tread puncture or any sidewall puncture. That out of the way I'm very happy with the car. I track my fuel efficiency on Fuelly.com and have averaged 53 mpg with a high of 66 mpg. With periodic MA to MD road trips through hilly NJ and PA with luggage, astronomical telescope and bike on a trunk mounted carrier I've never seen less than 46 mpg in cold temps . One of those trips was into 40 mph west winds. My most recent trip delivered 55. I keep the hybrid system in ECO mode and make regular use of dynamic radar cruise control. And, no I don't hyper-mile. This is regular 65+ highway driving on interstates. With the supplied Yokohama tires the handling is excellent and nicely grippy when going around curves. Hybrid recharging often obviates the need for braking when taking exits. Drive your hybrid sensibly and you can go 100,000 miles or more between brake jobs. Engine groan is noticeable when accelerating but greatly quiets when engine RPM drops to normal cruise. My prior ride was an '07 Corolla CE manual. Highway RPM was typically 3000 at 65 mph compared with under 2000 for this ride at the same speed. Road noise generally surface dependent but not bad for this size sedan. Some pro-reviewers have complained of wind noise at highway speeds, an annoyance I have not experienced. Toyota could have put more thought into storage space design. The door storage is more stylish than functional. Otherwise the front armrest storage is fine as is the glovebox. The audio system is straight forward though I would recommend familiarizing yourself with it while parked. The sound system is okay but expect road noise to intrude. I have only dabbled so far with Android Auto. However, using Bluetooth connectivity I listen to podcasts on the phone or opt for audio from a thumb drive plugged into the dashboard usb port. With Bluetooth you can also talk hands free on your phone as if chatting with a passenger. Seat comfort could be better; especially lumbar support. I find myself making regular seat adjustments. Other pluses are optional blind spot monitoring and cross traffic detection when backing out of busy parking lot spaces. For those of us who can parallel park the back-up camera with its wide view and guide lines will help you protect those expensive wheel covers from road rash.
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Wow!
I'm only 2 weeks into ownership of a Corolla LE Hybrid. We don't need all the fancy stuff for a car that we figured would be our daily driver. Having said that I don't really miss some of the upmarket features. Certainly power seats are nice, but I can get enough adjustment with the manual seat just fine. I am 5'11", 240 lbs and my wife is 5'4" and we both find very comfortable seating positions. Again haven't taken the car on any long trips, but I have had quite a bit of seat time waiting on my wife during her shopping outings and I haven't been uncomfortable. Ingress and egress is not that difficult either for an old guy with stiff joints. It doesn't sit up quite like my Outback but it shouldn't, so this is not a comparison. Bottom line it's a class leader in the comfort department. It is a bit noisy as road noise intrudes a bit more than I'm used to in Toyota's and I've owned several, but I attribute that to the tires more than anything - Yokohama LRR's. The doors shut with a good quality sounding thud. The fit and finish is first rate and I am extremely picky. I have found nothing to fault. One thing to note is we didn't have an opportunity to see an actual car before we ordered ours. The Toyota website does not have good pictures of the interiors of the Corolla, especially the light gray interior, which ours has. It shows the seats in two tone which is accurate, it does not show that the bottom half of the dash and the upper doors are trimmed in light gray. We are very pleased with the interior, but to see what the interior actually looks like, click on the Macadamia color and you will see how the light gray interior will truly look, except of course for the color. The back seat has enough room for me to sit behind the driver's seat adjusted for me,although we don't usually have anyone in the back seat. The back seat folds down to give even more cargo room to the very spacious trunk. Now about the driving experience. I read reviews before we bought about how the car is slow. My driving has been a combination of city, rural and four lane roads so I have a good idea how the car performs all around. It is quick off the line, surprisingly quick - not Mustang GT quick but more than 138 horsepower quick. Now admittedly it starts lacking juice around 45-50, but the electric motor assist keeps the acceleration going up to highway speeds. Understand that my car is not fully broken in, so I have not really put my foot in it so it's performance has not been fully tested for maximum thrust but it definitely gets out of it's own way. What we all want to know is what kind of mileage do I get. I didn't drive it today, but yesterday it indicated 55.0mpg combination city/highway. I've had it 2 weeks and 500 miles and just filled it up from 1/4 tank. So judge for yourself. The wireless Android Auto works very well. There are times that it won't automatically connect, but that's usually because I have interrupted the pairing process. Sometime when you put it in gear before the pairing is completed - especially reverse, I think there is just too much going on with the backup camera, etc, and pairing gets pushed out of the queue. But it has never failed to connect manually. Once connected it has never dropped and I use Maps, Waze, Amazon Music or Spotify every time I'm in the car. Don't really know much else to say about our little blue bug except my wife and I really like it. This is not the first hybrid we've owned, but things sure have changed since 2015 - all for the better. We've always had good luck with Toyota and Joe Davis at Mechanicsville Toyota served us well. I'll update when we get some more time and mileage on the car.
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Not bad. And highly economical.
So, I just purchased this car this week. Notably, due to Covid cutbacks, I needed to downgrade from my Camry Hybrid SE. I definitely gave up power; there's no way around the fact that I'm working with 80 fewer horses under the hood. And I also gave up a little bit of room--and the heated seats. Honestly, though, that's about it. The car definitely feels more refined than its price point would suggest. It has a push-button start, a decent basic stereo for my purposes, reasonably comfortable seats, little touches like automatic high beams, lighted vanity mirrors, heated outside mirrors, and decent connectivity including Android Auto. It's maneuverable as heck, with a tight turning radius and a responsive steering wheel. Comfortable but not floaty ride. The big plus is the mileage. My husband has a Prius LE Eco, and this car so far looks like its mileage is going to match it. I'm satisfied.
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