Used 2021 Toyota Corolla Consumer Reviews
Used Corolla for sale
Solid Compact
Thom, 07/23/2021
2021 Toyota Corolla LE 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl CVT)
9 of 11 people found this review helpful
Pros: the adaptive cruise control is the best i have used. people can shift lanes in front of me without the car freaking out and braking and it will accelerate smoothly. fuel economy is great too. for as small a car is this is, the trunk is pretty large and was able to fit multiple fullsized hardshell suitcases with ease. The car handles well and reminds me a bit of my old honda fit. it is zippy and the steering feels excellent. Cons: the speakers are bad. they are not only low quality, but their placement being on the dash refracting off of the windsheild makes everything sound tinny. there isnt much power in the engine if you need to get up to highway speeds quickly. The width of the car feels just slightly cramped with the door. It would have been nice to shrink the center console and stretch the dimensions of the door for a more symmetrical fit but this is really a small complaint that wouldnt bother me until after a couple years of ownership. Neither Here nor There: The interior isnt particularly luxurious, but it doesnt feel cheap either. it is just barebones and practical. no tacky fake accents anywhere or stick-on wood grain like ford uses. I didnt have a chance to test the higher trim levels though. the media system is pretty middle of the road and doesnt stand out. It seems to be priced pretty competitively and drives nicely.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Good, but
Car shopping these days, 10/19/2020
2021 Toyota Corolla XLE 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl CVT)
29 of 42 people found this review helpful
1999 Accord died recently. I test drove the Corolla and liked a lot of things about it, but it felt a little too noisy for my tastes and it was bothering me that the seat is so low that you can't see the hood at all (I'm 5'5"). I wondered if maybe I'd get used to that in time, but I kind of don't think so. It felt pretty disorienting. I liked the Camry a lot and normally probably would have preferred the Corolla due to the lower price tag, but the rebates going on right now for the Camry neutralized the difference. MPG is pretty close between the 2 (one's better on highway and the other better in city). I have seen the reviews about the Camry having problems with battery drainage, but the service guy I talked to said they had 3 software alerts/updates over the summer, and he hasn't heard about any problems since then. He said that not all dealerships make sure all those updates are on the cars they sell, so he wasn't surprised to hear that people in Sept. were still having those problems. I took the Corolla out on the highway in my test drive, and to me, at least, it seemed perfectly able to get up to speed without any problems. The lumbar support in the Camry (not in the Corolla) is pretty nice. Probably not relevant for short trips, but on a longer drive, I can see that being way better than slipping a bunched up sweat shirt behind your back.
okay car
Dave, 07/18/2021
2021 Toyota Corolla LE 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl CVT)
15 of 24 people found this review helpful
I recently rented Corolla from Toyota dealer for a week and received a brand new car. The car drives nicely, has good build quality (no squeaks, rattles, wind noise), has good suspension and adequate breaks. However, when driving on highway, you can't help noticing that the engine is weak and it is hard to stay in the left lane. Virtually all competitors now offer more powerful engines with base models for the same price or less. Toyota still carries on with 20 years old 1.8 liter engine in base model.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Most Underrated Car of the Year
Carlos Cordero, 09/13/2022
2021 Toyota Corolla XSE 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
9 of 15 people found this review helpful
Since 1966, the Toyota Corolla has been around 56 years; it has undergone many changes in that time period. When the first Corolla was sold back the spring of 1968 in the United States, the Corolla initially did not have as many features compare to the latest generation. Therefore, I believe the Toyota Corolla is a great car for many reasons: the great value, safety, driving experience, seats, and the road noise. The Corolla should be taken into great consideration. Coming from the front of the car, you can see the very beautiful DRL (daytime running lights) making a very aggressive appearance cutting through the darkness. When you open the hood, you will find a 2.0 liter inline four-cylinder engine integrated with a CVT (continuously variable transmission) making a great fuel economy: of 31 city and 40 highways. The Corolla is getting a great fuel economy for not being a hybrid car; if, you are not too sure about these electrical cars. Now sitting in the car, you will notice that the Corolla will have pleasant leather seats that hold you in and, the great heated seats to keep you warm in the colder weather. I had personal experience to the comfortably of these seats. I had a 13-hour drive from Georgia to Texas and, I did not feel discomfort in that drive. I love how the seats hold you in around corners and, still having a lot of room in the back seats for my guests. The Corolla has 8-way power adjustable seat to find the most comfortable position. The safety tech in the Corolla is just outstanding. The lane keep assist helps the driver to stay in their own lane reducing the chance of an accident; furthermore the lane keep assist helps with advance cruise control. Therefore, means the car can drive almost itself. The Corolla is jam packed with features still like radar so, it can see how far a car in forward of the Corolla. When the Corolla detected a car the corolla can slow down or stop if it is needed. The Corolla has many features that most people did not know they needed, until they have those features. The features are apple car play/android auto, Wi-Fi, Allstar, and remote start. All the features make the driving experience amazing from the smooth ride with the great suspension; the Corolla gives you a very luxury driving experience with the apple car play, the heated seats, to the LED headlights. There is something else I love about the corolla the value. The value of the car is amazing; you get all the features, the comfort, the reliability, and the cost is very cheap from 2022. In fact, the average cost for a new car is 48,000, and the Corolla is only 26,000 MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price). For example, the Honda Civic touring is 30,000 MSRP, you can get the same thing as the Honda for 4,000 cheaper than the competitors. The feel that the Corolla gives you for a low price is almost unbeatable, and the reliability of the Toyota Corolla keeps you at ease. In conclusion, I believe the twelfth generation Toyota Corolla is a great value for, the time period we live in with inflation at an all-time high. When the cost of a new car (48,000) is too high what the Toyota Corolla brings to the table can not be ignored, I also believe that people do not take the Toyota Corolla into consideration for the value, safety, comfort, features, and driving experience. If you are looking for an affordable, and capable car to buy, I believe the Toyota Corolla is a very good option that you cannot go wrong on.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Feels cheap
JT, 07/29/2022
2021 Toyota Corolla LE 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl CVT)
16 of 28 people found this review helpful
I feel compelled to write a review after having a 2021 sedan in LE trim for the last week as a work rental. The previous car I had for a work rental was a 2022 Nissan Sentra in SV trim so I am comparing to that car, as well as to a 2018 Mazda CX-5 and 2023 Nissan Leaf that I own. Overall, it's OK for basic transportation but after driving it for the week I would never buy one, at least in this trim, for several reasons. 1) It lacks basic safety features in this trim that are now standard for the vast majority of vehicles today, namely NO BLIND SPOT MONITORING, NO REAR CROSS TRAFFIC ALERT, and lacking both is unacceptable today. If they wanted to cheap out at this trim, they should have nixed radar cruise for standard cruise, and nixed steering assist/lane tracing assist, as neither of which works that well in realtime use, and neither of which is a true safety feature but more of a "convenience" feature. 2) CVT engine - it is very noisy and inconsistent in terms of acceleration and responsiveness. The Nissan Sentra also has these problems and is often typical of CVTs but the Corolla's was slightly worse than the Sentra's. 3) Real world fuel economy - no one ever talks about how congestion affects gas mileage, and in my experience if you frequently drive in city traffic with delays/gridlock/rush hour, you will get on average about 6 mpg less than what the reported values are. For me doing a mix of city/highway but frequently encountering delays in Boston metro area, I averaged 26-27 mpg. This was slightly worse than the Sentra that I previously had as a rental (that averaged about 28-29 mpg). 4) ride quality - the Sentra had a somewhat improved ride compared to the Corolla 5) old-school key in ignition - it's far less common these days but the Corolla in this trim still has a key that goes in the ignition, so no keyless entry like the other vehicles I am comparing to, which isn't terrible, just surprising given keyless entry is fairly standard these days 6) cheap touchscreen - the touchscreen seemed to be a screen from about ten years ago, it was very dim (low contrast, not bright) and was very frustrating to use because typically you would have to touch multiple times to get it to recognize your touch (e.g. skipping tracks, changing stations, pinching when Google maps was active on Android Auto) - it seems like it was perhaps older technology that was not responsive to touch), and often was very laggy. It's likely that higher trims are better and I think the build quality is good, but you shouldn't have to pay more just to have basic safety features like blind spot monitoring. Also, the lane departure warning is coupled with steering assist/lane tracing assist so you can only toggle all of this off and on with a steering wheel button and you can't adjust the warning volume and the system did not work that well (overly sensitive) so I found myself just turning it off frequently because it just became annoying. The steering assist also was not well executed because it would steer very aggressively (e.g. on a curve) so you felt like it was waiting to course correct until the last minute versus how most people would ease in to curves in normal driving. If these aren't the kind of things that would bother you then sure buy one, but it seems other comparable vehicles have better execution.