2010 Toyota Corolla VVTI 1.8 litre petrol

Summary:

Mechanically good, but lots of cheap plastics

Faults:

The rear parcel shelf supporting lug has broken off for little or no apparent reason. Toyota stated that it was fair wear and tear, but I believe it is a design fault, in that the lug cannot support the weight that it would be reasonable for the lug to be carry. To repair the broken lug involves the replacement and fitting of a whole rear inner plastic component, involving up to $350. If this was considered or involved a matter of road safety, Toyota would recall and replace the faulty component, but it is easy to dismiss such a claim for non safety issues.

General Comments:

Generally good mechanically, but is let down by the over use of cheap plastic components that are easily scratched and are under engineered.

Also suffers badly from road noise.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th July, 2013

18th Jul 2013, 21:36

I totally agree with you. Reliability is good, but it's been long enough that they have been in the market - they could surely improve on the material quality and road noise. I have a 2012 Rav4.

The Honda Accord has done well, being Japanese, but Toyota has lot of work to do on sound proofing and material quality.

19th Jul 2013, 15:09

I did a lot of work on my friend's 2009 Corolla before he finally traded it for a much better built 2013, Ford Focus. The Corolla was a very cheap, extremely poorly built car. I'd never recommend the Corolla or any Japanese car to anyone looking for a reliable, quality built car.