2005 Toyota Corolla LE review from North America

I've had a few things go wrong with my Corolla... I have a manual transmission and was on a steep hill, so I pulled the emergency break to get the car going again. The e-break didn't hold and I started to roll backwards (of course there was a cliff behind me!) and so I ended up smoking my clutch a bit. I went and got the brakes tightened ASAP!! I've had them tightened again since then, they don't seem to hold like my previous car did.

I also had a leaky tensioner in the engine which glazed a belt (dealership repaired those).

The slightly scary thing is that I had a sagging motor-mount which the dealership found after I complained of a whirring noise over 3,000 RPM. I had to try another manual transmission to realize that wasn't a normal sound.

I also have the practically required, randomly squeaky Toyota brakes, but after tightening, the brakes work great!

I expect perfection from my Toyota, so I've been a bit upset with the problems I've had. If I had another type of vehicle, I might be less surprised with the problems, but a Toyota?!? They have great reputations!

I LOVE the gas mileage on the Corolla! I get around 35 pretty consistently unless I've been speeding a lot or driving in a lot of traffic. I also got fabulous financing from Toyota which was the big plus for buying the Corolla.

I like the "extras" like the automatic headlights, the thermometer, the cruise control, the roominess for that small of a car, the GINORMOUS trunk (I had a hatchback before), and the-open-the-locks-from-10-miles-away key-less remote.

The one lame thing about the key-less remote is that the panic button is on the back near where your thumb goes while holding the key-less remote. I've been inside houses, been shuffling around in my bag, had my keys hit in my pocket, and BAM, I hit the panic button and the cars starts beeping (yes, the key-less remote works inside houses, through walls, and is great that way). I hit the panic button by accident about 1-4 times a week.

I don't care for the sound system, although I suppose expecting a great stock sound system is unrealistic. I've noticed (of all things) that Dodge Rams have a pretty decent stock system. Way better than the corolla.

As mentioned by another reviewer, when driving in the wind, the car gets blown around quite a bit, but on the snow, the Corolla has handled just fine!