2005 Toyota Corolla Reviews from Australia and New Zealand

CD player doesn't work.

Intermittent clutch smell.

Blown headlight bulb.

As a city car, the Corolla is hard to beat. Even the entry-level GL has the 100 kW (135 BHP) engine, pulling a mere 1100 kg, which makes for ample get-up and go.

The gearshift is clunky but precise, and the hydraulic clutch is silky smooth.

Steering is nicely weighted and geared, all-disc brakes are fine, but the ABS is a little over-sensitive. Ride quality is very good, for a light car with conventional strut/torsion beam suspension.

Only major negatives are poor rearward visibility, and a lack of traction in the wet.

On the open road, it's not quite so accomplished. The low gearing makes it feel a little buzzy at 100 kph, although it smooths out by 120. Economy very good, 38.5 MPG (7.5 l/100Km), without trying too hard to be economical. Overtaking is not a problem, plenty of grunt.

Pressing on through the twisties, the steering loads up dramatically, and handling is nowhere as composed as, say, a good Euro hatch. It does its best to dissuade pushing hard.

General comments: Plain inside, but nice dash and white-faced dials. Column stalks have a smooth, quality feel. Seats themselves are comfortable, but the driving position is not tailored to taller people. Rear-seat folding is excellent; just as well, because the boot is smaller than you might expect (only 270 litres). Build quality excellent; looking closely in, around and under, there is nothing remotely dodgy about the design and build. There's even a cabin filter for the ventilation system.

Minimal maintenance, thanks to chain-driven cams, hydraulic lifters, no distributor. Combined with excellent fuel economy, and proven reliability, running costs are low.

Toyota's philosophy of "even though it's good, why not try to improve it" should be re- termed "if it ain't broken... Leave it alone!"

I am very disappointed with aspects of my latest Corolla.

To replace a rear brake or indicator light, requires one to dislodge the light holder from the top to bottom, then extract a festoon type of bulb through a ridiculously small entry portal with the smallest of hands of a midget! What an improvement! (my son's similar car had a festoon globe fall into the lens itself - requiring an hour's work to remove half the boot fittings to remove the light fitting - to extract the bulb! Great Toyota!)

Then I needed to install a tow bar for a light trailer!

Wow. What an improvement in design. First I had to physically cut off a piece of the number bar tabs, then remove all the boot lining, followed by removal of the bumper bar itself, and then insert a tapped bracket for the front bolt hole fixer inside the chassis subframe. Great design work Toyota! - not... Why not machine a proper threaded hole as per the others? Derr!

Then there is the issue of the wiring for the tow bar! What a nightmare. With the crazy wiring colour and non-compatibility of standard stop/ tail light arrangements of most trailers, one requires a 'converter module' or Toyota loom. Great, except that in Australia they no longer stock the loom as it is "too old"!!!

And the 'converter module' items are nowhere to be found.

I can't believe that the trusted simplicity of Toyotas has been distorted to such lunacy!

Then there is the craziness of the "wiring loom" that was available for the same model Corolla, differs from the sedan to the hatch. Really brilliant!!!

Damien Curry.

* A/C died in March 2006. Apparently a plug in the wire harness worked loose, error during prepurchase installation in Australia. A/C died again during November 2006. What apparently happened is that the first time the A/C died, they put more refrigerant in when it wasn't required, so it caused problems when the weather heated up again. Had to get the car back to a dealer twice in November to get the problem rectified, I basically had to tell them repeatedly to change the refrigerant, which they did, and that has solved the problem. I felt that from these experiences that Toyota needs to look at their after-market service BADLY!!

*General squeaks and rattles, these come and go, whilst they first arose at 1000km, I just live with them, I got used to it. Everything still works...

*side of driver's contoured sports bucket seat is wearing badly. Have installed throw-over seat covers to stop this.

*instrument panel lens that covers the speedometer etc. is badly scratched from cleaning. Will address at 40,000km service.

*OK on fuel - 10L/100km around town, 6.8 or so on highway.

*Interior was a little drab so I got some parts painted silver a la the Levin trim grade.

*Handles well, has high dynamic limits, due to good tyres. Ride could be better, though, nothing like, say, a focus. Steering 'feel' is a bit wooden, but basically OK.

*White paint masks minor scratches well.

*Engine performance good for its intended purpose, though needs the boot down up hills and when overtaking. Exhaust note mildly entertaining.

*Transmission well matched to engine, fairly smooth, better than my brothers Mazda 323 Astina.

*Huge boot, my 185cm brother fits in the back.

*Looks better now that I colour coded certain black trim parts and mudflaps.

*Easy to get in and out of, kinda high off the ground for a small car. Good ground clearance for unsealed roads.

*Plenty of storage space.

*I thought the stereo was of poor quality. Changed for an aftermarket system, much better.

Nothing has gone wrong with the car. It performed exactly how you would expect a Toyota should.

This car is an Automatic and is not near as good as the manual.

I had an accident in it and was surprised to see that there was very little damage to it.

Finish is not anywhere near as good as the Japanese version of the car.