2025 Toyota Corolla: One way to stay under $30K
The venerated name is an icon among small, efficient, inexpensive cars. We give it a good run, then next week compare it to a Buick crossover, for two varied ways to stay under budget.
2025 Toyota Corolla FX vs. 2025 Buick Envista Avenir: Two options to avoid being spendy.
This week: Toyota Corolla
Price: $29,089 as tested. Convenience Package added blind-spot monitor and cross-traffic alert for $530; black roof, $500; and connected services trial, $325.
Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend liked the “$27,785 base MSRP, cool black accents, and bigger, more readable screen”; on the down side, it was “not particularly quick,” the “engine drones,” and it’s a “dated cabin.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Introduce fun to every day.”
Reality: You’re going for the fun angle, Toyota? Really, now?
What’s new: The Corolla adds a new FX model for 2025, which pays homage to the old FX16, something I’d never heard of before writing this. Still, I feel I can say with confidence, it doesn’t live up to that.
Not so new: How thankful I am to have two small, inexpensive cars to test. They’re a rare treat among model lineups and even rarer among vehicles I get to test, and readers are clamoring for them. Manufacturers want to make money selling you expensive things we don’t really need.
The Corolla is a sedan and the Envista is a crossover, so very different directions indeed.
Competition: Honda Civic, Hyundai Venue, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Niro, Kia Soul, Mazda 3, Nissan Kicks, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Prius, to name just a few.
Up to speed: The Corolla is not winning any races. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine creates 169 horsepower and gets to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, according to Motor Trend.
Still, I was pleased enough with most of the performance, though I was traveling solo through almost all of it. A packed car would suffer a bit of malaise under the extra strain.
Shiftless: The continuously variable transmission in the Corolla saps power as much as any. The gearless setup offers infinite ratios in theory but in actuality some examples make hill-climbing and hard acceleration something you’d just rather avoid. The Corolla’s version sits about in the middle, not the worst or the best.
On the road: The Corolla has never been anything like fun, although the XSE version gets close. The FX model doesn’t get there, though, although handling is small-car good. Still, you won’t confuse it with a Golf or Mazda3.
Driver’s Seat: Sturgis Kid 1.0 once purchased a new Scion iM (the Corolla Hatchback before it was called that) based solely on the dreamy front seats. Every time I borrowed that car, I noted how comfortable it was.
The Corolla FX tested had sport fabric-trimmed seats with orange stitching that matched that feel. They were soft but supportive seats and made all the Schuylkill Expressway stop-and-go feel lots better.
The Corolla also benefits from the simple gauge setup that Toyota offers in its base models. Changing the screen to fit your needs is simple with the steering wheel controls.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat is pretty good for a small car. Headroom is dear — my head doesn’t hit the ceiling but it’s close — while legroom and foot room are nice. The door requires care when getting in and out because it’s a bit of a squeeze.
The middle seat passenger will be perched on a narrow cushion and a tall floor hump, and will be permitted to throw small food items at everyone else, or to at least choose the evening’s movie later.
Cargo space is 13.1 cubic feet. The seat folds to create a pass-through.
Play some tunes: The new 10.5-inch touchscreen helps with navigating through the sources and whatnot. But somewhere a designer is patting themselves on the back for the sleek control panel, which trades a volume dial for pushbutton -/+ system. Boo!
The stereo offers pretty good playback, especially by Toyota standards, about an A- or B+.
Keeping warm and cool: Kudos for the simplest controls I’ve seen in a long time — one dial for air speed, another for temperature, and silver buttons for everything else.
Fuel economy: I averaged about 32 mpg in an unusual array of Mr. Driver’s Seat testing. A very stop-and-go round trip to Center City figured mightily into the week. Otherwise it was mostly highway and side roads.
Where it’s built: Blue Springs, Miss.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Corolla reliability to be a 5 out of 5. (Like, duh.)
Next week: Buick Envista Avenir