As some of you already know, I am currently driving a Toyota Corolla rental car until my cars repairs get completed. I am extremely shocked and surprised by the Corolla. I was in no way expecting it to be like this. The car is in a league of its own, its right on top of my list as the worst car I have ever driven!
First of all to be honest I didn’t know they still made cars this slow. The acceleration from 0 to 100 in the Corolla takes like 30 minutes, its unbearably slow. It also feels like an electric car because the engine it so tiny and weak it makes practically no sound. Lets not even talk about the max speed of the car which I am assuming I would require a 500km long traffic free drag strip to be able to hit.
Another big problem with the car is that no other car respects it. In the past three days I have been cut off more times then the past 6 years combined! People just don’t care if I am occupying a lane or not its as if the Corolla is just invisible, and it is! If you are planning on tailing someone this is the car to be in, it has no personality at all and such a generic look that no way will you be spotted!
Fuel consumption is good, KD1 fills up half the tank and that has lasted me like 3 days now but who cares about fuel consumption when you have an oil refinery in your back yard. The cars ergonomics are also terrible, I am 186cm tall and yet have to stretch really far out all the way just so I can increase or decrease the volume on the radio. I don’t think I can even reach the right side of the radio without unbuckling my seatbelt and moving into the passenger seat!
Yes its a Toyota and I am sure a lot of you are going to defend the Corolla by saying its a very reliable car and its cheap but thats no excuse, there are a lot of other cars similarly priced with more power and better looks (Honda Civic, Ford Focus, Mazda3). Renting the car is cheap at KD6 a day so thats why I am stuck with it but I would never ever buy this car or recommend it to anyone. No offense to anyone who owns this car already, I am guessing you bought it because of reliability and high resale value, two factors that don’t interest me.
36 replies on “The Corolla Experience”
now come on mark,, try to use the hand break more often and u’ll find the car really entertaining…
try this: if u had to park it in the sun,, keep the motor and the AC running,, come back (period not considered) open the door and the car is cool,, this is more effective after 1 month
“The acceleration from 0 to 100 in the Corolla takes like 30 minutes…..Lets not even talk about the max speed of the car which I am assuming I would require a 500km long traffic free drag strip to be able to hit.”
total crap.
My friend used a rented corolla for the past 5 years while he was in college. He admires it. It is heavy duty and I would conceder it an excellent “Spare car”. That is if you are going for a long travel to Khairan It will take you ages to arrive but you will be there having spent KD. 1 for gas and enjoyed the amazing A.C.
When you said that the car is economic and doesn’t cost much for oil, I would like to remind you that you yourself are using it for the same reason. It is cheap !
I never notice those corollas and I like my toyota! hehehe!
stopbullshitting: you need to get a sense of humor dude
mishref: i did notice the ac was strong but i figured its because the weather isnt too hot
30 million people cant be wrong.
I guess you were driving the 1.3 version
The 1.8 is only slightly better, but better
yeah i am driving the 1.3 and thats te biggest problem. i tried the 1.3 in an echo and its not bad at all, decent kick down and didn’t have problems going up the mountains (i was in lebanon) but i guess the same engine in a corolla is just to weak. corolla is bigger and heavier then the echo..
Corolla is great car for first time driver in Q8!
“The acceleration from 0 to 100 in the Corolla takes like 30 minutes”
30 minutes? I guess you meant 30 seconds ..
Corolla 1.8 is definitely better than 1.3, but again it’s not really that strong and good. It is very good because of the two factors you mentioned, those which don’t interest you.
People who want an economic car and a car which has a high sale value, will go for a Corolla, better than Echo and Yaris I guess.
amjad i was exaggerating , ofcourse it doesnt take 30 minutes to hit 100
lool ..
but yeah, it’s too slow .. 1.3 ltrs engine, that’s why
FUCK YES…. MARK IS BACK.. WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN MAN.. I HAD TO READ ALL THE OTHER GUY CRAP FOR A MONTH.. ITS GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK MAN..
“Another big problem with the car is that no other car respects it”
I had the same problem when my car was in the service and I got a temporary car. It’s really like I’m not there !!!
But when I’m driving in my own car and when I’m changing lanes or whatever, no car even honks at me and I have the road to myself
u must b driving the 1.3 corolla….sux big time…
mark , once we rented one for a couple of days .. driving the corolla was like a joke .. it was FUN ! .. its very slow .. it feels like ur in an electric car , and NO ONE respect u in the streets , thats why we should thank god for what we have .
I was in alghanim dealershiproom .. i saw the new chevrollet .. its a TINY car .. the smallest ever in the dealership .. the corolla would be like a Bently compared to that chevrollet .
Cars are like clothes , you wear something nice , people would put u in a diff level and judge u and evaluate u and put u on a status …. same goes with what you drive
I don’t mind my 1.8 Corolla … I take it for quick trips where there is limited parking. IMO, Its a fairly decent car.
why do people like to repeat the same things over and over?
…
Guess it was a 1.3 ltr engine.
hey how come no one commented on the fact that he was driving the 1.3L engine? that was the problem.
no no holla, you don’t get it, i think Mark was driving the 1.3L not the 1.8L engine.
It’s 1.3L of PURE VIOLENCE!
Mark vs Corolla 0:1 😀
Michael..
AND EXTREME SEX APPEAL!
Haha, right there with ya Mark. As much as they might be reliable cars bla bla bla… Toyota’s are the most boring cars out there. No charisma, no design, no power… and now they are more expensive than other cars.
“Another big problem with the car is that no other car respects it.”
This line cracked me up LOL! it is so true!!! I did try a corolla out once also when my old car was in repair and YES people did not notice me nor care weather I was in a car or a tin can!! they do not have respect for the corolla what so ever. The acceleration is crappy but its a 4-cylinder car nothing much is expected of it except if its Turbo boosted 😀 like mine ;p
*Economically, excellent
*AC, excellent
generally TOYOTA is on the top! truely I tried the Corolla “a few weeks”, Camry “almost 5 years, two different models”, Prado “almost 2 years” they are all GREAT when it comes to AC definetly the BEST in the market since I tried the following in Kuwait in August : “rating out of 5”
BMW- 3 “I hope you don’t kill me ;p”
Merc.- 3
Jaguar- 2.5
Ford”close but filter is crappy”- 4
Chev.”also close but filter crappy”- 4
Nissan”closest to Toyota but not quite there”- 4.5
Jeep- 3 “need I say filter thing again? I noticed it in American cars, don’t know why!”
Honda- 4.5
VW, am still waiting for August to come & rate it, so far so good! I give it a rough 4
As for being durable, you have to give it to Toyota & Merc. if you notice the Kuwaiti streets, some still drive a Cresseda which is out of production since?? ever? also old mercs are in the streets but high in price hence the majority go for a Toyota. Besides its a car that you don’t have to pamper! fill gas, oil, filter & thats it mostly 😀 it can hold up
Still, to me I would never want to purchase it, drive it, nor recommend it 😀
MArk : stop crying about the RESPECT factor…u find it to be that way coz u’ve been rolling in a BMW…people who own the corolla might be happy with what they have…2ndly, why do u even want such a quick pickup, are u racing along the gulf road at 3am? i think its just ok…
and u cant reach out for ur radio coz ur fuckin tall and u have ur seat far back, so u can fit ur legs in…and thats y u cant reacvh for the radio easily…
fuck everything CHEVROLET TAHOE RULES!
Yea, Toyotas are generally very dull and bland. But then again they are not renown for being exquisite luxury cars. Still, just use the handbrake..it’ll make your Corolla experience a bit more entertaining. =P
One of the reason all Toyota’s have excellent AC’s is the amount of research Toyota puts to make sure it is desert compliant. While most manufactures probably ignore the Middle east market, Toyota engineers really put the cars through the grinder during the month of July-August (when it is the hottest here). People drive the cars non-stop from morning till evening with the A/C on all the time and the engineers measure everything.
At the end of the day, it’s a dependable car and that’s why people buy it.
well … the most important part ,, people missed out…
Cars like corolla , camry and few others have “extremely” low maintenance and servcie charges…..
thats why a major part of the expats depend on it …
Toyota Corolla.. how will i survive with out you.
Toyota vs BMW
=
Happy Driver vs ‘NoOneTalkToMe’ Drivers
any given day…:)
my dad rented a corolla for me for a month when i first got my license until i got my official car. it was okay, i guess. its not like i could compare it to any other car.
“Another big problem with the car is that no other car respects it.”
my car is a mini cooper s, and even i get cut off 243195141 times! its very VERY annoying.
“People just don’t care if I am occupying a lane or not its as if the Corolla is just invisible, and it is! If you are planning on tailing someone this is the car to be in, it has no personality at all and such a generic look that no way will you be spotted!”
That REALLY cracked me up.
Oh, and I’m currently driving a corolla 😛
And now we have all these taxis driving Corollas… they remain invisible until they suddenly swerve to the right and brake in front of you to pick up a passenger!
I remember driving a Ford Focus while my car was in the shop, and I was so bored while driving, I actually devised ways of complicating the drive just to amuse myself.
And it has to be said, but it is entirely unfair that for the price of 1 gallon of gas here, you could easily fill your tank up half way.
it’s a very reliable car, cheap, lasts for ever !!!
“made in japan” cars are the best
I had a corolla and now Aurion.I was totally satisfied considering my affordability that time. it was 1.8 liters and I would say best in the class with same budget. Highly reliable and comfortably ride. I got half the price of the vehicle after 5 years use. People are crazy about toyota and especially corolla. We can’t expect the performance of BMW with corolla by paying half or lesser than the cost. Now I am enjoying my Aurion.