BHPian ps_abhijith recently shared this with other enthusiasts:Background:When we moved to the UK as a family in 2021 and got our used Lexus CT200 as our first car in the UK. The car was shared between my wife and me and had the car for more than 3 years. The car stood at 95k miles and 30k of that was added in by us in the past 4 years. It was a 2013 model year car, but mechanically was still sound and had absolutely no issues and was under Lexus warranty till 10th year of ownership, and the hybrid powertrain was under 5 more years of warranty. However, it did lack in tech compared to modern cars, the biggest being active safety systems. The car had normal cruise control, but was not adaptive. That meant, we always had to pay close attention to traffic in front while on cruise control. Also, there was no emergency braking or any other type of assistance. The 1.8 engine with Toyota hybrid system had 136 horse on offer was not much given that the car was heavy, and had an ecvt transmission (Mechanically same as a prius). Few months back, we were told from Lexus that the next annual service was coming up, and it would be a major service, costing around 500pounds. The car would also need a new set of tyres soon, and the insurance was also to be renewed in few months time. The upcoming added expenses slowly made us think about getting a newer car to be used more by my wife. After few rounds of casual discussions we decided to check out few cars. We were not going get a new one, but a relatively new used car (2-3 years old, without too many miles on it). The requirements were: 1. Small hatchback as it was to be used more by my wife. 2. Not older than 2-3 years 3. Under 25000 miles. 4. As much extended warranty as we can get 5. Cheap to insure and maintain.6. Buy from dealer directly after trading in the Lexus.Choices ConsideredWe considered the below options: 1. Mercedes-Benz A class : Mainly for the brand value, but turned out to pricey, low on warranty and lacking tech. Everything was an option apparently. 2. BMW 1 series : Again, the same as the A class, cheaper, but not that exciting at all. 3. Mini Cooper S (4 door version) : Wife loved the way the car looked. Took the test drive, n came back disappointed. The ride was rough, inside space was cramped, steering was heavy, and interiors looked dated. After all of this, we decided to give the Yaris hatchback a try as it ticked most of our requirements. Booked a test drive at a nearby Toyota showroom. We were okey with the car. The small 1.5 engine with the hybrid system had enough power to use the car in the town a the occasional motorway runs. The safety system was top notch (ADAS level 2, adaptive cruise control, LTA, auto emergency braking etc). But the car turned out a bit too small for us given its smaller footprint, especially in the rear seat and the interiors were a let down even compared to the 12 year old Lexus. But the biggest issue was that being a small automatic hatch back from Toyota, it was one of the cars that was always in great demand in the country. Hence the prices of used Yaris hatchbacks were crazy high. We shared our feelings with the dealership. They then recommended us to checkout a used Corolla hatchback, as the prices of used corollas were similar to a used Yaris of the same age.Enter The Toyota Corolla:My wife did her driving lessons for her UK licence in a corolla, so she was already used to the car. We decided to try the car, and requested for a test drive on the same day. Now Toyota has two engine options on the corolla in the UK: 1. Mainstream car with the good old 1.8 hybrid system, the same one we had in the Lexus, but somehow with a bit less power, and lower fuel economy. The 1.8 hybrid system had a combined output of 120 hp, and with an ecvt, I knew the drive would be boring. (Lexus had 136) 2. Few cars with the 2.0 hybrid system, this is a newer gen hybrid system with a bigger battery and a better engine, and a tricky planetary cvt gearbox and the system providing a combined power output of 180-200 hp, and offering better or similar fuel efficiency compared to the 1.8 hybrid system. I was more inclined to getting a car with the 2.0 L engine, and my wife had no preferences on the engine, she was happy as long as it was a corolla which was not white or black. So asked to dealership to check on the availability of a 2.0 corolla. Meanwhile, we did our test drive on a normal 1.8L corolla. The drive was okey, car had enough space inside and the interiors didn’t look cheap, and the car was packed with safety tech. (Adaptive cruise control, LTA, emergency braking, pedestrian detection, reverse assist, and even auto parking). The next day, we were informed by the dealership that they had a 2.0 corolla at another location, which they could bring to us, but it was a GR sport model, costing a little bit more. We checked out the details of the car, and it was a 2022GR sport corolla in Red & Black dual tone paint, with the 2.0 engine. Now, this is not a full blown GR corolla, but something in between. 1. Has a different front & rear bumper compared to the normal corolla. 2. Has different alloy wheels. 3. Full black interior including roof liner and interior trims. 4. Has sports bucket seats in the front. 5. Suspension is lower and a bit stiffer. 6. Engine running a different tune. (2 litre engine with bigger hybrid battery and a combined power output of 200 hp) 7. Sports mode, with paddle shifters on the steering wheel, as well as sequential shift mode available via gear lever. 8. Slightly bigger brakes all around. Most of these were visual changes, but the lowered suspension and the 200hp hybrid system made the car stand out from the normal corolla. We liked the colour scheme too. I loved the car, and we traded in our Lexus, put in a little bit more money towards the initial deposit and got the car after a few days. The car was a late 2022 model, with 18k miles, one previous owner and full service history, which meant that it was under full Toyota warranty till 2032, and the hybrid system and powertrain was under warranty till 2037. That was more than enough for us.The ownership ExperienceWe have had the car for more than 5 months now, and already have put in 4k miles on the car, as this is our everyday runaround car. The driving experience of the car is a mixed bag in our experience. Features: 1. ADAS features including adaptive radar cruise control with distance control, and speed limiter, LTA – Lane assist. 2. Full LED headlights with auto dim/bright function. 3. Auto parking (front bay, reverse bay, parallel parking) 4. Airbags all around (front, knee, side curtain etc) 5. Auto emergency braking and auto braking on reversing including cross traffic and pedestrian detection. 6. Road sign assistance with speed recognition and full parking sensors with reverse camera. 7. 8 inch head unit with wired android auto / apple car play and built in navigation. Can mirror phone screen via miracast. Audio quality is decent. 8. Toyota connected services (vehicle location tracker, trip history, fuel efficiency, driving behaviours, car door lock status etc) 9. Paddle shifter, and sports mode on gear lever. 10. Heads up display, Auto dimming internal rear view mirror. 11. Heated front seats and orvms, and dual zone climate control. 12. Semi leather & cloth seats and leather steering. There are more features, but these are the ones that seemed relevant to us.Other Observations:1. Power, the abundance of it is clearly visible. I know 200hp is not a lot compared to true hot hatches, but upgrading from something heavier with 136 hp, this amount of power truly feels better. 2. Nothing is a match for true displacement, the 2.0 litre Atkinson cycle engine feels relaxed most of the time, and is obviously under stressed by a lot, but has a nice grunt to it under hard acceleration. The induction noise is audible inside the cabin at times. 3. The lowered suspension makes the car a lot more stable and a bit fun in twisty roads, but the stiff suspension is evident on rough roads. 4. The gearbox was a pleasant surprise to me personally. This is a planetary cvt gearbox, with an added dedicated 1st gear. The power delivery feels better and linear, and much better compared to ecvts or traditional cvt gearboxes. Plus the ability to manually select gears (cvt ratios) adds a bit more fun to the mix. 5. The new gen hybrid tech is much more clever and efficient. We are consistently getting around 50mpg, with a mix of town and motorway usage. The larger battery can actually drive the car at higher speeds. Older hybrid system was limited tot 20mph, this can support higher speeds, adding to the efficiency. 6. The battery is charged in 3 ways. While braking, directly from the engine while stationary, and using excess power from the engine while cruising at higher speeds. More battery power = more efficiency. 7. Sports mode with manual shifting is really exciting, the engine will hold higher rpms, and the car accelerates pretty fast. Claimed 0-60mph is around 7 seconds.8. The emergency braking works well, especially while reversing. We have had multiple instances where the car detected pedestrians and cross traffic vehicles and braked automatically.Quirks With The Car1. Toyota wants to keep reminding you it’s a Toyota at times, so misses out on common features like sunglass holder, better quality handrests, and cheap scratchy plastic at places in interior. 2. The car doesn’t have auto locking doors, didn’t realise this till we had the car for a few days, called up Toyota to check if I was missing a setting or something, was informed auto locking was a premium feature available only in their premium cars. 3. The bigger hybrid battery, along with the 12v battery and a space saver tyre are in the boot, and takes up more space compared to a normal corolla. There is no boot lip, so no tall items in the boot. 4. The car doesn’t come with 360degree camera, and hence there is no blind spot monitor, which is common in cars that are much more older and cheaper. This was a known sacrifice we made. 5. You can force the car into pure EV mode, but will turn it off the moment u accelerate a bit hard or go above 20 mph, but in auto mode, the car happily cruises at 40mph on ev mode at times. 6. If you put the car into eco mode, it stays in eco mode the next time u start the car. If you are in normal mode, it stays in normal mode. But if you switch to sports mode, as soon as you restart the car, it goes back to normal mode. 7. The LTA is relies on the main camera array on the top of the windscreen, and is not very reliable. It works well on motorways, keeps the car within the lane, but struggles if there are too many cars around and there are slight turns etc. At times, we have noticed the car zig zagging within the lane trying to centre the car. Also, doesn’t work well if the outer edge of the road is clearly marked. 8. Since the car is really low, getting in and out is not that easy, especially if you have older people with you. My parents hated the low car every time they had to get in or out. 9. As the car is low, while on adaptive cruise control, when you are coming down a small incline to a flat road, the car sometimes doesn’t identify small cars ahead of you till you are very close to the car in front, and then brakes really hard. We have experienced this multiple times, and knows when this is about to happen, and manually brakes ahead now. 10. The warranty is service activated. It’s either 10k miles or 1 year. You get 1 year warranty with every service. The warranty gets voided if you skip a service or delay a service. Overall, I personally have been happy with the car. Every now and then, I do go out for late night drives on the B roads in the countryside, with 60mph speed limits and little to no traffic, and comes back with a smile in my face every time. Wife loves the car for its light steering (in normal mode, hardens up in sports mode), she is happy with the safety kit, and the looks of the car. TBH, I have been using the bigger car we have much less now, and sticks to the corolla every chance I get. Happy with the choice and looks like we are going to stick with this at least till Toyota launches the full blow GR corolla in the UK. Check outBHPian commentsfor more insights and information.
