2009 Toyota Corolla consumer reviews

OK styling, fair exceleration, good handling, excellent reliability, user friendly controls and very comfortable for a small car. Definately worth the money.

I've owned my Corolla S now for 1.5 years & have 14k miles on it. It has performed wonderfully & has been completely trouble free. I have the 1.8L engine & with the manual 5-speed it has plenty of get-up-and-go while delivering 35mpg in mixed city/hwy driving. I love the new body style & it was the first reason I wanted this car. In typical Toyota fashion, it has performed well & been trouble free, a great value in any way you look at it.

I have an 09 Corolla XRS, moved to europe bout a year ago and needed to get rid of a full size truck for something small and good on gas. Thats exactly what this car is, a great commuter car. It does good driving at high speeds on the auto bahn, it also does well at lower speeds on hilly roads with windy turns. Does it drive like a sports car, no. But thats not what its built for. The XRS model comes with a 2.4 and gives it a little more power than the 1.8, also adds some nice features such as power everything, leather heated seats, 6 disc 8 spkr stereo, blue tooth etc. Even with the 2.4 it gets around 28 MPG city/30 Hgwy. Controls inside are large and easy to use, styling outside is decent. I drove a civic and a jetta prior to buying, civic didnt feel as roomy and didnt like the interrior, jetta was nice but 5K more. Its a great little car for the money. Would definitely recomend it.

car has a mind of its own even in a puddle of water. snow is impossible. diffidult to drive except on clear, dry pavement

I bought my 2009 Corolla LE because at the moment I needed a reliable economical car. I test drove it and didn't go past 35mph and truthfully it drove nice. My drive to work is nothing but Highway and I noticed that once you go at speeds of 50mph and above, the electronic power steering is horrible. The car veers left and right into other lanes and in order to keep the steering straight, you must hold the wheel FIRMLY with both hands. It's a workout steering this car straight on the highway. I would not recommend this car to anyone until Toyota fixes that steering problem. Inside features on the LE are very basic and bland since it is the base model. No cruise control which I found really dumb. That is almost standard on all base models from other manufacturers. Getting to a high speed takes some time, so if you want to skip a car and you need to accelerate, have patience.

On an '09 vehicle, I would say it's hard to rate how "dependable" or "reliable" it is. I am sure that any 1-1.5 year old vehicle would be considered both dependable and reliable. This '09 Corolla, for the money, is just blah. It is basically featureless, slow, sloppy to drive, has terrible visibility issues, and isn't cheap enough to warrant it. After taxes and extended warranty, we paid almost $21,000 for an '09 LE in June of 2008. This is not a $21,000 car. If we had walked out at maybe 15K it would have been decent. It seems like Toyota managed to make a bigger car with the same amount of interior space as the older, smaller body style. The back seat is horribly cramped, and the front isn't too cozy either. And I am only 5'6 and 125 lbs. Don't buy this car if you are any bigger than that. Controls are simply devoid of any aesthetic or functional planning. Everything down to the oil dipstick and the interior clock is just cheap. As for the old Toyota reliability: after about 2,000 miles, I checked the oil to find the reservoir empty. Took it to the dealer. They said it just needed an oil change (guess the 5,000 mile change is a myth?). Charged me for it (no free maintenance from Toyota apparently). At 5,000: empty again. Took it in. Another $35. Again at 8,000 it's empty. Finally they told me it was a computer glitch and the car was burning its oil. They reprogrammed the computer for free, but charged my wife for the oil change again. I understand it is just my car, and not all Corollas... but it was the dealerships lack of concern about this problem that got to me. The car also idles rougher than my 10 year old Passat with 100,000 miles. The Corolla's one wheel drive isn't great in the snow; even 2" are a problem. We kept this car for 1.5 years and, for the lower monthly payments, are getting into a much nicer, safer, Passat with similar mileage, and a lot more interior space. Got hosed on the trade in ($11,500) but it was worth it for us. We just don't like it. My advice? If you want cheap and fairly reliable, buy a Hyundai or a Kia. If you're going to buy a Corolla, you might as well spend a little more and get into a Honda Accord or a VW Jetta. Anybody who says this is a "zippy car" or "handles great" or "like a little sports car" has never driven a zippy car that handles great.

I bought my '09 Corolla brand new in September '09 and I now have about 8,200 miles on it. This car is really cute and the styling is aggressive, implies it is a tiger and the car is sporty. In reality, my '09 Corolla is really just a kitten. I have the S model and it is a really nice car for the money.

Purchased 6 months ago. After 3 months, the air vent started emitting foul smell whenever not on air conditioner. Brought in to dealership for service. Filter get replaced but foul smell continue, this time when using air conditioning. Brought in once again shortly after and this time they fume the whole car. Great- the foul smell is gone but it's been one week now and the car constantly smell like toxic gas chamber when air vent is on (no matter air conditioner or heating)..

I am leasing this car and love it! I am going to buy it before the lease is up. I have the 09 LE model and I drive at least 30 miles one way to work. I love the gas mileage and the dependability. I don't need a car that is going to go 0-60 in 5 seconds. I find the interior very comfortable and just a great all around car.

The car was new 2006 corolla CE 5 speed I have 124000 miles now 38.5 hwy a/c on at 80 mph handles well put on larger tires 195-65-15. can take 40mph corner at 60mph I drive 1000 miles a week i change oil every 5 weeks other then the tires and rims that is all i had to replace i plan to drive until 300.000 miles with no problems thats RELIABLE