I've researched this car's fuel economy, safety record and how long they typically last and not much else. My biggest questions are: What are the car's biggest problems? Are parts expensive and/or hard to find? and Do they need to be frequently repaired/serviced? I'd also love to hear some other recommendations for good first cars and other aspects of the 2010 Toyota Corolla good and bad.
I'm thinking about getting a 2010 Toyota Corolla as my first car. Should I consider it?
- Thread starter TheSkyLord
- Start date
Love my 2010 toyota Corolla S. right now battery drain issue I am figuring things out. not a problem it happens.
1 if I go long distance and talking 5 hour trips I will get 40 mpg. if I go an hour its less. think we hit mid 40 at times, car went on 1500 plus trips long hours your bottom will feel it. Lol
2 changed brakes, rotors, drums normal wear and tear ona brake job, had to change a brake vacuum pipe line the other day $40.00 for a 4 inch tube Lol.
3 tires are tires, Radio if gets way to much heat on it will cause a issue, only complaint I have on that.
4 poor trunk release signal, dealer refused to do it right, an aftermarket alarm and I got distance, corrected that,
5 seat driver pump slowly lowers over time big deal pump once corrected.
love the car. never had to repair. 10 years of ownership bought the lease out, for personal reasons my honda gave and the lease up. why not? We have had a 2007 loved it, 2013 a slugish year, 2016 awesome year and 2020 I also had a 91 just sold. good luck and this site is SLOW!
1 if I go long distance and talking 5 hour trips I will get 40 mpg. if I go an hour its less. think we hit mid 40 at times, car went on 1500 plus trips long hours your bottom will feel it. Lol
2 changed brakes, rotors, drums normal wear and tear ona brake job, had to change a brake vacuum pipe line the other day $40.00 for a 4 inch tube Lol.
3 tires are tires, Radio if gets way to much heat on it will cause a issue, only complaint I have on that.
4 poor trunk release signal, dealer refused to do it right, an aftermarket alarm and I got distance, corrected that,
5 seat driver pump slowly lowers over time big deal pump once corrected.
love the car. never had to repair. 10 years of ownership bought the lease out, for personal reasons my honda gave and the lease up. why not? We have had a 2007 loved it, 2013 a slugish year, 2016 awesome year and 2020 I also had a 91 just sold. good luck and this site is SLOW!
I have a 2013 and it has been great. I will say I have the same issue with the drivers seat lowering itself over time. However, the bottom setting works for me so I don't fret over it. The only thing I have done is brakes, regular oil changes, other than that nothing has gone wrong with it, have not even had to replace the battery yet. if you look at my thread you can see the things I have done to mitigate squeaks over the years, but to be honest squeaks really bug me and they might not be much of an issue for others.
I have a 2010 amd itsgarbage. It had 136k when I bought it 8 mo ths ago and its been one issue after another. I've bought multiple alternators and batteries based off a mechanicsadvice and it's still total pain and draining wallet bad. It's in good co dition amd was well taken care of....or so I thought. Buyer beware
Love mine, bought it with 125k, a red 2009 XRS with the 2.4L Camry engine so I have the "bad" 2AZ-FE that can get the oil burning problem. As far as I can tell it never got the TSB piston ring fix from the dealer. Its nearly to 150k miles and luckily never used more than a quart between the 5k oil changes. I keep a close eye on it though due to paranoia. Valve cover definitely has oil seepage but since I haven't lost over a quart between changes I don't feel like risking an engine bolt breaking at this point.
My sunroof leaked due to rust deforming the rubber seal (super common problem with this gen), brushed off the loose rust and shot it with black rust reformer and paint then replaced the rubber seal. Easy fix, only 4 torx bolts hold the roof glass in on most Toyota sunroofs. Alternator went out at 146k, replaced the belt while I was at it. This was a bit of a hassle just because the 2.4 takes up way more room than the 1.8, its apparently much easier on them. Something I found pretty cool is I can change the transmission fluid by hand pumping it out the dipstick tube without having to drop the pan. I can pump out a whole gallon of old ATF fluid from there and put a new gallon of $20 Valvoline synthetic ATF back in under half an hour without getting my hands dirty. Makes annual atf changes super easy and stupid not to do. Dunno if thats a thing on the 1.8 engine.
So almost everything is fixable with a 10mm and a screwdriver, parts are cheap and Autozone likely has them under the counter, the 1.8 sips gas and Toyota transmissions seem to outlast the car even if the owner never changes the fluid (which you really should do.) My 2.4 gets like 26mpg so not as great gas mileage but its a fun engine in such a light car, and I'm pretty fond of the jelly bean 10th gen Corollas. They kind of remind me of the 3rd gen Subaru Imprezas but without the inevitable head gasket kaboom.
My sunroof leaked due to rust deforming the rubber seal (super common problem with this gen), brushed off the loose rust and shot it with black rust reformer and paint then replaced the rubber seal. Easy fix, only 4 torx bolts hold the roof glass in on most Toyota sunroofs. Alternator went out at 146k, replaced the belt while I was at it. This was a bit of a hassle just because the 2.4 takes up way more room than the 1.8, its apparently much easier on them. Something I found pretty cool is I can change the transmission fluid by hand pumping it out the dipstick tube without having to drop the pan. I can pump out a whole gallon of old ATF fluid from there and put a new gallon of $20 Valvoline synthetic ATF back in under half an hour without getting my hands dirty. Makes annual atf changes super easy and stupid not to do. Dunno if thats a thing on the 1.8 engine.
So almost everything is fixable with a 10mm and a screwdriver, parts are cheap and Autozone likely has them under the counter, the 1.8 sips gas and Toyota transmissions seem to outlast the car even if the owner never changes the fluid (which you really should do.) My 2.4 gets like 26mpg so not as great gas mileage but its a fun engine in such a light car, and I'm pretty fond of the jelly bean 10th gen Corollas. They kind of remind me of the 3rd gen Subaru Imprezas but without the inevitable head gasket kaboom.
Hello,
Hope you decided on getting the new wheels you were looking for. Corollas are extremely reliable cars unless they were abused or not maintain at all. I've worked on cars for 14 years and seen Corollas coming for oil changes at 4500 miles (regular oil, not synthetic) and they ran over 230k miles. Just make sure the one you choose has not been abused.
Hope you decided on getting the new wheels you were looking for. Corollas are extremely reliable cars unless they were abused or not maintain at all. I've worked on cars for 14 years and seen Corollas coming for oil changes at 4500 miles (regular oil, not synthetic) and they ran over 230k miles. Just make sure the one you choose has not been abused.