2020 Corolla Hybrid Official Thread

Farewell Prius c

 

Still...

Prius c still fits into tight parking spaces, so, it's better suited for city traffic.

Other than that...?

 

There is going to be a new Yaris hybrid.
I don't think the US will get it.

 

Is it just me, or is Doug DeMuro channeling Steve Martin:

 

So..anyone here own a hybrid Corolla yet? I'm looking forward to getting some real world feedback from the crew here at some point!

 

Only have had my Corolla Hybrid a few days. Owned a 2012 Prius for a couple years, also drove girlfriend's hybrid Honda Fit (called Jazz on that side of the pond) in Israel for a couple years. Also had a 2015 Corolla gasser for a few years, which I traded in for the hybrid Corolla. My initial seat-of-the-pants estimate: The hybrid Corolla handles and corners better than my Prius or my gas Corolla did. (New rear suspension geometry and new platform?) It's slightly peppier than the gas Corolla (online drag-strip tests of the two current Corollas bear that out). The hybrid Corolla feels a lot like VWs or small Beamers I have rented in recent years, though no doubt it is less powerful. All in all, it feels like a better-driving car than either my Prius or my gas Corolla. I don't know whether current Priuses have tachometers. I know my '12 didn't. Much preferred the two tach-equipped hybrids I have driven (the Fit and the new Corolla). With the new Corolla, I'm amazed at how often the car drives without benefit of the ICE. More of the time than I expected.

 

Curious why you like a tach in a hybrid. Owned two hybrids, didn't miss a tach one bit. (Prior car was a Porsche so it was appropriate for that car and used.) But on a hybrid all I care about is some relative efficiency indication and a state of charge and gas tank level. I particularly like an instantaneous MPG readout as it moderates my right foot pressure.

 

Just personal preference. I like a tach in any gasoline-engine car. Even at Corolla velocities.

 

We rented one of these from Toyota Rent a Car at Tejas Toyota (in Humble, TX, north of Houston) a few weeks ago. We had the car for 6 days and put about 800 miles on it in mixed driving, but mostly highway at 65 MPH. I especially appreciated the Lane Tracing with Steering Assist, Electronic Parking Brake and Brake Hold, none of which were available on our 2017 Four Touring Prius when we got it. (I found the Brake Hold feature very useful for stop and go driving in traffic, of which there was a fair amount in getting around Houston). I missed the JBL sound with satellite radio and Navigation, which are not on the LE, the only currently available trim for the Hybrid Corolla. Not having built-in Navigation, it would have been nice to have Android Auto, instead of just Apple Car Play. I also must admit I prefer the hatchback form factor to the sedan with fold-down seats, but that is strictly a personal preference. Otherwise, the car handled similarly to the Prius and was pleasant to drive overall.

The best part - the car's display was showing life to date MPG of 33 when we got it with a few hundred miles on the odometer, and was showing 60.1 when we returned it. (Our Gen 4 Prius currently shows 56.5 on the display after 12k miles, the Fuelly calculated value is 53.6 MPG). All in, we paid $185.61 to rent basically a brand new hybrid Toyota for 6 days in Houston. A 2-year old Hyundai Elantra rented from the airport would have cost more than that. If anyone has not yet tried Toyota Rent a Car on a business or vacation trip, I would highly recommend it.

 

I first found this site when I bought my first Prius back in 2015. It was a used 2013 with 60,000 miles. About a month and a half ago, it got the death rattle at 180,000. Turns out it blew a head gasket. I had very few problems until then. One air filter, two sets of tires, and 4 sets of headlights in almost five years.

I wasn't looking for another hybrid when I went to replace my Prius. But, I ended up in a 2020 Corolla Hybrid. 6 weeks in and 3,000 miles, I am impressed. It is one of the few cars that have grown to like more and more as I drive it. It gets better gas mileage, rides better, has Apple Car Play,and handles a lot better the my 3rd Gen Prius. And the best part is people don't tailgate me because I drive a Prius. I have actually had a Camaro and a Mustang want to race me, maybe because it is Barcelona Red.

Here is to hoping that the minor changes that Toyota has done to the 1.8 will fix the head gasket issue. Time will tell.

 

Glad you like it! Yeah..for a 'stealth hybrid', the Corolla is definitely on my short list for when our Prius v (wagon) with 155,000 miles konks out. That may be a while though because it is still running like a champ..no major oil consumption issues either. I'm sure the head gasket issue will catch up with me eventually though.

 

The i

The crazy part of my Prius was there was very little warning. It did not use a drop of oil or antifreeze until it decided to to have the cold start knock consistently. It was only about two weeks between it’s first start up knock before I had it diagnosed with a blown head gasket.
I do appreciate the better MPG though. I got 63 MPG on a thirty mile run on the interstate at 75MPH. The Prius would usually get between 45 and 48 on the same exact run.

 

I'm revisiting this thread because our Gen 2 Prius now has 286k miles, the HV battery is showing signs that it may fail soon, and the wife has been talking about buying herself a new car for years. It doesn't help that I've always tried to talk her into buying used, but then I bought a new Prius for my own use a couple of years ago.

As I discussed in Post #13, we rented the Corolla Hybrid recently and were very impressed with it, but considering the $3,050 difference in MSRP of the Corolla Hybrid LE over the regular Corolla LE, I'm having a hard time making a case for buying the Hybrid. With normal usage of about 10k miles per year, and even with an average price for gas of $3 per gallon (higher than most people are currently paying, except on the West Coast), the payback period is more than 9 years. Our Gen 2 is now at 13 years on the original HV battery, but the consensus here seems to be that 10 years of life is about all one can reasonably expect, barely longer than the payback period for the Corolla Hybrid. In our recent travels, I've seen many 2020 Corollas on the road but not a single Hybrid, and in fact, when I go to the Toyota website and check dealer inventory in SW Florida, there are none in stock. Apparently, new Corolla buyers are doing the same analysis as I have done and concluding the price premium is just not justifiable. I also have to wonder about the pricing when I see Toyota dealers now selling new hybrid batteries for as little as $1,650, and only a $1,000 premium for the RAV 4 Hybrid LE over its regular RAV 4 counterpart.

Does anyone have any theories about what is going on?

 

With the pricing?
The Rav4 hybrid can only be had with AWD in the US. Which lets Toyota hide some of the hybrid system cost in the upgrade cost of the AWD for the ICE model.

 

Our 2005 is still going strong on the original .HV battery. 9 years seams like a reasonable payoff period.

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