so I'm driving a renter while my car is in the shop

[JJ#48Racing]

I had an '08 Corolla S as a rental a couple months ago. I wasn't impressed at all with the driving experience. Very numb, and the interior quality was sub-par to say the least. I couldn't believe that this is what people rave about. I must admit though it got great gas mileage. On a road trip averaging about 80mph it got 34mph. That's at least 5mpg better than my '03 Neon SXT daily driver gets on the same trip. I'll take my neon any day though.

[TheCaptain]

I had an experience with a new Toyota Camry rental car while my trusty 91 Caprice Classic was in the shop for a week. Talk about not having a soul!! Toyota's are seriously an appliance, that is all. Point a to b, no more.
07 Camry - 43 000 kms 91 Caprice Classic - 330 000 kms
The seat was comfortable for the most part, but nothing like my Caprice's leather. Ride quality was great in a straight line, but a roll-over special trying to make a corner at speed! Seriously, my 91 Caprice takes corners nicer, and with less body roll then that Camry! Back seat space was almost comparable, considering the Camry is smaller then the Caprice...

Engine in the Camry was the tiny little 2.4L four cylinder, which got awful gas mileage, had no power below 2700 RPM, and the tranny has that horrid Z type shift pattern. No real comparison to my 5.0L 305 V8 in the Caprice, even with a four speed 700R4.

Trunk space was comparable again, in size relation of the cars (even though both are full size cars).

The worst part of the Camry? The old people HVAC system and radio controls. Seriously, no button was smaller then my thumb, and the radio display had a nice side LED lit display, but doesn't dim. Not bad in the city, but on the highway awful! It was either have the display on, and be blind and not see anything, or dim the dash lights down enough to see, which shuts off the display for the radio, totally blacking it out. Intelligent design idiots at toyota!!

So in my conclusion, Toyota's are for people with no soul, or really don't care that much. Simple as that.

[ZeeTwentyFour]

I hate braks like that. When I move some cars around at the body shop the brakes have like a 1 inch throw on them, I barely touch them and I'm going through the windshield. It could be that I'm just used to 1990's GM but I really don't like touchy brakes.

end rant.

[pookie]

I thought I'd reply to this as I agree with a lot of whats been said. My father-in-law bought an 09 corolla a year ago when they came out - he said b/c of the claimed 35mpg. He chose it over the malibu at the time, which is another story. Anyway, I must say he has been disappointed with it in his year's ownership. The build quality is just ok and the road holding is awful. Yes, it is a new car ($20k's worth at the time) so no real problems with ownership as such.

But, as I said to him a year ago, why buy a 35mpg car in La where gas is around $2/$3 a gallon. I am Scottish and when I moved here 13 months ago Gas there was $11 a gallon - hence the need for a 35mpg car there. My f-in-l is retired so he doesn't need to drive anywhere specific each day, so he could afford to go for a larger/ more comfortable 'decent' car.

I think he just bought it b/c of the badge tho, 'corolla' (reliable, cheap, boring etc.) and I've got a feeling he'll not be buying another one again! My murano has been in the shop (rear ended) and I've had an 09 Malibu as a rental (3.6 V6) which is quite a different car from the corolla - better in every way. (We don't have Malibu's in Scotland). Yay Chevy!!

[[KRPT]ECP]

yeah, on the day before last of rental I got tired of the sore back and the crappy driving that I brought it back to the rental company early (had work off the last day before I got my baby back so I didn't need to drive it anyhow) and they let me swap it for an 09 malibu, which I have to say, was over9000 time better by no stretch of the imagination... it is comfortable, the controls all work(ergonomically) where they are, and it's even a decent ride with nice acceleration for it's type of car. I will never again get a toyota renter car, even if I have to pay extra for something american.

[TheCaptain]

Especially since the Malibu rental probably only uses the small 2.4 engine. You can get a 250 Hp V6 in the LTZ, for a little more pep!

[[KRPT]ECP]

yeah, it was the bottom of the line base model, which says a lot considering how nice of a car it is.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by TheCaptain

Especially since the Malibu rental probably only uses the small 2.4 engine. You can get a 250 Hp V6 in the LTZ, for a little more pep!

My parents have the Aura XR, the cousin to the LTZ. Its fairly impressive for fwd family car. The engine is nice, has a pretty good exhaust note when you give it some gas.

[Jiu Jitsu Jon]

I drove two rental cars while my GTO was being repaired after a douchebag driving a Pathfinder rear-ended it. The first was a PT cruiser, which was just terrible. The interior looked like it was designed by PlaySkool, not to mention it's laughable exterior appearance. I traded it in for a Cobalt (actually a downgrade) which was a better vehicle, IMO. On my honeymoon in Florida, we ended up with a Dodge Avenger which had the same plastic interior as the PT Cruiser but when you mashed down the accelerator it was good at downshifting. Also the design of the car was easier to stomach.

[Zhawk]

Well, Corollas are just generallly an appliance. No one buying them expects to feel excited by them, unless they have been drinking a lot of Toymotor kool-aid.
Personally, I find it laughable that people still think Toyota builds perfect cars. Oh well, understanding is usually years behind.