Sunday 6:55 a.m.: I emerge bleary-eyed in the hotel’s palatial lobby and follow the scent to the sumptuous dining area for yet another breakfast of exotic fruits, artisan breads, and cooked-to-order whatever you’d want, to be washed down with the finest fresh-pressed juices as well as coffees made with beans roasted on-site, all provided for courtesy of the Curbside Classic Corporate AmEx Card which Paul issues to all the contributors after their 100th post and which we put to good use at the 2018 Midwest Meetup last weekend. Such is the life of us CC Contributors.
Yeah, not really. The reality is I found Mssrs. Shafer and Cavanaugh in the dining nook, the midwest apparently rises early; and shuffled off to the buffet to load my plate with some good ol’ midwestern carbs and grains before the hotel shuttle was leaving with or without me to the airport at 7:10a.m. sharp. While stuffing my face and keeping an eye on the pacing shuttle driver I was able to regale them with the story of how I found a $146 round trip fare from CO to MO on Frontier Airlines for this weekend. Getting here was fine…but JPC did opine that the fare seemed almost too good to be true.
7:23 a.m. I arrive at the airport, make it through security in record time while suffering minimal indignities and stake out a seat at the gate in order to attempt a nap prior to the 9:00am boarding call for the 9:30 flight. I notice we are next to a delayed flight to Cancun, also by Frontier Airlines. I decide to take a picture of that plane (above) for my son, the airplane nut.
8:58 a.m. While semi-dozing, I hear something on the speaker and notice everyone around me standing en masse. I figure it’s time to board and then immediately overhear that our flight has been cancelled. Say what? Along with everyone else I get in line.
9:15 a.m. I notice a lot of people all of a sudden leave the Cancun gate and head to ours.
9:35 a.m. At the front of the line it becomes evident that Frontier decided to take our assigned plane and give it to the Cancun flight whose plane won’t start or something like that. The Denver passengers? Sorry, can’t help with that, we can get you on tomorrow’s or Tuesday’s flight most likely or you are welcome to request a refund online. Oh. Help with a hotel or meal vouchers or perhaps rebook on a different airline? Ah, no, next, please. Well, this sucks. Texts to wife back and forth are fruitless as regards other flights at remotely reasonable rates.
9:50 a.m. I Google Costco Rental Cars and find that they can hook me up with a “Hyundai Elantra or similar” for $103 including all fees, taxes, and one-way charges from Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Pay at the desk. Sold! It’s 834 miles from Lambert Field in St. Louis to Denver International Airport where my own car is. How bad can the drive be? I did it last year in the Mercedes.
10:30 a.m. The Enterprise shuttle drops me off at the off-airport counter and the man fills out the form and sends to me to find my car. I go outside and get to choose from five offerings. The most attractive is our subject, a 2017 Toyota Corolla SE, the “sporty” offering in the lineup. Well, here at CC we love ourselves some Corolla but I realize I haven’t actually driven or ridden in one for close to fifteen years, maybe even twenty. Clearly, the time has come.
10:55 a.m. I’m on the road. I-70 Westbound with a whole lotta nothin’ in front of me for the next 800plus miles. The western St. Louis suburbs pass in a flash. First impressions of the car are good. The seat is actually fantastic, lots of bolstering, but soft and cossetting, like a warm embrace after being jilted by a high-flying lover. Just what I need in my hour of need, let’s see how it holds up over this long day.
Before leaving Enterprise, the lot attendant had me look the car over for damage. While doing so, I noted that this is an attractive shape in general but I prefer the rear to the front. The front is a little too busy trying to be aggressive while the side and rear treatments are smooth and attractively pleasant, if not overly exciting. Overall it’s just a small economy car, (it’s even white just like your plumber’s van!) and doesn’t try to look like something out of Star Trek or whatever. A positive. The SE package adds 17″ alloy wheels and overall the look works, darker color would tone the front down a bit too from the full StormTrooper look on this color combination. A little more aggressive overall than the standard trims but nothing that really screams “look at me”.
Inside everything is as unassuming as outside, bar the driver side carpet which is worn through to the padding underneath. I notice that the odometer reads over 42,000 miles so this puppy has seen some abuse! I guess Enterprise just tosses the floormats or something, but now someone will eventually need to replace the whole carpet. Stupid.
11:15 a.m. This car actually scoots. All cars have in general gotten better and more powerful as new generations of them pop up, but this is quite a bit better than I was expecting. 132hp doesn’t sound too exciting, but it’s enough really. I haven’t driven all of this car’s competition, but in isolation the engine is plenty powerful enough. I’m easily exceeding the posted speed limits, am able to accelerate and change lanes to get through traffic with ease and don’t feel like the objectively low power level is a hindrance at all.
12:15 p.m. I pass the turnoff for Columbia and figure Mr. Shafer is now somewhere to my left, him having left before me in the van since he didn’t have to waste time at the airport. Riding in his van all weekend redefines smooth for me again, nothing like a big V8 with a slushy transmission while lounging in a La-Z-Boy recliner. While driving the Corolla and passing this point I was recalling that it should have a CVT transmission, however it drove more like a regular automatic but with excellent shift quality.
When I put it in “manual” mode to use the shift paddles (in a Corolla, yes!), it noted it was in 7th gear which confused me again as I doubted it had a 7-speed. Researching it now, it was in fact a CVT with fake shift points. Whatever, it worked. At steady speed it turned about 2000rpm at 75mph, then with a prod to the accelerator a “downshift” occurred and the engine speed shot up to 4000rpm and it accelerated and eventually upshifted again a couple of times. Overall, the shift quality was seamless and exceptionally smooth, which makes sense as there is no physical “shift” in a CVT, that’s the whole point. Anyway, it was good and not objectionable at all.
1:17pm: Blue Springs, MO. My gas receipt shows that I pumped 6.28 gallons to cover the last 216 miles. The main reason for stopping was to fill my own tank as the 7am breakfast had worn off. I assume the car’s tank was full but perhaps not brimmed when I originally got it from Enterprise. Anyway, I filled it until it was starting to overflow to measure the next leg. This first portion of the drive returned 34.4mpg if it was brimmed when I got it. I stopped elsewhere for a sandwich to be consumed enroute on the next leg and picked up a gigantic sweet tea at the gas station to keep me awake and also to eliminate any chance of becoming a Kate Moss body double any time soon.
2:00pm: The sandwich is gone, many crumpled napkins litter the seat next to me, and the Corolla is still munching the miles and sipping the unleaded while I myself judiciously sip my tea at a relaxed rate as we zip through Kansas City and cross the state border from Missouri into Kansas. I note that the car grips the road well even while driving through the rollercoaster that is the interstate through KC. It seems (no, scratch that, it IS) capable of rounding the turns at well over the advised limits and making time without needing to yield to anyone else.
I notice the same thing again in regard to the cornering when we traverse Topeka. Some think that Kansas is dead flat and the roads are straight. They would be incorrect. Kansas in fact has large expanses of rolling hills and some of the roads have curves. No, it’s not the Angeles Crest Highway or the Rockies, but for some reason in the middle of Topeka, I-70 ( a major interstate freeway) has several turns posted at 45mph. The Corolla dispatches them easily at significantly higher speeds (relatively speaking, I’m not a maniac). No, the stability control was not induced.
After that the road does straighten out a bit. That’s I think where I spotted my car’s “fat” progenitor, an early 90’s Corolla, also in white with the “sporty” steelie wheel option, heh heh. Still rolling along in the middle of nowhere after all these years… Nowadays most if not all of this market’s Corollas are made right here in the USA (Mississippi, in fact), and judging by my car, the assembly quality is every bit as good as that an ocean or two away.
After Topeka I get a little antsy but notice that the seat is still plenty cozy. My butt isn’t getting numb and my back is not aching at all. I suffer from both in many other cars, so this is a very welcome discovery. Maybe this is another “fat” generation, a car a bit overbuilt, more so than it really needs to be. Or maybe it’s just progress. The engine noise is muted, wind noise is low, but I have a rumble from the front left tire that is a bit annoying, no shaking of the wheel but it sounds like the front left tire is cupped or something. It’s been there since the start but is finally starting to wear on me a little.
At the first gas stop I had realized that my car has three aftermarket Kelly radials and one Firestone at the front right with less tread than the others but still well above the limit. Who the hell changes three tires out of four? Enterprise, that’s who! That was odd, but it didn’t seem to affect anything, the car tracked straight…but likely one of the newer tires is bad and causing my noise, not the car’s fault I suppose.
3:00pm Somewhere near Manhattan (Kansas), I get bored with the radio and realize that my phone is plugged in and the head unit seems to recognize it. This excites me even though I have neglected to put my music on my phone but know there are 38 songs (!) on it, all collected through some random downloads. It proves easy to start it playing but ten minutes later I realize it is cycling through the same two songs over and over as the others are apparently “in the cloud” and I don’t have a Wifi signal out here. So that was short lived. Back to the “seek function” in the hopes that I can eventually land on the channel with the Denver Broncos football game. Sound quality is good, very good compared to what I was expecting or at least was ready to be satisfied with.
3:35pm – I finally land on the correct football channel and do something I have never done, which is listen to football on a radio. I will tell you it is VERY exciting when you are driving through Kansas and have had your fill of rolling hills. I still have tea left so things are good and I am cycling through the trip computer (distance to empty) displays to hopefully only stop for gas once more before arriving at my destination.
6:38 pm I arrive at the Shell station in Oakley, Kansas with less than eight miles of range remaining and manage to jam 11.5 gallons of fuel into it. Since the official fuel tank capacity is 13.2 gallons the trip computer seems woefully cautious, I should be good for another sixty miles or so at least. For this leg, brimmed to brimmed, the mileage worked out to just under 32mpg. Average speed is just under 70, not great, not terrible with the construction zones on the way and I slowed down a bit as the range remaining display was counting down faster than the remaining distance to the station was decreasing and I was getting increasingly nervous about running out of gas.
I wonder how the back seat is and get in to take a picture showing me sitting behind myself while the tank was filling. I am 6’1″ with a 32″ inseam and have several inches of room ahead of my knees which is good. Head room is a little tight in back though. I also note that I didn’t cut my toe to shreds under this seat as I did with literally the first car I sat in at the meetup the other day (an XJ generation Jeep Cherokee for reference, be careful, it’s a toe-biter as well as being WAY smaller inside than I remembered it being).
I get back on the road and realize that the car has adaptive cruise control as well as lane-keep assist. Both are very welcome to a traveler that is starting to get a bit tired (but still comfortable in his seat). The lane keep assist beeps gently if you cross a line without signaling and softly nudges the steering wheel the correct way. It does it gently, like a nice Japanese masseuse would, nothing Bubba about it, and can be ignored (at your own peril of course.) The adaptive cruise control also works well and in one instance slowed the car down to almost a walking pace in a construction zone while my foot hovered over the brakes, this tech still scares me a little to be honest. But on the open road it’s a boon, adjusting the speed as needed to maintain the set following distance.
As it gets dark and the lights go on automatically (yeah, a Corolla), I realize that it also has automatic high beam control. With this on, it will turn on the high beams until it notices a red tail light in front or if the angle/distance of oncoming headlights is too close. I had this on for a couple of hours and didn’t get flashed once so it appears to work well.
7:30pm-ish I cross the border into Colorado just after entering the Mountain Time Zone (so all of a sudden it’s 6:30pm-ish). It’s now pitch dark and the Corolla’s standard LED headlights cast a bright white light ahead into the distance. The engine is still humming along, the shifts are butter smooth (CVT, yo!), and the automatic temperature control which is something I virtually never use in any car is doing a marvelous job at keeping the cabin at a comfortable 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Only one zone, but it could not be simpler to operate. One toggle tab for temperature, another to cycle through the delivery choices and that’s pretty much it along with a couple of buttons for A/C, recirculate, etc.
The screen above the temperature controls is large enough to be legible and easy to read, but is still integrated into the center console, not attached to the top of it. The touch areas around the perimeter function well, but do require taking your eyes off the road to be sure you are selecting the correct whatever it is you want. When I was hitting “seek” over and over again, I would rest my hand on the top edge of the screen/console area and let my finger hang down over the appropriate spot and then nudge it repeatedly. Not as good as a physical button that a finger can locate without looking at it. But I assume this costs less than a physical button mechanism and I don’t ever use seek in my own cars where I have music and local radio or satellite anyway so not a deal breaker in this case.
8:57pm – I pull into the closest gas station to Denver International Airport and fill ‘er up again, this time it takes 6.2 gallons to get it full enough to click off which is good enough for the rental car return guy. That leg was 251 miles but traffic was slow closer to Denver and the airport approach was packed as the four lanes were reduced to one for construction. In any case that would be about 40mpg but note I did not take pains to brim the tank so let’s call it around 34mpg or so. While I was pumping gas the Broncos won the game in the last couple of minutes when tthings weren’t looking so good so that was an excellent finish as well.
9:05pm I finally pull into the Enterprise rental car return line and the agent remarked at all the bug carcasses on the car, she was shocked when I told her I just drove in from St. Louis, but handed me my receipt while I gathered my backpack. Then I took the rental shuttle to the terminal, and then the parking shuttle to the parking lot and found my Jeep and then settled in for the final 70 miles to my driveway.
Overall, the Corolla was a wonderful travel companion, I had considered spending a few more dollars for a larger car but then decided against it, thinking I’d never driven a Hyundai Elantra and it might be interesting. In the end the “or similar” choice was as good as I would have hoped, and better than I expected. My back did not hurt at all, in fact this is the most refreshed I have felt in a long time after a long drive, the seats in this model really worked for me.
The total trip mileage according to the car was 834 miles, and took me a total of 11hours and 54 minutes taking the time zone into account and seeing the difference in checkout vs checkin times/miles on the rental car receipt. I made three stops for fuel that I combined with my own pit stops and photo sessions), and one for food (to go). About 34mpg overall.
For a car with 43,241 presumably somewhat hard rental car miles on it that is registered in Florida but now in Colorado, the Corolla had zero rattles, and with the exception of the carpet where there should have been a floor mat, was in excellent condition with virtually no wear on it. It was tight, handled good, performed well, was easy to operate with a minimal learning curve for the controls.
I was not cramped, it did not fatigue me as much as I thought it might, and I looked forward to getting back into it after each stop. It is no wonder that it still sells as well as it does and if one is completely honest with themselves, driving anything else is as much or more about vanity than anything else given most people’s typical driving patterns for the vast majority of their days (which is perfectly fine, I hasten to add, to each their own and there aren’t three Corollas in my driveway either). Equipped as mine was, Toyota asks for around $21,000 which is a bargain. Paul apparently purchased a slightly more basic model on behalf of a group home recently and was able to negotiate a significant portion (many thousands) off the asking price.
I spent exactly US$103.43 on the car, $68.81 on gasoline (to go almost 1/4 of the way across the US), and less on food and drink than I would have at home. And I will get a refund of my $73 flight. So not too shabby, way cheaper than driving any of my own cars to Missouri and back.
What started out as a fairly miserable day ended up as, well, not exactly a delight, but certainly not at all something to be recalled with horror. It turned out to be a decent day after all, all things considered, thank you for virtually car-pooling with me. Enterprise (through CostcoTravel) and Toyota saved the day, Frontier Airlines can go get stuffed, and the St. Louis area of Missouri is a wonderful place to spend a few days enjoying baseball, breweries, and architecture along with, of course, many automotive entertainment options. And the Pear Tree Inn at the airport serves a perfectly good and nutritious variety of breakfast foods should my opening have implied otherwise along with providing a good night’s sleep at a very reasonably price.
Impressive trip. My first instinct was to call you insane for driving a straight 11 hours, but when I drove to Maryland for the CC meetup I did 5 hours in one sitting without getting tired. Perhaps one day I’ll get to see the upper limits of my driving stamina.
I was concerned about fatigue before I started. I am being serious though when I found myself less tired afterward than I did last year on the same drive even though I was slightly under the weather and had woken up earlier than normal. For some reason (to my surprise) that seat really worked for me and the Corolla was perfectly weighted in controls and size to make it easy. These days that distance is about the longest I would consider in a day. The last time I drove a white Corolla (a 1988 version which while being a fine car was much less comfortable) it was from Orange County, CA to Seattle in one shot back in the early ’90’s, THAT was too long of a drive, almost twenty hours. I don’t do that anymore.
I did 2,500 miles in the Holden (neé SS) this past weekend, to the Tampa, FL area for my Father-in-law’s wedding (he was widowed early this year). It would have probably been a wash cost-wise to fly, but at 5’-16”, I simply don’t fit in coach any more, and hate the “experience.”
I did about 14 hours on Friday and visited my Dad in Central Georgia briefly (he has late-stage dementia) before driving the remainder of the trip on Saturday. Played piano for the wedding Sunday afternoon, and got as far as North Georgia before stopping for the night. Another 10 hours got me home on Monday.
The Holden makes for a great road trip car, and averaged about 23 mpg for the trip.
I did a 20 hour straight drive once, from Sinclair, Wyoming to our farm in the Middle West. I was pretty much in a state of delirium the last hour or two. My son was with me, but was only 14 at the time, otherwise we would have swapped off.
Wow, a comprehensive review Jim. I guess you had a lot of time to think about it while driving. 🙂
In the shot at the quik trip gas station the car looks to me like a Wahl hair clipper. Good thing it is gasoline powered, it would take quite an extension cord to get from MO to CO.
Glad you had safe travels anyway. Whenever my air travel is disrupted I’m happy to have my airplane problems on the ground..
Well they do have this newfangled thing called wireless electric cars, they have charging stations to facilitate a longer drive! Is there a wireless Wahl clipper?
But driving an electric car for this same distance at this same time, I think it would need to have a minimum range of at least 250 miles to make it viable and not frustrating. Teslas obviously qualify, the Bolt comes close, an e-Golf or Leaf would have been frustrating for this type of drive. A Prius or Sonata Hybrid would have been a good option though.
That’s a great analogy. Mean-look cars in white just look off-putting to me.
Funny how Jim mentioned the Corolla was “white just like your plumber’s van.” Recently, I was talking to one of my kids about how I don’t like white minivans (yes, we have exciting conversations in our family) — I said they look like refrigerators.
She then said “I never see white refrigerators.” OK; I’ll have to change my analogies to keep up with the times. And a lot of plumber’s vans I see around here aren’t white, but rather have colorful vehicle wraps. Maybe the Corolla is white like a 1995 plumber’s van.
Haha I think the white fridge thing is apparently a reflection of our ages, I presume we are similarly aged, white refrigerators were everywhere at one time and I recall purchasing several of my own. Our children would probably look at a DeLorean and complain it looks like our fridge or dishwasher… Until fairly recently, white was the default and cheapest color available, for a fleet vehicle it made sense. As of late, white has become quite fashionable in the car world beyond being merely a sensible choice in hotter climates. I probably need to update my metaphors!
You didn’t tell us that the $145-ish airfare was only one way. 🙂 Perhaps the airline didn’t tell you either. Gotta read that small print.
I would note that I achieved almost identical gas mileage in the 98 Civic I drove home to Indianapolis, though it was at slower speed. I also suspect that your ride was more comfortable over the long haul.
If we had known I’ll bet Jason would have lent you the shaggin’ wagon and you could have taken a snooze break or two on the trip back. Gas mileage wouldn’t have been as good, though.
I’ve applied for a refund of one way ($73) of the airfare to which they responded by thanking me for choosing their airline and that they will begin processing the refund. Oh, and they regret the “inconvenience” and hope I will choose them again the next time I fly. Yeah, sure I will.
While the gas mileage is right within the rated range for the car, I had for some reason had formed the mistaken impression that a Corolla was rated at 40mpg. It is heavier than the Civic but yes, similar actual mpg. The Corolla has a pretty slick trip computer that posts in a graphical form a literally minute by minute account of gas mileage. It became fairly obvious that once a speed of about 65-70 is surpassed, mileage drops off by a lot. In the end it’s better than anything in my own stable and I chose it and the size of car mainly due to wanting to spend the minimum possible amount on gas while also not unnecessarily fatiguing myself driving a much smaller car not designed for longer distance highway travel.
“Dear Mr. Klein,
Thank you for your recent inquiry, and we regret that your experience did not live up to your expectations. We will be happy to process your refund request, subject to the following convenience charges: Gate-seat-occupancy fee, $35. Use of airport window fee, $18. Utilization of customer service desk fee, $38. Use of airport seat as napping platform fee, $200. Please remit appropriate payment information and we will begin the refund process. Looking forward to serving you again for all your travel needs.”
Yeah, the van got just a wee bit less in fuel economy for the trip. However, the tank is 35 gallons so range would still likely be better than the Corolla. Plus, filling up that fuel tank would have given Jim ample time to sit down and eat.
My mileage: A not so terrific 15.8. But that was from 30 miles after I left my house on Thursday and just past the airport on Sunday – 400.4 miles in all – that had in-town driving plus a few full-throttle blasts.
Sorry about the flight – air travel is a purgatory all its own these days, but glad you and the Corolla were able to salvage things. They really are fine cars, with a surprising amount of equipment. The one small thing I missed on my own recent rental is a sliding sun visor; the stubby ones don’t cover the side windows very well. As for the Elantra, it’s not bad in its own right, but maybe 8/10s as good as the Corolla. It has come a long way since the early days, but not quite as solid as Toyota yet, in my opinion. Also, the low roof/long windshield style takes a little getting used to and can lead to some painful head knocks for at least this careless driver.
There’s a reason these are perennial best-sellers. Some good chunk of the population doesn’t care what they drive as long as it’s reliable and cheap to operate. The Corolla is perfect for that.
The Elantra is 95% as good as the Corolla for these uses, and costs about a couple grand less (figuring for rebates). Basically same sausage, slightly different casing.
I really like Corollas. That was our big decision maker back in ’16 when we got the Camry. To say the Corolla and the Camry are screwed together like Rolex’s isn’t overstating the case. IMO.
The wife’s slowly adjusting to all the buttons and switches on the Highlander. It’s got almost as much crap as the Charger.
Modern cars are just plain better. They are safer, more comfortable and cheaper to run.
The Corolla is a decent car. I had one as a rental recently, which was a good thing, since I was in the market for a new car. The Corolla didn’t push any buttons for me; it was well built, but I thought the CVT and the 132 hp engine made it a slug.
Then I had a 2018 Elantra rental for a long drive. It was very, very smooth and also economical on fuel. It is the perfect car for someone who doesn’t care about cars.
I drove all the cars in the segment, but the 2018 Golf was just so much better than all of them, I walked in and signed the papers.
I haven’t taken accurate mpg figures on our 1.8T Golf, but on a recent 280 mile trip, mostly freeway but some urban, suburban and mountain sections, the trip computer averaged 44 mpg (US gallons). Freeway speeds varied from stop/go to 75 mph.
Mine is averaging 8.0 L/100 km in Vancouver’s awful traffic. Quite a bit better than the Transport Canada rating and better than my Rio.
“Then I had a 2018 Elantra rental for a long drive. It was very, very smooth and also economical on fuel. It is the perfect car for someone who doesn’t care about cars.”
Or somebody that wants a daily driver that does not need much.
My brother bought a new 2017 VW Golf GTI at the end of the summer of 2017. He loves it but I am sure once the thing hits 50,000 miles it is going to screw him over.
I did the exact opposite of you and and him and skipped the VW and bought a 2018 Hyundai Elantra SE yesterday. I wanted a daily driver that needed nothing but regular services and a 10 year warranty. I prefer to save the wrenching on my hobby cars.
The Elantra is indeed a very nice car, and I have no doubt that it will give you sterling service.
But I will soon turn 54, and the turbo rush of a Golf in second gear is bucket list stuff for me.
That’s because the Rocky Mountains are in my backyard.
I can put up with a few gremlins in five years’ time.
Three thoughts:
1. I’m disappointed that “the guy who drove home in something different” didn’t turn out to be a more exciting and less frustrating story.
2. I’ll add Corollas to my prospect list as the shopping drags slowly along
3. I’m pondering with increasing trepidation that great $113 round trip fare I just nabbed from Tampa-Ft Lauderdale and back over Thanksgiving.
1. Yeah, sorry about that! I was very tempted by the blue ’71 Galaxie wagon that Jason discussed as well as a lovely little dark salmon (or neglected red?) Tempest convertible sadly only powered by a 4cylinder. In the end I am for various glad I did not have to worry about or drive either one back at that particular time..
2. At least check it out, it’s worthy of consideration. There may be a new version out next year though from what I understand.
3. I’m REALLY glad this was a drivable distance, this would have been FAR more frustrating if it was a multi-day distance or had occurred during the week when it would have been far more disruptive and will be something to be considered in the future along with evaluating the frequency of flights by a particular airline to whatever destination. Frontier flies this particular route only once a day (the same as the Cancun route I will note) and is not willing to pay for people to fly home on a different airline such as SWA or United.
I’ve had fairly good luck with Spirit for this route in the past. They’re ultra-no-frills, but for an hour long flight I can handle it. On a flight from Atlanta earlier this year, however they did get me for baggage fees that I hadn’t thought about in advance, so I ended up ponying up another $75 before boarding….on a $68 original ticket price. My bad. Shame on me.
My Mom has used Frontier pretty extensively out of Denver (They’ve got a place in Dillon and spend Summer and Winter there, the other seasons in Florida.) and swears by them, but as a retiree for whom every trip is an “adventure” I suspect the bar is lower for her than for impatient Gen Xers like , well..us, I presume. I do know they’ve been delayed frequently, but that’s to be expected somewhat when one flies between those 2 locales during Hurricane Season and again while the snow is flying.
Frontier was great back in the day before their BK. Once they emerged and changed their business model things changed a bit (obviously). Still, not horrible and why we used them on occasion without issue. But cancelling our flight to give the plane to a different planeload of passengers to a different destination due to their plane having an issue is not acceptable for any airline as far as I am concerned. If ours had broken down I would not have expected them to boot a different load of passengers in favor of us, it’s not reasonable.
About point #2 – the new Corolla hatchback is already out, and there should be deals on the outgoing model. Beware that it trades away some back seat room for the passenger/cargo flexibility of a hatchback (and bonuses of brighter colors than the base sedan and availability of a manual if CVTs don’t float your boat) being on a shorter wheelbase.
17” wheels??!! Our ‘93 Corolla was I believe the first year the standard (non-GTS) Corolla went from 13” to 14”, and that seemed big at the time. I’m pretty sure the first-gen Corollas had 12” wheels.
“I’m pretty sure the first-gen Corollas had 12” wheels.”
Yes- My ’73 S-5 came with 13″ wheels and the 1600 cc motor (the 2-TC), but cars with the 1200 motor (3-KC) still used a 12 inch wheel.
In fact, I believe my brother in law had a ’75 1200 (third gen car) that still used 12 inchers.
I recall seeing that same parking lot at DIA when our flight out of Denver to Sioux Falls was cancelled due to the 2014 polar vortex. The 12-hour drive home in a Dodge Avenger (ugh) was broadly similar to yours, albeit much, much colder, as we were all dressed for San Diego.
Has anyone else noticed how offensively bright the LED headlights are to oncoming traffic in the newer Corollas? Even other Toyota products don’t seem to have this issue. It looks like pure white glare.
I assure you you’re not the only one to notice this! It’s incredibly annoying to deal with when there is a Corolla approaching you on a dark country road at night. I wonder if it has to do with the aim, or similar. (Our A7 has full LED headlights, but they auto level and the Mazda 3 Sport GT I usually drive has HID Bi-Xenon with a manual level switch.). I wonder if the Corolla has any method of adjusting the aim, or if it’s just a poor design?
Jim, I’m glad you got a good one. I can certainly think of worse cars in which to make this drive.
The sad truth is you simply left too early. Ten minutes after you they wheeled out the kale, quinoa, and toad stools for those not from the Midwest. Then they started offering Denver omelettes. No gravy needed for them eggs.
I think one look at me would disabuse you of any notion that Kale and Quinoa are anywhere on my list of favorite foods 🙂 Although I am sure they can be delicious if prepared correctly. I did avoid the sausage with white gravy though so I’m trying. But a Denver Omelette would have been great!
“The Denver passengers? Sorry, can’t help with that, we can get you on tomorrow’s or Tuesday’s flight most likely or you are welcome to request a refund online. Oh. Help with a hotel or meal vouchers or perhaps rebook on a different airline? Ah, no, next, please.”
This, I think, it the biggest downside of the “ultra low cost” airlines (Frontier, Agilent, Spirit). The legacy airlines all have ticketing agreements with each other, so they can reaccommodate passengers on different airlines if necessary. The low cost airlines have no such agreements, so their only option is to try to get you on another one of their own flights. And since since they often have only one flight per day, or sometimes even less, that flight might be a day or more in the future.
A thorough car review from a real person whose perspective isn’t warped by the luxury or sports car dropped off to them by the press fleet the week before. Hallelujah. It provides a necessary counterpoint to the glossy magazines who haaaate this Corolla.
In the way that most people will use it, this is an objectively good car. That point is lost by most car reviewers whose daily commute apparently consists of Tail of the Dragon and the Autobahn.
Thanks for keeping it real, Jim.
I’d probably still go for a Civic, 3, new Forte, or Golf though 🙂
That was exactly my point, thank you. I will concur that I would certainly look at exactly those competitors that you mention were I in the market and admit that I have not had recent experience driving any of them. They may in fact be even better. Or not. However, there is no reason to dismiss a Corolla just because of what you may read elsewhere. No way is your use case exactly the same as anyone else who drives it to review it (including me).
Jim – I’ve done that too but never quite as far as you drove. I do remember a Hertz Corolla from Tampa to Jacksonville and a Hertz Isuzu from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after cancellations. Your task was more daunting.
Now, with the hassle of airports and airlines, we choose to drive almost everywhere – up to 1,000 or 1,200 miles or so. But this is from Wyoming or Arizona where the traffic is not as fully irritating as it is back east. We can set our own schedule in a car; we are up to the whims of whatever when flying.
Our 2017 RAV4 (essentially a Corolla with a station wagon body) has that adaptive cruise control and I’m not a fan. I’m slowly getting more used to it (it’s my wife’s car and most of my seat time is on road trips) but it is disconcerting to suddenly have the car just slow down. I’ve been driving cars for more than 50 years and haven’t run into the back of another vehicle yet; it says something about our society that auto manufacturers have to keep adding things to vehicles to accomplish things the driver should be responsible for.
It is interesting that the 2017 Corolla has the CVT; our RAV4 has the six speed torque converter automatic and it works well. It has been my experience that Toyota does an outstanding job of matching shift points with the torque curve of the engine. The RAV4 accelerates well and the transmission is pretty unobtrusive, sometimes the only way to tell if the transmission has upshifted is to notice the RPM change on the tachometer. I have never been a fan of CVTs, the ones I’ve experienced remind me of one of my grandpa’s early fifties Buicks, press on the gas, count to three while the motor spools up and then wait for the car to catch up.
Nice road test. Comfortable seat makes all the difference, I did several 960 mile trips (during the ’90’s) in one day in the ’86 Jetta (5 speed manual) would get 36 MPG running 65-75 MPH with AC running during the heat of the day. Would only stop for gas and one stop to eat. Always felt relaxed when arriving, no problem. In my 70 C10 the trip was a lot more tiring, no comparison. And between 12-15 MPG to boot, with no AC.
The Corolla seems to be a fine car, inexpensive, peppy, economical, comfortable, well equipped for the price, and a great value in base trim especially, I remember the great deal Paul got on one.
Nice to read a unsponsored honest opinion about a higher mileage rental holding up well. Corollas are known for durability and it appears they are still well made, and the CVT seems to be set up to eliminate the annoying motorboat feel CVT’s are known for. You would think Enterprise would at least put an unmatched tire on the rear axle. I’ll be sure to avoid Frontier.
Great review of a car that I would’ve eventually got around to test driving, had I not liked the Civic and stopped looking.
I used to be a CVT hater. I do not like the rubber band feeling in my wife’s 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer. But they’ve really come along way. While my 2016 Civic EX-T doesn’t have paddle shifters, I do have a switchgear that allows you to choose L (Low), S (Sport), & D (Drive). While L is impractical unless you’re stuck in <10 mph stop and go traffic, S & D are a great way to give you shifting options if you are enjoying the performance of the turbocharged 1.5L I-4. But that rubber band feeling (and turbo lag for that matter) are hardly present in this car, and it's quite a good performer.
It sounds like the Corolla is a bit more comfortable than the Civic for trips though from your description. My Civic has quite a bit of wind and road noise, and the seats, while comfortable on my daily drive, get a little uncomfortable on a drive longer than about 6 hours or so. The longest drive I’ve taken in it is about 9 hours (for one leg in a day), and I got fidgety after about 5 hours.
As to gas mileage, for our commutes around here (which can be brutal in the Baltimore/Washington corridor), I usually average about 32 to 33 MPG. The Civic is amazing on a trip, yielding me 43.2 on the Outer Banks ride over the summer, and 42.3 on the Eclipse Trip last August. Of course on a trip, you’re more relaxed and not kicking into the turbo as readily as you do when in rush hour traffic.
Very happy you made it home safe!
I’ve driven many Corollas over the years as rentals. While they were all good cars, I like the current generation the best, and I concur with all of your comments. They’re well screwed together, controls are simple, logical, and well laid out, and the seats are quite comfortable. My wife, who has a few back problems, is always glad when we get a Corolla or Camry – the seats are very comfortable for her. It’s too bad the airline screwed you over, but at least you made lemonade (so to speak). You had a good drive home and you were able to put together an interesting well-written article. Well done.
Unfortunately, cancelled trip legs have become somewhat routine at Frontier due to the carrier’s rather contentious relationship with its pilots union, combined with an industry-wide pilot shortage. That the airline opted to scrap your particular flight (a “milk run” back to Frontier’s hub at DEN) in favor of what was likely a more profitable trip to Cancun isn’t surprising.
Great write-up on the Corolla, too! It’s nice to read something different (and much more detailed) than the usual “Bah, Corolla! Bah, CVT!” screeds, and I can’t believe the level of tech now available in even a lowly base model Toyota compact.
M-AMM: I have to travel by air and understand airline economics. While I prefer by far to drive, I do have to fly sometimes.
The problem is not “contentious relationship with its pilots union” but rather Frontier’s scheduling and the business model. It uses only a very few flights a day to all stations; this means a cancellation leaves passengers without a flight that same day – or maybe even the next day. And you are absolutely right that the revenue to Cancun beats that to Denver at $73 or whatever. But bitchy, unhappy labor is not the problem for customers; it is the business model and scheduling.
So, if you don’t like Frontier’s model (I don’t), book Southwest or American or Delta and if there is a mechanical you can get the next scheduled flight that day – or the one after that.
I don’t like airline labor either but I don’t blame them for Frontier, Spirit or Allegiant scheduling only one or two flights a day to most stations.
I didn’t mean to imply the situation was solely the fault of the union; management’s attitude towards its workers is at least half the problem, and probably more. Frontier tries be a full service ULCC without (paying for) the necessary resources to support its own schedule.
Interesting read! You paint a vivid picture of the whole experience. Great review of the Corolla. Ever since I was a baby I could see faces on the fronts of cars. The first I remember was a ’69 Ford van. My mom said we only had it until I was 1 so that’s how I know I was pretty small. If it had been the Corolla’s face I’m not sure I would have loved cars so much. Probably would’ve haunted my dreams and I’d have never learned to potty-train either.
I had the fortune/misfortune to fly Southwest from Dallas Love to Dulles via Atlanta two weeks ago and I barely made the connection outbound and coming home. The 737-600 at Dallas was leaking some sort of fluid or fuel from both engines and they barely got it fixed in time to get me to Atlanta, where I was the last passenger to board before they closed the door. The bird on this trip was a 737-700 and it felt a whole lot less tired and threadbare compared to the first one. The interior lighting and layout looked similar to the pictures I’ve seen of the 787. Coming home, there was some kind of unspecified delay in Atlanta and my bird spent over an hour on the Dulles taxiway before we took off. I made it to my final flight back to Dallas with seven minutes to spare.
At least it was free 🙂 I had credit card airline miles sufficient to cover the whole trip. All things considered, I suppose it was better than a two day road trip from Dallas to Washington.
I want a car that gobbles miles without beating me up since I’m not young enough anymore to shake it off. This tale puts the Corolla (and Elantra) on my ‘next car’ list when I go shopping in two years.
I had a rental Corolla of this generation a few years ago in Kansas and Missouri. I was favourably impressed in the same ways and for the same reasons you were—the headlamps were very good (and I’m a very tough customer on that point), that adaptive cruise control was uncannily smart, the seat was comfy—but some boneheaded decisions on Toyota’s part could’ve got me killed: the car’s power window switch configuration was flawed.
Specifically, the window-lock switch is wrongly configured. The basic principle of a window-lock is simple: it is a switch to remove window control from everyone except the driver, so unruly or impulsive passengers (e.g., small children or anyone acting like one) cannot operate the windows. But on the Corolla, it’s a switch to turn the power window system fully on or fully off. With the lock engaged, not even the driver can operate the windows.
There were two police cars facing opposite directions across the median on the interstate, driver-window-to-driver-window as they do. As I passed them, I noticed I was running a little close to the black Camry in front of me. Glanced in my rearview: yep, the car facing my side of the interstate was pulling out, and I was sure he wanted to talk to me, so I signalled, pulled all the way off the road, and put on the hazard flashers.
The officer stopped behind me, got out, went to the passenger side of my car, rapped on the window…and I couldn’t roll it down. I hit the driver-side switch: nothing. I reached over—the officer visibly tensed—and hit the passenger-side switch: nothing. Meanwhile there’s a law enforcement officer out there loudly and repeatedly saying “SIR, ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!”
Finally I opened the passenger door and explained it was a rental car and the windows didn’t seem to work. At that point the situation de-escalated; the officer didn’t like how close I’d been to the car in front of me when he saw me, and I politely agreed he was probably right about that. He asked me to please keep more distance, and I thanked him and went on my way. But I happen to be white and English is my first language; otherwise things could have gone very differently—and very badly. It’s all over the news again and again and again; people are shot by American police officers for far less than reaching across the car to open the door.
It was only after the roadside conversation was over that it occurred to me to look for a window-lock switch: yep, there it was, awkwardly placed in a semi-hidden location, and that turned out to be why the windows weren’t working. I did not appreciate having been put in a tense situation like that by Toyota’s thoughtless switch design.
There was a comparably thoughtless foulup in the configuration of the exterior light switch, that made it much too easy for a driver to use the lights improperly at night with resultant safety consequences. These goofs in the design of the Corolla were disappointing to me in context of Toyota’s long history of thoughtful engineering and design.
Interesting, mine must have been unlocked as I had no issues when checking out of Enterprise and when getting the Kansas Turnpike toll-ticket and then paying for it again some time later. I did get U-turned and paced by a State Trooper in Kansas for about a fifteen mile stretch but I just reduced the cruise control to the limit and waited it out until he turned around again after a fatter fish.
The rental did have Automatic headlights, having a Highlander the switch is the same so I checked that it was in the Auto position sometime in the afternoon and left it there, the lights then turned on at the appropriate time. Annoyingly though on both (obviously) is that the Auto position is not the end position, it’s the second from the end, just before OFF, which also kills the DRL’s which may be what you refer to. My wife for some reason habitually turns the headlights and DRL’s to off when turning the car off instead of just leaving it in Auto, then the next day the DRL’s are off until she turns the lights on if it’s dark, fully negating the whole safety aspect of the DRL. Our other vehicle with automatic headlights has the auto position all the way at the end of the dial, so an inadvertent twist of it would leave the lights in Auto rather than off if that makes sense. Which makes much more sense to me, heh heh.
I will confess to also switching the lights all the way to “Off” in my Sienna, though I would also swear it’s for a good reason. My van, I discovered the hard way one afternoon, will leave the lights on if you get in, start it up to, say, roll down the windows, and then shut down without exiting the vehicle. My mistake, and the battery was probably on the way out anyway, but these days I just turn everything off to be sure.
The headlamp switch had positions as follows:
Off (self explanatory)
DRL (reduced-intensity low beams with no other lights)
Park (reduced-intensity low beam DRLs plus parking/tail/side marker/license plate lights)
On (low or high beams at full intensity depending on position of beam selector, plus parking/tail/side marker/license plate/instrument panel lights).
The car was not equipped with an ambient-light sensor or any other lighting system automation. It did not have a DRL telltale on the instrument cluster, or any other way of discerning DRL-with-ancillaries from low beam-with-ancillaries, except if you’re a lighting expert like me who pays attention and happens to notice the intensity difference between DRL and ON modes.
This means the average clueless driver, when it gets dark, will fiddle with the headlamp switch until the instrument cluster lights up…and that means he’s got reduced-intensity headlamps. When operating in this reduced-intensity mode they might or might not be compliant with the low beam photometric requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No 108 at their reduced intensity, but whether or not they do, they are of reduced intensity compared to their intended power in the “ON” position, which means the driver has less light to see with than was intended. Given the many pedestrian deaths that result from inadequate seeing distance provided by even high-performance low beams it is irresponsible of Toyota to make it so easy to misuse the lights in this manner.
Obviously Toyota believe some of their customers might want the option to disable the vehicle’s DRLs despite the safety benefit they offer, since DRLs are not required by US law. However, the manner in which they provided this option in this car is not reasonable. A more thoughtful choice that wouldn’t have cost any more to implement would have been to configure the headlamp switch positions like this:
Off (self explanatory)
DRL (DRLs only – dashboard not lit)
Park (parking/tail/side marker/license plate/dashboard lights — no DRLs)
On (low or high beams at full intensity depending on position of beam selector, plus parking/tail/side marker/license plate/dashboard lights).
MMM 11 hours just did that its my regular day shift but I’m governed by heavy vehicle driving laws so I must have a rest for half an hour every five and a half work hours I also only covered 609kms, half the outward leg is in darkness but the scenery appears around 6am and its a nice trip too people pay money to go where I get paid to drive,
I do see plenty of retal Corollas in my travels often driven poorly and very slowly by tourists unfamiliar with twisty two lane blacktop seen a couple of fast ones one day twice first time when they overtook me at speed and later pulled over by a patrol car they do crash well though seen plenty stuffed into the scenery and even one upside down with a group of Aisians hugging eachother staring at it nobody hurt though,
Testing your endurance isnt really a good idea time of death will give you an accurate time though, it happens a lot, Fatigue management is an art.
I am allowed to do 14 hours in this thing with two half hour breaks fortuately our trucks are double shifted so it rarely happens.
You know, we rented a Corolla on the north island when we were in NZ in the early 2000’s or late 90’s (a hatchback with round bug-eyes different than the equiv US model at the time) and enjoyed it. (The car and the area, Auckland, that island in the bay, then Rotorua and more). But then really enjoyed driving around the South Island the next week in I think a Mazda or maybe a Ford Lazer (? Bit foggy nowadays on that) Nelson, Abel Tasman, Franz Josef Glacier, Marlborough, Christchurch, pretty much everywhere but Wellington. Many excellent driving roads but way too easy to get distracted by the magnificent scenery everywhere! Be glad and count yourself lucky that you get to drive around there for a living, there are a lot worse places to have to drive… 🙂
That is an impressive drive. I’m not sure what my longest drive was, but I know when I did I-70 we split it up Denver-Kansas City, and KC-Indianapolis.
I was also struck by a cultural difference. I’m not any sort of football fan, but it is a rare fall Saturday that I don’t hear at least part of a college game on the radio. Must be another one of those Midwest things. 🙂
Re: light issue
I am old school and leave the auto lights off. Don’t care for automatic start. Had to get used to power windows. Only recently got a smart phone. Now get off my lawn while I take a nap!
Excellent review on a car that often gets a lot of criticism from enthusiasts. Cars have certainly become much better as a whole the past few years in terms of refinement, and I think we’ve reached the point when even most “cringeworthy” cars are indeed pretty good for basic transportation.
Now I must commend you for taking on a 10 hour drive, in a Corolla no less. I love driving and road trips, but 5 hours is pretty much my upper limit before I lose the last of my short attention span and feeling in my battered runner’s hamstrings and glutes. That being said, I’d rather a 10 hour road trip than a 10 hour flight.
I will be doing tons of driving in Europe in just over a month, but thankfully I’ll have some company this time.
Jim- do you have National Car Rental/Emerald Isle available to you? National is owned by Enterprise, but it’s their Corporate Accounts. The best, lowest mile cars always go to National first, then to Enterprise when they cross 15K or so.
I’d second your use of Costco Travel in your time of need. Airlines and rental car companies have let me down many times but the car reservation through Costco always goes without problems and at a price I cant beat by shopping around at multiple rental companies. Plus they give me a free second driver and probably some other stuff I dont know about. Definitely my go to when I need to rent a car
Wow. I forget sometimes how much feature content you can get in a compact. The rental I have this week (review coming!) costs more but doesn’t have things like blind-spot monitoring or adaptive cruise.
You had the same airline experience as I had flying from LA to NY with Alaskan Airlines. I got to the gate after my, what, 12 hour flight from Brisbane and suddenly they say they’ve cancelled the flight. They tell us to line up at customer service but one agent even told us to just try calling the airline. Everyone got shuffled off to different flights based on availability… and I drew the short straw by getting stuck on a flight TWELVE HOURS LATER. Actually it could’ve been worse, they initially just emailed me while I was in line and said I’ve been rescheduled for a flight the next morning. No apologies, no compensation.
At least I made use of my time… re-checked my luggage and took my carry-on, went and took an Uber to Venice Beach and explored. But still, that was the first time I had a flight cancellation and Alaskan handled it so poorly. Never flying with them again.
I have been reading CC for months, but only joining now to comment on this post.
Frontier is THE WORST. My flight kept getting delayed and I wouldn’t make my layover, and had a checked bag, and they said I could take the first flight and just spend the night in the Denver Airport with no toothbrush. No thanks.
I then just said refund me, and I’ll fly out the next day. They kept wanting to change the flight for me vs. giving me a refund, but they wouldn’t refund me the difference, and it was $85!
After 3 weeks and 4 hours on the phone with them, I finally got a refund for my original flight and a $25 travel voucher for the future.
Anyway, glad you found the rental and got home! Hope you got a refund!
Well, I’m glad we finally found the right hook to haul you aboard! 🙂
My family and I fly quite a lot, both together and separately (but all recreational, not for business, those people are nuts) and generally book the cheapest fare we can find, but this is the first time that we’ve ever had a flight cancelled without an acceptable option (i.e. minimal delay) from the provider. The feeling of helplessness at first is overwhelming then you start to see if you have options. The further from home the worse it is. I’m glad I was able to sort it out in a way that worked but feel worse for the people with small kids and those that needed to get back for work etc as well as those for which the costs of the delay would likely be a financial hardship. I’m assuming that the Cancun’ers were merely going to check in to their timeshares on that Sunday, i.e. virtually 100% recreational flying. Yes, very annoying to have a vacation flight cancelled/delayed a day but likely less disruptive and I’d assume that STL was most of their home base, as opposed to most of our flight returning to Denver on a Sunday.
Kaizen – ie Continuous Improvement has really paid off for Toyota and the Corolla is a superb example. Just imagine what Detroit could have accomplished if they had taken the same approach and stayed the course to make a superb small car.
With the cute-ute craze, used Corollas are excellent buys. My wife was in a 50 MPH head on collision with her 198,000 mile 2013 (a 19 yr old girl texting went left of center) and the car did an amazing job of protection. Broken ribs from the seat belt and broken ankle (the brake pedal was bent to the floor) were the most serious injuries. Wonderful cars..
Living in the Denver area myself, I agree with you. Frontier airlines is awful.
They used to be very well liked here several years back, being Denver based and when they had the commercials with the animals on the airplane tails all talking to one another. But someone else took them over, and now it seems they are despised.
I rented a 2016 Corolla last Christmas and drove from Delaware to Florida. I think it had about 35k on it. Didn’t like it at first as the steering was too responsive and i’m used to my less refined old Element. However it grew on me over the 14 hr trip. Very responsive and quick at mid range speeds. I averaged 39.5 on the way down and about 38.5 on the trip back. And probably drove around 70-75 most of the way. Nice car but i wonder if it will be as reliable as the older Corolla’s long term.