2013 Toyota Corolla Review and Prices

Styling: The 2013 Toyota Corolla will be a stylistic carbon copy of the 2012 Corolla, aside from a possible new color choice or two and perhaps addition of a swan-song special edition that bids adieu to this 10th-generation design.

A model-year-2011 freshening subtly altered the look of this compact sedan’s nose and tail, but the 2013 Corolla will essentially be the same car introduced for 2009. Since then an onslaught of redesigned rivals has invigorated the compact class. These include the aforementioned Focus and Elantra, plus the Chevrolet Cruze and new versions of the Honda Civic and Volkswagen Jetta. They’ll be joined for model-year 2013 by the Dart, a new small sedan based on a sporty Alfa Romeo from the stable of Dodge’s Italian corporate parent, Fiat.

That’ll leave the 2012 Corolla looking dated and feeling cramped compared with shapelier young rivals that use their space more efficiently. And various competitors will offer versatile hatchback or sporty two-door-coupe alternatives to their basic four-door sedan body style. Corolla, however, has remained among the compact-segment’s best-selling cars by rewarding loyal buyers with a conservative personality and a largely trouble-free ownership experience. That won’t change with the 2013 model. 

Toyota might well mark the conclusion of this Corolla design generation with a special edition combining popular features and wearing specific badges. More likely, the 2013 Corolla lineup will return three models:  the base L, volume-selling LE, and sporty-looking S.

The LE should again come with 16-inch wheels versus 15s the L, but the 2013 line’s main styling distinction will almost certainly lie again with the S model. Expect it to wear aerodynamic exterior trim and come with fog lamps, a chromed exhaust tip, and 16-inch alloy wheels. The S model should also repeat as the only 2013 Corolla model with specially bolstered front seats, metallic-style cabin details, and sportier-looking dashboard gauges. 

Mechanical: The 2013 Toyota Corolla is highly unlikely to change mechanically. It’s only powertrain should again consist of a reliable but unexciting four-cylinder engine and a pair of antiquated transmissions. Of course, judging from relatively strong demand, Corolla buyers evidently don’t demand more. But model-year 2013 rivals will offer base engines that get markedly better fuel economy, optional turbocharged variants with far more power, plus gas-electric hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and even pure-electric alternatives.

Expect all 2013 Corollas to return with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder again rated at 132 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. A seldom-ordered five-speed manual will likely repeat as the standard transmission, with a four-speed automatic included on the LE model and optional on other versions of the 2013 Corolla. That four-speed automatic is perhaps the most glaring telltale of Corolla’s hidebound mechanical specifications. Virtually every competing 2013 compact car will feature an automatic transmission with six speeds for a smoother delivery of power and greater fuel efficiency.

Many will also emphasize a degree of handling agility Corolla has thus far avoided. Expect the 2013 version of this Toyota to again feature languid steering response and suspension settings that stress a soft, almost floaty ride.

The 2013 Corolla will, like all its main competitors, have a front-wheel drive layout. Front-wheel drive locates the mass of the engine and transmission over the tires that propel the car, contributing to good wet-surface traction and space-efficient packaging.

Features: Toyota moved Corolla closer to its top competitors with a model-year 2012 upgrade that included more connectivity features and an available navigation system. The 2013 Corolla will again offer most of the amenities its buyers expect but it won’t challenge rivals for bragging rights to gee-whiz features such as lane-departure warning, pushbutton ignition, or automatic self-parking.

All 2013 Corollas will return with a nice selection of basic essentials. These will include air conditioning, a tilt/telescope steering wheel, height adjustable driver’s seat, and split-folding rear seatbacks as standard on all models. Power mirrors -- heated on LE and S versions – also will be standard. And every 2013 Corolla will again be equipped with dashboard readouts for outside temperature and average and instant fuel economy.  

The model-year 2012 upgrades made power windows and locks standard on the L model. For 2013, Toyota would do well to make cruise control available on the base Corolla instead of reserving it for LE and S models, where it’s been standard. The LE and S are likely to continue as the only 2013 Corolla’s with steering-wheel audio controls, though.

The 2013 Corolla will carry over additional model-year 2012 enhancements that made a USB iPod interface and Bluetooth mobile-phone connectivity standard on the LE and S models and optional on the price-leader L; expect the 2013 L model to again come with an auxiliary audio jack.

The 2012 upgrades also introduced a navigation system to this generation of the Corolla. Given its expected price of around $1,200, this option almost certainly will again be reserved again for LE and S models as part of Toyota’s Display Audio with Navigation and Entune system. This system includes a 6.1-inch dashboard touchscreen, Sirius XM satellite radio with a free 90-day subscription, iTunes Tagging to save songs for later purchase, text-message-to-voice capability, Pandora Internet radio access, and music streaming via Bluetooth compatible devices. 

An adios edition of the 2013 Corolla might surprise by offering optional leather upholstery and possibly bundling some of the features heretofore exclusive to the LE and S models. These might include such amenities as a power moonroof, which has thus far been optional only on LE and S Corollas.