Since I'm a bit hungover, feel free to ask me anything I forgot to mention about my very short time with an Excel-spec 2.0 Corolla Estate Hybrid.
My current car is a Honda Civic 1.8 gas estate. It has a lot of space and a 620-liter trunk, which has been great, but I hate the engine. It's not very powerful for the size of the car and would be better in a smaller hatchback, so I've been wanting to get rid of it.
Back in August, I went to look at the Corolla. Its trunk is a bit smaller than the Civic's, and when I looked at it closely, the loading area also seemed a bit smaller. However, it's still a good-sized estate, and I don't think it would be a problem for my family of four, which includes two young children.
I liked how it looked. It's a very nice-looking estate, and on the higher trims with the bigger wheels, Toyota has finally started putting the wheels more flush with the chassis and getting rid of the huge gap between the wheel arches. The 2.0 also has a nice twin exhaust trim that is subtle but obvious.
The inside of I was surprised by how nice and solid it was, but I've usually only owned Japanese cars and don't know much about German cabins. It was sturdy and well-organized, and the seats on the Excel and GR models are great. They look nice and are very comfy, which is surprising to me because I have a hard time getting comfortable in anything.
If you have been driving from a manual, I now know I definitely want an automatic. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but the box was easy to use and I really liked it. However, I've never used DSG or anything like that, so I don't know how it compares to those. The hybrid system was great. It switched between the electric motor and the gas engine, and the only way to tell which one it was using was to look at the screen. Only 40 bhp more than my present car in terms of performance, but it felt lighter, more grounded, and the response was miles ahead of my Civic. It was great, and I was honestly surprised that it only had 180 bhp.
When I got back in my Civic, it felt like a dinosaur, and I'd really like to get a Corolla soon, but with work being unsure and used cars being so expensive, I just can't justify it.
Hope that helps a little I don't do well with writing like this.