From the desk of the skinwalker, I present this article.

Before we get into my personal ownership, we must go into the background of the car so anonymous that it’s almost iconic: the 2009 Toyota Corolla. The very first generation of Corolla to escape having a 4-speed automatic transmission. However, it only escaped this in later years, with S models getting a 6-speed auto. A car that, for most buyers, is the perfect car.

Most people hate to admit it, but what they need is the Corolla. Not the 8 more features that the Americans crammed into the newest, sure-to-fail Chevy shitbox—features that seem flashy on the dealer lot but offer nothing more than regret the moment the warranty expires. Not the Civic with its cooler interiors but generally harsher ride. Americans simply don’t care about dynamics. That’s why we buy so many trucks and proceed to use them as minivans.

For most cars, being launched into a recession would kill it off. But not the Corolla. The recession could not have been a better time for the Corolla to get an update that made the interior far larger, far more comfortable, and made the car drive bigger than it is. The perfect economy car for the American taste in cars. NVH improvements were vast, I have driven a higher spec model from the years before it, a car that was formerly my grandmas car.

The most traded-in car during Cash for Clunkers was the Ford Explorer. The most purchased new car using this new found pile of cash? A Toyota Corolla or a Toyota Camry. Most being traded in were 5–10 years old, powered by archaic boat anchors of a motor , the Ford 4.0 V6, lucky to get above 20 mpg in any situation. You can thank the body on frame chassis and solid rear axle for the lack of any refinement. To the owners of those outdated, rollover-prone family SUVs, the Corolla must have been a spaceship.

An engine with oil-pressure-based variable valve timing? Wizard tech. An interior that doesn’t feel like it was meant to be chewed on by dogs? That’s a nice detail. A car that doesn’t feel like its going to overturn around a corner? (and in fact often did flip over in safety tests) Must have been a massive change. And now simply take a drive through any middle class area in the united states, the corolla is still everywhere. Examples range from perfectly pristine to running purely based on a desire to not be scrapped.

See but my 2009 Corolla was a little different, quite a bit less desireable than the regular Corolla. My specific corolla starts its life with being unsellable. Somehow god had spited our familes previous new purchase, a dark blue 1999 Toyota Camry, and gave it rod knock at a very young 105k miles. The dealer felt bad and offered more than it was worth on trade in. One particular car caught my dads eye, a beige 2009 Toyota Corolla. What about it caught his eye? well the price. That corolla had been given precislely zero options, no stability control, no traction control, no cruise control, no power windows, no power locks. But it was cheaper than every other true 3 box sedan on the lot. It came home with us.

Well and now comes my part of the story. I was a very over-eager 15.5–16-year-old, ready to be released to terrorize the roads of SC. I also needed to learn manual on something, so that was the car of choice. The Corolla seemed amazing, the first car I would ever go full throttle in, and the first car I would max out the speed of (115–117 mph depending on conditions, power-limited). The only thing between me and the scenery was the Corolla’s good engineering and a 16-year-old with a few SCCA autocrosses’ worth of car control experience. But the Corolla never skipped a beat. It was the first car I ever understeered (hundreds if not thousands of times—that’s the behavior it likes to engage in at its limits). Also the first car I experienced oversteer in: the rear cable-driven drums are more than happy to lock up both rear wheels with a good yank on the handbrake cable.
Looking back, the car’s weaknesses become pretty obvious. It’s set up for comfort, not driving dynamics. I’ve been in Civics; while they handle far better than the Corolla, they tend to be harsher over bumps and sometimes lower to the ground. The Corolla has a lot of suspension travel: useful for when your teenager (me) decides he’s a WRC legend on the local SC dirt roads. Armed with nothing but an SCCA shirt and a bit of teenage arrogance, I was ready to beat the rally stage behind my friend’s cornfield. This delusion was quickly shattered as the bumper crashed into the red dirt and ripped out the fender liner, leaving behind broken bumper clips and a bruised ego. In terms of dynamics, the Corolla is just fine, a common theme with this car. Its biggest weakness is the steering: it’s vague and provides some, but not much feedback. The good news is the rest of it is so simple you’ll hear if it’s understeering before that understeer presents any threat to you. Around corners, it goes where you point it loyally, so long as you stay away from the edge of the traction circle. Should you approach those limits, the car breaks away into progressive understeer; the rear end never flinches under normal operation. When you drive something more enthusiast-oriented like a Golf or a Civic, you’ll wonder how they managed to make a car so light have such unresponsive steering. But the second you get on a dirt road, however, you’ll be thankful for the soft dampers, large suspension travel, and fat sidewall tires wrapped around cheap 15-inch steelies.

You are probably asking at this point why I see this as an excellent car. And that’s what this section is. Livability. Despite my love for having the gas pedal flat on the floor this car has managed to return a lifetime fuel economy of 32-34 mpg for me. Truly impressive to anyone who has experienced the way I tend to drive. As for reliability? it could not have been any more impressive. This car has seen only what Toyota suggests in terms of preventative maintenance, that would be oil changes and filter changes every 5k miles + spark plugs at 100k. Nothing more. I drove the car from 140k miles up to its current 209k miles. Let’s go into the issues I’ve had with it. There are 3 things that have had to be replaced on this car. The wheel bearings at 180k after 10k miles of making horrible noises, a torn axle boot at 160k (probably from the stress imparted to it by dirt roads), and right now it needs front brake rotors and pads.
It’s also been very comfortable during this time. Despite the lack of cruise control and other features, its got the features that matter to a teenager living in the south, and the features that matter to a slightly wiser current iteration of myself. It has working AC and a decent radio with an aux port. Those few features have kept me happy and comfortable throughout this cars hard lived life. This car has been to 18 of the 24 states east of the Mississippi River. This car has been driven through whiteout level snow, dirt, gravel, mud, and sand. As well as the 69k miles that are put on the car. I think this paragraph speaks to itself in terms of how durable this car is. I still trust it to get me to work or school every single day, and I still drive enough to hit 20k miles a year. I’ve driven many many more fun cars at this point, but never a car with a stronger will to live.

I used to think the Corolla was a penalty box. I remember in high school how uncool i thought the car was because nobody outside of it would be impressed. And maybe, when I was sixteen and dreaming of rally stages, wheel to wheel racing and more, it was a boring car. But that 16 year old had no idea how cripplingly expensive motorsports are at any level. But now, with a 7 years and almost 70,000 hard miles behind us, I see it for what it really is: a durable car built for people who just need to get places. It didn’t care that I learned to drive like an idiot. It took the clutch dumps, it took the behind a walmart money shift into 3rd gear, it took the countless handbrake turns. It didn’t care that I made it jump, slide, or sit on redline. It just took the abuse, shrugged, and asked for another oil change. It was never fast, never flashy, and never once failed to start. And in a world of pointlessly complicated tech, CVTs, ipads , and under-engineered junk, that kind of durability means far more than lap records and quarter mile times. The Corolla doesn’t represent the teenage driving experience with that it is capable of, it embodies it by what it is able to survive. Sometimes the best engineered product is the lamest one, one that continues to operate despite the lack of care given to it. That’s why 200k+ people go to a Toyota dealership every year and buy one of these.

Thanks for reading, and if you need “an car” go buy a damn corolla.

Maybe this is what the corolla’s future looks like…