This Corolla and VW Beetle make a nice pairing. It was the Corolla that effectively killed the Beetle as America’s favorite cheap import after it arrived here in 1968. This 1971 VW basic Beetle listed for $1845 ($11,568 adjusted); the 1971 Corolla was even a bit cheaper, at $1798 ($11,273 adjusted).
The Corolla has grown a lot over the years; this outgoing generation is a legitimate no-compromise fully-fledged automobile, a comfortable, quiet, smooth-riding sedan that seats four adults surprisingly commodiously. It’s far from just minimal transportation, but then even the first Corolla was noted for being a bit more refined than average in its class. A 1971 Corolla would have won Car and Driver’s small car comparison if it had a bit more power, which came along within a year or so in the form of the new 1600cc engine.
So how expensive is a new Corolla in comparison?
I bought a nicely equipped new 2017 Corolla LE a year and a half ago for my daughter’s group home. I paid an out-the-door price of $15,300. This was a very good deal, but Toyota was having to make deals to keep sedans moving out the door. There’s no way possible to compare a 1971 and a 2017, as they’re worlds apart. The recent ones are more like what a Malibu would have been back then. But given their impeccable reliability record and the general greater longevity of modern cars, it would be easy to say that the 2017 was actually cheaper in the long run than a 1971.
Wow, that was an excellent deal on that 2017.
Twenty-two thousand dollars will buy an excellent car today, yet the average buyer believes that they need and deserve more. The average new car transaction price is now $36,000 as exemplified by my neighbor’s new Pilot.
So agreed; Edward’s auto show article from a couple days back exemplifies this perfectly:
“To be fair, this particular Soul is clearly a base model LX, which starts at $17,490. A decent price for what it is. The truly disappointing aspect of the Kia is its powertrain, which is a 2.0 liter four with an output of 147 horsepower and 132 Ib-ft. of torque. My Focus also has a 2.0 liter four but has thirteen more horsepower and 28 more Ib-ft. of torque.”
The Kia Soul is an insanely good value. They aren’t stripped penalty boxes, cramped, or lacking for much anything other than stellar fuel economy. Yes other cars can seem better on paper relative to their specs, but come on. That Focus isn’t even in a similar class, let alone equal, in my opinion (and I think they possess a lot of seems nice but no substance garbage). “For what it is”, a Soul is the absolute best buy at 18k one could make, period.
Not that I deserve more, but there are things that I really need for happy motoring. Too bad you can’t custom order specific options these days, at least from the Japanese or Korean cars. Give me a power heated/ventilated driver’s seat, pano sunroof, XM, and blind spot monitor and I’m a happy camper. Sadly many of those options are all high-end trim levels….
It would be interesting to know if that Corolla is still in active service when it’s 50 years old. There’s still a healthy aftermarket parts supply for the Beetle, but I suspect support for the Corolla will be scant within a couple decades other than basic maintenance items.
No question that a car as simply optioned as a Beetle would sell too poorly to be sustainable today, though.
Well, of course, since everyone wants every bell and whistle. Mind you the more you stick on the more you have to replace when it breaks which explains why I like simple. A nice, clean, and solid design and I am a happy camper.
When you are talking about running a vehicle past the 15-25yr normal service life of a light duty vehicle it becomes a matter of passion.
I don’t see the passion being there for a “Meh” reliable vehicle. When something major goes on a 2019 Corolla in 2035 with 220k mi the owner will just trade up to a 2027 with 120k model.
I have no doubt that a collector could keep anything Toyota made in the past 20 yrs running for quite some time. Look at the Supra hotrod community or all the 80-90s Pickups & 4Runners still being used frequently or daily.
One of my daydreams is to build a EV restomod 1st Gen MR2.
Having run several 2TC and 3TC Corollas in severe commercial service for a while (messenger in NYC) they were tough and easy to work on, easier than what I saw friends doing with VW’s (lots of squatting and laying under the back of the car).
They were also cheap, available used for a few hundred. NYC would tow one away for parking tickets and I’d just go buy another one. The boxy ones in the early 80’s were better laid out but more rattly after seeing hard service.
They were coarse and unsafe compared to the modern ones. And they were not as much fun as the 76 Rabbit I’d started with years before.
That modern Corolla would have been a dream back then if it came in wagon form, but I wouldn’t have learned about setting points and other obsolete ways of tending a car, and likely putting a chain and padlock on the hood would have been tougher with tighter clearances. The chain from brake pedal to steering wheel would have been about the same.
$15K out the door for a 2017 Corolla?!!?? Wow! As I recall we paid about that, with California taxes, for our 1993 DX. It was a wagon, with 5 speed manual, roll up windows, no cruise or Bluetooth or modern safety features except a driver’s side airbag. And I thought we got a pretty good deal because the ‘94’s were already released and this sad 5 speed wagon with no AC was the last ‘93 on the lot.
I remember that in 1985, when we were looking for a 4×4 wagon, we looked at a Tercel 4×4 wagon in Santa Monica that had a dealer’s asking price of $15k. I seem to remember that the MSRP was about $12k (it was loaded, as far as that went back then, meaning AC and automatic and radio). The dealer’s mark-up was another $3k. This was during the worst of the VIR era, when Japanese car imports were limited and the demand was sky high.
We bought a loaded Cherokee for $16k instead. Had about twice the hp.
Inflation adjusted, that $15k was $35k.
And I remember diesel Rabbits selling for $12-13k during the worst of the’79-’80 energy crisis. About double the MSRP.
Wow. Never realized that the VIR era was so good for dealer profits.
I expect to see attempts at markup on a GT-R, ‘Vette etc but a ho-hum everyday car?!
I recall in 2008 when fuel spiked and gas was ~$4/gal and diesel almost 5 a lot of good pickups and SUVs were going for fire sale prices.
VIR was craziness in the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. It was common to see secondary stickers pasted next to the Monroney sticker on Japanese cars, with “AMV” listed as a multi-thousand dollar item. If you were lucky, a “deal” was getting one at MSRP. You might still see it with hot new models, but the ability to shop and buy vehicles on the Internet has pretty much mitigated – but not eliminated – this practice on “ho-hum, everyday cars.” But that’s not to say that some dealers still try.
The 2008 situation was not just the spike in fuel prices. The recession caused a sudden rise in unemployment, which was a contributing factor, if not the primary one.
Datsun 210
Honda Civic
I don’t know why the corolla gets top billing for the demise of the bug.
Here’s why:
The Corolla was the first to outsell the VW. It arrived in 1968.
The Datsun 210, as the B210, didn’t arrive until 1973, by which time the Beetle was in deep decline. Same for the Civic, which also didn’t arrive until 1973. And the Corolla outsold both of them, by a healthy margin.
Does that explain why?
Pretty sure the Datsun outsold the Corolla at some point in time
My younger brother had a ‘68 Corolla 1166cc (I think)… seems like you had to do a valve job on ‘em every 15k miles, IIRC. He, my two sisters and I had to drive it from SoCal to Provo, Utah and back in December of 1974 for our grandmother’s funeral. With snow on the ground and off and on snowstorm, it was a scary, cramped, but fun drive considering the circumstances. One thing I remember about that car was the armrest in the back seat had a plastic insert that you could pull out that left a very handy stash spot for a bag of weed that was then hidden by replacing the insert.
Oh, what a feeling, Toyota!
Is there anything more depressing than a cheap white car? Or maybe it’s must me.
A cheap black car. Non-metallic beige and gray are runners up. On a modern car, I’ll admit that white does give it that government fleet look.
My favorite modern Toyota. The styling of this generation is more attractive than the fish faced version that replaced it. The only thing I would have added would be some bump strips on the sides to try and cut down on parking lot dings.