2006 Toyota Corolla

There are a lot of things that prompt a person to buy a new car. I bought mine because Cecil likes Toyotas.

I think Cecil was the original James Bond. He has dual US and English citizenship and disappears for extended lengths of time. For over a year I've driven him to the Chicago or Omaha airports. At 83 he still looks debonair in his tailored Seville Row suits and still can catch the wayward glance of a stewardess while waiting for his plane.

Cecil is a speed, reliability and comfort junkie when it comes to cars. (He spent his life as a designer and engineer. At least that's what he told me.) He has twelve cars in his temperature-controlled garage including a Jag, two Rolls, a '36 Dusenberg, and a Bently. He is also probably the only person in the US that has a running Rolls Royce engine from A WWII Spitfire sitting in his garage. He seldom drives these cars anymore and I'm certainly not allowed to get them out just to tool around town. When I drive him, I have the choice of his "good car" a 2005 Lexus, or his "errand car" a 2001 Camry. He "prefers" me to drive the Camry when I take him to the airport.

He is big on custom interiors and the Camry's, as well as most of his other errand cars, has been redone to his specifications in real leather and walnut with rosewood inlays. I guess when you're wealthy…

Although my old Nissan Frontier was still running good, and had lots of life left, I noticed Cecil didn't quite care for my main choice of transportation. With gas near 3.00 a gallon at the time, and Cecil living some forty miles from my house, I decided to look at Toyotas and Hondas and upgrade my wheels into something that was more fitting to be seen in a millionaire's drive.

I owned Hondas in the past and found them to be economical, well made and easy to maintain. I had a '97 Toyota pickup, and the Ex-chick had a Tercel that managed to go 230K before it needed new pistons and rings. So I knew from personal experience the Toys were also good vehicles.

I test drove the Civic and Accord and found the ride to be adequate. I checked the EPA mileage, and then checked what it was going to take do the maintenance on the vehicles. I change my own oil, brakes, spark plugs, mufflers and other parts as they go bad, so I want something that is simple and quick to repair. The Hondas had most everything easy to get to and the MPG was what I wanted. The only real gripes are that they sit down lower than the Toy and it made them more difficult to get in and out of. The seats also weren't as comfortable as I liked.

When I test drove the Corolla I noticed it didn't have the acceleration the Hondas did. I found the seats to be more comfortable and as I said before, it was easier for me to get in and out of the car. The EPA mileage was better than the Hondas, probably because the engine was smaller. As far maintenance was concerned everything looked like it would be easier to repair in case something did need attention. I liked the placement of the oil filter. It's very easy to get to.

I bought the Toy. 2006 5 Speed 4 door CE package.

Now I've had the car a year and put twenty-one thousand miles on it.

The steering is precise easy and smooth. The overall ride is good and solid, with a good feel for the road. Not soft like an old 70s Cadillac, but not rough like a Ford Festiva with square tires. The ride tends to be a bit rough over bumpy roads, but it won't beat you to death. It also seems a tad loud on rough roads than what I think it should be. The car handles well in both rain and snow, and didn't have any problems getting around last winter. The car sometimes hydroplanes at high speeds, but that can be expected. I think better tires would easily solve that problem.

The 1.8L engine has enough power to go easily eighty-five if the case arises to do so, though I tend to stay somewhere near seventy or seventy-five. On long road trips I average close to 40mpg. On trips back and forth to my regular job, I get a little better mileage mostly because I can coast up to a mile to some of the stops. Just kick it into neutral and let gravity do the rest. Gas wise it seems to run better on the mid-grade ethanol blend sold here in beautiful Iowa. When I travel to where they don't have this grade and fill the tank the engine starts to bog down on hills.

The five-speed tranny provides smooth shifting and good power distribution to the wheels, and I have never had any problems with it. When starting out going down hill from a stop I go from first to third to fifth and it never complains. On long drives the tranny is so well matched to the engine, when the RPMs are right, I can shift clutch-less without any grinding.

The clutch however gives me fits. The clutch must be mashed all the way to the floorboard before the car will start. I suppose I could be like Cecil and just remove the safety switch.

The car is roomy and being a big fellow, I don't feel cramped as I do in some small cars. The seats fold down to create even more room if you need it. I hauled 10-ten feet long 11/2" in. pieces of conduit and could close the trunk and it didn't interfere a lick with my driving. And speaking of the seats, they supply enough lower back support, which is very important for me. (I used to own a '89 Escort I called the pain mobile because the seats were so bad.)

Although I don't listen to much music I do listen to Louis Black CDs. The CD player that comes with the car is decent. It has never screwed up once. The speakers are clear and never distort

As far as controls are concerned every thing is well placed with easy access and is logical. The cruise control takes a bit of getting used to, but once you start using it, it seems more natural than the way some U.S. cars do it. All the controls work as they should, with out any problems.

The only complaints I have are minor. The tires seem to wear a little faster than I would like. The clutch thing is a pain. Always put groceries in the back seat and not the front. The seat belt sensor in the seat is sensitive and that dang buzzer will drive you nuts, though if you can stand it for about ten minutes it will eventually go off. I find the AC to be a little lacking on the hundred degree Iowa days, but it doesn't get a hundred here very often and what do I need to go out for. Toyota put this little flashing red light in the car so it looks like it has an anti-theft device, which I find laughable. Any thief worth his salt would figure that out pretty quickly. All in all the car is well engineered and I like it.

By the way, unlike most small cars, changing the oil is a snap. If you take your car to one of those oil change places, they should pay you.

I almost forgot. There are three other cars in Cecil's garage he doesn't drive any more; his old "errand cars", a Nash Metropolitan and its successors two Toyota Corollas. The one looks like it was the first to roll off the assembly line. They of course have had their interiors torn out and replaced with leather and wood. Go figure.