2010 Avalon vs 2013 Corolla

[michaelluscher]

What trim?
Sunroofs? JBL Audio?

Is it an Avalon Limited vs an XRS manual Corolla?

I'm leaning towards Avalon, that wasn't my favorite generation of Corolla

 

[4strokes]

A no brainer!

 

[fdcg27]

For two cars of similar age at similar prices, it depends upon what you want.
For space, comfort and acceleration there is an obvious choice while for fuel economy and ease of repair there is another equally obvious choice.
I think I'd take the big boy and eat the higher fuel expense.

 

[Tdbo]

Avalon without any question.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I would go with the Avalon. It's underpriced.

 

[andrew_j]

Very expensive/dated cars despite Toyota name. Hopefully you can get price down or keep looking. Low mileage is meaningless with vehicles 10+ years old.

 

[Sam_Julier]

Avalon. No contest.

 

[3783-KC1]

I'd say Avalon due to superior build quality and softer ride. Aunt has a 2008 in Blizzard White with identical mileage she bought new. First problems are popping up now (leaking PS return hose). Only thing I've noticed is that the navi if it has it is painfully stone age. Looks like MS-DOS level UI. The RL's navi looks 15 years ahead of it and it came out 4 years earlier!

 

[meep]

This is a detrimmed Lexus ES or a stretched Camry. Either way you look at it, the avalon is special. The Corolla is an appliance. Avalon for the sweet spot. And it’s low mileage for what it is. If you like to wrench, you’re easily in time for the all-critical first transmission spill ‘n fill, etc. the Avalon is what buick wants to be. Also, from a driving mechanics point of view… while the v6 Camry is oh so awfully nose-heavy, the stretched chassis of the Avalon may actually improve the handling dynamics by getting a little more weight towards the rear, giving it maybe the dynamics closer to the 4cyl camry, which is a little better. Test driving the ES, it reminded me a little of the sedan version of a minivan. Sounds odd, but it would have been a first class highway cruiser that everyone wants to take to lunch.

 

[Nick1994]

Avalon hand down

 

[mjk1967]

Doing some car shopping and narrowed down to these two. Very different kinds of cars I know!

Corolla has 61k miles and is 12500, Avalon has 68k and is 13500(would try to negotiate down). They are both very clean cars for the age. Basically I'm looking for reliability mostly. The Avalon obviously would be nicer to drive, so advantage there. The Corolla would likely average 5-7mpg more so advantage there.

Some general opinions appreciated, I know they're different cars but let's have some fun with it

Just a little story on where the market has gone.
I purchased my '11 Avalon w/ 99k on it, in May of 2020 (market was tanking). I paid 7500.00 plus TTL.
I had the base model, though..

 

[panthermike]

Just a little story on where the market has gone.
I purchased my '11 Avalon w/ 99k on it, in May of 2020 (market was tanking). I paid 7500.00 plus TTL.
I had the base model, though..

Yes it's crazy what it's like now. Even for the high mileage ones they're over $7,500

 

[carviewsonic]

The Avalon I could happily drive for many years. I’d be sick of the Corolla after 1 month.
My daughter had a 2013 Corolla for a few years. Cheap to own and reliable, but that’s where the charm ends.

 

[panthermike]

Thanks all, I'm holding off for now on a purchase. Just am not liking what I'm seeing so far. I can definitively say the Corolla of this gen was just a bit too boring for me. So when the search resumes- it will be Avalon's and ES350's.

 

[dtownfb]

Unless your commute is more that 50 miles each way, I'd go with the Avalon.

 

[panthermike]

Unless your commute is more that 50 miles each way, I'd go with the Avalon.

Close! 45mi each way. But still I do want to enjoy what I'm driving. Plus i've heard some Avalon owners pushing 30mpg highway which is what I'm doing(with some traffic in there).

 

[mjk1967]

It was easy to hit 31 mpg on long freeway runs, when kept at 75.
Using the trip calc, I hit 33 mpg, going from Mpls to Milwaukee in the spring. Was driving about 72.

 

[panthermike]

The price on the Avalon dropped from 13,495 to 11,995. Getting pretty tempting....

 

[Corollaman]

Having owned a 2012 Corolla since new I'd say Avalon, no question without a doubt. Different class of car, you'll be way more happy.

 

[JHZR2]

After a certain point, low mileage isn't always a good thing. You're looking at a 15 year old car with 68K; even with low mileage, there is a lot of age-related deterioration and wear. You're likely going to be fixing oil leaks (e.g. resealing timing covers and valve covers), rebooting CV axles, replacing lower control arms, etc.; no different than a 2010 with 150K.

Funny, my 40 year old cars don’t need to be rebooted. Nor my BMW of the same age as the cars in question… Why would these Toyotas spring so many leaks and have so many rubber failures at such low mileage?

To me, it’s a question of use, fit, and expected gas budget. A big, inefficient car like an Avalon will eat more gas, and the necessity to have the space, or not, goes into the equation…