My '05 Corolla LE, I bought brand new, has been very reliable so far. It's the wife's car and she does not go easy on it.
It's a 1.8L, 1ZZ-FE engine with 4 speed AT. The following is a list of what I've experienced.
The following is a list of things I don't like about it.
I think, compared to your Accord, you'll find the Corolla to be a downgrade in terms of ride comfort and power. If you're looking for one that is comparable to your Accord, I'd go with the Camry. If I had the $$, I would have gotten the Camry, for sure. Hope that helped and I would also test drive the Camry, since you're already at the dealership. Give us an update!
It's a 1.8L, 1ZZ-FE engine with 4 speed AT. The following is a list of what I've experienced.
- Very reliable and dependable: Never broken down on us.
- Decent MPG: best: 37, worst: 29, average: 33.
- Ride and comfort: Much better ride than my Celica GT.
- Power: adequate
- Transmission: Very smooth
- Engine: Very smooth and quiet at idle. At times, I don't even realize it's running.
- Electrical: The digital clock stopped working, but there's a fix on youtube. Other than that, no problems.
The following is a list of things I don't like about it.
- Cruise: works fine but on some hills, it downshifts on it's own. On the same hills, wife's old Corsica never downshifted once.
- AC unit: had to be repaired/replaced. The shop said it is placed in a bad location and rocks seem to hit it often. /shrug.
- Does not like extremely cold weather: drivetrain made a loud, nasty and horrible grumbling noise during our cold spell this past winter when temp with windchill got to -38 degrees F. Guess it was it's way of telling me it doesn't like the cold.
I think, compared to your Accord, you'll find the Corolla to be a downgrade in terms of ride comfort and power. If you're looking for one that is comparable to your Accord, I'd go with the Camry. If I had the $$, I would have gotten the Camry, for sure. Hope that helped and I would also test drive the Camry, since you're already at the dealership. Give us an update!