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The new Corolla has two options.
All Corollas now come with the antenna installed at the factory. The receiver has to be installed either at the distribution point, at the store, or aftermarket
Some Corolla's now come with both the antenna and receiver installed by Toyota along with a 90 days free trial.
If that's true, it won't cost that much more than the JBL plus install fees of XM. However, you lose bluetooth and the steering wheel controls if you don't have JBL.
Mack :shades:
On top of that, the price of the device itself is outlandishly overpriced for what it is.
Maybe XM needs to give Toyota a cut of the subscription fees, or just give the hardware away to them so they will install it in the factory radio at little or no extra cost.
How does GM and Hyundai do it?
Mack
The $449 list price is a big enough disincentive drive away people who are already reluctant to pay the monthly fees.
Pre-installed, many people who weren't even planning to buy it would try the 3 month free trial and then decide to keep it.
On top of that, it isn't $300 worth of hardware. It is expensive because of massive markup plus the extra costs associated with installing at the dealer instead on the factory assembly line.
Mack
Common sense says the take rate would be much higher with a $99 factory install (or free with JBL) than a $400 dealer install. Poor XM will lose out in subscriptions due to this pricing/installation scheme.
At least the antenna is pre-installed at the factory now so the installation isn't messy like before.
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//pictures/VEHICLE/2009/To- yota/2009.toyota.corolla.20209195-E.jpg
I'm curious since it doesn't come up as an option color but there's that one photo with that color. Will it be available or does it have late availability? I'm interested in it
Mack :shades:
:shades:
No wonder, at $449 list and with the ugly installation on the previous models. It isn't worth it to many people at that price.
I don't expect many to ask for it until the price is a lot lower.
\ :P
Saturn Astra does not offer satellite radio even as an accessory.
There are always other choices if you don't want to pay $400 for added XM, you could buy a Elantra with standard XM and steering wheel controls.
Mack
:shades:
In the standard configurations of any model XM is rarely ever requested. Most buyers have no idea it exists or even how it works. Spending money for what normally is 'free radio' is so anethema to a standard trim buyer ( most Toyota buyers ) that it's a hard sell even to get the discussion past 'The subscription fee is about $10 a month'. Remember we're speaking mostly of buyers that want the least for the least money and no costs after the purchase. 4 doors, 4 wheels and a Toyota engine.
Now top trim buyers often just want 'everything that's available'. Some are audiophiles and demand the better sound and wider range of choices. Both of these have no hesitancy to pay $450.
This is another sign of very good marketing; i.e. understanding your buyers and what they want.
Exactly. And that is why Toyota as recently as 2008 Corolla made it nearly impossible to obtain ABS brakes on base Corolla's.
After all, buyers do not want ABS, they are not asking for it, and are unwilling to pay for it.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I also have some issues with the rattles, which I posted at the "2009 Toyota Corolla Problems and Repairs" thread. It rattles kind of crazy.
This vehicle appears to run at a much higher RPM on the highway than necessary. If I drive 75 miles, the RPM reads more than 3,500, and the engine is quite noisy. It needs a fifth gear to lower the RPM.
Despite the rattles, I urge everyone to take it for a test-drive before you purchase it. Not everyone will like the handling of the 2009 Corolla. Just because it's a new Corolla and it's popular doesn't mean it's the best small car out there.
With its own sloppily, unsecure handling, and it only has a 4-speed automatic in the 1.8L engine, I highly doubt the 2009 Toyota Corolla will rate higher than Honda Civic and Mazda 3 by Consumer Reports. This is something you should take into consideration.
Yes, the engine runs at a high RPM at highway speeds, and may benefit from a fifth gear, I wouldn't even begin to consider it quite noisy. If anything, I'm surprised at how quiet it is. Maybe it depends on what you're used to. I had an 03 Corolla, it sounds like you must drive a Lexus. Well, this is no Lexus.
i want a 5 speed 09 corolla, but the sound insulation better be tremendous if its running at such high rpms. i assume that the manual will be at even higher rpms than the auto. its stunning since it seems the trends have been towards more relaxed cruising rpms with each newer model in this segment.
those new corolla commercials tout the quietness of the corolla, but its tough to be very quiet at 3500 rpms.
No one has posted actual RPMs running at 75 MPH.
The electric steering has been criticized in almost every review, but I suppose people will get used to it since so many people buy them despite Toyotas being known for ultra-numb steering.
Some people associate zero effort steering with "luxury," so that could be what Toyota has been going for when they calibrated the steering.
It's the same situation as the DBW throttle and shifting situation. It's often disliked by those used to something else but frankly it's just different. Over time it will be the norm in most vehicles from most makers.
I definitely don't want anything any lighter or it'll be worse than a video game and more like driving an electric wheelchair with doors.
i think waltchan was referring to that in post #2408- over 3500 rpm at 75 mph. since it was an LE it had to be the auto trans. im just hoping that he was somehow mistaken, but probably not. probably too many people complaining about lack of passing power in high gear on the highway in previous model. my 05 had plenty of passing power in 5th gear. 3500 rpms at 75 mph is just overkill.
They shoot you on the spot and throw your corpse in Jail for 90 days for doing that speed on I64. OK a slight exaggeration but the ticket for VA residents is upwards of $3500.
Now doing 75 on I95 is the norm.
And in the HOV lanes of I64.
Consumer Reports just released its list. Top honors in small sedans didn't go to either Corolla or Civic, they went to Elantra.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
1 purchase price
2 value
3 reliability
If a vehicle is low-priced to begin with, has a lot of options included at that low price and doesn't cost extra money after the purchase it's right in CR's wheelhouse.
We'll probably see a lot more Hyundai's on the list down the road as the reliability continues to improve.
They put more weight into reliability, safety and practicality.
CR hasn't reported on the new Corolla yet, so it's not included in their rankings in the April auto issue. It will be interesting to see how they rank it. I predict it will slot below at least the top 2 small cars in their rankings right now, which are the Civic EX MT and the Elantra SE AT (tied at 82). Maybe the Mazda3i will top the Corolla too, I don't know. I have a feeling the Corolla will not outscore the Civic EX and Elantra SE because CR will say, among other things, the Civic handles better, with better steering feel, and the Elantra is roomier, and maybe also has better handling/steering feel. But they will like the Corolla's smooth ride and quiet interior. We'l see in due time what CR thinks..
Cars without good crash tests, safe handling and stability control, and pretty good scores in reliability from their user surveys are ranked lower so I don't see how what I said was "wrong."
actually you are half wrong. price is not a factor in cr's ratings, but reliability is.
if you notice cr will not rate a new model because they have no idea of the reliability. how many times have you read that cr likes a car, but can't recommend because if the poor reliability?
reliability is a strong influence to how they rate a car.
That is incorrect. In CR's words from the April issue (emphasis added by me):
The vehicles are grouped by price and category, and are ranked according to their overall test scores. ... Overall road test score is based on results from more than 50 tests and evaluations.
Thus reliability and safety have nothing to do with CR's rankings. But reliability and safety are used to determine whether CR recommends a car or not.
Examples:
* The Passat is CR's highest-ranked wagon $25k and up, yet it has a poor (black dot) score for predicted reliability.
* The TSX has better predicted reliability and safety than the Fusion and Milan per CR, but the Fusion and Milan edge the TSX in the rankings.
* The RAV4 and Forester sit just above the CR-V in the rankings, yet the CR-V is more safe per CR.
How will this affect the Corolla? It will be ranked against other cars based on its road test scores, including impressions of the interior and overall quality. Then there's the question of whether CR will recommend it. Assuming it gets a good score on the road tests (which I expect it will), then will CR give it a "pass" on reliability because of the Corolla's track record, even though it's a new design? That used to be standard practice for CR with Toyotas, at least until they got embarrassed by recommending the 2007 Camry V6 only to have to retract the recommendation due to its transmission problems. So it's not a given that CR will give the Corolla a "pass" on reliability. Then there's the crash-test scores, which I don't expect will be a problem since the old Corolla did pretty well there and the new one should be improved.
ok, then thats more reasonable. thats more in line with the previous generation at least. at 70 mph that should be around 2750-2800 rpm.
im waiting to see how much higher the 5 speed is at those speeds.
Things will change in a couple of months.