Like a 2010-2012 Corolla! two inches wider and half inch lower than the 2003-08 generation.
Auto dimming head lights are nice when in a sharp curve you don’t have to move your hand to dim the lights, the car does it for you… Plus omg, I LOVE my adaptive CC, I set it and the distance from the car in front of me, and it will NOT get to close to any vehicle in your lane in front of you, if they slow down you slow down, when they speed back up, so do you…
It is also nice to set the auto climate control and let it do it’s thing, I am not having to turn the blower motor up and down, it does it for me, that lets you keep you hands on the steering wheel and better watch for idiots on the road… I also like the steering wheel controls, just push the volume up/down as needed with out taking my hand off the wheel…
I too was a you don’t need all that fancy crap, but now that I have it, I don’t want to drive any of the other 7 vehicles in my small fleet… I got the lower SR5 line with minimal fancy stuff, but now I almost wish I had of gotten the higher line with the blind spot monitor and a few more things… but I am perfectly happy with what I got and love the added features in it now…
I like the rear camera so much, that I am upgrading it to an anytime front/rear camera, yes the back up camera will work anytime I hit a button, or the, to be installed, front camera will work anytime I want/need it… Not for recording…
Kind of like my old shop partner and Harley riding, buddy, he had a custom 48 pan on a rigid frame, with suicide shift and foot clutch, long rake and was the Sargent of arms in a certain biker gang way back when, he used to say, if I can’t kick it, I can’t ride it, also said the new Harleys with the rubber (or whatever) motor mounts were for s********, so guess what he rides now, the sell out… Yeah I called him out on it… 
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Yeah. If they’re hybrids. Otherwise, it’s really hard to budge the basic fuel economy of an ICE 4 banger. And if it’s “bigger” even harder. And no indication that the OP needs anything bigger.
A 2004 Corolla is something like 30ish mpg city / 40ish highway. There’s been no serious “progress” there mpg-wise since then. And certainly nothing that would pay off in the short term for someone who doesn’t drive much.
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This was prob 6 years ago, and the struts were Monroe, if I recall.
It may have been $1200, now that I think about it. But $2000 still seems really high to me.
… and are significantly more powerful, as well as more protective of passengers in the event of a collision.
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I wasn’t there but my first reaction is I would be insulted by that comment.
A 2008 Accord could pull .8 Gs when cornering at high speed.
A 2025 Accord Hybrid can pull .9Gs on the same road course.
But you still could not see that 3 foot tall 3 year old child playing hide and seek behind those large vehicles.
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+1
Even the late 60’s early 70’s Chevelles, Nova’s, 442’s, Dusters, 'Cuda’s, etc etc etc, heck even my 76 fun car, you can not see anything behind you while backing up - child, stroller, wheelchair or other wise…
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I can’t see the entire driveway across the street when I’m backing out if I turn around, I can only see their garage door. With my backup camera I can see their entire driveway from my garage to the street.
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I’m not running a race.
'Nuff said.
Modern cars–in many cases–have handling that is superior to the handling of cars from 15-20 years ago.
'Nuff said.
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VDC:
You are definitely entitled to that opinion.
For me, handling not about top speed or how fast one can negotiate a turn. The assumption that the newer a vehicle is, the better it handles, is exactly that - an assumption.
It’s also about straight line stability.
If constant minor corrections at the steering wheel at highway speeds are par for the course in cars from M.Y. 2015 to present, and steering so responsive that I find myself turning over curbs going around street corners -
I’ll pass.
Running over curbs is not the vehicles fault . I don’t have to keep making corrections to stay in the lane so me thinks we have an operator problem.
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Yes, I’m an operator who is used to using some actual muscle to turn the steering wheel in the average car. No being able to turn it with one pinky finger, or by blowing on it.
And the narrow tires your generation criticizes actually straighter in a straight line than the superwide things they put on cars in the 2020s. And we got plenty of feedback through them from the road, and what the car was doing.
I find that backup cameras can interfere with other things I want to do. On my wife’s car (and most others) the camera display is on the touchscreen. Our last house had a long-ish driveway, 3+ car lengths. When backing her car out of the garage and down the driveway, since the camera display was on I would be unable to adjust the HVAC system or change the radio. I would have to wait until out in the street and shifting to D.
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Same for my car. I set my HVAC on automatic and change radio stations either before I put it in reverse or wait until I get out of my 50-foot driveway.
If anyone needs a backup cam to know whether or not there’s some little kid and/or stroller around out of line of sight, then they aren’t paying enough attention. Call me old school, but if I’m about to get in a car and put it in reverse, I already know what is around and might possibly happen with any “hazards” in the vicinity.
Those backup cams are VERY handy for hooking up trailers tho’. I’ll give them that.
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Then you must not have short people (kids) in your nieghbor hood with those battery operated toys that can get from 2 houses away at light speed .
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I have a 1.5yo step grandchild that can cover that ground fast as you can blink an eye…
That is why they are called accidents…
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