• Continues the theme of low fuel and tax bills against rivals
• Mid-sized 1.8-litre has highest economy and lowest emissions
• Check out insurance and finance costs before buying

What are the running costs?

Fuel consumption figures reflect those of the hatchback, and are all properly economical in real-world driving. The 1.8-litre hybrid is the highest achiever, reaching between 55-65mpg. The benefit of the hybrid as opposed to a similarly economical diesel is that it’ll do this sort of economy in all sorts of normal driving situations – short journeys, stop-start traffic, you name it. There’s little warm-up period and the battery means the engine doesn’t idle unnecessarily.

The trade-off is that the Corolla isn’t as efficient as the best at high-speed motorway runs. You’ll still see 55mpg at the legal limit, but some diesels will leap up to 70mpg on a cruise. Consider where you spend most of your miles and make your choice accordingly.

If you’re willing to trade a little fuel efficiency for added performance, the 2.0-litre claims between 50-60mpg. The larger 2.0-litre hybrid engine’s CO2 figures aren’t exactly poor, though, and have actually gone down following the 2023 facelift despite the drive system delivering more power. The facelifted 1.8 matches its previous results yet also delivers an even bigger power bump.

The Toyota Corolla aims to be a cheap-enough car to run on fuel and tax, but it’s worth investigating how high finance costs can be. As self-charging hybrids, neither Toyota Corolla variant needs to be plugged in to charge, but you’ll find they still manage to run on electric power a remarkably high percentage of the time.

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Servicing and warranty

All Corollas come with a three-year warranty, but this can be extended to as much as 10 years or 100,000 miles if you have the car serviced at a Toyota dealer. Aside from that there’s a 12-year, unlimited mileage corrosion warranty, along with a three-year rust and paint warranty.

Toyota also offers fixed-price service plans that can be paid ahead of time or in monthly instalments, so you can plan your costs.

Reliability

• Toyota has an excellent reliability record
• Hybrid engines proven to be generally trouble free
• Warranty support for up to 10 years

Historically, the Toyota Corolla has been among the most reliable cars. The hybrid system is typically proving to be robust and other mechanical parts have been pretty much trouble free, in line with previous-generation Toyota hatchback and hybrid models.

If buying used, it’s worth checking that any recalls have been fixed before you purchase, but they should be covered by Toyota, regardless.