2023 Toyota Corolla Pricing and Specs

The world is your oyster here, Myra, and there are literally hundreds of makes and models that will do what you want as well offer the five-star safety rating you’re looking for. Your priorities are spot on, too; safety and the driving characteristics (in this case, steering weight) are very important in how you relate to the car and enjoy driving it.

Since you’re not too concerned with what brand you buy, the best advice is to short-list a few cars that fall within your budget and then go and test drive each one, checking that it steers the way you like it. Even small hatchbacks nowadays have the safety and performance to take you pretty much anywhere the road goes. But for longer journeys, you might appreciate features such as cruise control and a full-sized spare tyre.

When it comes to Bluetooth Toyota Corolla hasn’t always had a great track record with its factory installations. For years, many Toyota owners complained that the Bluetooth fitted to their cars was lousy with poor connection, frequent drop-outs and a lack of calling clarity. These days, those problems have been addressed thanks to Toyota’s troubleshooting and the Toyota Bluetooth systems are more or less the same as everybody else’s.

Toyota Corolla Bluetooth pairing (for either iPhone or Android) is a pretty simply process and involves following the on-screen prompts in the phone setup menu after the car has 'found' your phone (make sure your phone is in 'discoverable' mode). From there, you need to confirm that the security code displayed on your phone matches the one on the screen and you’re good to go. Once you’ve worked out how to connect Bluetooth to Toyota Corolla the first time, the system should automatically recognise your phone from then on. If in any doubt, follow the instructions in the how to pair/how to connect phone a phone section of your owner’s manual.

There’s a very good factory website at https://www.toyota.com/connect/ that can lead you through a list of what phones and apps are compatible with Corollas of the last few years.

All the current model Corollas feature Bluetooth connectivity, with the 2019 upgrade also extending to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility across the board. The previous model Corolla (2012 to 2018) also had Bluetooth from the entry-level model up, and the Corolla before that (2007 to 2012) featured Bluetooth on all but the base-model Ascent version. Prior to that, Bluetooth was not a factory fitment on any Corolla, but many owners added it with an aftermarket stereo head unit for better music quality.

Toyota Corolla Apple CarPlay and Toyota Corolla Android Auto are standard fitments to each and every model in the current Corolla line-up for Australia.

The stereo system in all Corollas starts with a six-speaker arrangement with an upgrade to eight speakers in the top-specification models which cost more. Bluetooth is also standard in the Corolla now, and the latest system is much better and easier to connect with than previous Toyota versions of this technology. The Corolla also offers digital radio across the board, putting it ahead of many of its competitors and the same price-point.

To retrofit the new system into an older Corolla would be costly and difficult. Most owners of older cars find that an update to an aftermarket head unit is a better, cheaper solution for adding Apple CarPlay and Android to their vehicles.