The Corolla isn’t the quickest or best handling compact sedan and last year it wasn’t one of the best values either but for 2017 Toyota pulled a surprise out of their hat. By making their CVT and their Safety Sense active safety system standard on ALL models of the Corolla it has gone from middling in terms of value to a whopping 10% less expensive than comparably equipped competitors.
For $18,500 you can get a Corolla S with an automatic transmission, touchscreen infotainment, radar adaptive cruise control, pre-collision auto braking with pedestrian detection, lane keeping assistance and LED headlamps. Driving dynamics still lag behind Honda, Ford and Mazda but nobody else has priced their compact sedan this aggressively.