2012 Toyota Corolla LE
- Price: $17,910
- Gas Mileage: 26 mpg city/34 mpg highway
If the 2012 Toyota Corolla seems as familiar as your favorite pair of sneakers, it's because it's been around for nearly half a century. It's the best-selling car in the world.
Bland styling inside and out doesn't make this Toyota any less suited for family use. Although its cargo room at 12.3 cubic feet ranks it next to the bottom on this list of compact cars, at 36.3 inches, its rear-seat legroom is near the top.
Its roomy cabin is comfortable with nicely sculpted front seats. All of the controls and switches are easy to operate.
A 132-horsepower, 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine pushes its production to the front wheels by way of a four-speed automatic transmission.
Standard on every Corolla are full power accessories, remote keyless entry, tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, trip computer, air conditioning, six air bags, and a four-speaker audio system with a CD player and auxiliary input jack.
We chose to step up to the LE because the automatic tranny is included in its price and the additional price premium buys a lot of upgrades such as cruise control, intermittent wipers, heated mirrors and a better audio system with six speakers and auxiliary audio jack.