Three Paths to Greatness: A 2023 Toyota Corolla Buying Guide

The Toyota Corolla has long been heralded as one of the most reliable and practical vehicles on the market. Renowned for safety, sustainability, and, above all, being cost-effective, you would be hard-pressed to find an individual who’s unfamiliar with the merits of this model. Like so many others, the Toyota Corolla comes in a variety of different trims, each one catering to a distinct type of driver and their individual needs.

Here at Marietta Toyota, we get an influx of customers every day who know they need a reliable form of transportation, and they know that the Corolla has come highly recommended, but they’re also unsure of what version will suit their needs best. Being the eponymous Toyota dealer in Marietta means much more than just selling vehicles for us; we’re providing information to help others make a well-informed decision. In that vein, here is a handy buying guide to assist you in your search.

The Ideal Foursome for the Modern Consumer

To effectively break down the trims of the 2023 Toyota Corolla, we need to look at their distinctive qualities. The Corolla is a compact sedan that’s divided into three trim levels—the LE, SE, and XSE—with the comparable Corolla Hybrid having trims derivative of the LE and SE in addition to the XLE, which is exclusive to the Corolla Hybrid. These distinct variations allow buyers to tailor their vehicles in a manner that perfectly suits their interests and needs.

The Corolla LE

The LE is the base trim for the 2023 Toyota Corolla. With a starting MSRP of just under $22k, the LE is affordable and loaded with tons of standard features to ensure you have plenty of joy and peace on the road.

The LE is available for both the traditional and hybrid powertrains. Even though the LE is the most basic offering of all the Corolla trims, it’s still remarkably fuel-efficient, with the traditional powertrain granting drivers an EPA-estimated 32 MPG in the city and 41 MPG on the highway. The hybrid version takes conservative fuel consumption even further, with 53 MPG in the city and 46 MPG on the highway; it’s so efficient that you can travel up to 570 miles between fill-ups, accruing fuel savings of nearly $5k over a period of five years.

Aside from providing incredible fuel efficiency, the LE trim offers a generous variety of standard safety and entertainment features that grant drivers a great experience behind the wheel. The LE comes with an 8.0-inch infotainment screen that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for compatible smartphones, and your audio quality will be superb with the Corolla’s six-speaker stereo system.

Toyota packs on items that enhance the driving experience further, such as the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 suite of driver assistance features, which includes the Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Lane Tracing Assist, Road Sign Assist, Automatic High Beams, and Proactive Driving Assist. Thanks to features like these, the Corolla was justly awarded a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA in collision testing.

The Corolla SE

Moving up to the SE trim means having the ability to partake in more style, more features, and a driving experience that’s more refined and sophisticated than its predecessor. The SE is likewise available with the traditional and hybrid powertrains; these are, respectively, a 2.0L I-4 with 169 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque and a 1.8L I-4 Hybrid with 138 hp and 105 lb-ft of torque.

The SE trim offers all of the same features of the LE and builds upon them. When it comes to style and aesthetics, the first noticeable improvements are in the exterior, such as the 18-inch wheels, chrome exhaust tips, and a rear spoiler, which completes the sporty look that sets the SE apart from the others.

Its LED headlights are brighter than your typical HID lights and can last longer before needing to be serviced or replaced. If the exterior piques your interest, the interior will do the same; its seats are upgraded from fabric trimming to sport fabric, and more features become available, such as a nine-speaker stereo system from JBL.

The steering wheel gets wrapped in leather, too, which certainly increases the feeling of luxury. The remote keyless entry gets an upgrade to push-button start, which is a feature that, once you acclimate to it, you won’t ever want to go back.

The Corolla Hybrid XLE

The sole XLE offering for the 2023 Toyota Corolla, the Corolla Hybrid XLE is exactly what you might expect: an upgraded edition of the LE hybrid sedan. Many of the features prominent in the LE are swapped out for more luxurious offerings; these include trimming the cabin in leather, ingraining the front seats with heating elements, and installing real-time navigation in the infotainment interface.

This trim includes further driver assistance features, like the beloved Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, which had been available as an add-on for the LE and SE. This trim also sees the Qi-compatible wireless smartphone charging pad become available.

The Corolla XSE

The XSE is the top-of-the-line for the 2023 Toyota Corolla, comparable to the Hybrid’s XLE, except as a variant of the SE rather than the LE. The XSE replicates some of the glorious aspects of the XLE, like the power-adjustable driver’s seat and the heating elements. The XLE’s leather upholstery is exchanged for an upgraded version of the sport fabric on the SE, now with Toyota’s sleek SofTex, and the power tilt/slide moonroof with sliding sunshade—which was available as an add-on in the LE and SE—is now standard.

The entertainment features and technology are upgraded while maintaining the sportiness of the original. The steering wheel gets paddle shifters for those who want a greater degree of control over their performance, akin to a manual stick shift but with the flavor of a stock car. Along these lines, the torsion bar rear suspension is upgraded to a multi-link suspension. The XSE is still reasonably priced, allowing you to grasp a hold of Toyota’s best features without breaking the bank.

Pick the Perfect Corolla at Marietta Toyota

You can tell a manufacturer cares about the needs of their drivers when they design their trims to cater to such a diversity of personalities—and the 2023 Toyota Corolla is a great example of that. As Toyota’s flagship product, the Corolla provides a vast array of features that keep you entertained and ensure the safety of yourself, your family, and those around you. By making more great features standard and not obscuring them with a price tag, Toyota proves its commitment to its customers, saying that the best things in life don’t need to come at a high cost.

Providing the very best without a grievous price tag is just one of the many reasons why so many people partner with Marietta Toyota. Aside from offering a brilliant trim selection for the 2023 Corolla and Toyota’s other magnificent vehicles, we’re known for our expertise and for assisting our customers in making the right decision for their next vehicle. Wherever you plan to travel in the future, make your first stop be here at Marietta Toyota.