2022 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Auto

2022 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Auto Review

The Toyota Corolla is one of the world's best selling cars, built by the indisputable leader in Australian new car sales. First released in 1966, it has become a global "best-seller". Evolving through its twelve generations.

Available as a hatchback or sedan, the current model offers a variety of hybrid and internal combustion engine options. No electric option just yet.

Let's look at how affordable the 2022 Toyota Corolla sedan is for our prospective buyer, Victoria. Our review will take Victoria through the following topics:

Brief facts and specifications

Unless otherwise stated, specifications listed below are from the manufacturer's website.

Our Buyer

Victoria is a Financial Accountant working in the Eastern suburbs. Having grown up in a "Toyota family" as she puts it, there is no other brand she would consider.

Since obtaining her drivers license, Victoria has owned 2 used Toyota's. She is hoping her first new Toyota is affordable.

Victoria is very impressed with Toyota's build quality and reliability. The extensive Factory Warranty and capped price servicing offer great piece of mind. With excellent fuel economy, she's confident the Corolla will fit her monthly budget.

Setting expectations for costs and ownership

Victoria's budget

Victoria has set an average Monthly Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) budget of $1,200. She has also added a $50 tolerance per month, knowing her budget can stretch a little.

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Ownership

Victoria is looking to buy the Corolla on 01/11/2022 and plans to own it for up to 54 months (or 4 and a half years). Should she decide to sell, the remaining Factory Warranty and registration will be attractive to many buyers. There is also a strong chance Victoria will keep the Toyota beyond her estimated ownership period.

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Trade-In

Victoria is selling her used Toyota to an extended family member. When she acquires her new car she will have no trade-in vehicle. For Victoria, it's a "nice, clean transaction".

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Distance

Victoria has based her estimated distance on her current Toyota. Her main usage is her daily commute, a 35 kilometre round trip. She drives to her local gym most evenings, to social activities every week and the occasional weekend trip. 16,000 annual kilometres is a good estimate.

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Distance

Warranties & Roadside Assistance

The 2022 Corolla Sedan comes with a 60 month unlimited kilometre warranty and matching roadside assistance package.

Factory Warranty

Roadside Assistance

The Factory Warranty and Roadside Assistance packages offer Victoria cover throughout her ownership. They also offer Victoria peace of mind with no incremental cost.

'Drive-Away' Price

The simplest specification

Victoria has decided to order her Corolla with no Factory or Dealer options. Her colour preference of "White" is a no cost item, being a standard paint.

The dealer delivery fee is estimated to be $1,750, taking the price before GST and LCT to $24,836.36.

GST at 10% adds $2,483.64 and with no LCT, the price before "on-road" costs is $27,320.00.

On-road charges include the first year's registration at a cost of $312.20. 'Standard' number plates add a further $39.20.

Victoria's registration postcode of 3104 places the Corolla's registration in the TAC 'High Risk' zone. CTP is an estimated $552.20 while the Dealer Transfer Fee adds a further $21.40.

With CO2 emissions of 137 grams per kilometre, the Corolla is just above the Victorian Government's "green car" stamp duty discount. The result is Stamp Duty estimate of $1,150.80 and a final 'drive-away' price of $29,395.80.

Selecting the right finance option

No residual is Victoria's preference

Victoria has selected a Car Loan as her finance option. This means equal repayments across her 54 month ownership and no residual payment.

Victoria is happy that she will own the Corolla following her final monthly payment. But her aim is to pay the loan off earlier. The Car Loan gives her this flexibility at no extra cost.

Finance

Price Increases

Budgeting for price increases is a concept particularly familiar to Victoria in her professional life. So including inflation in the Total Cost of Ownership estimates for her Corolla is perfectly logical.

Every car owner is sensitive to price increases across a range of running and ownership costs. These include registration, fuel, electricity, insurance, servicing, and more.

Victoria's TCO calculations include inflation based on the June 2022 CPI inflation rate  of 6.1% where applicable.

How affordable are the Corolla's 'Running Costs'?

Victoria is confident the TCO of her new Toyota will be quite close to her current 7 year old Toyota. She expects her most significant cost to be fuel. Followed by insurance and registration.

With a combined fuel consumption rating of 6.0 litres per 100 kilometres, the Corolla's 4 cylinder engine is pretty economical. Already feeling the impact of high fuel prices, Victoria knows fuel will be her biggest expense. She has little option but to drive to work every day.

Despite being a Rating 1 driver, Victoria is expecting the price of insurance to be more expensive than her current Toyota. Not enough to make the Corolla unaffordable.

Toyota's $205 capped price servicing makes the new Corolla less expensive to service than her current car. This with the added benefit of a loan service car provided by the dealer.

Victoria expects tyre costs to be moderate. To begin with, she is a conservative driver, so her tyres last. The new Corolla also comes with a relatively common tyre size. This means there is a vast range of relatively inexpensive tyre choices available.

Given her estimated annual distance, she expects to replace all 4 tyres twice during her ownership. Adding to this is an occasional but inevitable puncture repair.

Her expectation is the Toyota should be affordable. Let's take a look.

Registration

Registration costs for the Corolla over Victoria's 54 months ownership are an estimated $4,018.05. This excludes Registration & CTP costs included in the 'drive-away' price (for Year 1).

Victoria pays her registration annually. At the end of her ownership, 6 months registration will remain. Victoria believes this will be attractive to any buyer. Should she decide to keep the Corolla, she has no registration costs for another 6 months. Either way, she wins.

The table below shows the various registration components by ownership (or registration) year.

Registration

Fuel

According to the manufacturer, the Corolla has a combined fuel consumption rating of 6.0 litres per 100 kilometres. While the urban rating stands at 7.6 litres per 100 kilometres. Both, respectable figures.

Victoria has chosen to budget based on the 'combined' fuel consumption estimate. She feels this matches her driving style and aligns with her daily route.

She has also decided to use the specified Unleaded fuel only. This fuel has a RON rating of 91 and a starting price of $2.399 per litre. Annual inflation of 6.1% increases the fuel price throughout Victoria's ownership.

Victoria expects the 50 litre fuel tank to be Empty when she picks up the car.

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The Fuel Cost Summary

Victoria's total fuel cost estimate is $11,935.71. Not insignificant. But this is over 4 and a half years. Travelling 16,000 kilometres per year with a high fuel price adds up.

The average cost per refill is $137.19, with 87 refills required during her ownership. At $0.17 per kilometre, the Corolla's fuel cost per kilometre is low. Especially when compared with larger capacity cars.

Victoria was correct to expect fuel to be her biggest expense.

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Capped Price Servicing

Toyota's $205 capped price service for the new Corolla gives buyers great peace of mind. Victoria is no exception.

Victoria has decided to service the Corolla at her nearest Toyota franchise dealer, based on the manufacturer's service schedule.

The service interval is every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, whichever comes first. Capped price servicing covers 5 years or 75,000 kilometres. This fits Victoria perfectly.

On average, a service falls due every 342 days based on Victoria's 16,000 annual kilometres. The Corolla requires 4 services at an estimated total cost of $898.12.

A great result according to Victoria.

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Insurance

Victoria has chosen a comprehensive insurance policy for her new Corolla. As a Rating 1 driver with a clean driving record, Victoria's estimated premium is $1,200 paid Annually. This is subject to annual inflation of 6.1%.

Victoria has decided to budget for 1 insurance claim during her ownership. The policy excess is set at $800.00, and not subject to inflation.

Total Insurance Costs for the Corolla are an estimated $7,578.09 across her 54 months ownership.

Victoria's insurance premium payments fall due on the first day of each ownership year. While the budgeted insurance claim arrives at the halfway point of her ownership.

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CarCalc Facts & Figures

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The choices and costs of Tyre Replacement and Repairs

The Corolla is equipped with 16 inch wheels as standard, with 205/55 R16 91H tyres on the front and rear. Thankfully, there are many replacement options which vary in price.

Tyre Replacement

Victoria has opted to set her tyre replacement interval at 30,000 kilometres for the front and rear, based on her conservative driving style and prior ownership experience. To ensure her tyres last, she's also planning a tyre rotation after 15,000 kilometres.

She admits it's unlikely her tyres will be completely worn after 30,000 kilometres. But her preference is to change her tyres earlier than necessary. She feels this ensures her safety on the road.

Victoria has selected the Continental ContiPremiumContact® 5  as a replacement tyre. She's chosen them before and been extremely happy with the price and performance. The estimated price of $138.61 includes fitting and balancing, subject to annual inflation at a rate of 6.1%.

During her ownership, the Corolla will have 8 tyres replaced at a total tyre replacement cost of $1,307.63. In line with what Victoria expected.

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Tyre Repairs

Based on her previous driving experience, Victoria believes an occasional puncture is inevitable. So, she has budgeted for 1 tyre repair per year at an estimated cost of $35 per repair, before inflation.

Over her ownership, total estimated tyre repairs are $157.44 for the 4 estimated repairs.

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Estimating 'Other Costs'

Tolls

Victoria has no need to use Toll roads as part of her daily commute. During weekends her usage is occasional at best so she has decided against including a Toll budget.

Fines

Unfortunately, Victoria's past experience dictates budgeting for parking fines would be wise. Although she’s careful, Victoria occasionally receives a parking fine for exceeding the time limits of a free public parking space, leading to a parking fine.

On this basis, Victoria's budget of 1 parking fine per year at an average cost of $85 per fine adds an estimated $382.29 to her Total Cost of Ownership.

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Keeping the Corolla clean

Victoria enjoys washing her cars. A task she does at her local car wash, every second weekend. She sees no need to change this with her new car.

Washing the car herself is inexpensive. It also has the added advantage of allowing Victoria to check the exterior regularly.

In the past, this has been very useful. Victoria has been able to identify maintenance issues early.

As part of her Total Cost of Ownership budget, Victoria has scheduled a Fortnightly car wash at a cost of $8.00 per wash. After applying inflation at 6.1%, her Total Cost of Ownership includes 117 car washes and a total car wash cost of $1,063.49.

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Parking

During the week, Victoria takes advantage of free on-site parking offered by her employer.

Despite incurring the occasional parking fine, Victoria tends to find free parking spaces after hours and on weekends. Therefore, she is not expecting to incur any parking costs during her ownership.

Motoring Association

The Corolla's extensive factory warranty and roadside assistance package cover Victoria's ownership. As a result, she has not included a budget for a Motoring Association membership.

Budgeting for the unexpected

Victoria has decided to include an Annual budget of $250 to cover any unexpected costs. The result is an estimated $1,128.40 of 'other' costs during her ownership. After considering inflation.

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Total Cost of Ownership

Given Victoria's estimated usage and specific settings, her estimated Monthly Total Cost of Ownership for the Corolla is $1,155.40. This is $44.60 within her budget.

Total Cost of Ownership

Ranking Victoria's estimated cashflows for the Toyota presents an interesting picture.

1. Finance: $33,922.32

2. Fuel: $11,935.71

3. Insurance: $7,578.09

4. Registration & CTP: $4,018.05

5. Tyres: $1,465.07

6. Other: $1,128.40 * included in 'Other' cashflows in the table above

7. Car Wash: $1,063.49 * included in 'Other' cashflows in the table above

8. Service: $898.12

9. Parking Fines: $382.29 * included in 'Other' cashflows in the table above

Total: $62,391.54

Finance for the Toyota is easily the most significant cost, as expected.

In second place is Fuel. Again, no surprises here. The fuel price per litre before inflation is high to start. And Victoria drives her car daily, resulting in above average annual kilometres. Unfortunately, fuel is a significant but unavoidable ownership cost.

Insurance is next, in third place. Victoria's budget includes an annual comprehensive insurance policy. Add to this, the cost of an insurance claim during her ownership. Insurance is unsurprisingly a significant cost.

Annual Registration is both unavoidable and pricey. And the total cost excludes the Registration & CTP included in the 'drive-away' price.

The remaining expenses are all in line with Victoria's budget and expectations.

Summary

Victoria has found that her experience with the Toyota brand has been overwhelmingly positive, and the ability to analyse the impact of capped price servicing, tyre choices, and planning for unexpected costs has given her the peace of mind she was looking for.

Victoria has made the easy decision and there is no turning back. It's time to make a purchase.

Could car wash choices make the Toyota unaffordable?

Victoria's car wash choices left us curious about this question. So we decided to run some car wash scenarios through CarCalc and assess the impact on total car wash costs, Total Cost of Ownership and affordability of the Toyota for Victoria.

The scenarios and results are captured in our car expense review How your car wash choices can impact car affordability.

We hope you find it useful.