Looked at the 10th gen at the Charlotte Auto Show

[JasonA]

They had a 10th gen "LE" model at the Charlotte Auto Show, in Speedway Blue, with alloy wheels. It was an attractive car. My thoughts on it (without driving it)...

What I liked better than my '07:
- I liked the two prominent round dials in the dash (speedometer and tachometer). I liked this physical layout better than the one round speedometer and "half round" tachometer that the 9th gen cars have.
- The tilting AND telescoping steering column is definitely a plus with the 10th generation car. It's something the 9th gen really needs.

What I didn't like as much as my '07:
- The LE is apparently now the base model trim, instead of the high-line trim. The door panels lost their carpeting trim. The interior was fairly bland...no more wood grain, and no Optitron meters. Just very basic.
- The doors sounded really hollow. The doors on my '07 close with a very muted sound, and sound solid. The doors on the '09 sounded hollow when they closed, and cheap.

Unfortunately, Toyota only had the one Corolla there at the show. I'd really like to see an XLE trimmed car. The '09 LE definitely lost the "class" the 9th gen LE has.