general questions from the uninformed

[tlbranth]

I'm looking for a fuel efficient car which can tow up to 1500lbs and corolla looks like it might be my best bet. But I'm getting conflicting information from various sources. I'd like to find out:
1. Can this generation of corolla tow 1500lbs
2. Can I find an LE model with a standard transmission
3. Is this transmission prone to failure

Thanks for any response.

[TrdSpeed140]

someone else will have to chime in about towing, but yes, you can get an LE model with a 5 speed manual. not really prone to failure for the most part that I know of, you'll probably want to upgrade to a heavier duty clutch and pressure plate if you're gonna be towing stuff though.

[bennor]

The Corolla (at least my 05 LE and the latest model Corollas) have a towing capacity of 1,500 pounds.
http://www.cars.com/toyota/corolla/2005/specs/
http://www.toyota.com/corolla/specs.html (click on Capacities for towing information)

[rsirois]

I just picked up a ton of wood pellets for winter with my 08 Corolla CE. I split it into two loads, and was pulling roughly 1300 pounds each time.

The clutch is pretty weak on this car. It felt like I was really abusing it each time I took off from a dead stop. Lots of shuddering unless you really rev the engine and slip the clutch for a bit.

Once I got it on the highway, I was able to accellerate to highway speed pretty easily. On the hills, the speed drops off pretty quickly. The engine in these doesn't produce a lot of tourque and I had to downshift to third to keep from dropping under 55

My opinion is, yeah, it can pull up to 1500 pounds. I do it 2 or three times a year for maybe 5 or 10 miles. I wouldn't do it regularly with this car, it isn't built for it.