Side by Side: The Toyota Corolla iM and the Ford Focus
Consumers looking to combine the savings that come with smaller vehicles and the power, cargo space, and handling of a larger, sportier car have once again begun to embrace the hatchback. After a bit of a lull in popularity, it is clear that today’s new hatchback designs provide drivers with the ability to haul more with a smaller, more efficient car, they provide more space than the average smaller vehicle, and most importantly, with today’s new technology upgrades, they have become safer than ever before. Let’s take a look at two of the top competitors in this niche.
Toyota Corolla iM vs. Ford Focus
To kick things off, the Corolla opens up at an asking price that is fully $1000 below the competition, making it easy to save money over the Focus in almost any comparative options package. It also boasts a larger fuel tank—14 gallons to the Focus’s 12.4. That gives it a wider traveling range on each fill of the tank, while Toyota’s commitment to fuel efficiency means that this year’s Corolla gets a whopping 27mpg in the city and 35 on the highway.
In five year cost of ownership projections, the Toyota moves even further ahead of the competition, beating the Focus out by a total of just over $3,000 over the course of the period. This helps to put their sticker prices in perspective, too, by showing how the cost of ownership gap continues to widen.
Toyota has a legacy of providing tough, dependable vehicles that drivers can count on to retain their value. That means that even when the Toyota is not necessarily the most fuel efficient or the cheapest to purchase, it can still wind up being your best long-term economic decision, since you will recoup more of its value at resale than you would with a competitor’s vehicle.
Wrap-up
Ford’s investments recently have been in power, performance, and safety features like its rear cameras, not in delivering the most efficient investment you can make in a vehicle. As a result, the Focus provides a lot for a consumer to love, but it doesn’t quite stand up to the Corolla iM when it comes to being a sound investment that still lets you have a lot of fun on the road. To learn more about the differences between the vehicles, try test driving them side by side, and you will see exactly how the Toyota’s balance helps deliver a superb driving experience.