2022 Toyota Corolla: What to check before buying

Sudden shutdowns lead the electrical complaints. The car stalls at a stop or while driving, the dash goes dark, and warnings such as "Steering Power Low" or "12-Volt Battery Charging; System Malfunction" appear. Steering can lock until the driver shifts to park and restarts. Some owners say the accelerator stops responding for several seconds. Dealers often find nothing, though one found a loose positive battery cable. Other reports cover a dead touchscreen, a rear USB port that melted charging cables, and a whining blower fan.

Stalling and lost acceleration at take-off are the most common drivetrain reports. The engine shuts off while pulling away from a stop or climbing a hill, sometimes right after auto stop/start restarts it. Failed coolant bypass valves trigger engine warnings and can fail again after replacement. On manual-transmission cars, the clutch slave cylinder fails and the pedal drops to the floor, with reports at 33,186 and 110,000 miles. Other reports include gears that will not engage, a detached shift linkage cable, and one fire in a parked car whose engine kept running.

Two problems dominate: brakes that do not stop the car, and rotors that overheat or warp. Three crash reports describe pressing the pedal without the car slowing, one while using adaptive cruise control, and injuries followed in two of them. Rotor complaints describe vibration, shudder through the wheel and pedal, grinding, and fade on hills, with brakes replaced or rotors resurfaced more than once. The electric parking brake can also refuse to release, which one dealer blamed on a weak battery. ABS and parking brake warnings also show up at startup.

Locked steering after the engine stalls at a stop is the dominant report, usually with an "engine stopped, steering power low" message. Many reports tie it to rain, running wipers, and auto stop/start. Drivers have to shift to park and restart in traffic, and some restarts take minutes. Dealers often cannot reproduce it. Fixes so far include new batteries, loose battery cables, and in one case the power steering ECU. One crash with two injuries followed warning lights and a loss of both brakes and steering.

The core complaint is air bags that do not deploy in serious crashes, with 9 crash reports and 8 injuries. Owners describe T-bone hits, frontal collisions, and highway sideswipes where no bags fired or only some did, often in cars later totaled. No warning lights came on before these crashes. One owner says a recall was issued 2 weeks before their crash with no notice, and a Corolla Cross owner received a letter warning that the passenger airbag may not deploy as designed.

Weak low beams are the main complaint. Owners say the headlights aim too low or throw too little light on curves and hills, which forces them onto high beams. One measured the light fading out at around 76 feet. Others report uneven brightness from side to side or a dead spot in one lamp. On the Corolla Cross, owners say lower trims have small, dim taillights that are hard to see from behind. Dealers tend to dismiss beam complaints as a matter of opinion.

The clearest engine pattern is coolant bypass valve failure. Several cars need the valve replaced and the cooling system bled, one at 35K miles and others just after the warranty ran out. Owners were told the engine could fail if the valve was not fixed. The other recurring report is an engine that does not restart after auto stop/start shuts it off at a light. This usually happens in light rain with the wipers on, sometimes with a steering power warning and a wheel that will not turn.

Water getting in leads the body complaints. Rain collects inside the doors on new cars, and the official advice is to pull the drain plugs. A Corolla Cross owner reports rain dripping into the cabin at about 31,500 miles. Other reports describe a front bumper that comes loose at highway speeds, a low front end that scrapes on steep driveways and cracks the bumper, and a hard, protruding driver door pull that bruised one owner's leg.