This has never been a car to excite, either in looks or performance, the former through uninspiring and only recently changed design, the latter largely because it has had a limited range of engine options in the last couple of generations. Indeed, in a world where 1.4 litres has been the standard mid-class for a long time, the aged 1.3-litre petrol unit that powered the bulk of Corollas produced for our market has made it uninteresting for those with what one might call a real interest in cars. A reputation also enhanced by the length of time the Corolla name has been rolling on the roads of the world. While there's no gainsaying that the product has long been consistently reliable, tough and ... well, inoffensive, it has never been the F1 fans' first choice.

Well, that does not bother me in the slightest. This car is my little baby, it runs and runs and like its bigger predecessor - WhichCar top second hand car buy for much of the 1990s -, should last forever without breaking down and provide a solid second hand value when I come to sell.

The car is cheap to insure (about £600 for 21yr old) - especially important for myself and everyone under 25 -, and although it has this reputation for driving like a long yawn (see mailings here and everywhere) - a reputation built up over the last two decades of dull but reliable toyotas -, I don't feel like i'm clambering into a disabled buggy when i get in this car, I don;t feel that way when I'm driving on the M25 - bar the car-park at junction 10 perhaps - and I don;t feel that way when I lock the car at night. Image is worth something, and thankfully this car has more than the escort, more than that I do not need. I'll be alive tonight, the corolla takes care of that.