Back in November, our own Publisher Matt Hardigree slipped his local fleet manager a crisp $2 bill from his velcro wallet and requested he be “hooked up” with a brand-new Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid XSE. As always, it worked, and as a result we got this quite glowing review of a very clever and affordable new Toyota. Just the other day, my press car fleet team air-dropped the exact same car to me, even in the same quite fantastic golden yellow color. In my so-far limited time with the car, I agree with Matt’s assessment. Well, except for one thing: he seems to have left out the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid’s biggest flaw, which I intend to show you now.
Why Matt did this is a mystery to me; is he taking some kind of payoff from Toyota? Maybe? He’s always talking about his name-brand paper towels and buying mid-range gasoline, which is the sort of thing you’d expect of someone on the take. It could be Toyota has dirt on him as well; Matt seems a little too together, if you know what I mean. There has to be some dark filling inside that alabaster Twinkie-cake. [Ed note: It’s true, I do wear only the finest Kirkland Brand boxer briefs. – MH]
Anyway, the hideous flaw that Matt neglected to mention at all is in the cargo area of the Corolla Cross, which is adequate, but not really all that impressive. In a car like this, a general-use family crossover that’s designed to be used for outings and road trips and fun days at the lake or the ravine or the gravel pits or wherever, cargo space is really important.
And Toyota is squandering it. Foolishly.
To explain, let’s look at the cargo area of the Corolla Cross Hybrid:
It’s fine. Nothing really special, but nothing really wrong with it, either. It’d be nice if it had, say, a hidden compartment that could be used for, say, wet or messier things that wouldn’t get the main cargo area all dirty, right? Sure it would!
Let’s look at what’s under that cargo floor panel:
Like many modern cars, possibly most, the Corolla Cross Hybrid shuns a spare tire, opting instead for a tire inflation kit. The unibody is still designed to have a spare tire well, for the versions that do decide to carry a spare, but for all the others, like the Hybrid, that volume of space is filled with this massive molded styrofoam, uh, thing. Toyota isn’t the only carmaker to do this, but it’s one of the more egregious examples I’ve seen lately.
This giant foam Oreo houses the tire sealant stuff and the inflation canister, and has three shallow and almost uselessly-shaped cubbies for…I’m not sure what. A good-sized sandwich? A large zucchini? An old Game Boy? There’s also some shaped cut-outs for what may have been parts of a jack, but those are absent here, just defined by their negative space.
This thing is at the core of the Corolla Cross Hybrid’s fatal flaw: usable space is being denied to the owner, and I hate that. I’ve picked on carmakers for committing this sin before, such as what Volkswagen is doing by denying ID.4 owners a front trunk. Let’s just see how much space Toyota is denying you:
That big serpentine orange cable is what carries electrons from the centrally/under-rear seat-mounted battery pack to the rear electric motor unit, as you can see at the right of this diagram:
And, sure, that’s a bulky cable, but it hardly demands all that space back there. Let’s do some quick measurements:
That’s a well that’s almost eight inches deep and almost 32 inches in diameter! Actually, “diameter” is sort of a deceptive word, because those plastic things that define the round shape of the well are removable! The one on the right just came out by lifting; the left one was secured in with a little plastic tab I didn’t want to break, but you get the idea:
That’s a hell of a lot of room under there! Room that you have no easy access to because it’s been filled up with crap you don’t need or want. This crap, specifically:
This crap is bulky, and I guarantee you that were I to hand these things to a new Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid owner out of context and say hey, would you mind hauling all this bulky, useless shit around in the back of your car for as long as you own it? ‘Preesh! I’m pretty sure the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid owner would give me a firm shove in the center of my chest, sending me tumbling backwards with my armload of black styrofoam and plastic.
Toyota is already molding two plastic pieces and a big styrofoam thing here – why couldn’t they have molded a plastic tub to go inside that well instead, covering the electric cable to the motor but still leaving the vast majority of that space usable? It’d be a perfect place to store wet swimsuits or muddy boots or tools or other stuff you don’t want soiling the carpet above. It’d just be useful, a hell of a lot more useful than a huge styrofoam hockey puck that does absolutely nothing for you.
Maybe this seems a trivial complaint, but I know that when it comes to cars, details matter. A convenient cubby in a car for stuff you don’t want in the main cargo area can be part of the calculus that makes you decide if your car is one you think is just okay and one you genuinely love.
This just feels like Toyota fell short of making the best possible car for their customers, and I hate to see that.
This is an easy fix, Toyota! I believe in you!
[Ed note: The Corolla Cross Hybrid is high on my list of replacements for my Subaru and if I get it I’m definitely going to have a better foam thing molded here. – MH]
I Can’t Believe The $30k Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Is This Good
The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Offers 42 MPG And AWD For A Reasonable $29,305
German EV Makers Don’t Seem To Care About Frunks And I Think That’s Pretty Weird
The biggest flaw of the Corolla Cross is that any trim above base costs almost as much as a RAV4
Your scenario is spot on. I recently had to choose between an Atlas and a Grand Cherokee, and one of the deciding factors was that the GC has an underfloor storage space and the Atlas doesn’t. (to be fair that was a very minor factor, but a factor nonetheless).
The space is there dammit, let me use it!
Based on where that arrow is pointing, I was sure you were going to complain about Toyota using the Hoffmeister Kink.
Torch doesn’t strike me as the kink-shaming type.
Similar issue in our Niro but there is plenty of spare around the oreo for things, it a great little nitch!
Niche*
Seems like what they offer on the Corolla hatchback as the Enhanced Cargo Space option. Guessing like EVdesigner mentioned below, they opted not to in order to default to a flatter load floor with the rear seats, which isn’t uncommon on various hatchbacked vehicles (from crossovers to Golfs and things in between) but that would be an additional part for spare vs. non-spare models. A little surprised there doesn’t seem to be space to stash the cargo cover under there, which isn’t unusual for those cargo areas either.
Seems like something a third-party auto accessories manufacturer could remedy if there is a large enough market . . . i.e. WeatherTech.
I’d bet 90% of the owners never even looked there if the dealer didn’t show them. A few people will “care” and even fewer will care enough to spend money on something to “fix” it. I don’t expect a solution from anyone besides a creative forum guy and his 3-d printer.
They need to put a folding table at least in there, a-la 1st gen CR-V!
A piece of plywood and a don’t put anything heavy on that wire warning.
Imperfectly usable!
Now I know why all the UK press fleet reps don’t return my emails when I mention Jason’s name.
They require tribute.
Send them Kirkland Boxer Briefs and see what happens.
I agree, Jason. That’s egregious. I’ll take the weight and space occupancy of a spare over this any day, and if I must have fix-a-flat, no way I’d want that absolute space hogger.
“Like many modern cars, possibly most, the Corolla Cross Hybrid shuns a spare tire, opting instead for a STUPID tire inflation kit.”
There… fixed it for accuracy.
“that volume of space is filled with this massive molded styrofoam,”
Yeah if I had one of those, I’d be ditching that stupid styrofoam, put something down (probably a severely cut down version of that foam) to protect that cable and then put a proper spare tire and jack in there.
My Sportwagen has a similar piece of Styrofoam, but much smaller. It fits inside the upside down (full size!) spare tire and has cutouts for the jack, lug wrench, etc. I keep my jumper cables tucked down in the spare too. Always thought it was a clever idea, and having a full size spare has come in handy more than once. It looks like Toyota could have at least put some larger storage cubbies in that space, if they didn’t want to use it as part of the main cargo bay. But I’d gladly sacrifice that cargo space for even a small spare tire.
My prior Golf had that. Kept things from bouncing around nicely.
My current car doesn’t, so I use a thick reusable shopping bag to hold it all together and keep it from banging inside the steel wheel. Works the same and tucks it in nice and tight under the floor.
My Fords did that. I liked the efficient use of space. Full size spare on the ST was annoying, though, as the greater width raised the floor a couple inches so it didn’t line up with the backs of the seats when they were lowered. I meant to get the standard car’s foam that surrounded the spare tire and just remove the spare, but never ended up bothering.
Or put the subwoofer in there like the VW “Fender” option and free up the space in the driver’s side of the cargo area where that subwoofer is now.
Latest Honda Insight is the same: spare tire well filled with foam Oreo. I chucked it and filled the space with, y’know, a spare tire (shoutout to Modern Spare).
The hideous flaw of the Corolla Cross? It’s a Corolla, and the people that buy it drive as slowly as other Corolla drivers (I was stuck behind a Corolla Cross yesterday).
In today’s world, that styrofoam Oreo is what you use for a spare tire. Max speed = 5 mph.
May also make an adequate life preserver.
Much needed when your Tesla accidentally shifts into reverse.
Gonna have to stand up for Matt and defend his honor… Any paper towels that aren’t Viva brand are a waste of a perfectly good tree.
(also this is surprising as my is300 has an amazing storage set up back there. Has Toyota lost their way, or is this another one of those perks you get when buying from a Lexus dealer)
If you are going to spend like a drunken sailor on something, let it be premium paper products.
Cottonelle crew here to approve this message.
I am a member of the Charmin Extra-soft aristocracy (he said driving his 15-year old Outback)
You’re in good company, my DD is an ’07 Vibe and we also have an ’07 Forester. Charmin is equally acceptable softness level, welcome fam.
Vibe/Matrix is a damn solid car.
I also had an 07 Forester. By far my favorite form factor/generation of the Forester.
For my last car it was finding that the toggle-shiftable automatic would not automatically upshift in manual mode and instead provided engine braking. Afterwards, the rain-sensing wipers that I thought were silly and probably wouldn’t work turned out to be a wonderful gadget that worked almost flawlessly, and I expect them on my next car. Unfortunately, Toyota doesn’t offer them at all on the Corolla Cross or (I think) on the GR86, and only offers them on the top trim versions of the Camry and Crown. Since they were standard on my top-trim compact in 2009 and on all trim levels of the same car today, I’m perturbed, especially as a Toyota hybrid probably best fits my standard use profile of bland city driving of the same car for 15 years or so.
The GR86 is vast majority a Subaru. I have the lower trim and it doesn’t have rain sensing. Not sure about the upper trim, but probably not.
Some quick math tells me that there’s almost four cubic feet of space wasted there!
Some manufacturers in some markets make “Smart cargo floors” as an option that can lift up or down to give you either a flat load surface with the rear seats or more cargo room. Mazda offers this in the CX-30 in some markets, but not here in the US (where we get a spare tire instead). Maybe Toyota offers the same kind of system as an option in some markets?
Wait. That is the perfect place for the disposable trash receptacle. Hook some tubing to seating compartments and a small suction device to “flush” it back to the holding bin. Voila!
You get the connection award!
A 3D printer, can-do attitude, and a 3D scanner could net a ton of storage space here
So far only Ford managed to do with Maverick https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/ford-3d-printer-cad-files-for-maverick-fits-accessories-for-center-console-and-under-seat-storage-bins.10425/
I have a feeling the people actually utilize it is not very high (vs overall accessory market).
Look they even have a 3D printed trash bin!
See, that spare-tire shaped piece fills the space held by the actual spare tire in regions that require one, like… uh… Spain, apparently.
If they gave the rest of the world that extra space, there would be literally tens of people screaming and writing letters to Toyota for getting short-changed. So as usual, the Spaniards are ruining it for the rest of us.
(j/k… I like Spain. It’s a lovely country and I have nothing against Spaniards except the time I got food poisoning from some paella in Barcelona. Gracias to the senorita in the pharmacy who understood me miming that I had a fever and needed Tylenol).
Perhaps they kept it that high to prevent a load lip from existing. Yes they COULD make 2 separate cargo trays, one for the spare tire and non-spare configurations, but that means an extra part to keep in stock. Perhaps something in Toyota’s system says its not feasible for Toyota standards(production/supply chain…etc).
Side note: I was expecting a lot more NVH patches in that area.
They already had to add a part for the foam plug. It’s just cheaper, easy answer.
My wifes car has a sort of cubby below a removable panel. So you can chose to have the level load floor or remove it and have the extra space. Or even just use the hidden part as covered storage. It’s so basic and gives options.
My Kia is like this. Pretty useful for holding an air pump and jumper cables. Out of the way but accessible. Mine probably also has a bunch of random stuff there too, I should swing by the dumpster when I leave work this afternoon.
Wow, that is some LAZY packaging of the HV wire and connector. You’d think they’d want to be able to claim those extra couple of cubic feet of cargo room for bragging rights. I understand they want to put the disconnect in an accessible and protected place, but geez. Put it on one side behind one of the trim covers with a prominent label.
Probably cheaper to just drop a chunk of foam over it and call it a day and then the junction doesn’t need as severe weatherproofing should it have been under the body. You’d think bonus cargo space would’ve been a slam dunk, but I bet marketing said it would have killed ICE only Corolla Cross sales. Gosh dang accountants and marketing.
The RAV4 hybrid has that junction under the body, and in salt areas that has a tendency to corrode the connector. I’m sure weatherproofing was the reason for moving it inside.
Is it really available in yellow? Toyota teased a yellow Prius, but we don’t get it in yellow, though Canada gets it on the very top of the line model.
Yes! This is a real color. And a good one! You can also get it in a real blue and a real red!