2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Early Review | Consumer Reports

2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Early Review | Consumer Reports 1

For more on the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid go to:

Join CR at to access our comprehensive ratings for items you use every day. CR is a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit organization.

The hybrid version of the Toyota Corolla Cross may be a smart choice for shoppers seeking a fuel efficient small SUV that offers easy to use controls, mild driving characteristics, and key safety features. 

First Drive: 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross Is a Sensible SUV

Most Reliable new Cars and SUVs That Won’t Sink Your Budget

Reliable and Fuel-Efficient Compact SUVs

Electric Cars 101: The Answers to All Your EV Questions

Best Cars of the Year: 10 Top Picks of 2023

44 Comments on "2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Early Review | Consumer Reports"

  1. 42 mpg combined is pretty good for awd.

  2. Jamaican Me Crazy | September 22, 2023 at 3:51 PM |

    I just love the markups on these ❤. I just love spending extra money on my corollas

    • local dealer here is slapping a $7995 markup on corolla cross hybrids and $4995 on corolla hybrids. and $2995 markup on regular corolla and corolla cross. and woo, that’s down a few thousand dollars from a few weeks ago. 🙄

    • richard epstein | September 22, 2023 at 5:46 PM |

      CRAZY!! They do not deserve ANY business.@Bret Frohwein

  3. Luke Rinderknecht | September 22, 2023 at 4:00 PM |

    Toyota is the king of hybrids. Can’t wait to see their tech in Mazdas.

    • Right Lane Hog | September 22, 2023 at 4:28 PM |

      As the king of hybrids, Toyota ought to eliminate its own hybrid waiting lists before sharing parts with other automakers.

  4. Right Lane Hog | September 22, 2023 at 4:25 PM |

    CR, The Hybrid Cross provides impressive power and mpg numbers but there is no excuse for Hybrid pioneers like Toyota botching the location of the high voltage cable to the rear motor. When we consider Toyota extended the TNGA-C wheelbase for their European Corolla wagon, they have a lot of explaining to do to justify the Cross’s cramped rear legroom which badly trails the competition. 🤨

    • If you want more rear legroom buy the next size up. These small SUVs aren’t designed to carry people in the back regularly just occasionally. I have one of these and the back seat has never been used. 😉

    • ​@BlazeThe Volvo Xc40 or VW Taos have better packaging than the Corolla Cross its bad packaging on Toyota part.

    • Right Lane Hog | September 22, 2023 at 6:58 PM |

      @MBisFrenchy When it comes to rear passenger space the HR-V, Crosstrek and Seltos also embarrass the Corolla Cross. The entire TNGA generation of compact cars has missed the mark in this regard. Just look how small the interior of the Corolla sedan is compared to the Civic.

    • @Right Lane Hog Agreed

    • @MBisFrenchy Oh that must be why Toyota doesn’t sell many of them 😂

  5. Incredible 🚙

  6. I have a Corolla Cross hybrid. The mpg is even better than advertised. In the summer and in the city, I get 52 to 60 mpg if I drive for more than 5 miles. For short trips to the grocery store (1 or 2 miles) the mpg drops because the electric motor does not engage as often.

    • I would have thought it the opposite – that it would be mostly under battery power on short trips. For your shorter 1 to 2 miles trips, is the engine cold? Maybe if the engine is cold it is running to warm up the catalytic converter.

    • @T455 For the first 2 miles the engine needs to warm up, so it is constantly active. After that I use the pulse and glide technique to get 80-85% of the driving time with the electric motor only.

  7. Bought the Toyota Corolla hybrid, it’s a good decent car. I get average 5.7L/100km doing highway and city, usually cruising at 120km/h. My last trip was 4.9L/100km (city ish)

  8. It’s really too bad. Really an interesting car otherwise, but not having a spare is a total deal breaker, and having the spot for a spare but deliberately sabotaging it so you can’t put one there yourself doubly so. I think Toyota is really counting on people either being inexperienced or forgetting to ask. Tires still go flat.

  9. Good luck getting one of these.

  10. No spare tire = D.O.A. !!!

    Neither a repair kit nor AAA is going to be of ANY help should you find yourself in some of the remote areas of the Western U.S. or Canada and your tire has damage that is NOT repairable with a tire kit, along with no phone reception due to remoteness and / or weather conditions) Do NOT think that it cannot happen because IT CAN.

  11. I like the look of it.

  12. I test drove a Corolla Cross. There is a huge blind spot when you check over your right shoulder. At first I wondered if there was a large black box in the back seat, blocking my view but it turns out that the way the headrests on the front and rear passenger seats line up, created this big black void area. That was a dealbreaker for me.

    • Are the rear headrests removable? If you don’t use the backs seat for passengers often that would be an option. A few years ago, I noticed the base L models of newer corolllas had non-removable back seat headrests. If you got a mid LE or premium XLE model, they were removable. Not sure about the hybrids.

    • @Major Kira Yes the headrests are removable. And you can fold the rear seat backs flat.

    • Just get the model with the Blind Spot Monitor.

  13. No spare!? What was Toyota thinking? I would have considered buying one, but not without a spare. I’ll look at the RAV4, CRV, and the HRV. I wish the HRV had a hybrid option. Do the new Hondas come with a spare tire?

    • That bothers me too. I travel a lot for work and I wouldn’t think of driving without a spare tire.

    • David McCarthy | September 23, 2023 at 10:10 AM |

      Almost nothing comes with a spare these days. Flats are now extremely rare so it saves fuel, unless you get a vehicle that is expected to go offroad and could leave you stranded without one.

    • Occasionally, I have needed an actual spare tire. Most tire shops do not want to repair a tire where flat fix spray was used. The stuff makes a big mess. To have a proper repair, the area has to be 100% clean. I live in the north where we have issues with pot holes, and we have to deal with this more often. Regardless, I’ll always pass on a vehicle that doesn’t have a spare tire. That’s my personal choice. Other people may prefer the flat fix can to a real spare, and that’s fine for them. I’m sure there are many others who agree with me and will also pass on a vehicle with no spare. Thank you to Consumer Reports for presenting this useful information.

    • Also, two great alternatives to the Corolla Cross come with a spare tire: the Honda HRV and the Toyota RAV4.

  14. Andrea Naletto | September 23, 2023 at 6:34 AM |

    I reside in Hungary and have owned a Corolla Cross AWD since March 2023, having driven over 9,000 miles with it. The fuel consumption is remarkable, boasting an impressive 43.5 mpg, and I genuinely enjoy driving it. However, there are a few areas that could use improvement. Firstly, the car’s muffler hangs quite low, which is aesthetically displeasing. Additionally, the passenger space in the back could be more generous, and the engine tends to be rather noisy. Furthermore, the AWD model sacrifices some storage space. My models costs about 45,000 USD, and I must admit that I’m astounded by how much more affordable the same car is in the USA.

  15. Ferdinand Arcinue | September 23, 2023 at 9:04 AM |

    This is the perfect car for me, especially for living in LA. I’m not carving canyons as much as I am commuting in traffic. But, the occasional road trip and the practical cargo space for a bike or surfboard would be good.

  16. We could really use a hybrid HR-V and hybrid CX-30

    • I’m kind of disappointed that I bought ’23 HR-V that cost about the same as this hybrid Corolla which gets much better mileage…

  17. Most of the reviews on this version of the Corolla Cross have been in agreement. A great, reliable small SUV that does well in most tests. Maybe not exciting as stated, but when looking for a car to get you from point A to point B in all weather this will take care of it.

  18. It’s kind of disgusting that not that long ago, the average new car price was $20,000 and the Camry outsold everything shy of an F-150, and now it’s $48,000 and a RAV4.

  19. You remarked what you purchased is a LE trim level although the vehicle you have there is a SE trim level. Care to clarify?

  20. If you get a 2 WD, you get a non standard spare tyre. I am in Australia and have ordered a 2WD Corolla Cross atmos hybrid. It never snows here and I don’t intend to drive it off road, so I don’t need a 4WD. After 11 months wait, it is now made and I’m waiting for it to be shipped out. I live alone and its going to be plenty big enough for me. I plan to use it to start to do some travel since my wife passed. I like that Toyota seems to have eliminated the bottom coloured panels.

Comments are closed.