Your father’s Toyota Corolla was one of the cheapest ways – both financially and culturally – to get from Point A to Z last century. My first car was a Toyota Corolla (Tercel) and it was one of the cheapest and most economical cars on the lot. Odd as it may sound, it’s still one of the best vehicles out there when it comes to your pocketbook …. but the 2015 Toyota Corolla is now a lot more eye-catching and hip – though not quite hipster.

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that the Toyota Corolla is still being made. I think most people of a certain age hear ‘Corolla’ and we are immediately taken back to the days of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. It’s a classic, to be sure: a small car classic. But there is nothing small about the Corolla these days. Sure, it’s still considered a ‘small’ or ‘compact’ car, yet it really is more midsized, perfect a family of you + one or more. It’s also considered ‘affordable’, and at this late date in 2015, you can get a base model for less than $17K new. That’s not bad, given its size. There is plenty of room for five passengers, big and tall, though you will at least safely get four average (size, not intelligence) adults inside the 2015 Corolla for that special trip to More-head (giggle), Kentucky, just so you can be denied a marriage license by a county clerk who has been married four times and had a few children out of wedlock.

As with any car that is affordable, power and pickup leave a bit to be desired. You know that the Corolla is indeed a ‘small’ car because it has a four-cylinder engine. The power is okay but should you really need to get moving, you might want to look elsewhere (and pay more). (BTW, a clutch – not the Prada kind – is standard, so you will have to pay extra for automatic transmission. How Laverne & Shirley is that?) Yet while you are struggling a bit to accelerate, know that you will be getting 29 / 38 mpg, and that’s not bad for the class – and the price.

The interior is way-more luxurious than I would have imagined. Gone are the days of fake leather and cheesy features for even the cheapest of cars. The interior of the new (old) Toyota Corolla is, how shall we say, not at all like the Corolla we’ve come to know. The interior materials are nicer, or at least they seem nicer. The one I tested had a basic black interior with a Royal Blue exterior, and it really looked sharp. Yeah, yeah, this was not the ultra-high-falutin’ interior of Toyota’s fancy stepsister Lexus – but it was, and is, nice.

The ride was very simple and nice, nothing remarkable. The Corolla will never be your ultimate driving machine, but if that’s what you want, this isn’t where you shop. When I had my Corolla Tercel (back when Ronald Reagan was starting his second year in the White House), all I wanted was a cheap affordable way to get around town. I put in a very nice stereo system (twice) and each time it was stolen. Still, I loved the Toyota Corolla, and the only reason I gave it up because, frankly, it died 16 years later. Exhaustion, I believe.

Remember how I said that the Corolla is great for you and your family? If your family is just you and your pet(s), the Corolla is indeed great, but why just stick him/her in the backseat and possible give it a scare? All kinds of pet accessories are available for Toyotas, and my friend Jason Lancaster has the skinny on it all. Click here to find out more.

As the model year winds down, I will have some more reviews on 2015 models that really are worth looking into. Why pay full price for a 2016 when a 2015 model may essentially be the exact same thing?

Sometimes older models, both cars and gays, can be the best bet you ever made.

Sometimes.