‘I was so excited to get my next car’: Woman walks into Toyota dealership to upgrade from her Corolla. She leaves empty handed

A Canadian woman shopping for a car expressed frustration in her car-buying process—particularly from a Toyota dealership where she was looking to trade in her Corolla.

The videos detailing the journey came from Toronto-based creator Liz (@fitnessadventureswithliz). She posted the first of a three-part series on Saturday, getting more than 33,000 views.

"I went to Toyota," she began her tale. "I was so excited to get my next car," and confessed that she loved the Corolla Cross Hybrid they featured.

"But, Toyota, what is going on? Where is the inventory?” she asked. “They were telling me three to six months for a car. My Corolla has over 400,000 kilometers on it. It's not going to make it another three to six months. What happened to the days of just being able to go into a car dealership and buy a car?"

Liz also expressed frustration with the high interest rates for the car.

"Your interest rate is 6.49% and a pre-owned car is 7.99%," she revealed. "The percentages alone in interest are absolutely crazy compared to every other brand out there."

She then did a Part 2 video covering a trip to a Nissan dealership, explaining, "I fell in love with a 2023 Nissan Rogue SV.” The she got to the part in which she discovers that there's a $1,299 charge on the offer sheet "to make this a certified pre-owned vehicle from the Nissan dealership."

She was able to negotiate that down to $599, but still felt uneasy about it.

Liz then went to Subaru in a Part 3 video.

"I really, really enjoyed the drive of the Subaru Crosstrek," she said. "The only thing that I didn't like —now it's personal preference; don't come at me—was the size of the screen. Like, I'm driving a car, not a laptop."

Reviewing the Corolla Cross Hybrid

According to Car and Driver, the first car Liz looked at is worth investigating.

"The 2025 Corolla Cross Hybrid repackages the longstanding Corolla virtues in today's more palatable SUV shape—thus the "Cross" in its name," the review begins. "Like its namesake Corolla—still sold as a sedan and a hatchback—the Cross is affordable, the least-expensive SUV in Toyota's lineup."

The review said the hybrid version is "far less lethargic" than its non-hybrid counterpart, and praises it for being "economical to drive," though the overall rating only got to a 7.5 out of 10.

Commenters had perspectives at the ready for Liz

"People don’t realize Toyota cars usually have great resale value and require little to no maintenance," one observed. "That said, there [si] a reason why interest rates [are] high and inventory is low."

"There’s a reason you have to wait for a Toyota and you get your car the next day everywhere else," said other, adding simply, "Quality vehicles."

"3-6 months is good for Toyota!" someone else shared. "We’ve waited 18 months for our Hybrid Grand Highlander."

"Buy Mazda!" another one enthused. "Toyotas are good but they’ve lost their minds with their prices and wait times. Plus they’re not as reliable as your old one was."

Liz told the Daily Dot via email, "The video going viral has been exciting to see—definitely unexpected, but it’s been interesting to watch how people are engaging with it."

She also notes, regarding her current car-buying journey, "I’m still weighing my options and doing some research to make sure I make the right choice."

@fitnessadventureswithliz Replying to @Jen???????? Story time, car shopping part 1! #carshopping #fyp #carsearch #newcar #newsuv #toyota #fypシ゚ #carlover ♬ original sound - Liz ????????

The Daily Dot has reached out to Toyota via email.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘I was so excited to get my next car’: Woman walks into Toyota dealership to upgrade from her Corolla. She leaves empty handed appeared first on The Daily Dot.