Woman paid $26,000 for a brand-new Toyota but says one missing feature made her give it up after 12 months

A woman spent $26,000 on a brand-new 2025 Toyota Corolla but got so frustrated with its lack of basic modern features that she traded it in after just 12 months. Toyotas and their luxury version Lexus have been known for reliability for decades. People expect them to be practical cars that last forever, but this driver found the entry-level sedan wasn’t good enough in 2025.

According to Motor1.com, TikTok creator Tay (@softytee) posted a video explaining why she was disappointed with her purchase. Her main complaint was about a feature most people expect today: push-to-start ignition.

Tay had to use a physical key to start the car, which she found very inconvenient, especially during cold weather. The problem got worse when the key started getting stuck in the steering column repeatedly. She said the issue became so bad that she needed help from the dealership to remove it, and even their workers struggled to get the key out. “It was locking the key in the car… wasn’t me being rough… that’s just what was happening,” she said.

A stuck key in a brand-new 2025 car shouldn’t be acceptable

The fact that a key can get stuck in a brand-new car in 2025 is terrible. If you’re paying $26,000, you shouldn’t have to fight with your ignition just to start the car. Tay said the high interest rate she accepted before buying the car made the lack of features even more frustrating. “I just feel like if I am gonna pay a pretty penny for this car… coming off the lot $26,000, I need a little something something,” she said.

Besides the ignition problems, Tay felt the car was missing important comfort and convenience features. She complained about not having heated seats, a sunroof, or even a glasses holder. It’s hard to accept paying that much for an entry-level car when many competitors include those features as standard. Toyota owners have experienced other shocking costs with their new vehicles recently.

In her TikTok video, Tay also pointed out that the 2025 Corolla didn’t come with blind-spot monitoring as standard, which is a major safety feature. “It doesn’t tell me if a car is next to me,” she said, pointing out a big safety gap.

She also felt the car’s overall build quality was “flimsy.” She claimed her bumper came undone because the adhesive wore down quickly. Despite all her complaints, Tay did say the car was “reliable.” However, she wasn’t happy with how it drove, saying, “The drive is not smooth. You can feel everything. You can hear outside your window.”

She thinks Toyota relies too much on its reputation for being dependable, which is why it doesn’t add modern features to its entry-level cars. “They know they’re reliable. They know they’re popular, so they don’t really give much,” she said. Some Toyota drivers have discovered helpful hidden features in emergencies that could save the day.