Introduced in March of last year, the Toyota GR Corolla has just begun making its way to dealerships, and in turn, into the hands of consumers (often at ridiculous markups). Now, however, one has just popped up for sale on Cars & Bids, and it could be one of, if not the first, to show up on an auction site.
The GR Corolla is a Core model finished in Ice Cap white, and while it is reported to have 189 miles (304 km) on the odometer, it’s essentially a brand new car, having just been purchased by the seller less than a month prior. It even still has all the tags on the interior.
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Part of what makes this car so desirable is its powertrain. Under the hood is a turbocharged 1.6L 3-cylinder engine making 300 hp (304 PS / 224 kW) and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm) of torque, putting it right up there with hot hatch royalty like the Civic Type R and VW Golf R, but with the added benefit of Toyota reliability. On top of that, the car’s only transmission option is a 6-speed manual, and it sends power to all four wheels, something the mighty Type R can’t claim. A package this good has led many dealerships to take notice and start applying markups, but surprisingly, this one isn’t as bad as you might think.
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While a picture of the window sticker shows an MSRP of $40,073, the seller of the GR Corolla, who wishes to remain anonymous, came in contact with us after we published this story and explained that this is not what he ended up paying for the vehicle. He pointed out that he paid way over MSRP without disclosing exactly how much, as he’s “an enthusiast” and originally planned to keep the vehicle before learning that another allocation that he preferred went through.
“I actually found out about this allocation directly after I purchased the GR Corolla, within a couple hours,” said the seller. “I’d rather not disclose how much I paid specifically, as I did not disclose that in the auction. If I’m honest there’s no advantage for me to tell anyone in social media exactly what I paid as it could create an artificial ceiling on the auction, if shared. What I can say is that, at current bidding (note – $47,050), I stand to lose a substantial amount of money on the car,” he concluded.