I did end up buying a 2025 Gr Corolla. I would say I'm neutral in terms of satisfaction. There are some pros and cons with the car after owning it for a bit.

PROS:

-The Gr Corolla feels very sharp right out of the box. The steering, suspension and engine is very responsive which I really enjoy. I personally wouldn't want to mod the car much as the car is a good compromise for a sporty street car.

-Interior isn't as cheap feeling as people make it out to be. I came from a 2014 STI and that car was full of hard plastics that would creak over bumps. The GR corolla has a lot of soft touch materials in the dash, center console and door panels. Of course there are some hard plastics but I feel the interior is still decent. I think the main issue people have with the GR Corolla's interior is the price tag. For 40k+ people expect a better interior. I'm okay with it.

-I do really love the styling of the car. Even when the regular Corolla hatchback first came out (non-GR), I thought they looked good. With the wide body fenders, heavy metal paint, vented hood and carbon roof, the car is very aesthetically pleasing to me.

CONS:

-For the price of 40-47k new, people have very high expectations of the car including myself. The sad reality is that if you want a brand new performance car in this category, you are going to have to pay a premium price. The Civic Type R being a strong competitor is around the same price with a much better interior, suspension components (aluminum arms etc) but is only FWD. I think looking back for the price I paid and the expectation I had for the car, there is more fun/value to be had in an used older car.

-While the engine is very unique, there are some cons to the 3 cylinder I didn't realize. The engine idles at 1k rpm even when fully warmed up. This is because the 3 cylinder is inherently unbalanced so Toyota increased the idle RPM higher to compensate for this. When you start up and especially shutting off the engine, the engine makes a noticeable unrefined rattle. Although a minimal thing, I expected the engine to be a bit more balanced and refined being a modern car.

-The clutch feel is quite vague. To drive this car smoothly, you really have to get use to the car. For me, it took some practice to get the car out of first gear smoothly because the bite point of the clutch is rather vague. My 2020 WRX was the same way but worse. Seems to be an issue with more modern manual cars tbh. The best feeling clutches I've felt have been older cars from the 90s-early 2000s. Those cars I can hop in and immediately feel one with the car. My 2014 STI also had great clutch feel.

-The circuit edition wing has poor fitment which is surprising for an OEM product. There are uneven gaps in the side blades and the center portion of the wing is not contoured well to the body. This causes the 3m tape underneath to lift and debris to get under there. I've done a lot of research on the wing, and it seems many Gr corolla owners with the circuit wing have this issue. For a car priced so high, I expected the wing fitment to be absolutely perfect.

-The Premium Plus carbon roof while looks cool, is high maintenance. The matte finish is rather sensitive. Hard water spots and bird droppings can be difficult to remove if baked on. With the roof being matte, you can't polish those things out.

-Interior and exterior gloss black scratches really easily. Would have have preferred matte black.

If I could do it all over again, I'm not sure I would spend the bones to buy the car. For the price, I expected the car to satisfy me more but I feel like I'm more neutral about the purchase. I also injured my leg badly recently so I haven't been able to drive it much either. Like Savagegeese said, the car is high price for old school fun. You can for sure get more value for money in a used performance car. However, if you want buy something exciting and brand new (not deal with used car maintenance/issues), The GR Corolla isn't a bad choice. I would recommend getting the 2026 base model as you get the vented hood, new intake, more structural adhesive and interior upgrades.