Even for a Certified Nutter like myself, I'd have to admit that the 110 Corolla/Sprinter is a very decent piece of kit..... especially if economy and reliability is top priority..
Example, a cpl of years back my family had an AE110 Sprinter SE Vintage (Recon, HD Reg), and a ES8 Civic Exi (B-New, HJ Reg)..... both were 1.5 automatic. while the civic was bigger and marginally more comfortable, the Toyota beat it hands down for economy....
The civic could only manage 6.5km/l in town and about 10 out, where the toyota easily did 11 in town, and neared 15, when out...... it moved fairly quickly as well....
space at the back was a bit restricted when tall people were in front though
overall, i'd say a very good choice in this situation.