Cannot fold down rear seat of 1997 Toyota Corolla, is this because the seats cannot be folded down? We are moving around November 11th and need the room the folded down back seats would give.

I'm not sure which version of the rear seats you have fitted. If there is no button or pull lever visible you will have to get physical with the back seat. You will need to lever the corner of the back seat forward, insert your arm and trip the release with your finger.
Try this youtube link as it shows how to do it simply. Toyota Corolla Locked Trunk Back Seat Access 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

there should be buttons on the top of the seat on the left I think just pull up on the buttons and hold and pull down on the back part of the seat

Fold Down Back seats in DC TundraTalk net Toyota Tundra Discussion Forum
follow this link as seems you need to have a part fitted for the rear seat to fold down

The plastic pull on the top of the seat may have been screwed down too much. If that happens, it will not allowing the lock mechanism to fully unlock. Unscrew the top plastic pull a little at a time and at the same time reach around and pull the lock leaver up until it is in the full unlock position. You should then be able to pull the plastic lever up normally and fold down the seat.

Be sure that your model has fold down rear seats...you should see the seperation around both rear seats...if equipped, the fold down release is located at the top corner of each rear seat...pull the lever up to release...if your model does not have the fold down option...you will need to remove the rear seat...remove the lower cushions first...look on the lower front of the seats for hold down bolts...second you will need to remove the top of the rear seat...hold down bolts are at the bottom of the top cushion...after removing the bolts (one each side) you need to push up on the cushion to remove...this will then allow access to the trunk...find the trunk latch and try to release by twisting the latch cable...Hope this helps...

If you have rear seats that fold down you can access the latch mechanism from the left side rear seat....if you are flexible. pull the corner of the seat forward to allow your arm to slide in behind. about 14-16" in, feeling up inside the trunk you can feel 3 quarter size holes in the sheet metal. The second hole has the cable release arm. stick your finger up there are pull towards you. this will release the seat allowing it to fold down. Crawl into the trunk. there is a glow in the dark release handle on the inside of the trunk lid to open the trunk. Note, these are instructions for an '04 corolla but I think it should work

My 05 Corolla trunk would not open. I used a broom handle shoved between the rear seats to activate the emergency release handle on the back of the trunk lid. It took about 2 minutes. When I tapped it just right the lid popped open. This was better the damaging the rear seat by bending it to reach the seat releass mechanism. It turned out that the cable came off in the asembly probably from slamming the lid shut. Once the cable was returned to its location I used needle nose pliers to sqeeze the metal tighter around the cable.

Open the back trunk, look near the top of the trunk, and pull the two black levers. They have a seat folding down symbol. That will release the locks to fold the back seat down.

in the middle of the seat cushions in the back of the seat there is a little loop, pull that loop forward and that will have the seat's bottom pulled down to the floor agains the back of the front seats. Next simply apply a lil muscle to the back of the back seats and the seats should fold down nicely into the open space. Be sure to remove the headrests so the seat will fold all the way down. post any issues u may have.