Aygo 2012
Angelika
A lot of the automotive press have a negative bias view of Toyota in general - you can usually pull apart their "reviews" - go test drive one and see if it suits your requirements, it's a 1.0L it's not going to set the world alight
As above, go and test drive one. Agree about automotive reviews even the previous generation cars weren't flavour of the month, they always really like VWs Up and it's derivatives and the Hyundai i10. Not saying they are bad cars, the Fiat 500 and i10 were around when we looked at 1st gen and 2nd gen cars years ago, but went Toyota-ish (Peugeot 107 and 108) back then cos it suited our needs and budget. Back then when we got ours it having a Toyota engine and mechanicals were a big part of us buying our 107 and more so the 108. Ours have been very reliable and fun to drive, so when the time comes an Aygo X would definately be on my test drive list, but nowadays that list is a lot smaller!
A couple of things:
Yes, it is "underpowered" when compared to a lot of other cars and whether you really notice it will depend on what you are coming from.
The memsahib has a 2004 Jimny. 1.3 and 83 bhp with terrible road manners but she loves it. We borrowed an Aygo X from a dealer for a few hours last weekend and made a point of using it to replicate her normal daily use pattern. She liked it enough that we ordered one when we got back.
Part of the use is a 20 mile dual carriageway trip to work every day and the same back in the evening, including a couple of not insignificant climb. The car was absolutely fine, and anyway, that's what the gearbox is for.
If by, "fully laden with passengers" you mean four adults then I suspect you will really notice but, before you even think about that take a good hard look at the rear seats and door openings.
As above, borrow a car from a dealer and try it in the way that you want to use it. If it works for you then two thumbs up. If not...
I would only add that if after a test drive not entirely satisfied with the performance of the Aygo x just ask to test drive a Yaris hybrid, it is very similar size outside but bigger inside and with more refined and more powerful drive train. Even the entry level Yaris icon is a close price to fully spec Aygo x.
I thought the same as you until I had a test drive so I have ordered one the car feels smooth more grown up now bigger boot more chunky at the front you need to have a test drive in one then make your your own decision
It won't win many drag races, but it's light and can beat most heavier cars off the line, and is very fun to throw round corners. Even on the motorway when I'm cruising, it's normally Aygo's flying past me at 70+mph so they can be driven quickly!
It will get revvy under load, esp. the CVT, so if you tend to accelerate hard all the time or carry a full passenger load all over the hills of Wales then it might get a bit annoying, but under normal use I think it would be fine.
I regret buying mine, no point rambling on about it, it is underpowered, I have few gremlins in mine that have caused a few issues, some which fix themselves, and others that are still rearing their ugly heads.
Yeah, you don't want to try making it into the smallest gap when accelerating on the highway. Ive driven mine for 15k, pretty 50-50 with highway drive and city drive and I've never felt like it didnt have enough power. I'm a relaxed driver though in general, but still have to constantly pass stuff. I was kinda laughing a few weeks back when I passed 5 cars in my small Aygo X going 140 km/h ?
You probably should test drive one. Probably the thing that takes most getting used to is the loud revving when going uphill etc. If you arnt afraid of a little noise, this little thing will serve you well everywhere except autobahn.
And due to the CVT transmission (dunno about manual), regardless if you drive 100 km/h on the highway or 40 km/h in the city, it does both pretty cheap. I drive a 300 km trip regularly, its a pretty flat route with mostlu 80-100km/h and best I've done was 3,7 litres/100 km (sorry we dont do MPG here). Town driving is usually a little over 5l/100km.
I've had much more powerful cars and realized I dont really accelerate much faster with them when joining highways either. I've really loved mine. It's a leasing car, but it made me buy a Yaris Cross now that lease ends. The Aygo X made me fall in love with modern toyotas.
But yeah, budget allowing, the Hybrid Yaris will solve almost every "issue" of the Aygo X and improve a little bit of everything. No doubt the Yaris is a better car, but yeah, I've enjoyed my Aygo X, but like someone above say, they regret BUYING one. Might be different for me cos it was always just a 1 year lease so I havnt committed to anything more than that and wont lie that im still glad to upgrade to a Yaris Cross now. A Yaris will retain its resale value better almost surely anyways, so again, maybe consider if your budget stretches enough to a Yaris?
It's small, turns on a dime
Has almost all the modern safety features that a car of this price really shouldnt have lol
Android Auto/Apple Carplay
Fuel efficiency
Still somehow takes surprisingly much stuff in when needed
I like how it looks
It drives really well, other than the power/noise related things you know
Things I like less:
Noisy, no way around that
Ofc it'd be nice to have 200 hp instead of 76hp when joining the motorway, but honestly I've never felt it was underpowered in real world applications, the sense of it being underpowered almost only comes from the noise to acceleration ratio. If it was quieter it wouldnt feel so contrasting. But again, it's a feeling, not a real problem (for me)
Rear looks a bit silly which is a shame cos rest of the car looks great
I've had 3 people in the car only once and the third was a child. Wouldnt consider this car if I planned to often ride with more than 2 adults.
The Aygo before the new Aygo X i had was very good with just me driving it but add a passinger and it was hard work on anything but very short trips am guessing the Aygo X will be same or even a tad worse as same engine but bigger and tad more weight too it (Mine was a manual gearbox Aygo) as a one up run around even on longer runs should be good would test drive and get some banks in on the test drive if possible ?
I had a tyre explode on me when driving into a pothole and luckily my dealership supported me: they drove 60 km just to bring me an all season tyre to be fitted on the old rim so I'd get on the road again fast while we figure out where to get a new tyre.
Had mine - white pure for 8 months and really like it. I bought it as my city daily and only use it in the city so mainly 30 mph. I love it which you may be surprised when I say that my fun other car is the GR yaris. I really do enjoy the AygoX as a nippy city car. Yes, up a hill you need to drop a gear and rev the engine but I like the growl it gives out. I am 6'1" and find it roomy. The back seats are not suitable for adults but mine are permanently down with the dog crate in. It's like a 2 seater van. It drives so smoothly and quietly.
I genuinly do like it a lot but I test drove it and knew exactly what I needed it to do - and it does. I deliberately waited till just before Xmas to go in for the deal and bought the showroom model with a big discount. I effectively paid 14k cash as long as I took it the following week so they got their sale before the end of the year. Overall, I am delighted with it. Go for a good test drive.
I bought the Aygo X and one of the main disadvantages of the car IMHO is the underpowered engine. They did make the gearbox / engine combination that you can rev it high and reach high speeds in low gears.
Up to 45 in 1, up to 90 in 2. I wouldn't advice to do that all the time though.
But : If you want to go fast, don't buy an Aygo X. It's slow. Period.
However... For me it's fast enough cause I got worlds of time. It has a fabulous consumption (5 liter or a little bit less on mine / 100 km) and it's cheap to own.
Is there a faster car ? Sure ! Just, it won't come at the price of the Aygo X at all.
Just an example : The Renault Megane I had was a lot better to drive but the engine was diagnosed damaged inside the cilinders after 30.000 km / 20.000 miles due to a design flaw.
What did i get from Renault ?
Well, they went very far in their efforts : They gave me a new engine at no cost at all..
Just : it was the same engine with as good as the same design flaws.
Not suitable to do short rides often.
I was very lucky to have imported the car from a country that has 5 years warranty on it cause normally, in my country the warranty would have been 2 years and the new engine wouldn't have come at 0 cost.
Toyota gives you 10 years warranty, under conditions that you have to maintain it with a dealer for the 10 years.
In my country this also includes a very good European assistance in case of mechanical problems, self caused problems or accidents.
If you are going to fill the car with passengers often, know that the AygoX can only take FOUR people. Not five as most other cars do.
Try certainly to climb into one and close the door... Imagine how it would be to sit there for an hour. This car is only made to take passengers in the back on occasion. As rarely as possible.
If you want to move many people, you need to shop a class higher.
Safety stuff on the AygoX is extraordinary. As much as you will need to get used to it for six months or so.
Example : it has a system that will take you away from the side of the road. When i am juggling with things (I know I shouldn't), the car will push the steering wheel away gently when i cross a road mark / line.