Cars like the Toyota Aygo are slowly disappearing from the new car market - and that’s a great shame, because simple, economical small cars have always been popular with everyone from those fresh from getting their licence, to motorists on a budget, to elderly drivers who just want something that’s reliable and easy to drive.
Since the first generation Toyota Aygo launched in 2005, co-developed with the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107, this city car trio has done just that. All three were replaced with new models in 2014, but it’s the Toyota Aygo we’re focusing on here, with its sharp, X-shaped front styling.
As well as its Peugeot and Citroen cousins, the Toyota Aygo also competed with the Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii trio, the Renault Twingo and Smart Forfour, and the Korean twins, the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10. It was replaced by the SUV-style Toyota Aygo X in 2022.
It’s very easy to recommend the Toyota Aygo, and its popularity when new means there are plenty on the used market, from the freshest low-mileage cars to older models stretching back to the second-generation model’s 2014 launch.
The Toyota Aygo and its French siblings cost buttons to run thanks to excellent real-world fuel economy and simple mechanicals that keep service and repair costs down. Officially Toyota quoted mpg figures in the mid-50s, and unlike some cars it’s not difficult to achieve this, provided you don’t drive exclusively in stop and go traffic.
With just one engine to choose from you won’t need to spend hours comparing specifications to find the ideal model either, so finding the best Toyota Aygo is more a case of choosing your preferred specification and colour combination, and buying a looked-after car with a comprehensive service history.
There is one more decision to be made though: manual or automatic. Both are five-speed gearboxes, but the automatic is an ‘automated manual’, effectively a manual with no clutch pedal that can change gears itself, or using paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. It does the job, but some drivers may find the changes slightly jerky and it hinders performance too.
The Toyota Aygo is still fun to drive though, its small size and low weight helping it scoot around city streets and country roads with little effort, and while it's not ideal on the motorway, nor is it totally out of its depth. Being small doesn’t hamper interior space too badly either. Most will be five-door, though a three-door body style was offered earlier on.
The Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 equivalents are very similar to the Toyota Aygo, so your preference will come down to which car’s styling and options you prefer. Rivals like the Volkswagen Up feel a little more sophisticated to drive, but perhaps don’t have the Toyota Aygo’s funky sense of fun - something it also has over the Hyundai i10 or Kia Picanto.
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Base-model Toyota Aygos will be a little cheaper to buy used than higher-spec variants, but with a smaller price gulf than when new, we’d suggest looking for a car with slightly more kit, like the X-Trend or X-Clusiv (or the occasional special edition, like the X-Cite or the JBL Edition, which often came with unique colours and trim, or special options, like the JBL’s 600W amplifier).
Useful equipment levels mean that even if you do choose a lower-specification car, you shouldn’t feel too hard done by - and since all Aygos use the same engine, there’s no performance or economy benefit to spending more money, if price is the most important factor.
There’s no real advantage to choosing the three-door Aygo either, but if you’re able to use a manual gearbox, we’d recommend choosing it over the x-shift automated manual - the auto’s shifts can feel quite jerky, and contribute to its slower acceleration.
Toyota Aygo 1.0 dual VVT-i petrol: Toyota kept things simple with the Aygo, offering only one engine throughout the car’s time on sale. That engine was a three-cylinder, 1.0-litre petrol, and Toyota didn’t offer the larger 1.2-litre that collaborators Peugeot and Citroen did in their equivalent city cars. The most recent Aygo developed 72PS, and in five-speed manual gearbox form, accelerated from 0-62mph in 13.8 seconds, and 15.2 seconds for the five-speed ‘x-shift’ automated manual. The manual could achieve up to 56.4mpg, and the auto 54.3mpg.
Toyota offered several trim levels during the Aygo’s 2014-2022 run, but before it was replaced with the crossover-style Aygo X, the city car was available in three trim lines, each offering progressively more equipment than the last.
The Toyota Aygo X-Play served as the starting point to the range, but was far from poorly equipped. Steel wheels with plastic trims won’t win any style awards, but you still got manual air conditioning, a 7-inch touchscreen multimedia system compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and even a leather steering wheel.
The Toyota Aygo X-Trend built upon the X-Play with 10-spoke alloy wheels, contrasting exterior details, fog lights, and automatic air conditioning.
The Toyota Aygo X-Clusiv might have had a slightly silly name, but with its two-tone paintwork it’s the most sophisticated of the Aygo trim lines - something that carried over to the interior too, with leather trim for the seats.
The Toyota Aygo’s dimensions are:
Length: 3455mm
Width: 1615mm
Height: 1460mm
Ground clearance: N/A
The Toyota Aygo’s boot size is:
168 litres
All Toyota Aygo models have low CO2 emissions figures, thanks to their parsimonious attitude towards using fuel. But since the Aygo is no longer on sale, the only figure that really matters for nearly-new cars is the flat rate of £180 per year after their first year of registration. Older Aygos, registered before 2017, are actually cheaper to tax, thanks to quoted CO2 figures of under 100g/km - meaning you won’t pay a penny.
As a small and inexpensive car the Toyota Aygo also sits in some small and inexpensive insurance groups. The most recent models can be found in groups 5 to 9 in the 50-group scale, according to trim level.