RE: Aston Martin Cygnet: Spotted
Discussion
When they first launched it, I was working at an agency that was involved in the PR. They parked one outside the office for a day so the creatives could get a bit of inspiration. They spent the afternoon in the pub to get over it.
What an unholy mess it was. However, I think that in a world with chrome wrapped range rovers on wheels studded with Swarovski crystals pottering round Knightsbridge, I am surprised that they didn’t sell more of them to those with more money than sense and zero taste - there are quite a few of those.
What an unholy mess it was. However, I think that in a world with chrome wrapped range rovers on wheels studded with Swarovski crystals pottering round Knightsbridge, I am surprised that they didn’t sell more of them to those with more money than sense and zero taste - there are quite a few of those.
Anyone would have to be a total bell-end to buy one of these. I have only seen two of them on the road since it came out. I don't even like the stupid shape of the slap-head IQ, but would rather the IQ than this polished turd.
The side and rear profile of this IQ/Cygnet just looks stupid.
The side and rear profile of this IQ/Cygnet just looks stupid.
pmsl
The Moose said:
After having "swiped right", and had a chat, you finally tell the nice looking bit of totty that you'll pick her up in the Aston at 7.
She thinks things are great and is already a little frothy the way you casually drop Aston into the chat thinking she is onto a winner.
...and then you turn up in that!
Mood killer?!
She thinks things are great and is already a little frothy the way you casually drop Aston into the chat thinking she is onto a winner.
...and then you turn up in that!
Mood killer?!
Well you can do it for cheaper, just get this £6k bodykit and bobs your uncle. https://astonmartinbits.com/models/10-Cygnet/parts...
culpz said:
I'd love to buy one, just to say that i own an Aston Martin 
Not for over 30 grand though!
I like the little bonnet vents; I've never really noticed them before. The rest of it is just an IQ. It wouldn't surprise me if the IQ was actually the better car anyway, regardless of the price. The little Toyota offers so much more FVM for basically the same car but without the fancy badge.
Let's be honest, it's not really an Aston Martin, is it? Just imagine the reactions you'd get!
Not for over 30 grand though!I like the little bonnet vents; I've never really noticed them before. The rest of it is just an IQ. It wouldn't surprise me if the IQ was actually the better car anyway, regardless of the price. The little Toyota offers so much more FVM for basically the same car but without the fancy badge.
Let's be honest, it's not really an Aston Martin, is it? Just imagine the reactions you'd get!
Motormatt said:
Aston obviously thought they knew their customers better than they really did.
Someone considering a city car to go with their city pad when they likely have several other homes and cars already, probably did not get to that point in their life by being a complete mug.
No surprise that is was a sales disaster then.
Absolutely spot on. Most people with money didn't get it by being daft enough to buy a £10,000 Toyota with £20,000 of trinkets strapped to it.Someone considering a city car to go with their city pad when they likely have several other homes and cars already, probably did not get to that point in their life by being a complete mug.
No surprise that is was a sales disaster then.
And for the same reason, you can ask £30K all day long for a used Cygnet, no one's going to pay it because no one with £30K for a car is daft enough not to consider what else they could buy with it.
But at least we seem to be over that oh so popular urban myth that Aston made it because they were forced to reduce fleet emissions however. Amazing how many people believed that one, I know someone who was actually told that by an Aston Martin salesman.
Incidentally, there are 12 of these things up for sale on Autotrader right now - that must be nigh on 10% of the entire build run!
Interesting to see in the article linked to in the original PH feature that someone paid £15K for one. That feels about right, premium Toyota IQ with a little added interest/rarity money.
Interesting to see in the article linked to in the original PH feature that someone paid £15K for one. That feels about right, premium Toyota IQ with a little added interest/rarity money.
I bought my Cygnet (Racing Green/Black interior) a few years ago at the bottom of the depreciation curve (and yes it appears to have gone up in value since). The rational was that my commute is just over 2 miles and using my DB9 every day didn't make sense. The DB9 never got warmed up on the commute and as any owner knows without getting up to temperature and being able to stretch its legs is a sure way to have the plugs foul and then the coil packs fail. And as anyone who has had to replace these knows it does not take too many of those services when another car is cheaper! I still use the DB9 at weekends and for longer business and pleasure trips, but the Cygnet gets used every day. It gets more looks (especially from confused iQ owners) and even has people taking photos of it - a rare occurrence for the DB9, although being midnight blue it is probably ignored compared to their silver brethren.
As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
arbseven said:
I bought my Cygnet (Racing Green/Black interior) a few years ago at the bottom of the depreciation curve (and yes it appears to have gone up in value since). The rational was that my commute is just over 2 miles and using my DB9 every day didn't make sense. The DB9 never got warmed up on the commute and as any owner knows without getting up to temperature and being able to stretch its legs is a sure way to have the plugs foul and then the coil packs fail. And as anyone who has had to replace these knows it does not take too many of those services when another car is cheaper! I still use the DB9 at weekends and for longer business and pleasure trips, but the Cygnet gets used every day. It gets more looks (especially from confused iQ owners) and even has people taking photos of it - a rare occurrence for the DB9, although being midnight blue it is probably ignored compared to their silver brethren.
As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
But presumably you paid nothing like £30K for it? That's the crux, no one is saying it's a bad car, it's a Toyota, how could it be? Just that it's never worth anything like what the current crop of ever hopeful sellers believe.As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
Put it this way, say it disappeared tomorrow. Would you stick £5K into a mechanically identical secondhand Toyota IQ which is every bit as 'easier to park than a DB9, seats are comfortable and the air con and heater work' to run into town with?
Or would you add £25K on top to get another Cygnet because that 'specialness' over a standard IQ makes it worth 6 times as much? (Bearing in mind that you have 'special' well covered - you've got a real Aston Martin!)
I'd have one. Genuinely. If I was in the market for an IQ, why not have the Aston-ised one which links to a car brand I like and gives me posh leather and a tweaked dashboard, and a few interesting trinkets on the outside.
What I certainly wouldn't do is pay five times as much for one. I see it more like adding 50% to the used value of an IQ. (Not sure how much a used similar age IQ is- £5K? So maybe add a couple of grand for the trinkets - bearing in mind that someone in the market for a £5K IQ isn't going to have thousands and thousands of pounds sloshing about to waste on a whim).
I think someone touched on it earlier, but it really is a modern Allegro Vanden Plas. It's precisely the same concept, take a premium marque (as Vanden Plas was back then) and apply some of the character of that car to a small mainsteam car. So they put the distinctive Vanden Plas grille on it, shiny VP hub caps, put a lovely wood dashboard in it, picnic tables in the back, leather upholstery etc. So if you wanted a 'special' Allegro, bingo.
They sold quite a few too, but not at a price three times more as a standard Allegro, and certainly secondhand ones didn't sell for five times as much. Obviously.
What I certainly wouldn't do is pay five times as much for one. I see it more like adding 50% to the used value of an IQ. (Not sure how much a used similar age IQ is- £5K? So maybe add a couple of grand for the trinkets - bearing in mind that someone in the market for a £5K IQ isn't going to have thousands and thousands of pounds sloshing about to waste on a whim).
I think someone touched on it earlier, but it really is a modern Allegro Vanden Plas. It's precisely the same concept, take a premium marque (as Vanden Plas was back then) and apply some of the character of that car to a small mainsteam car. So they put the distinctive Vanden Plas grille on it, shiny VP hub caps, put a lovely wood dashboard in it, picnic tables in the back, leather upholstery etc. So if you wanted a 'special' Allegro, bingo.
They sold quite a few too, but not at a price three times more as a standard Allegro, and certainly secondhand ones didn't sell for five times as much. Obviously.
arbseven said:
I bought my Cygnet (Racing Green/Black interior) a few years ago at the bottom of the depreciation curve (and yes it appears to have gone up in value since). The rational was that my commute is just over 2 miles and using my DB9 every day didn't make sense. The DB9 never got warmed up on the commute and as any owner knows without getting up to temperature and being able to stretch its legs is a sure way to have the plugs foul and then the coil packs fail. And as anyone who has had to replace these knows it does not take too many of those services when another car is cheaper! I still use the DB9 at weekends and for longer business and pleasure trips, but the Cygnet gets used every day. It gets more looks (especially from confused iQ owners) and even has people taking photos of it - a rare occurrence for the DB9, although being midnight blue it is probably ignored compared to their silver brethren.
As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
A very fair assessment, I too have one - and I have to say that I personally think that it was a little ahead of it's time, and will always be compared with it's base IQ, but certainly timing wise it was launched 12 months into the worlds biggest financial crisis - which probably didn't help.As a city car it is a nice place to spend a in town journey. It is also far easier to park than the DB9. The seats are comfortable and the a/c and heater work well. The fuel consumption is fine, and power is low but easy to drive in town if you use the gears.
Downsides (I am sure others will think of some more) as an owner. I have the manual and the lack of Cruise control is a pain. Not because of long distance cruising but it is a great way to deal with average speed cameras that are popping up everywhere. The radio/CD/MP3 control that is Toyota not Aston is only through the steering wheel and only has limited functions.
Overall if you like something original, unique and fun, the Cygnet is a perfect city car. I have friends with either Abarth Fiat 500 and Cooper Works Mini and they enjoy their cars, and that is as it should be - each to his/her own.
So before you judge think about your own choices of transport.
My personal view is that people I know who used to drive S class etc have downsized - and the concept of smaller cars with a very luxurious interior is very appealing The Cynet is definitely a very pleasant place to be in the town. It will always divide opinion, and that is fine.
I would say that once you have been driven in one it's hard not to see the attraction - whether it is priced at the right level , like everything in life, is always a very personal opinion.
Edited by oilit on Wednesday 6th December 07:05
Ari said:
Incidentally, there are 12 of these things up for sale on Autotrader right now - that must be nigh on 10% of the entire build run!
Interesting to see in the article linked to in the original PH feature that someone paid £15K for one. That feels about right, premium Toyota IQ with a little added interest/rarity money.
Pretty much, only 152 models were ever registered in the UK.Interesting to see in the article linked to in the original PH feature that someone paid £15K for one. That feels about right, premium Toyota IQ with a little added interest/rarity money.
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