Toyota Aygo - Any experiences??
Discussion
Looking at a family 'pool' car, needs to be cheap and be able to have the whole family; brother (19), father (51), mother (50) and myself (23) insured on it. Anything sporty has been ruled out, and normally been a cash man I'd go and buy an old run-around and make do with that.
However a friend has put us onto the Aygo, there offering a PCP deal of £149.00 down and monthly payments of £149.00 too. Its seriously tempting as at the moment 300 miles in the BMW costs £65.00+ in fuel a week, so I should be able to pay the cost of the lease per month in fuel saved, plus it will let me take the BMW off the road to do some work to it. Think the final push has come from the costs of tyres (Kumho V70a's) and going through a few sets of them every summer.
So what do people think of the Aygo, how many miles to a tank of average driving should I expect? Any reviews or personal experiences would be great. The idea is I also need a better car for running around in as the e36 is hardly practicle.
However a friend has put us onto the Aygo, there offering a PCP deal of £149.00 down and monthly payments of £149.00 too. Its seriously tempting as at the moment 300 miles in the BMW costs £65.00+ in fuel a week, so I should be able to pay the cost of the lease per month in fuel saved, plus it will let me take the BMW off the road to do some work to it. Think the final push has come from the costs of tyres (Kumho V70a's) and going through a few sets of them every summer.
So what do people think of the Aygo, how many miles to a tank of average driving should I expect? Any reviews or personal experiences would be great. The idea is I also need a better car for running around in as the e36 is hardly practicle.
Work colleague has a 5 year old C1 (which is basically the same thing). She's got over 80k on the clock, mostly town driving, and it's hitting 45-50mpg. She has the aircon on all the time, and is of the digital accelerator/braking driving style - IE flat out then heavy braking.
Only thing hers has needed is a clutch at 60k, again not bad considering her driving style. Only just changed the rear tyres from the factory fit Micehlin Energy. On her third set of front tyres (she has cheap Federal or Kumho which are about £30 each).
Only thing hers has needed is a clutch at 60k, again not bad considering her driving style. Only just changed the rear tyres from the factory fit Micehlin Energy. On her third set of front tyres (she has cheap Federal or Kumho which are about £30 each).
My g/f used to have a C1. I'd say it's ok provided you are only driving around town but if you are going to be doing any motorway work you definitely need to see if you can live with it before you buy one (particularly if you are used to a BMW) as it really struggles with any sort of incline and is very vulnerable to getting buffeted about in windy conditions.
Oh, and the gearbox is a bit pants as well - shifting gears feels like you are stirring a tin of half-dry paint!
Oh, and the gearbox is a bit pants as well - shifting gears feels like you are stirring a tin of half-dry paint!
My Mum had a Aygo for a while, it's very impressive for the price, especially compared with some of the competition like the (awful) VW Fox.
The performance isn't blistering but with (from memory) 67bhp in a car that weighs under a tonne it was perfectly acceptable for around town, and although not ideal for motorway cruising, with a bit of gearstick-waggling you can work up a good head of steam. The engine is a typical Toyota engine, eager for revs to get the car moving well. I drove it from Sheffield to Heathrow and back and had no problem keeping up with everyone else doing 0.95 leptons indicated on the M25.
If you need a low-insurance car for young drivers then it's an excellent choice.
The performance isn't blistering but with (from memory) 67bhp in a car that weighs under a tonne it was perfectly acceptable for around town, and although not ideal for motorway cruising, with a bit of gearstick-waggling you can work up a good head of steam. The engine is a typical Toyota engine, eager for revs to get the car moving well. I drove it from Sheffield to Heathrow and back and had no problem keeping up with everyone else doing 0.95 leptons indicated on the M25.
If you need a low-insurance car for young drivers then it's an excellent choice.
I had an Aygo for 3 years! Loved it, main thing that usually pissed me off about it was the people slagging it off that clearly new nothing about it!
I also tracked it at Cadwell, Nurburg, Santa Pod and Dunsfold and always surprised other people with its performance. OK its not going to win a race with a mapped 335 but it is not slow. I did 51k in my car and a lot of motorway driving and would sit comfortably at 70/90 cruising.
Really low running cost £20 a year for tax, group 1 insurance, of cause good mpg if you drive it economically. There is plenty of space for 4 reasonable sized adults in the car, (although you do notice drop in performance with even one extra person in the car) as its main advantage is being the lightest car in production.
I loved the handling on them the boot is reasonable for a small families weekly shop. (I even moved house in mine).
It also is mostly made of plastic so any bumps etc barely amounted to anything, I drove mine under a Shogun at one point and it just seemed to all pop back. Some of the replacement items though are a bit expensive and so are things like add on such as the spoiler.
Other Bad bits...conusmbles are a but s
t IMO, ie if you rag it to much you will be looking at a new clutch in less than three years. Brake disc are a bit cheap and nasty, so if doing high mileage might be worth bearing in mind. And my main gripe would be that it didnt have a seat belt height adjuster, being a shorty that annoyed me.
But if I could have afforded to run two cars I would have kept mine for ever!
p.s. it has a really long gearing range so if you want to find the oomf it does have rag it a bit, you can easily get to 60mph in second
I also tracked it at Cadwell, Nurburg, Santa Pod and Dunsfold and always surprised other people with its performance. OK its not going to win a race with a mapped 335 but it is not slow. I did 51k in my car and a lot of motorway driving and would sit comfortably at 70/90 cruising.
Really low running cost £20 a year for tax, group 1 insurance, of cause good mpg if you drive it economically. There is plenty of space for 4 reasonable sized adults in the car, (although you do notice drop in performance with even one extra person in the car) as its main advantage is being the lightest car in production.
I loved the handling on them the boot is reasonable for a small families weekly shop. (I even moved house in mine).
It also is mostly made of plastic so any bumps etc barely amounted to anything, I drove mine under a Shogun at one point and it just seemed to all pop back. Some of the replacement items though are a bit expensive and so are things like add on such as the spoiler.
Other Bad bits...conusmbles are a but s
t IMO, ie if you rag it to much you will be looking at a new clutch in less than three years. Brake disc are a bit cheap and nasty, so if doing high mileage might be worth bearing in mind. And my main gripe would be that it didnt have a seat belt height adjuster, being a shorty that annoyed me. But if I could have afforded to run two cars I would have kept mine for ever!
p.s. it has a really long gearing range so if you want to find the oomf it does have rag it a bit, you can easily get to 60mph in second
Edited by Bernard80 on Thursday 1st July 19:34
This is it, the car will be used around the town, over the moors to get to work at non-peak times and then on the motorway on the odd occasion. After doing 26 insurance quotes (yes, 26!!) they are the cheapest to insure for my brother by £500.00 even the eco-box Corsa is £500.00 more than the Aygo.
We are all keeping out main cars; BMW, Lexus, Audi & Lupo GTI but were in need of a car we can all drive and I'm in need of one that doesnt cost £70.00 every 300 miles so the only option seems to be the Aygo / C1 / 107. I don't care about having to use the gears, or how basic it is... I just want to know if these shoe boxes are as cheap to use daily as they are on paper?
The magical figures I worked out to see if this option was viable is; average 46.7 mpg, £200.00 a year in servicing, £20.00 a year in tax and then the occasional tyres at £80.00 for two. If this is reality then in theory it should pay off.
We are all keeping out main cars; BMW, Lexus, Audi & Lupo GTI but were in need of a car we can all drive and I'm in need of one that doesnt cost £70.00 every 300 miles so the only option seems to be the Aygo / C1 / 107. I don't care about having to use the gears, or how basic it is... I just want to know if these shoe boxes are as cheap to use daily as they are on paper?
The magical figures I worked out to see if this option was viable is; average 46.7 mpg, £200.00 a year in servicing, £20.00 a year in tax and then the occasional tyres at £80.00 for two. If this is reality then in theory it should pay off.
Been driving a couple of these around recently.
Quite good fun once you get the revs up. Acceleration was quite surprising in 2nd gear, toping out at ~65, so can even handle a few overtakes.
For the negative points, the boot is tiny and there isn't a great deal of grip at the front end braking/understeer. Noticed the understeer on damp roundabouts and on snow, but that was corrected with the handbrake
only doing 10mph at the time tho.
Also cheap on tax.
Quite good fun once you get the revs up. Acceleration was quite surprising in 2nd gear, toping out at ~65, so can even handle a few overtakes.
For the negative points, the boot is tiny and there isn't a great deal of grip at the front end braking/understeer. Noticed the understeer on damp roundabouts and on snow, but that was corrected with the handbrake
only doing 10mph at the time tho.Also cheap on tax.
I've just sold the missus a C1 on a PCP, it's perfect for someone who needs a small and frugal runaround coupled with low running costs. A tank of juice costs a smidgen over 40 quid, it'll do near as damn it 400 miles to that with steady driving. There's a strangely perverse fun to be had from driving them hard as well
To be honest, I find the Peugeot Citroens to be a bit better looking as well, but of course its all subjective.
To be honest, I find the Peugeot Citroens to be a bit better looking as well, but of course its all subjective.
snoopstah said:
Bernard80 said:
...as its main advantage is being the lightest car in production.
Except the Smart Fortwo. And the Lotus 2-Eleven. And anything by Caterham. But other than that...
ok rephrase..ONE of the lightest production cars available
Craig! said:
So, would you say going down the PCP route works out cost effective? I've had previous run arounds such as Mk3 Golfs and even a Type-R but what starts off as a £1000 car can easily cost a few hundred a year in maintenece and tax alone.
That was another thing I forgot to mention the deprecation on this car is very low, I think it even won an award a year or so ago, mine only dropped about 3k in three years. And yeah I would say its worth it. I had one for 2 years, economy on a motorway at cruising speeds was about 44mpg with a range of around 250 miles. They are also very tough little beasts with deformable plastic bumpers, so any minor RTC's don't damage the car at all. The only problem I had was corroded front brake disks, which were sorted under warranty.
There is one example where somebody accidentally drove their Aygo into the back of a Renault master van. The van suffered a deformed rear bumper and doors (that wouldn't open any more) and the Aygo only got a cracked front numberplate.. They just bounce off things!
There is one example where somebody accidentally drove their Aygo into the back of a Renault master van. The van suffered a deformed rear bumper and doors (that wouldn't open any more) and the Aygo only got a cracked front numberplate.. They just bounce off things!
why a new car? if you want something small and 'only' 40 mpg then our family pool car is a previous gen mini one. fun enough to drive, low depreciation and much more of a car than the aygo imho...
ours is a 2003 with 50k on it and costs nothing apart from the standard yearly servicing - surprisingly cheap insurance for myself and my brothers (25,22,21)
ours is a 2003 with 50k on it and costs nothing apart from the standard yearly servicing - surprisingly cheap insurance for myself and my brothers (25,22,21)
I really like my wife's Aygo.
I'm 6' 4" and fit in any of the seats; the aircon works and it hardly ever needs filling up.
Nothing's complicated, heavy or expensive. It is a bit loud inside, but light weight comes partially at the cost of soundproofing.
The exact opposite of the latest Corsa which is quiet and feels high class (no painted metal inside!), can barely drag itself past 50mph, uses twice the petrol and has none of the fun.
And, like little old time Fiats, the Aygo just begs to be revved and thrown around
I'm 6' 4" and fit in any of the seats; the aircon works and it hardly ever needs filling up.
Nothing's complicated, heavy or expensive. It is a bit loud inside, but light weight comes partially at the cost of soundproofing.
The exact opposite of the latest Corsa which is quiet and feels high class (no painted metal inside!), can barely drag itself past 50mph, uses twice the petrol and has none of the fun.
And, like little old time Fiats, the Aygo just begs to be revved and thrown around
The Crack Fox said:
Bernard80 said:
I also tracked it at Cadwell, Nurburg, Santa Pod and Dunsfold.
Respect ! Seriously, I love to see 'ordinary' motors enjoyed on the track ETA: It even sounds good on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4aKf1UvgVU
Edited by Wilburo on Thursday 1st July 21:42
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