Toyota Aygo review

Around 90% of Aygos are bought on PCP finance and investigation into monthly payments for the equivalent Skoda Citigo reveals that the Citigo is cheaper based on the same deposit over a three-year period. However, the Aygo should cost you slightly less per month than a like-for-like Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10.

The Aygo’s running costs are more impressive. With CO2 emissions of 93g/km, you’ll be liable for £125 in road tax in the first year of ownership and the standard £140 in each consecutive year. Claimed fuel economy is a competitive 68.9mpg, but expect to see a more realistic 48mpg in real-world conditions.

Those choosing to run an Aygo through work will benefit, too, thanks to those low CO2 emissions. As far as depreciation is concerned, our experts forecast a five-door Aygo X-Play to retain just 40% of its value after 36 months of ownership and 36,000 miles.

Entry-level X models come with LED daytime running lights and electric front windows, but we'd spend a little more.

Our favourite X-Play trim adds a leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel and gearlever, air-con, a rev counter and electrically adjustable door mirrors. The 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system is standard, although you’ll have to upgrade to X-Press trim if you want to add Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as an option.

There are three more trims above that, X-Plore, X-Cite and X-Clusiv, which add increasingly more standard kit. However, the more you spend on the Aygo, the less financial sense it makes, so we'd stick with the cheaper trims.

The Aygo was the most reliable city car featured in our most recent reliability survey. Owners reported fewer faults than drivers of the Citigo, Hyundai i10 and Volkswagen Up, while Toyota was the third most reliable manufacturer (out of 32) in the study, behind only Mitsubishi and Lexus.

All Toyotas come with a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, with no mileage limit for the first year. There's also a 12-year anti-corrosion and perforation warranty, as well as a three-year paintwork and surface rust warranty. That's significantly better cover than that provided on the Citigo, although the Kia Picanto has an even longer warranty.

The Aygo was awarded a disappointing three stars for safety by Euro NCAP in 2017. A safety pack (with automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning) is available on all but entry-level X trim that lifts the Euro NCAP rating to four stars. Top-spec X-Clusiv trim is the only variant that has this as standard.

All Aygos get a steering column lock and an immobiliser. However, security firm Thatcham Research has rated the Aygo poorly in its resistance to being broken into, awarding it two out of its maximum five stars. In tests to determine its resistance to being driven away, the Aygo did better, scoring four stars.

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