Toyota Aygo review

Although around 90% of Aygos are bought on PCP finance, if you investigate the monthly payments for the equivalent Skoda Citigo, you'll find that the latter is considerably cheaper (based on the same deposit and mileage over a three-year period). The equivalent Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 both undercut it, too.

The Aygo’s running costs are more impressive. With CO2 emissions of 93g/km it'll make a cheap company car, and the official WLTP combined fuel economy is a competitive 57.7mpg. Expect to achieve around 50mpg with relative ease in the real world.

Avoid the entry-level X trim, which is about as basic as cars get these days — you get electric front windows but no air conditioning or alloy wheels and, as we've mentioned before, its infotainment system is from the dark ages. 

Instead step up to X-Play. You still have to put up with steel wheels but gain air conditioning, electrically operated door mirrors and a leather steering wheel and gear knob. And don't forget that you get the better infotainment system, rear-view camera and driver's seat height adjustment that we mentioned earlier. 

X-Trend is pricier but does have climate control, alloy wheels, automatic headlights and privacy glass, while X-Cite is mainly about its Mandarin orange trim and contrasting black roof. X-Clusiv, which adds even more style and customisation options, part-leather seat trim and adds the safety pack we covered in the safety section, but it's too pricey to recommend. 

The Aygo didn’t feature in the 2018 What Car? Reliability Survey, but Toyota as a brand finished in an impressive third overall, ahead of Kia and Skoda. 

All Toyotas come with a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, with no mileage limit for the first year. That's significantly better cover than you get with the Up, Mii or Citigo, although the Kia Picanto benefits from the brand’s industry-leading seven-year coverage.

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

Every Aygo has 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 stolen, the Aygo did better, scoring four stars.

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