Toyota C-HR review

With the discontinuation of the 1.2-litre petrol engine, the base price of the Toyota C-HR has crept up to the level of truly premium family SUV rivals, including the BMW X1 and Volvo XC40. 

Mind you, thanks to its low CO2 emissions, the C-HR is cheaper to run as a company car than the majority of its rivals. If you want to spend significantly less in benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax, you'll need to consider a fully electric alternative, such as the Kia e-Niro.

The promise of up to 60mpg is appealing, although based on our experience with the Toyota Prius (which uses the same powertrain), 50mpg in the real world is more realistic with the 1.8. Insurance and servicing costs for the C-HR are nothing to write home about.

Use our True MPG calculator to find out what your car really does to the gallon

We’d stick with entry-level Icon trim. That’s partly because the posher trims get very pricey, but mainly because you get all of the must-haves as standard, including dual-zone climate control, automatic lights and even adaptive cruise control. You also get the 8.0in touchscreen discussed in the infotainment section.

Upgrading to Design trim gets you the extra parking aids and infotainment gadgetry we've discussed already, but also keyless entry, rain-sensing wipers and tinted windows, so it's worth considering.

You get lots of kit with the Excel and GR Sport but they are very pricey, and you could have a decent Volvo XC40 for the money they cost.

Toyota finished third (out of 31 manufacturers) in the What Car? Reliability Survey and the C-HR proved to be one of the more dependable family SUVs in the survey.

All models come with a five-year/100,000-mile basic warranty as standard, bettered only by the seven-year warranty offered by Kia on the rival Sportage.

The complex batteries and electric motors might ring alarm bells in your head, but Toyota has been perfecting the technology for more than a decade in the Prius, so there’s no reason to expect any glitches. Plus, if you go for the annual Hybrid Electric Service, the hybrid battery warranty can be extended for up to 15 years.

All versions of the Toyota C-HR come with lots of safety kit, including an automatic emergency braking (AEB) pre-collision system that can automatically apply the brakes to stop you running into the car in front. It can even recognise pedestrians.

You also get lane departure warning and automatic high-beam assist for the headlights. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert (which warns of approaching cars when you’re backing out of a driveway on to a road) are standard with Excel and GR Sport trims and optional on entry-level Icon.

How well is the C-HR likely to protect you and your family if an accident proves unavoidable, though? Well, safety body Euro NCAP awarded excellent marks for adult occupant crash protection, although the Seat Ateca proved better at keeping children safe from harm.