Toyota Aygo Review

If small city cars were the extras in the background of a TV soap opera, the Toyota Aygo would be the garishly-clad busker playing the accordion in the back of shot.

Its gaping grille, contrasting roof and aggressive bumpers certainly make it look more interesting than the likes of the business-like VW Up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii, and you can personalise it further with some seriously bold paint jobs. Luminous orange, anyone?

It looks pretty eye-catching inside, too – providing you avoid entry-level models that look as spartan as a branch of Woolworths 10 years after a closing-down sale. All Toyota Aygos get a minimalist centre console and, besides X models, there’s a touchscreen infotainment system with intuitive smartphone mirroring for Apple and Android devices. There are lots of hard plastics dotted about the place, but that’s not uncommon in small city cars.

Space in the front seats is pretty good for such a small car, but you can’t adjust the height of the driver’s seat in entry-level Toyota Aygos. You don’t get adjustable lumbar support, either, but at least there’s plenty of padding to prevent uncomfortable backache on long trips.

Unfortunately, you can’t say the same of the Toyota Aygo’s back seats. Like the VW Up, it only comes with two, but they aren’t particularly spacious or well-cushioned and anyone over six-foot will really struggle for leg- and headroom. The Aygo’s boot isn’t as big as the Up’s, either, and a very tall boot lip means it isn’t particularly easy to load.

Sadly, the Aygo’s slightly drab cabin can’t match its funky look-at-me exterior, but at least everything’s easy to use

But like most city cars, the Toyota Aygo is better suited to trips to the shops than long journeys, and, as such, comes with features designed to keep you safe around town, such as a hill-start assist on all models. It’s disappointing, though, that automatic emergency braking and lane departure alert are only standard on range-topping X-clusiv models. At least they’re optional on lesser trims.

You’ll feel a thud from large potholes through your seat slightly more in the Toyota Aygo than in the more comfortable Up, and the Aygo’s three-cylinder petrol engine drones rather loudly when you accelerate hard, but it’s reasonably frugal and has just enough power to keep up with traffic.

If you do head out onto faster roads, you’ll find the Toyota Aygo does a good job muffling annoying wind and tyre noise and it doesn’t lean a great deal in tight corners.

That said, the Toyota Aygo is better suited to trips to the shops than long motorway journeys, and, as such, comes with plenty of features designed to keep you safe around town, including automatic emergency braking. As a result, the Toyota Aygo makes a good city car, and a worthy alternative to the likes of the VW Up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii.

See how much you can save on a new car by visiting our Toyota Aygo deals page or read on for our in-depth Toyota Aygo interior review.