Toyota Aygo X Review & Prices

Originally launched as a pretty ordinary petrol-powered city car, the Toyota Aygo X has undergone a proper mid-life reinvention with the addition of a hybrid engine. This turns it from an average also-ran into the best true city car you can buy today, but its versatility is limited by the cramped, cheap interior and high price tag.

It’s a bit of a hodgepodge, the Aygo X. From the front doors backwards it’s virtually the same as the old car, but Toyota’s grafted on its standard ‘face’ to make it look much more like the Prius, C-HR and bZ4X. And under the bonnet lies the hybrid engine from the Yaris hatchback. It’s like giving your gaming PC a new lease of life with a super-powerful graphics card - it’s much-improved where it matters, but some of the older features might not be up to snuff any more.

The new hybrid engine makes it quite difficult to pigeonhole the Aygo X. Purely in terms of size, it’s an alternative to the Kia Picanto or electric city cars such as the Fiat 500e or Citroen e-C3. But you could also cross-shop it with a number of small hybrid cars from the MG3 to the Renault Clio to Toyota’s own Yaris hybrid.

The Aygo’s new front end looks quite aggressive for such a little car - especially in top-spec GR Sport trim, which has a contrasting black bonnet. The headlights and grille are sort of drawn upwards, giving it a bit of bulldog character, while the high bonnet line makes it seem much bigger than it is.

Further back, though, it’s much the same as it was with large (for a city car) alloy wheels and a tidy rear end with a fully glass tailgate. The interior hasn’t changed much either - you get a new 10.5-inch infotainment screen on upper models (9.0-inches in the base cars) and an updated driver display, but that’s about it.

That’s not really great news, because while the Aygo X’s interior has some plus points - a proper panel of physical switches for the climate control and comfy seats being two of those - it still feels very cheap inside. The plastics are all hard and scratchy, and there’s a lot of evidence of cost-cutting, such as the untrimmed door panels, lack of central air vents or the way the rear windows don’t roll down - they just pop out.

Not that your rear occupants will complain much, because unless you’re a real sadist you won’t force anyone to travel in the rear of the Aygo X for longer than five minutes. Just getting in is difficult, as the doors are tiny and don’t open very wide, and once you’re sat down you’ll find very little headroom and even less legroom. It’s better than a three-door Mini hatchback, but only marginally.

The 231-litre boot is pretty puny too. It’s smaller than the Kia Picanto’s, and dwarfed by the Fiat Grande Panda, Citroen C3, MG3 or Renault Clio. The Aygo X is definitely best as a two-seater, and don’t try using it to move house unless you’re a real minimalist.

The high point of the Aygo X experience comes when you start driving it. The 116hp hybrid engine isn’t just much more powerful than the old 72hp 1.0-litre petrol, but it’s markedly smoother and quieter, and comes standard with an excellent automatic gearbox.

Fuel economy is absolutely outstanding. A figure of 80mpg used to be the preserve of hyper-focused efficiency cars, but for the Aygo X it’s just ‘Tuesday’. Drive carefully and you’ll see more than 90mpg. That makes the Aygo X a real contender if you’re thinking about switching to a small EV - if you’re using public charging or a regular home tariff, the cost per mile actually works out in the Toyota’s favour.

Acceleration around town is peppy, the steering is light and accurate and the suspension copes pretty well with lumps and bumps considering how small the car is overall.

Thanks to that relatively powerful engine, it’s much better to drive on the motorway and on fast country roads than it was before, too - though it’s still such a small, lightweight car that you tend to get blown about a bit by other traffic. Still, it’s nice to have a city car that can hack it outside of town, too.

Verdict

The Aygo X is a curious car that for some people, will be a true 10/10 - it’s unbelievably efficient, quite good fun to drive and brings you super-low running costs without having to go for an EV. The whole package is too limited to appeal to everybody though, because as soon as you need the back seats or a big boot, the Aygo X starts to fall apart. The nasty interior doesn’t fit the high price tag, either.

To get this fuel-efficient and stylish little hatchback on your driveway, check out the latest Toyota Aygo X deals on Carwow, or browse our Aygo X lease deals instead. There are loads of used Aygo X models for sale - as well as other used Toyota deals - through our trusted dealer network. Remember, Carwow can help you sell your current car, too.

The Toyota Aygo X has had a proper price hike since becoming a hybrid model, with the entry-level Icon starting at over £21,000, while the top-of-the-range GR Sport costs almost £27,000. Crikey.

You get single-tone paint on the Icon, plus adaptive cruise control, 17-inch alloy wheels, a digital driver’s display, air conditioning and - wait for it - a twisty key. Step up to Design trim and things look a little less barren, with funky 18-inch wheels, LED lights, a wireless phone charger, extra sound insulation and push-button start. The funky two-tone paint options become available, too.

The Aygo X Excel comes with the larger 10.5-inch infotainment display, parking sensors front-and-rear, heated seats and push-putton entry on the door handles. The new GR Sport trim is the range-topper, with model-specific sports suspension, interior upholstery, alloy wheels and a gloss black bonnet - but we’d happily do without that bit.

Considering the larger Renault Clio Hybrid can be for almost the same price as the Aygo X Icon, while a top-spec Clio is around £2,000 cheaper than the Aygo X GR Sport, it’s hard to justify the little Toyota - unless you really need a city car.

The Aygo X has an amazingly efficient engine and it's surprisingly quick, but over-the-shoulder visibility is poor

In town

As a way of nipping around town, the Aygo X is one of the best cars on sale. It’s a small car that feels tiny where it needs to be, yet it’s not far off the refinement of a larger hatchback. The suspension is well-judged, and even on the larger 18-inch wheels it does a good job of dealing with rough roads and potholes – though there is the occasional jolt in the GR Sport version with its stiffer suspension.

You have excellent forward visibility thanks to the high seating position and skinny front pillars, while the new flatter bonnet makes it a breeze to place the Aygo X through width restrictions as you can easily tell where the car’s corners are. Over-the-shoulder visibility is very poor, that being said, as the rear pillars are enormous. Good thing the side-mirrors are well-sized.

The Aygo X does a good job of using EV power wherever possible, and you can press a button to keep it in electric mode at speeds of up to 25mph - until you reach an uphill section or put your foot down. There’s a tiny little whirr from the electric motor if you’ve got the radio off, but it’s amusing - almost like you’re driving a dodgem with a roof.

On the motorway

This is where the Aygo X has benefited most from the more powerful engine, because getting up to speed is no longer the arduous, noisy task it used to be in the little Toyota. There’s still a bit of noticeable engine noise when you put your foot down, but that’s par for the course in a car this small, and it settles down into a surprisingly refined cruise.

The Aygo X feels very stable at high speeds, more so than any other car of this size, and you won’t get battered around by winds or fast-moving lorries. There was a bit of road noise and the odd thud over ruts in the GR Sport model we tested, but models without sport suspension ought to be a bit quieter. There isn’t much wind noise, that being said.

Again, the thick rear pillars don’t help merging with traffic or changing lanes, and you don’t get blind spot monitoring, so you’ll be reliant on the side mirrors.

On a twisty road

Small cars can either be a hoot on a country lane, or feel totally out of place. The Aygo X fits in the former camp, because it’s almost guaranteed to put a smile on your face on a twisty road.

It’s not a hot hatch by any means, but the combination of its peppy engine, light weight, agile steering that does a good job of telling you how much grip the front wheels have and well-contained body lean means it’s good fun to carve through corners in, filling you with confidence in the process.

As with any small hatchback there isn’t a great deal of space inside the Aygo X, but there are some useful storage cubbies

Up front, there’s a decent amount of adjustment in the seat to give you plenty of room for your legs, while decent headroom and thin door cards mean it’s easy to find a comfortable driving position for drivers of all builds.

A pair of cupholders in front of the gear lever, usefully large storage bins in the doors and a surprisingly deep glove box mean the little Toyota has plenty of space to carry the odds and ends of everyday life.

There’s even an optional full-length sliding cloth roof which is lovely on a sunny day and makes the cabin feel bigger than it is when open. It also insulates noise pretty well when it’s shut.

Space in the back seats

Headroom is at a premium for taller adults, and the lack of legroom means the Aygo X is best suited for short drives as there’s very little in the way of shoulder room.

You do get a pair of door pockets though, and a single central cupholder, but there’s no fold-down arm rest or seat pocket storage.

Both rear seats have easy to reach ISOFIX anchors, although fitting a child seat can be frustrating as the rear doors have very narrow openings, meaning a little jiggery-pokery is required. A Skoda Kamiq or Dacia Sandero is far more practical for families.

Boot space

The Aygo X has a tiny boot, and at 231 litres of space it's around 25 litres smaller than you get in a Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10. There aren't any hooks or tie down points, so it's as basic a boot as you can get, but we still managed to squeeze one full-sized suitcase and one piece of carry on luggage in the back - with space for a backpack on one side.

With the back seats folded down this increases to 831 litres, and they fold totally flat, too.

It’s sturdy inside, if not premium, and the Aygo X has useful features as standard

The Aygo X is pretty stylish inside. The flashes of exterior paint colour on the door tops may be a cost-saving measure, but they do a good job of adding some highlights to what would be an otherwise very dark cabin. Unless your Aygo X is black, of course.

That being said, almost all of the surfaces are made from hard, scratchy plastic - a reminder that you are in fact in a city car at the end of the day - but now that it’s an expensive city car, you’d be forgiven for wanting some more premium-feeling materials. All of the panels and pieces feel well screwed together though, with the typical Toyota build quality.

With USB ports behind the gear lever you’ll be able to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto – both of which are easy to connect to on the entry-level 9.0-inch display. You even get wireless smartphone connection for the Excel and GR Sport trims, to pair with their larger 10.5-inch screen.

Toyota has avoided migrating the heater controls to the infotainment screen in the updated Aygo X, which is a relief as the physical buttons and dials are a joy to use compared to some of Toyota’s more expensive models.

Annoyingly, however, that very same feature for controlling the driver assist systems is actually an achilles heel.

In the Toyota Corolla and Yaris Cross, for example, you have to delve through a few too many menus to disengage the infuriating driver attention monitor, but you can do it on the go. In the Aygo X, however, you do so by navigating a heavily abbreviated and unintuitive menu in the driver display - which you’re not allowed to use on the move, so you need to pull over to change any settings. Boo.

Performance aside, the biggest benefit to the Aygo X’s new hybrid engine is fuel economy and emissions. Where the old model would achieve around 56mpg and 108g/km of CO2, the Aygo X hybrid can now reach a claimed 74mpg and outputs only 87g/km of CO2.

We actually surpassed Toyota’s own claims numerous times. On a trip from Peterborough to our London office - taking in exclusively motorways and heavy stop/start traffic - we saw more than 80mpg. Driven carefully on a cross-country A-road route, that went up to a high of 92.4mpg - the highest figure we've ever seen from a non plug-in car.

Even around urban North London, again - with lots of stop start traffic - the Aygo X never dipped below 65mpg. Your wallet will weep tears of joy.

In GR Sport trim with every option ticked you won’t cross the luxury car supplement threshold in an Aygo X, and thanks to the low CO2 output it sits in a low band for road tax. Company car drivers are better off looking at a small electric car, but as far as petrol hybrid cars go the little Toyota sits in a low band for Benefit-in-Kind payments, too.

Toyota Aygo X Euro NCAP score (2025): 4/5

Adult occupant: 73%
Child occupant: 72%
Vulnerable road users: 83%
Safety assist: 68%

The Aygo X scored a four star result in Euro NCAP crash testing, doing the best in safety assists with an 81% result. Both child and adult occupancy scored 78% and pedestrian safety scored 74%. It’s a respectable score for such a small car, but it’s worth considering that test standards have become much stricter since the Aygo X earned its stars in 2022.

As standard, all versions of the Aygo X come with Toyota's full suite of ‘Safety Sense’ driver aid technology software. With that you get autonomous emergency braking, emergency brake assist, lane keep assist, automatic high beam lights and road sign assist as standard. You also get adaptive cruise control on all trim levels, too, and a pair of ISOFIX child seat anchor points in the back.

Toyota came 19th out of 31 brands in the 2026 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which isn’t a great result for a legacy brand with such a stellar reputation for reliability. Nonetheless, there haven’t been any horror stories to do with the Aygo X or any of its siblings with the same engine, which ought to put you at ease.

As with all Toyota models, you get a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty as standard, but with regular services at Toyota dealers your cover gets automatically extended up to 10 years and 100,000 miles. Only Suzuki can match that.