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by **Lisa Balsom** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 22:02

As our dear Peugeot 205 has been written off after a break in, I am now in need of some replacement wheels. ( Where I have to park, the Cappo would last about 5 minutes)

We're thinking about getting a Toyota Aygo and wondered if anyone or anyone they know had one of these little rascals and what they are like.

We've read all the motoring press and they seem to love them, but living with a car is a different matter.

Thank in advance, lise

by **Murray Betts** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 23:25

I have a 1.0L Yaris, bought it new in 2000 (Belgium personal import).

It's been 100% reliable and the economy is excellent. I love it.

I was interested when the Aygo came out as to whether it would be a viable replacement, so researched it and went to have a look.

Conclusion - a lot of money for a little car. It's notably basic compared to the Yaris, just not big enough for me (that's a personal thing, I need to carry stuff), can't fit a towbar (I was told), rear seat folding down is not really good enough.

If you really want one get a Citroen version, exactly the same car from the same factory in Poland, also the Peugeot, just different panels+badges. The Citroen is £500 cheaper, but check exact specs for comparison, they're not like-for-like. I don't think they're selling that well in the UK (price??), so bargain hard.

The 1.0L engine in the Aygo is a "new" 3cyl unit, and is the one in the new Yaris (mine is the "old" 4cyl item). It's reckoned to be a nice little lump, and even better economy than the old one.

Consider also the Daihatsu Sirion (Toyota underneath too), much better value but severely hit with the ugly-stick IMHO.

I'd suggest a year or 2 old Yaris, there's some good deals about with the new one on sale. A friend bought a 9month old "Blue" edition with 1500mls for £7k recently, a couple of grand off list.

by **Dick Winchester** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 23:43

I like my wife's Renault Clio 1.2... Very reliable and economic to run with excellent handling.. It has the most astonishing brakes.. We've had this one for nearly three years and it was bought for about £5k with 12k on the clock....... A bargain if you ask me.

by **Lisa Balsom** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 00:30

Thanks for the advice guys, very helpful.

One of appeals of the Aygo is that it is an unusual car. As I recall, that influenced a previous purchase too.

We looked at the Yaris, diesels particularly, but since the road tax changes, they all seem to have evaporated. Spent Saturday morning in an M1 traffic jam going to Chesterfield, only to find the prospective purchase had been sold 30 minutes earlier. Grrrrr!!!

Travelling to see cars seems to be a necessity living near Derby. We live in a used car vacuum, they all seem to be at least 33 miles away.

After chasing another in Stoke that was bought earlier that day unseen, we moved our sights to the Aygo.

I agree, there seems to be alot for sale which I don't really understand. It is super efficient and with a wider track than the Yaris must feel bolted down. Spec level is a little light (the VVTI+ isn't too bad), but with recent events in mind, maybe the thieves might leave it alone.

We did consider the Clio, when Martin's car was in the shop he had a 1.2 courtesy car and loved it, but considering that his car is a Renaultsport Clio, we thought one was enough.
He actually said he enjoyed driving the 1.2 more than the ClioSport, a bit less urgent.

Once again thanks, please keep those opinions coming, Lise

by **Ben Fletcher** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:44

For what it's worth, I've had a go in a Peugeot 107 - the same car bar badge and bumpers as the Aygo. I borrowed one for a night - it was amusing enough as a novelty, some aspects of the design are really clever, and the handling was amusing but I think practically living with one would be a bit of a trial. It was pretty noisy, and there wasn't much space in the back (the boot is far smaller than my memory says a 205's was). There's also very little space to actually put stuff in the cabin, which would annoy me. However, if you just want it for around town and short journeys it might suit well - it depends what you want it for.

If you do want one, it's also worth shopping around between the three manufacturers - they all come out of the same factory, so there's nothing to choose between them for build quality & reliability, but the Citroen/Peugeot versions are cheaper (and are likely to have much better customer offers). Of the three, the Citroen's the cheapest as list price, but with their cashback offers a C2 is actually cheaper - another alternative! It's also worth looking at the spec - initially there doesn't appear to be much in it, but by the time you've got something with central locking, air con etc they're not quite as cheap as you might expect.

In terms of Clios, until very recently mine was a two-Clio household (a Renaultsport and a dCi 80), and they were both absolutely great. My girlfriend gets over 60mpg from her Clio on long run - not even a Cappo can do that! But then I do work for Renault, so I may be biased!

Other alternatives to consider are things like the Kia Picanto (much roomier than the C107ygo, and has 5 doors), the Diahatsu Sirion (Diahatsu are owned by Toyota, and I've read some very good things about the new Sirion), the C2, the Ford Ka, and, of course, the new Swift.

I've made the assumption here that you want to buy New - of course, if you're looking at second hand, that opens up a whole wealth of alternatives!

Sorry - I've just reread this and it's become something of an essay. I hope it hasn't confused more than it's helped! :roll:

by **Lisa Balsom** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 19:24

Just been to look at an Aygo. Not very impressed.
They seem very well put together, but don't feel very substantial and, as Murray said, I think for £7000+ you expect more.
It just all felt a bit tinny. If it was £2-3k less

So, back to the drawing board.

We're not really bothered if the car is new or used, we just need something that is small, reliable, not proned to rust and secure. The Aygo seemed to fit the bill. It's quite irritating because we both had a good feeling about them.

It's quite hard to find out what security alot of cars have too (whether they have deadlocks etc), and very few new cars have alarms, probably because no-one takes any notice of them.

Looked at the Picanto, the spec per £ is very good, alarm and all the tricky bits.
The only problem is a little voice in my head whispering it's a Kia

The search goes on, thanks for the good advice and keep those ideas coming. I'm sure the right car is out there.

I do miss my Pug though :cry:

There's an example of how to build a car, we had it for nearly 14 years.

Lise

by **Murray Betts** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 20:42

Also check out some of the owners' surveys, like here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/survey/

(previous years' results there too)

by **Lisa Balsom** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 20:23

The deed is done, we have just bought a 2001 Toyota Yaris 1.3VVTi SR in red of course with 17,500 miles on the clock.

We are very happy, and actually got it from our local Suzuki dealer that some of our Cappo parts come from.

What is it they say about under your nose? :oops:

The car drives really nicely, great roadholding, the rear sliding / folding seat is rather unusual but very handy, and the dash display is Star Trek!

Hopefully it will carry on pleasing and entertaining us like this for a long, long time.

Murray, the guy at the garage ( it being suzuki) wasn't totally au fait with it's gadgets, what's the door double lock about? Is it locks then deadlocks?
Any other tips or Yarisisms would be really helpful.

Thanks to all who gave their handy advice, Lise

by **Dick Winchester** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 20:29

Congratulations on the new addition to your family. May all her troubles be cheap ones!

!7.500 miles eh.... That's not bad for her age. Same as my Cappo as it happens so their life expectancy should be similarish !

by **Lisa Balsom** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 21:01

Thanks Dick, so do we.

Crikey, 17,500 miles on a Cappo is REALLY low, has it spent some time inside for speeding offenses? :lol:

by **Dick Winchester** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 21:35

LOL - Certainly not.... she's a law abiding little thing..

That apart I can never work out what speed she's doing cos the thingy is in Kph !

I actually think she spent a lot of her time snoozing in a Japanese garage somewhere.. I'm told they don't use their cars much anyway..

by **Murray Betts** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 21:58

Hi Lisa
hope it suits you well!! :lol:

The 1.3 engine is a different basic lump to the 1.0 (not just a stretched version), so I can't comment on that particular version.

Also the deadlocking came in just after mine, so I suspect you're right about it. When all else fails, read the manual :wink:

You might be pleasantly surprised at Toyota spares prices. I try to use genuine parts where possible, just got an oil filter (£7+vat), recently got wiper rubbers at about £9 for the set (3), and was quoted £45 inc.vat for a battery. That's only a small premium over aftermarket stuff. Air filter was about £15 I think.

Nothing quirky to report really, it just does what it says, starts, goes, stops. :lol:

I really like the dash/instruments/cubby boxes. The "virtual" display for the speedo works really well IMO, especially as you get older and it takes longer to re-focus near/far. For the uninitiated, the instruments are in a central binnacle with a mirror and the actual display is down low, so the image is at about 4 feet distance, which means less eye strain. I also like the digital speedo, you can't kid yourself that you're only doing "a touch over 30" if it says 35mph. Some people don't like digi speedos, maybe for this very reason!

Worth putting in some decent headlamp bulbs I reckon, Osram Silverstars or Phillips Vision Plus are a good bet, I use these
http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/

A friend of mine christened it "Boris", so that's what it is. :bounce:

by **Lisa Balsom** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 23:28

Hi Murray, thanks for the info, we wondered about that display.
Having a centre speedo will be like driving the Min again.

You're right, the manual is the place to look, but we don't get the car until Monday (they want to service, MOT, valet and de-stonechip it), we should really have asked for the manual upfront to get to know him/her better in advance.

You raise an interesting point though, what to call him/her?

Any ideas everyone, all silly suggestions considered. :looney:

Upto now we've had Min, Mog, Pug, (all obvious) and Dodgem.
The Clio and the Cappo haven't been Christened yet, still waiting for them to tell us their names.

Where abouts in Warwickshire do you live Murray?, I am originally from Napton-on-the-hill near Warwick.

Thanks, Lise

by **Dick Winchester** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 23:44

Toya the Toyota?
Harris the Yaris?

by **Ken Malone** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 08:09

Bomber Yaris? :wink:

by **Dick Winchester** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 09:39

Yaristotle ? :lol:

by **Murray Betts** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 17:40

If in Scotland you could have a Yaris Tweed.

(I'm in Kenilworth)

by **Ken Malone** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 19:05

on in Russia a Yaris Yeltsin?

by **Alex Clouter** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 16:50

Looks like the Aygo diesel won the GREENEST car at Silverstone today... 94 mpg.

So Lisa......!

by **Lisa Balsom** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 17:22

94 M.P.G.!!!

How many laps did they push it for?

I don't like green cars anyway :lol:

SCORE

Pug go so Aygo?

Pug go so Aygo?

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