Nervous New Driver - Aygo or Yaris?

[eyelidmovies]

I'm a learner driver and I'm looking to get a really, really cheap used Toyota as my first car. I'm torn between an Aygo and a Yaris (unless there's another option I'm missing?)

I work from home, so I'll be using the car for short journeys (15 to 30 mins each way) to go to the gym, no motorway, during the week.

BUT, I do plan on doing motorway journeys on weekends - but only about 100 miles each way for the most part. I also expect to do a fair bit of windy country roads.

I've heard that the Aygo isn't great on motorways, but how bad is it really?

On the one hand, I have zero issue with sitting in the left hand lane and taking it slowly, because these will be leisure trips. Also, I'm on a tight budget so having cheap insurance would be ideal.

On the other... if the Aygo struggles THAT badly (just something I've heard from opinionated colleagues), would it be worth saving a bit longer to get a Yaris?

Also... I'm hoping to pass my test in March. I know very little about cars (but I'm the kind of person who wouldn't be scared of getting a Haynes manual and a set of tools). Is there anything I should be watching out for? Any tips (e.g. Don't get a 2008... spend a bit more because 2010s have X awesome feature?) that I should know?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bernard Foy]

Hi Alice, taking into account your motoring needs it may be more advisable to go for a 1litre Yaris. Try and get one with known mileage and full Toyota service history, and take an experienced driver or mechanic with you. Happy hunting 👏.

[Catlover]

Hi Alice, and welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

do remember that the Toyota Aygo was just one of 3 similar cars made in the same factory in the Czech Republic. The other 2 cars were Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107. Maybe trim and a few body parts different, all had the same engine etc. My wife bought a Citroen C1 in 2006 and one time we went on holiday from Warrington, north Cheshire to Berwick on M56/M62/M1 and A roads. Spent a week touring then back home same way. I drove most the time, I am 6ft and felt reasonably comfortable, certainly not uncomfortable. No aching backs etc. Tje car was easy going between 65-70 mph. Going over the Pennines was a challenge, couldn’t keep the speed up but no real problem. Good mpg. Maybe the advice you been given is from drivers who are used to something bigger, and dropping to a 1 litre engine was too much of a drop down for them. Forget what they said. Yes a Yaris will be slightly bigger car, but extra weight for a 1.3 petrol engine to move. You will be fine with an Aygo/C1/107, IMO

[Big_D]

I agree with Catlover. My wife and I hired an Aygo when in Spain a few years ago. I must admit that I was really impressed with the performance. We toured all over, and did many miles with no problems. 

[flash22]

For a new driver, insurance cost is a big factor, i would get a few quotes on the car you're thinking of, look on autotrader and use the reg number from the cars

The £2-3K mark is a bit of a minefield car wise, don't rush into buying the first one you see and don't forget when you buy you will need to tax the car for your use

[eyelidmovies]

Thanks for the replies @Bernard Foy and @Catlover

My friends do drive much bigger cars so that will probably be coloring their opinion.

I was looking at the 1.2L Yaris, but it's almost 25% more for the insurance and I wasn't sure what difference it would make to, er... "driveability".

I'd be doing similar roads (Northern England > Berwick > Edinburgh primarily) so it's comforting to know even an Aygo / similar can handle it.

[Cyker]

TBH I'd see what you can afford and see what sort of insurance costs you'd incur first!

Also, what did you learn in?

I will say that, personally, with the Aygo and the Yaris, neither of the petrol engined ones are particularly great on the motorway - They just don't have the torque at high speed to do quick overtakes so whichever one you pick you'll need to learn to downshift or take a run up to overtake. The only Yaris that was really good on the motorway were the diesel ones, but what with all the penalties you get for taking a diesel near a city centre these days it's hard to recommend them now.

That said, once you get them up to speed, either would be fine - It's normally the Aygos I see flying past me when I'm on the motorway  

Out of the two, I'd lean towards the Yaris over the Aygo for one reason - The clutch. The clutch on the Aygo has a weirdly high biting point that can take a lot of getting used to. If you've gotten a good feel for clutch work, the Aygo would be okay, but I'd lean towards the Yaris just because the clutch is much better - Has a short travel and bites dead centre. If you're looking for an automatic I'd avoid both tho', unless your budget can stretch to a hybrid one.

The 1.0 Aygo and Yaris perform fairly similarly; Yaris gets slightly slower in the newer models (The Mk2 and Mk3 are bigger and heavier than the Mk1). They both can get off the line quite quick, but you to have to run the revs up to get them to really shift. If you're patient then either could be fine for you. I will say the Aygo is more fun on twisty country roads, but is less comfortable on long boring motorway runs.

The 1.3 Yaris gives a bit more power at the cost of more fuel use - I had one to replace my diesel, hoping it would be better on the motorway but TBH it wasn't that much better than the 1.0 - You still had to rev the hell out of it if you wanted to overtake quickly, so it was better to just back off and get a run up, which the 1.0's can do just as well.

 

Other cars worth looking at that are in the same vein are the Hyundai i10 and i20, Kia Picanto and Venga, Ford Fiesta, Fiat 500, Mazda 2.

It'd be worth grabbing a mate who knows things about cars and just looking/sitting/test-driving a load of them just to get a feel. You learn a lot of stuff that way!

[eyelidmovies]

9 minutes ago, Big_D said:

I agree with Catlover. My wife and I hired an Aygo when in Spain a few years ago. I must admit that I was really impressed with the performance. We toured all over, and did many miles with no problems. 

That's comforting to read, thanks!

8 minutes ago, flash22 said:

For a new driver, insurance cost is a big factor, i would get a few quotes on the car you're thinking of, look on autotrader and use the reg number from the cars

The £2-3K mark is a bit of a minefield car wise, don't rush into buying the first one you see and don't forget when you buy you will need to tax the car for your use

Thanks for the tip. I'm a complete newbie (and while my friends can drive, they're pretty clueless - they all lease then hand back after a few years, and lease again, I don't think they've even changed their own oil ever haha). I've had conflicting advice about hiring an AA person to inspect a car before buying. Some people say it's a good idea, others say "They ALWAYS find fault with the car, you'll never find anything in that price range they'd say to buy".

The good thing is I don't NEED a car to commute, so if it breaks down it wouldn't be too much of an issue.

[Catlover]

3 minutes ago, eyelidmovies said:".

The good thing is I don't NEED a car to commute, so if it breaks down it wouldn't be too much of an issue.

It would be an issue if you broke down even 20 mile from home.

for breakdown I would recommend Start Rescue. Take a look at them, see what you think. We find them good value for money.

[Bernard Foy]

Well Alice you’ve got all the advice necessary from the knowledgeable guys on here, so the best of luck in your hunting for a car. In due course let us know what you purchased and a picture if possible 👍🚘

[eyelidmovies]

Thanks @Cyker

I'm learning in a Petrol Citroen C3 that's less than 2 years old. I haven't passed yet (not due to test until March). My instructor says I have very good clutch control but I'm too heavy on the brakes. My instructors car is the only car I've ever touched, so I fully expect whatever I swap to when I pass will feel weird. I do plan on doing Pass Plus or at least a few motorway lessons with him though.

The area I live isn't ULEZ (yet), but I'd feel bad doing short journeys in a residential area in a diesel. I guess the decision now is "what's more important... fun on the country roads or the motorway bit..."

[eyelidmovies]

Thanks @Catlover I'll check them out!

And thanks @Bernard Foy - I take my test in March, I'll be lurking / reading while I wait and will definitely post when I become a "real owner" 🙂

[Big_D]

Good luck with your test.

[Cyker]

Ah good! I only ask as I find people that learned in diesel cars don't develop the clutch control you need for a small-engined petrol car and struggle with them, but you already have that experience so you'll be able to adapt to either just fine!

 

[PetrolDave]

I used to do a 20 mile motorway commute in my 2008 Mk1 C1 (same thing as an Aygo mechanically) and had no problem keeping up with the traffic. I often used to take the 'long way' home because I enjoyed driving it so much. Recently I've been doing more 200 mile plus trips from the West Country to the Midlands and not felt the car wasn't capable or suitable.

Now I have a Mk2 Aygo and iIMHO it's more of the same enjoyable drive.

Given the difference in insurance costs it seems to me that the Aygo would be a more sensible choice financially for your first car - and most definitely suitable for the drives you mention.

[SB1500]

Good luck with the test when you get around to it! 

My vote here is for the Yaris. We had one in the family from new in 2013 which went 8 years needing nothing but tyres and service items. They exhibit Toyota’s legendary build quality. 
 

I have nothing against the Aygo, but personally I wouldn’t choose it over a Yaris. It isn’t a true Toyota - it’s built in a shared factory with the C1 / 108 and having just had a lot of trouble with a Citroen myself, I’d not recommend them or any thing dependent on their parts and engines to anybody. It’s not that they’re bad, but they just don’t have a shade on Toyota. 
 

Buy the best you can afford at the time. The Yaris is a better car objectively. It has more Toyota DNA from top to bottom. Shares some with Mazda but that’s another Japanese quality driven car brand 🙂 

[Puglet]

Hello and welcome, we have a Peugeot 107 and 108 in the family (both with same engine/mechanicals/similar design as Aygo) and both have been mechanically very reliable. Some people have issues driving them due to the clutch, but personally not been an issue for me and my sister's 108 she soon got used to driving it after driving her previous car for 20+ years. As for motorway driving, keeps up with traffic and cruises perfectly ok. 

Having got both the first gen 107 and the 2nd gen 108 cars, comparing both, the 108 is a big improvement over the 107, better quality and infotainment, feels and drive quality is also better. So not sure what your budget is, but if you can push to get a Mk2 Aygo then worth the extra money imo. The Mk2 2nd gen cars just more grown up car they sorted alot of the annoying little issues/niggles from the Mk1 first gen cars. We were looking at late model Mk1s but pushed our budget, well my sister's budget, and got an early Mk2 108 and it been spot on. Also to be fair , although all cars have issues, the Mk2s seem to had a lot less than Mk1s had over their life cycle and the main water leak problem that plagued all Mk1 first gen cars is major improvement on Mk2, fairly uncommon and not surprised as comparing ours it got better door seals and tailgate design.

How they compare to the yaris I have no idea, but as ever look at both and more importantly drive both and good luck with your search.

[Catlover]

Both Citroen and Peugeot have given up building their small car, so now the Czech factory is solely for Toyota.

[davidif]

4 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Good luck with the test when you get around to it! 

My vote here is for the Yaris. We had one in the family from new in 2013 which went 8 years needing nothing but tyres and service items. They exhibit Toyota’s legendary build quality. 
 

I have nothing against the Aygo, but personally I wouldn’t choose it over a Yaris. It isn’t a true Toyota - it’s built in a shared factory with the C1 / 108 and having just had a lot of trouble with a Citroen myself, I’d not recommend them or any thing dependent on their parts and engines to anybody. It’s not that they’re bad, but they just don’t have a shade on Toyota. 
 

Buy the best you can afford at the time. The Yaris is a better car objectively. It has more Toyota DNA from top to bottom. Shares some with Mazda but that’s another Japanese quality driven car brand 🙂 

I don't think that the Aygo contains any Citroen or Peugeot DNA and in fact all three use Toyota engine/transmission etcetc.

I would say that the Aygo is every bit as much a 'true' Toyota as the Yaris is.

[Stopeter44]

12 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Both Citroen and Peugeot have given up building their small car, so now the Czech factory is solely for Toyota.

The factory was a joint PSA/Toyota venture, as I understand it. Given that Stellantis, or at least the PSA part of it, didn't want to sell in the A segment (Aygo, Up, Twingo, etc) it has now become TMMCZ (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic).

Which is a longhanded way of saying what Catlover said.

[Puglet]

The only fly in the ointment was Peugeot/Citroen did fit their own engine (1.2) to some of their 108s/C1s, usually the posher specs, as said Toyota didn't. When we got our Peugeot 108, the only stipulation from me to Big Sis was it must have the Toyota engine as our Toyota engined 107 been so good and easy to work on, good move cos heard the Pug/Cit 1.2 engine has had issues! and it cam belt another no no for me. I showed her all 3 (Aygo/108/C1) and she chose the 108 as she preferred exterior styling, cos they basically same interior anyways.

PSA not only given up the A segment, they lost the plot with the AMI, so it will be a full fat Aygo X next time for me. 

[Stopeter44]

46 minutes ago, Puglet said:

good move cos heard the Pug/Cit 1.2 engine has had issues! and it cam belt another no no for me.

There was a recall on the pre 2017 3 pots, to do with the cam belt, to check the condition of said.

Apparently, according to the Peugeot dealer where I had my 208 serviced, the cam belt would get sludged up if the annual oil changes were not respected. He said "some low mileage users were resetting the service indication, and only changing oil every two or even three years". Firstly PSA revised the replacement interval on the cam belt from 10 years and 200k km, to 6 years and 100k km (maybe it was 5 years).

That would have put me on a timing belt change the last service I did, but fortunately PSA changed their minds and left it to the (in)discretion of the dealer. I sold the car soon after the service to take delivery of the Yaris.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Stopeter44
modified in view of following reply: thanks PetrolDave

[PetrolDave]

1 minute ago, Stopeter44 said:

the cam belt would get sludged up if the annual oil changes were not respected.

That's because the 1.2 PSA engine uses a wet cambelt!

The 1.0 Toyota engine uses a timing chain.

[Wiz201]

I've done lots of motorway driving with my Aygo, overtakes a lot of vehicles with no issues and keeps up with the best of them. I've driven both, and I have to say I prefer the Aygo. 

[Cyker]

A *wet* cambelt?! Wat? What's the point of that??