What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - SophieK

Hi everyone,

Brought a 2015 i20 Premium SE in 2017 from Saltmarine in NI, adored the car, ended up going to live in Dubai for nearly 2 years for a teaching job and sold the car while I was away as needed to pay for a car there.

Made a great sale on the car to a lovely lady, still regretting selling it :-( it was such a good car....completely immaculate inside and never had any bother with it, 3 years servicing at Hyundai garages. I've now moved back to Northern Ireland and need a car in order to do substitute teaching.

Would like to get another i20, literally the only thing I didn't like about my previous car is when driving on the motorway I always felt like there should be a 6th gear, my friend drove my car and did the same thing - automatically reaching for the gearstick to put the car into 6th but of course there is no 6th gear. So my question is, do more recent i20 models have this issue or has anyone else noticed it?

Have had a lot of short term car hires since I've moved back (to visit my granny etc) so open minded about getting a different car altogether but I did feel I got a lot of car for my money with the i20...my model had a lot of spec and perhaps things that other people would consider novelty like the heated wing mirrors, DAB radio, climate control - I really appreciated!!! Especially compared to the cheap fit-outs of the cars in Dubai (honestly surprised my Ford Kuga didn't come with a cassette player).

Thank you in advance!

Sophie

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - Falkirk Bairn

Google i20 and it tells you

carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/hyundai/i20/hatchback/engines#:~:text=Hyundai%20introduced%20a%20dual-clutch,car%20jerky%20at%20parking%20speeds.

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - SophieK

Brilliant - thank you for this!

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - Auristocrat

The i20 1.4 came with a six speed gearbox. This engine was replaced in 2018(?) by two versions of a 1.0T in two forms 100bhp and 120bhp - the 120bhp has a six speed gearbox.

We had a 1.4SE for almost five years - just routine servicing done and no issues.

There was a facelift in 2018 which came with increased spec - safety kit, touch screen multimedia unit incl Android Auto/Apple Carplay, etc. Special editions such as the i20 Play have additional spec over the SE (sat nav, alloys from the Premium, privacy glass, two tone paint, etc), and are cheaper to buy. Currently got an i20 Play

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - SophieK

Thank you so much, yes I had tinted windows in my last i20, the spec on some of these models is just amazing. Great to hear of your experience, glad someone likes i20s as much as me :-)

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - Firmbutfair

Hi there SophieK, I have owned two i20s since 2011 and for relaxed motorway driving and brisk aceleration, I can definitely recommend any i20 model registered after September 2016, as long as you choose one with the 1 litre T-GDI engine. I assume your 2015 i20 Premium SE had the 1.2 litre engine, which I can say was briliant in my 'old' i20 but probably a little bit breathless in the later, larger and heavier New i20. The new 1.0 T-GDI engine, available in the New i20 from late 2016 onwards gives very quiet motorway cruising, excellent fuel economy if driven normally, and a very brisk turn of acceleration to keep most of those annoying 3 Series BMWs 'at bay' whenever you need it. The turbo charged one litre engine is very flexible and cruises quietly at around 2500 rpm at 70 mph in top (fifth) gear, which is 1000 rpm less and much more relaxed than the 1.2 litre engine spinning at around 3500 rpm at the same speed. So there is no need for a six gear in this car.

In short you should be able to fine a good used i20 1.0 T-GDI SE or Premium SE with anything from a '66 plate onwards, at a reasonable price, with the balance of its 5 year warranty still intact. Good luck and happy hunting :-)

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - SophieK

Thank you so much, this is so so helpful really appreciate you taking the time to reply. And yes that sounds exactly like the model I had. There are some amazing used i20s out there so this will definitely help me narrow it down!

Hyundai i20 - What year i20 should I buy? - badbusdriver

Just thought I should point out that as Hyundai and Kia are essentially the same company, look at Kia Rio’s too, which will give you a bit more choice.

Same car underneath with the same running gear, just different styling.