I really need to start thinking about replacing my old car, and with the new government scrappage scheme, this seems like a good time. My current small car is a 1998 Nissan Micra 1.3 GX, but it really is starting to get old. It struggles to hit 60mph, it has a very poor safety rating, the fuel economy can't be brilliant, and the central locking is now completely bust.
I've narrowed my choice of a new car down to the brand-new 2009 Ford Ka Style, and the newly restyled 2009 Toyota AYGO Blue, but I'm really unsure which to get, because the reviews they get are quite similar, and they seem to be getting 4/5 stars everywhere.
The Ka Style costs £8,595 whereas the AYGO Blue costs £8,835 (5-door), but the AYGO has £20 road tax because of its CO2, cheaper insurance across the board, and a much higher MPG of 62.8 combined (compared with the Ka's 55.4). It also seems that the AYGO comes with more equipment as standard - Bluetooth Hands-free and iPod integration (£200 on the Ka) and Side airbags (£150 in the Ka) for example.
My anticipated annual mileage would be around 10,000 miles - mostly around-town travelling with the occasional motorway journey.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas? Thanks in advance!
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I have driven the Citroen C1 (clone of Aygo) and was very impressed by it. However I have the feeling that 10,000 miles pa my drive me a bit loopy in it - they are very basically trimmed. The Ka, which is of course a Fiat 500 clone but with better suspension, I think is a slightly more sophisticated vehicle and you may well appreciate the extra sophistication over 100,000 miles if you keep the car that long.
The best thing to do is to drive both for at least an hour over the sorts of roads you normally cover. The Ka will cost more, but not hugely more and I think you will benefit from it.
However they are both fine cars so the choice is your personal preference which should be based on the driving characteristics, not a few mpg.
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Id be inclined to go for the Ford, although id also look at the 500 what with it being much the same car and slightly more interesting ( important for long term ownership ).
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Both would be fine around town but I think the Ka would be less frenetic and more comfortable on the motorway.
If you do go for the Aygo make sure that you also look at the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 in case one of those gives you a better deal. That said, Toyota dealers are mostly of a higher standard than the others.
It may also be worth test driving a Hyundai i10 with the 1.2 engine; much lauded by road testers, especially HJ.
Edited by Avant on 03/05/2009 at 23:08
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Another vote for the Hyundai i10 but the Ka looks nice, shame its far to expensive for what it is. Go for a Suzuki Alto if you want great MPG, the Aygo is ok but just ok nothing special.
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I can't speak about the Ka, but I bought a Citroen C1 on 20th March and it has now done 650 miles. I paid £6295 from my local Citroen dealer and so far am very pleased with it. It will keep up with the traffic on motorways easily, and on trunk roads driven at 50-60 mph returns 65+ mpg. It seems to be an ideal car for anyone on a tight budget and I can't see the point of buying a more expensive version of what is essentially the same vehicle just for the sake of the badge on it.
Whatever you choose, good luck with it.
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I know a gent who has a Citroen C1. He went to the Citroen dealer to buy a "Citroen-only" spare part (I believe it may have been a filter), only to discover that it was stamped "Toyota"...
Ever since then he's had it serviced at the Toyota garage - the cost of parts and labour is cheaper.
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if unsure which to go for spend 100, and hire both cars from local rental firms for a weekend, it can be a great investment and answer all your questions for a very small amount of money
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A dealer that really wants to sell will let him have a few hours in one for free.
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Our Aygo is almost 2.5 years old. Just had a new waterpump, which is a known problem and the design has been changed so shouldn't be a problem for new cars.
We considered Ka (old one), the Fox and the Aygo (C1 and 107 not considered due to dealers and servicing is more expensive). We chose the Aygo because it was the smallest and more importantly for us is available with 4 doors.
Were we looking now an i10 and the new Suzuki Alto would be on the list.
Ford Ka is new kid on the block and despite sharing components from a Fiat you could end up being part of Ford's testing programme.
Around town it does 45 mpg, well over 60 on a decent A road run. The three pot motor is also much more flexible than the 1.3s I have recently experienced in the Yaris and the Micra.
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like loonykev I bought a C1 5dr Vibe a year ago. Its been faultless & very cheap to run. I actually enjoy driving it & do use it on long runs as well. As already said its easy to achieve over 65mpg ( best I had yet is 72 on a long gentle motorway run) & the engine is so flexible it will drive around towns without loads of gear changing.
If it was 8-9k it would be too dear for a small car but at 6k it was dirt cheap with a 3 year warranty & fantastic economics & holding its price quite well is an added bargin.
For a small car the new KA is too dear!
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I know you said you've already narrowed it down to these 2 cars, but I was just wondering whether you'd seen the current TV advert by FIAT for the Panda EcoPlus for £4995 (inc. scrappage)? Would it make any difference?
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I know you said you've already narrowed it down to these 2 cars but I was just wondering whether you'd seen the current TV advert by FIAT for the Panda EcoPlus for £4995 (inc. scrappage)? Would it make any difference?
Fiat Pandas you could buy new for 5k until a couple of months back, no trade in required. Its worth remembering that the basic price is for yellow paint, red and metalics cost extra.
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Hi there,
I bought a second hand Aygo sport (06 reg, nothing even remotely sporty about it just with extras - alloy wheels, a/c and spotlights) about 6 months ago. No, it's not the most refined car in the world but I love it. Upon buying it the water pump had to be replaced but the dealership were very honest about this and it was replaced under warranty - shouldn't be a problem with the newer cars. Despite some of the negative comments about the interior I think it's fine, only thing I woul change would be to pad the seats out a bit - for aesthetic reasons only though as they are comfy even on longer journeys.
The car drives well and is nippy round town. It also copes well on the motorway and though it sometimes sounds like a motorbike it speeds past other cars with no problem at all. Since buying it i've done several long journeys and my partners car, a clio has been left redundant in the garage ever since I bought mine!
The Aygo has good safety ratings/features and as of yet I haven't had any problems. It's also surprisingly spacey inside and fits 4 very easily. The inside is much bigger than it looks.
I may be biased (my younger sister had an old shape KA and had nothing but problems.) I looked at the new KA myself as I was considering a brand new car but price wise I'm very happy with my Aygo and Toyota are very attentative.
Aygo would be a good choice, but again... it's really about what suits you.
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I had a new Ka as a hire car a couple of weeks ago - somewhere in Europe, can't remember where - it was tremendous for a small car. Certainly far more refined than the Aygo / C1 / 107.
I agree that the i10 is worth a good look if you have a Hyundai dealer nearby.
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Thank you for all of your replies, they have been very helpful.
We have both a Ford and Toyota dealership locally (sadly not a Hyundai), but in the end we chose Toyota and went for the 5-door Aygo Blue.
In terms of price, the Aygo was only a couple of hundred over the Ford Ka Style, but we loved the idea of having five doors in the small car, as well as Manual Air Con and Bluetooth Hands-free as standard, so we believe it was a good investment.
After sitting in them both a few times, we decided that we preferred the cabin of the Aygo greatly. Although being incredibly basic, it has everything we want and I think that it both FEELS and IS more spacious (for headroom and legroom). After we'd taken it for a test drive, that sort of sealed the deal.
Love the colour too :)
Delivery date is "end of June" - waiting on a more particular date. Thanks for all your help and suggestions, I'll be coming back if I need any more advice!
Regards,
Ewen
P.S. Wooo front page listing on Google when you search "2009 toyota aygo blue" :D
Edited by ewen1605 on 27/05/2009 at 21:38
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I drove ours on Sunday for 140 miles of rural roads and enjoyed them all. The fuel gauge finally moved a mile from home!
I estimate high 60s mpg for that trip and the aircon was on all the time.
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