Aygo X Play Auto

Good little run around

I bought my new shape Toyota Aygo X Play earlier this year and so far had no issues at all. As you would expect from a Toyota everything seems to be screwed together well and no issues at all.

Ideal car for short urban journeys and whilst it will do long journeys it really does not like going more than about 70mph - The best fuel consumption comes in when you are doing about 60, remember this is a tiny 3 cylinder 1.0 petrol so its not designed for 70+ mph motorway runs. Everything about the car is designed to be fun and cheap, The odd ball skinny 165/60/15 tyres are cheap to replace (although can be tricky to find) as are the front discs and pads (£140 discs and pads from Mr Tyre). The car shares its platform with the C1 and Pug 108 so lots of parts are available as these models share many bits.

The car will seat 4 people when needed (no middle seat/seat belt) although the people in the back are going to struggle if they are taller than about 5'9", really its designed for 2 adults / 2 kids or just 2 adults. The seats are comfy and it has all the safety stuff you would expect of a new car. The boot is pretty small (good for 1 big suitcase or 4 Tesco 'Bags for life'), you can fold the seats flat tho so at a push you can get more stuff in - I managed a road bicycle (front wheel removed).

The interior is good quality with tough fabrics and chunky switches. It pays to go for one with the added touch screen as this means you also get a DAB radio and reverse camera (DAB/Camera are part of the screen package) otherwise you end up with a naff single slot CD player. That being said all Aygo's have a Aux input and USB charge port for a smartphone or MP3 player etc. The steering wheel also is fitted with phone controls and volume/channel controls for the stereo. Talking of the stereo the DAB reception is just ok but the speakers are decent and not at all tinny even at reasonably high volume.

Onto economy - This is where I think it gets a bit murky, Toyota would have you believe you can get mid 60's in terms of MPG but in reality the best I get in urban environments is around 48-51mpg and on the motorway as long as you stay around 60mph you can expect 55mpg on a good run, This maybe down to the E-Auto version I have so I suspect the manual will be a little better. Note as well its £0 a year tax which is handy! The tiny 3 cylinder 1.0 engine makes it cheap to insure as well.

On the subject of the E-Auto I would say that unless you really want an E-Auto avoid and get a manual, The Auto works fine but its old tech and its clunky. Often I find myself up-shifting with the steering wheel paddles myself because the car will try and sit in 2nd or 3rd gear -The problem is worse when cold (maybe the gearbox oil is thick or something). It still works fine just not as slick as a manual and not quite the same MPG I suspect.

Overall the build quality / 5 year warranty / £0 tax and cheapness of wear and tear parts makes this a great urban run about or commuter for either 2 people or at a push 2 people with 1 or 2 small kids.

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