Is There A Better Value Low Cost Car That Is A Good As The 1.0 Ltr Man

[bobkneale]

I bought my 2010 1.0 ltr Manual IQ for the following reasons:

1) Very low running costs in "all" respects and aspects.

2) 5 star N Cap safety rating.

3) Toyota technology was perceived "by me" to have been built with long life and reliability in mind.

4) Drives more like a bigger sized car.

5) Not to "high tech" regarding lots of "nice to have" electronic "Gizmos" that can become troublesome.

6) My IQ only cost me about £5000 with not to many miles on it (about half the price of a new one)

My question is "Could I have purchased a better car that "better fits" fits my 6 point pre selection criteria above" ?

All views / comments are welcomed !

Positive Regards, Bob.

[bobkneale]

I bought my 2010 1.0 ltr Manual IQ for the following reasons:

1) Very low running costs in "all" respects and aspects.

2) 5 star N Cap safety rating.

3) Toyota technology was perceived "by me" to have been built with long life and reliability in mind.

4) Drives more like a bigger sized car.

5) Not to "high tech" regarding lots of "nice to have" electronic "Gizmos" that can become troublesome.

6) My IQ only cost me about £5000 with not to many miles on it (about half the price of a new one)

My question is "Could I have purchased a better car that "better fits" fits my 6 point pre selection criteria above" ?

All views / comments are welcomed !

Positive Regards, Bob.

Apologies one other point to be added to above, I only do 5,000 Miles per year.

[sweet-dentist]

Yep..Bob.. and that's the CVT... :-P

PS 15.000 kilometers a year... =about 10.000 miles / year...

[scimberk]

You are going to be hard pushed to get a car thats as overall good value and quality drive.

The only ones I can think of are..

Smart---Awful to drive and only 2 seats, not very good MPG, PAS as an option, terrible gearbox

Citroen C1/Aygo/107----same bits on them, 4 seats, lower NCap, not as intresting looking, fairly cheap.

Suzuki Alto--Not the best looking car, lower NCap, 4 door, 4 seat, interior is a little crappy, but so are some of the IQ plastics. Cheap enough to buy brand new. as far as Im aware, they are supremely reliable, even when massivley abused ( I know 4 people with them, one has done ove 70,000 miles in 2 years an hasnt even had so much as a reguar service and oil change, still looks and drives like new)

[Cyker]

Yariiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssss! :D

[scimberk]

Yaris isn't really a small car any more is it.

It reminds me of the Clio in that it's now the size of an older Megane.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Really the IQ is at the top end of the city car segment, and, as such competes with things like the Fiat 500, Vauxhall Adam, top end versions of the VW Up/Skoda Citigo/Seat Mio, etc.

The Yaris is in the next market segment.

The Aygo/107/C1 compete more effectively with the Suzuki Alto/Nissan Pixo, Suzuki Splash/Vauxhall Agila, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Chrysler/Lancia Y10, Chevrolet Spark, etc.

Be interesting to see how good the new Hyundai i10 will be when it goes on sale in December - built in the same Turkish plant as the i20 for Europe.

[scimberk]

I would say that Adam and Splash are definitely in a different class as I would not consider either to come within small and/or economy, certainly not in relation to the IQ

[FROSTYBALLS]

When you look at the wheelbase and length dimensions, they're not:

Vauxhall Adam wheelbase 2311mm and length 3698mm

Suzuki Splash wheelbase 2360mm and length 3730mm

Suzuki Alto wheelbase 2360mm and length 3500mm

Ford Ka wheelbase 2300mm and length 3620mm

Hyundai i10 wheelbase 2380mm and length 3565mm

VW Up wheelbase 2420 and length 3540

Toyota Aygo wheelbase 2340mm and length 3405-3415

Toyota IQ wheelbase 2000mm and length 2985mm

Compare the Corsa (wheelbase 2511mm and length 3999mm) to the Adam and the Corsa is a fair bit larger - 200mm in wheelbase and 301 in length. The Aygo has a larger wheelbase than the Adam!!

[scimberk]

Well that's interesting.

What's the iq wheelbase and dimensions?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Comparing the IQ to the Aygo

IQ wheelbase 2000mm.

length 2985mm.

width 1680mm.

height 1500mm.

Aygo wheelbase 2405mm.

length 3405-3415mm.

width 1615mm.

height 1465mm

[aaronfife]

I didn't thin there was a cheap car that was good as my IQ, BUT... my fiancé has just token delivery of a brand new Fiat 500 'S'. Sports model of the 500, 1.2 engine, seems to achieve around 370 miles to full tank (£41), has £30 road tax per year and insurance is the same as my IQ. I must say, the 'S' models interior is faaaar superior to the IQ's, absolutely stunning leather/red stitching all over the place and drives as good if not better than the IQ. Costs £11.995 new, which is more expensive to the IQ, but not by that much.

Overall, I love the IQ, it does have much better advantages over her Fiat 500 'S' like the great turning circle, free tax, bit cheaper to fill up and has a 'different' feel to it. That said... her 500 'S' is a stunning car, I wouldn't compare both as both are small hatchbacks that are cheap to run, look great and great to drive, but in different ways. Each car has it's disadvantages and advantages.

[sweet-dentist]

The 500 is really a "lady's" car... not for men...

and . . . . .

it's . . . . .

Italian....

[FROSTYBALLS]

The 500 is really a "lady's" car... not for men...

and . . . . .

it's . . . . .

Italian....

But built in Poland for the European market and Mexico for the US, Canada and Mexico. The Mexican version also replaced the Polish built version for sales in Brazil and Argentina

[scimberk]

Lady's car or not, I love the way they look on the outside, love the way they look on the inside, except for the leather, but the way they drive I thought was awful. I tried both the 1.2 and 1.4 versions on long(2day) test drives. Aside from the spubik spec, no a/c, I found the 1.4 sport had hardly any go unless you tevved it to death and extremely hard suspension, press the sport button and all it seemed to do was harden the suspension, put more weight on the steering and nothing else. The 1.2 was a bit more sprightly, but low spec, even so, it didn't inspire as much as my old Renault Scenic, which also seemed to hadle better when driven in anger.

The IQ was definitely the best choice for me, but far from perfect.

[aaronfife]

When you think 500 you think ladys car, this is natural haha. The 'S' has only been out for 5 months and believe you me, I would most certainly own one. Looks manly and I would say I have more ladys saying the IQ is 'cute' rather than the 500 'S'. In terms of driving the 500, I suppose it's personal opinion, the IQ is great but very jerky compared to the 500 'S'.

Both awesome cars in their on right however :)

[bobkneale]

I test drive the latest fiat 500 before I test drove an IQ and the IQ was a slightly better drive in my view.

[scimberk]

Each to their own, but I found the IQ to have a far more responsive throttle, its gearing was much better, steering more precise, though sometimes it has a tendency to understeer and the power to weight of the IQ seemed better.

All the above and more negatives go for the Smart, the only real contender when I was considering my latest.

[Cyker]

I agree about the Mk3 Yaris... it feels only slightly smaller than an Auris

However... the Mk1 Yaris D4D is quite small...

The 500 is quite fun, kinda Aygo-esque in some ways :)

[aaronfife]

It's not that I'm mocking the IQ here btw ha ha! The IQ does have a better throttle response so I do agree with that, the interior in the 500 'S' is much better than my standard IQ however. But comparing these cars for a month now, both are fantastic hatchbacks around town but I still prefer the IQ due to it has more advantages for my daily driving.

[Cyker]

Well the thing with the IQ is it feels MASSIVE inside, whereas the 500 feels as cramped as you'd expect

The IQ freaks me out whenever I sit in one; I feel like I'm in an Avensis or Corolla then I look around and because I'm not expecting the back of the car to be so close

[Celica Euan]

I'm going to say "I hope not" as an answer to the original question - as I'm going to be trading my Celica in this weekend for a (used) iQ² :)

[Soeley]

I'm going to say "I hope not" as an answer to the original question - as I'm going to be trading my Celica in this weekend for a (used) iQ² :)

Nice one, will you be known as iQ Euan from then on? :)

[Celica Euan]

Seems like a sensible idea though I'll be jiggered if I can see where the option to change display name is!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at the last post of this topic - http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/126323-greetings/