Getting A New Car. Bye Bye Aygo.

[Jazzy Jase]

Having owned my silver Aygo Sport for 31 months, and driven 22500 miles, it is time to move on. The Aygo goes Tomorrow, to be replaced with a Fiat Punto Sporting.

I bought the Aygo hoping for a cheap to run car whilst my Fiancée and I bought our first house. I traded in a nearly new Ford Fiesta ST so the Aygo had a lot to live up to in terms of performance, build quality, comfort and fun.

Things started well, I didn't miss the acceleration of the Fiesta and I actually found the engine in the Aygo had much more character than the fiesta and just loves to be thrashed. Initially the handling of the Aygo wasn't to bad either, but as I drove the car more and more I learned that under-steer was very much a feature of the Aygo, which may go some way to explaining why all four tyres only lasted 13000 miles (they were rotated front to rear at 8000). Unfortunately, the Toyo Proxes I replaced the Continentals with offered even less grip than the original Continentals, though they are lasting much longer!

In October 2007, I had a minor accident when the car I hit made an emergency stop on a roundabout. The Aygo held up well and only needed a new bumper, bonnet and wing. What surprised me the most was the ineffectiveness of the stopping power of the Aygo. The skinny tyres really do not offer enough stopping power on a damp road. Maybe I've been spoiled by driving various hot hatches for 8 years, but since then, and especially since replacing the tyres I have been vary wary of stopping distances in the Aygo.

My 40 mile daily commute consists of town-country-motorway-town in the morning then town/motorway/town in the evening. The Aygo is a city car so I know it's not ideally suited to my commute. It gets thrashed down the country roads every morning, booted down the motorways (except when it is windy as the car is very susceptible to crosswinds) and sits in a reasonable amount of traffic. It rarely gets used for anything other than my commute. Even so, in the time I have owned it, it has averaged 48mpg, with a best of 59mpg over 382 miles achieved simply by driving more economically!

I find the seats in the Aygo very comfortable. Probably because they are quite firm, but they are seriously lacking in lateral support. Fine for sitting in traffic or motorways, but not for spirited driving or roundabouts! The only other problem I have with the driving position is that my left knee is always resting on the heater control knob, which can get very uncomfortable after a while.

The interior of the Aygo is a mixed bag. It looks funky and offers plenty of space for 4 people. It's well screwed together, but the plastics are cheap and sound insulation is poor. The shiny dashboard proved a real annoyance as it reflected badly onto the windscreen on sunny days. And how much extra would it have cost to add a boot light and a switch to turn on the interior light when the passenger door was opened.

The air conditioning is great for demisting the window, which seems to mist up a lot. Especially when it's raining, but it's not so effective at cooling the car on a hot day.

My car developed a rattling rear window and squeaky seat belt anchors. Both were rectified by my local Toyota Dealers, but both came back within a short space of time only to be fixed and return again. I learned to ignore them. Turning the stereo up was not an option as it was terrible - very little bass, despite having the extra rear Speakers.

Other faults included constantly rusting wheel nuts, despite being replaced and a clutch which developed a squeak after 18000 miles. I must admit I've been disappointed with the faults and cost-cutting nature of the car. Maybe if I'd bought the Citroen or Peugeot versions I would have been more tolerant of the problems, but I expected more from Toyota . There are plenty of cars in the same price range of the Aygo, certainly at the top end where my Sport cost circa £8500. Most of which are bigger and better built, and in some cases better equipped.

In summary then it may sound like a damming report from my ownership experience, but it has achieved it's purpose of being a cheap car to run over the last 31 months. I bought a servicing package with the car and my dealership has always been very good in that department. The insurance is dirt cheap and so is the VED. I also realise that the Aygo is a city car and considering that, it has coped very well with everything I have thrown at it. It's done well, but it's just the little things that let it down, those cost saving measures that really wouldn't cost that much extra and maybe I was expecting on the top of the range Sport model.

Finally, just wanted to say thanks to everyone on these forums and I wish you all the best.

[wharfstaff]

Sorry you're defecting to Fiat Jazzy Jase, have you owned a Fiat before? My wife and I owned MkII Puntos from new and (up to now - touch wood) the Toyota aftersales has been in another league,

I hope you don't experience the difference in enthusiasm between Fiat sales and Fiat service that we did!

[Batfink]

Hello

That's a very fair review I think - it's a fine line between saving money and the lure of a better car - and as our desires and bank balance change over time, so does the car that suits us.

I hope you enjoy the Fiat. I can't say I know a lot about them, but they certainly look very nice!

Batfink x

[Jazzy Jase]

Thanks guys. I have owned a Fiat before, but it was 10 years ago and I had a really good dealer. The current dealer has just gone way down in my estmation and already soured the experience.

Just been to pick it up (40 mile round trip) only to be told that a switch is broken and they don't have a replacement. I can understand things breaking, lack of parts etc, but WHY THE F*CK didn't they phone me and tell me, so I didn't waste my time and my father in-laws time and diesel.

So now I'm sat here with no car. (The missus has the Aygo today) and no idea when I will get the new one. Luckily I actually still have the Aygo until the finance company come to collect it in a couple of weeks. Grrrrrr.

[Blue84]

Thanks guys. I have owned a Fiat before, but it was 10 years ago and I had a really good dealer. The current dealer has just gone way down in my estmation and already soured the experience.

Just been to pick it up (40 mile round trip) only to be told that a switch is broken and they don't have a replacement. I can understand things breaking, lack of parts etc, but WHY THE F*CK didn't they phone me and tell me, so I didn't waste my time and my father in-laws time and diesel.

So now I'm sat here with no car. (The missus has the Aygo today) and no idea when I will get the new one. Luckily I actually still have the Aygo until the finance company come to collect it in a couple of weeks. Grrrrrr.

Maybe thats a sign that the Aygo wants to stay

[Jazzy Jase]

Well, the Aygo has just been driven away by Toyota. I must admit to being a little sad to see it go. I still haven't collected my new car, so I've got a Fiat Stilo as a loan car.

[aygo-bloo]

Well, the Aygo has just been driven away by Toyota. I must admit to being a little sad to see it go. I still haven't collected my new car, so I've got a Fiat Stilo as a loan car.

You may rue the day, my wife and myself have both owned Fiats (Punto and Stilo!) and they have been the most unreliable cars we have ever owned. I hope yours doesn't live up to the following saying; FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorow! Be warned, their reputation is well earned, and as for the dealers.........