Which used Toyota Aygo should you buy?

With just one engine available, a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol with just over 71PS, there are no choices to make under the bonnet if you’re in the market for a Toyota Aygo.

It’s only a small car, so that engine is powerful enough and it helps to keep running costs low: expect cheap insurance and fuel economy of over 50mpg. Most Toyota Aygos are manual, but you can get an automatic version called X-Shift, although this version isn’t quite as frugal with fuel.

The Toyota Aygo isn’t a roomy car; the rear seats aren’t very comfortable for adults on long trips, and the boot is small. Yet this is the case in almost all city cars, and the Toyota Aygo counteracts this by being comfortable and enjoyable to drive, easy to park, and even surprisingly good when cruising on the motorway.

It’s a five-door only – there’s no three-door version – so again, there are no decisions to make here, and access to the back seats is good. And while the cabin looks a little bare next to a Volkswagen Up, there’s still a good amount of equipment for a cheap city car, as is explained below.

Which Toyota Aygo you choose is likely to be determined by what you require in terms of specification.

Read our full Toyota Aygo review

What used Toyota Aygo trim levels are available?

The Toyota Aygo was launched in 2014, but post-2018 models have the equipment that many would consider essential these days. For example, Toyota added smartphone connectivity – Android Auto and Apple CarPlay – to the range in 2018.

This means there are three main models to consider – the Toyota Aygo X-Play, Toyota Aygo X-Trend and Toyota Aygo X-Clusiv – plus the Toyota Aygo JBL Edition. 

Toyota Aygo X-Play

The entry-level Toyota Aygo X-Play cost from around £13,000 when new, but you can find used models for much less than that.

As it’s a low-cost car, you wouldn’t expect to see a really long list of standard kit, but this Toyota Aygo is relatively well equipped, as the list below demonstrates. Look out, too, for optional extras such as parking sensors and a body-coloured centre console.

• Lane departure warning
• Air-conditioning
• LED daytime running lights
• Touchscreen media system with Bluetooth
• Digital radio
• Reversing camera
• Android Auto
• Apple CarPlay
• 15-inch steel wheels

Toyota Aygo X-Trend

The Toyota Aygo X-Trend features all the equipment on the Toyota Aygo X-Play and more. Notable optional extras to keep an eye out for are an electrically-operated large sunroof that Toyota described as ‘a fun-roof’ and useful parking sensors. Equipment over and above the Toyota Aygo X-Play included:

• Automatic headlights
• Front foglights
• Tinted windows
• Climate control
• 15-inch alloy wheels
• Body-coloured exterior detailing

Toyota Aygo JBL Edition

The Toyota Aygo JBL Edition does what it says on the tin, featuring an upgraded JBL stereo set-up with five speakers, including a subwoofer in the boot. Other equipment highlights are:

• 15-inch alloy wheels
• Special grey and orange paintjob
• Auto headlights
• Tinted windows
• Climate control
• Cloth interior trim with orange highlights

Toyota Aygo X-Clusiv

The top-spec Toyota Aygo X-Clusiv comes with the most kit as standard, and is available with special red, blue or black paint colours. It includes all the equipment from the Toyota Aygo X-Play model, plus the features detailed below:

• Keyless entry
• 15-inch alloy wheels
• Climate control
• Part-leather seats
• Gloss black dashboard
• Automatic headlights

Is a used Toyota Aygo a good buy?

The Toyota Aygo is decent to drive, cheap to run and has a distinctive design. It’s a popular choice as a first car because of the low insurance costs, although there are other city car options that are similarly appealing such as the Skoda Citigo, and stablemate the Volkswagen Up.

The Toyota Aygo is part of a trio of cars built at the same factory, so if you can’t find a version that works for you, the Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1 have the same mechanical parts and only subtle changes to the looks. It would be worth checking if you can find one of them that suits.