Toyota Aygo vs. VW Fox vs. ?

scab-e

I am looking for a new small reliable car for city driving. It should be very cheap, very reliable with low depreciation and minimal fuel costs. Performance is not important as it will rarely leave town.

The Toyota Aygo is 10,550 and 4.6l/100km
VW Fox is 12,790 and 6.2l/100km

The Fox seems quite large inside also it seems very solid and well built but I see very few of them about.

I don't know anything about the aygo and haven't even tried one out/ Is it really a toyota or just some french thingy rebadged? Will it be ultra-reliable?

Anyone have any experience with either of these vehicles and are there others I should consider?

thanks

colm_mcm

I have experience of the Aygo through work, we've sold a good few. they are very simple, and reliable, so if something goes wrong, it's not likely to cost much to put right. There's 3 years warranty and roadside assistance on them.

The Aygo is part of a joint venture between Toyota and PSA, so you'll see Peugeot and Citroen versions too (not nearly as many though) As I predicted here in 2005, the Aygo has the strongest resale of the trio, despite being pretty much identical, apart from some trims, exterior detailing, warranty and dealer networks.

I've had very little VW Fox experience, from what I can see, they don't have as much character as the Aygo, aren't built to VW's usual (percieved) quality standards and haven't been much of a success for VW. don't know about standard equipment, but on the Aygo, you have to go one up from the base (Terra) model to get a reasonable amount of kit.

also consider Hyundai i10. won't hold as good 2nd hand value though.

Mailman

A nearly new Fiat Panda Dynamic would be a better bet than both of those two cars. They're a really pleasant little car to drive.

Bluefoam

Fiat 500
I'd spend the little extra to get this. Great car.

http://www.fiat500.ie/

http://www.fiat.ie/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_IRELAND/showroom/showroomModel.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0742047270.1216233044@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadeejedejmecefecejgdfkhdfjk.0&categoryOID=-1073813814

Mailman

it's not a little extra. It will be many months before you can get a Fiat 500 at or below it's already high list price.

Breezer

Haven't driven the Fox (which IMO is an awful, boxy-looking thing anyway) but thoroughly recommend the Aygo. In addition to what colm_mcm said, they're a really fun car to drive around the city. Great handling, grips the road well and very forgiving on the gears so you don't have to constantly be shifting if you don't want to. Only a 1.0L engine but due to its really light weight it flies away from lights; the only time it's slow is going from about 70-100 km/h on the motorway (also a little noisy on the motorway but with an engine that size it's to be expected).

Also it may look small, but test drive one and you'll be surprised at how roomy it is inside, especially in the front. Nearly everyone who's sat in my passenger seat has commented on how big it feels, and how comfy the seats are (the combined seat and headrests in the front are also a big hit). Not a huge amount of leg room in the back, admittedly, but it's fine for short trips unless your rear seat passengers are all 6' tall. The boot is also very small but the rear seats fold down (individually) to create more space. I have yet to be in a situation where I've had to carry a large load and 3 passengers.

To answer your question about whether it's a French car in disguise: it's not. The engine in the Aygo, C1 and 107 was designed by Toyota.

One word of advice - spend the bit extra and go for the Aura model rather than the basic Terra, you get a lot more equipment. The Strata is fairly pointless I think, all it has over the Aura is alloys, front fog lamps and a rev counter.

EternalSunshine

5th gear did a review. U should check out this. I would go for the Toyota.

JHMEG

Aygo hands down of all cars mentioned. If the budget stretches have a look at the Jazz. It has almost the same cabin space as the Accord.

E92

Another vote for the Aygo.

LolaDub

colm_mcm wrote: »

The Aygo is part of a joint venture between Toyota and PSA, so you'll see Peugeot and Citroen versions too (not nearly as many though)

Out of the three identical cars the citroen c1 is the cheapest of the three, so i would take a close look at that if you go with the aygo.

colm_mcm

The Citroen is cheaper, but has a shorter warranty and inferior roadside assistance package, and will not be worth as much as the Toyota 2nd hand. regardless of the fact that they're built side by side.

peasant

The VW Fox was designed and is made (very cheaply) in Brazil by VW do Brazil, yet in Europe they'd like to make you believe that it is of the famed teutonic VW quality (which it clearly isn't) ...I'd stay away

Breezer

Citroen C1 1.0 City 3 door: €10,850
Toyota Aygo 1.0 Terra 3 door: €10,550

So not necessarily true! I think this may be since the VRT change, I remember the Aygo being more expensive before alright. Also not sure how the Aura compares to the equivalent spec on the Citroen. Check it out though, and remember the Aygo has a longer warranty and will hold its value better.

JHMEG

peasant wrote: »

VW do Brazil

Sounds like Debbie does Dallas.

peasant

JHMEG wrote: »

Sounds like Debbie does Dallas.

http://www.vw.com.br/default.asp

check out their models ..some weird stuff out there

ohh ..and sorry for going off topic ...shan't ever happen again

maidhc

peasant wrote: »

The VW Fox was designed and is made (very cheaply) in Brazil by VW do Brazil, yet in Europe they'd like to make you believe that it is of the famed teutonic VW quality (which it clearly isn't) ...I'd stay away

Wasn't it designed to replace the beetle as a taxi in Mexico city or something.

Eitherway, it is a car for developing countries and looks horrible in comparison to the lupo it replaced.

Aygo, definately.

scab-e

wow thanks so much for all the advice!

honda jazz is a bit too dear.

fiat 500/panda: the 500 looks really great and it's a hatchback but I am worried about reliability. Also the 500 is a little dear. I imagine they are in short supply. Is there any proof that these models will be more reliable than their ancestors?

The min spec on the aygo is too low even for me. central locking is a minimum so it's 11.5k not 10.5k

hyundai i10 is a possibility.

I think I am a car racist. Didn't know the fox was made in brasil. I knew a brasilian girl once. Looked fantastic but very unreliable.

maidhc

scab-e wrote: »

fiat 500/panda: the 500 looks really great and it's a hatchback but I am worried about reliability. Also the 500 is a little dear. I imagine they are in short supply. Is there any proof that these models will be more reliable than their ancestors?

Are Fiats not pretty reliable? I know of plenty puntos, and while they are no K11 Micra (which seem to be harder to kill than most of us would like) , have been exceptionally good.

L1011

maidhc wrote: »

Are Fiats not pretty reliable? I know of plenty puntos, and while they are no K11 Micra (which seem to be harder to kill than most of us would like) , have been exceptionally good.

New Fiats are indestructable. The 500 is based on the Panda which is one of the most reliable cars on the road.

Autocar did their 40,000 mile (I think) stripdown test on the Panda, and absolutely nothing had broken - the car had never broken down, not required any work beyond its normal servicing. It had two building problems - corrosion on the exhaust mounts and sump cover - which Fiat admitted was a manufacturing problem and had been fixed in the second revision of the car (this was a first revision).

My own first revision Panda has done 40,500 miles with no breakdowns. Shocks and shock mounts got done in in an accident, but that could happen to any car. Other than that its had me maintaining it (no servicing since 18,000 miles!) and nothing has happened.

Basically, the whole non-reliability is a myth from the past, which is constantly perpetuated by a bunch of muppets who likely haven't even sat in a recent Fiat.

Mailman

fiat 60K strip down
http://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/118533-new-panda-60-000-mile-stripdown.html

Breezer

scab-e wrote: »

The min spec on the aygo is too low even for me. central locking is a minimum so it's 11.5k not 10.5k

Oh I agree, I said that a while back, I was just comparing it to the C1 entry price to show that the Aygo was now cheaper.

They hold their value very well though, 2006 Aygos are going for between €8,000 and €10,000 on Carzone.

colm_mcm

Entry level C1 has electric windows as standard AFAIK. I'd still find the extra money somewhere!

Jonny303

Hold on as long as you can....Mazda 1 on the way!

LolaDub

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=SIeu7_-iwdw

top gear football match, aygo vs fox

colm_mcm

so, if you're looking for a small car to play football with....

EternalSunshine

I am not so sure about the Panda. I hire cars every month when i am home and the only car that ever broke down on me was a panda. That taught me not to downsize again.

( interesting enough, the only other car i had problems with was an alfa 166! )

crosstownk

OP - of the two I'd favour the Aygo.

@colm: I'm not 100% sure, but doesn't the Aygo have a Toyota engine and the others (Pug/Citroën) use a PSA engine?

Mailman

EternalSunshine wrote: »

I am not so sure about the Panda. I hire cars every month when i am home and the only car that ever broke down on me was a panda.

Perhaps you were unfortunate.
The Panda came in at number 8 in Top Gear's survey.
http://www.topgear.com/content/carsurvey/2006/features/01/1.html

Trotter

Aygo all the way. I get 700km for €40 petrol. I do lots of city driving, and I've driven it to the west of Ireland for weekends away etc. Its equally as good to drive on the tiny back roads as it is on decent city roads.

Theres no lack of power on the motorway either. It might be a bit noisy, but it cruises along at 120kph very comfortably.

Its a fantastic little thing and I'm really happy to hold onto mine for plenty of time to come yet.

colm_mcm

crosstownk wrote: »

OP - of the two I'd favour the Aygo.

@colm: I'm not 100% sure, but doesn't the Aygo have a Toyota engine and the others (Pug/Citroën) use a PSA engine?

nope, all use the 1.0 VVT-i unit found in the Toyota Yaris, Daihatsu Sirion, Perodua Myvi, and Subaru Justy (to name a few!)

The diesel in the Aygo is a 1.4 PSA unit though.

I love flying around traffic in an Aygo the odd time, they're great craic, there's plenty power for a little car, and the 3 cylinder engine has loads of character.

eamon234

+1 on the Fiat 500 unless you want to be a Toyota Sheep:)