Used Hyundai Bayon cars for sale

Is a second hand Hyundai Bayon a good car?

The Bayon is Hyundai’s answer to the likes of the Ford Puma, Nissan Juke, and VW T-Cross. It’s a compact SUV — really a hatchback wearing notional hiking boots — which gives you a little taste of that SUV style for not a lot of money.

The Bayon is really quite striking to look at, but underneath it’s basically a Hyundai i20 hatchback. It’s like a contestant in a fancy dress contest — glamour up top, accountant underneath. 

It really is quite stylish though, with that rounded front end with the slim daytime running light bar and the huge grille. Around the back, the tailgate is almost all blacked-out and there are neat arrowhead brake lights. You can even have the roof finished in a contrast black. It’s quite a lot of style for the cash.

Inside, things are all a bit more conventional. The cabin is basically that of the i20, so you get neatly integrated infotainment and instrument touchscreens, but some of the quality isn’t really up to snuff. There are too many cheap plastics — a VW T-Cross’ cabin feels much better made. 

That said, you do get a bit of a raised-up SUV-like driving position, but it’s not so high up that you’re teetering or anything. The seat and steering wheel have plenty of adjustment too. 

At launch, the Bayon came with an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system as standard, while pricier models got a bigger, fancier 10.3-inch screen. Both are fine, and the underlying software is actually pretty simple and easy to use. It’s not as clever a system as some others, but it works well and you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. 

The digital instruments are also good — they were standard on all versions too — and while, again, they’re not as whizz-bang as some others, the dials and data are all clear, simple, and easy to use.

The Bayon really scores in the back seats, where headroom and legroom are very decent even if the transmission hump in the middle of the floor means it’s a bit restricted for three in the back. Even so, the Bayon is much roomier than a Puma or Juke in the back seats. 
The penalty for that rear seat space is that the boot is quite small by the standards of this class. It’s a well-shaped, square-and-flat boot, but with 334 litres of volume, it’s well behind the likes of the Ford Puma or the Skoda Kamiq. 

Originally, the Bayon launched with a single 1.0-litre petrol turbo engine, with a 48-volt mild hybrid system which helps you save a bit more fuel around town. Originally, there was a choice of 100hp or 120hp versions, but in 2024 Hyundai reduced that to just the 100hp model, as well as giving the Bayon a bit of an exterior update to make it look more like the bigger Kona. A six-speed manual gearbox comes as standard, and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is optional. Fuel economy should work out around 45mpg in daily driving, no matter which engine you choose. 

The Bayon is best kept in town, where the soft suspension plays its best tunes, making bumps and speed humps just go away. The light steering makes parking and mini roundabouts a doddle. 

On a twistier road, the Bayon is fine but nothing special, so if driving pleasure is your bag, then check out the Ford Puma instead.

What to look for when buying a used Hyundai Bayon

The Bayon’s a pretty new design, and even the older versions will still have a little of their original five-year, unlimited mileage warranty yet to run, so if any issues do make themselves known, there’s the reassurance of that cover. There aren’t any reports of major problems for the Bayon, but the i20 on which it’s based has had occasional reports of issues with the mild hybrid system which can sometimes drain the 12-volt battery leading to diagnostic alarms or starting issues. Keep an eye on the clutch in the manual versions too, as part of the mechanism is plastic and prone to snapping. 

Hyundai Bayon FAQs