Toyota Aygo X Review & Prices

Toyota has given its smallest hatchback the SUV treatment, resulting in the chunky little Aygo X. It’s far from a proper SUV though, having retained all of its town-friendly driving manners and diminutive dimensions while gaining some beefier looks.

Think of it as a well behaved teacup terrier in a waterproof coat and little wellies. No bark, no bite, but it certainly looks ready for some puddles.

It doesn’t have many close alternatives, but there are some other rufty-tufty hatchbacks around such as the bigger Citroen C3 and electric choices Dacia Spring and more expensive Hyundai Inster. The Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto offer similar prices and petrol engines without the off-road looks.

The Aygo X is a striking little car, with dinky proportions exaggerated by relatively large wheels and matte black body cladding on its wheel arches, side skirts and front bumper. LED lights sit at both ends of the Aygo X, but it’s the two-tone colour schemes which really set the small Toyota apart in traffic - though not on the base model, sadly.

The interior is also funky to behold but it’s rather plasticky to the touch. A contrasting oval trim piece features on the dashboard, and it contains the standard-fit 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment - or a 10.5-inch unit on higher trim levels. There’s no posh widescreen driver’s display, but the speedometer, rev counter and car information are all contained in a neatly designed little cluster.

Interior quality feels high, even if the plastics are hard - but that’s par for the course on a car this cheap to buy. You sit quite high up in a comfortable seat that’s got a fair amount of adjustability, and it’s mounted high up so you get a better view ahead than in a lot of tiny cars.

Rear passengers will struggle for comfort though, even if they’re not especially tall. Headroom and legroom is very tight, and the rear door openings are comically small to get in through.

As with the rear seats, boot space isn’t great, with a 230-litre boot capacity placing the Aygo X behind the Hyundai i10 and the Kia Picanto. The rear seats do fold down to provide 829 litres of cargo room though.

On the move, the Aygo X isn’t exactly a rocket ship. All trim levels are powered by the same 1.0-litre three cylinder petrol engine with 72hp. It thrums along excitedly, though it’s borderline harsh with your foot flat to the floor, and annoyingly you will have your foot flat to the floor a lot - especially when equipped with the optional CVT automatic gearbox.

The standard-fit manual gearbox is a much better option, and while you’d be forgiven for thinking the CVT is the clear choice for driving around town, being subjected to the noise and vibration from the engine does get tiring. The manual gearbox is also very easy to use, with a light clutch and gear change.

Speaking of which, the Aygo X is most comfortable when driving in town. The tall seating position, small footprint and narrow A-pillars all help when manoeuvring around narrow roads - though rear visibility is poor which can be annoying when parking. It’s comfortable too, doing a good job of absorbing lumps and bumps at low speed.

Motorways are surprisingly easy in the small Toyota. Yes it takes an age to get up to speed, and overtaking is a trepidatious activity, but the big wheels and soft suspension mean the Aygo X feels remarkably comfortable and stable for such a small car.

Twisty roads are fun with a surprisingly large amount of grip, but the lack of power really shows when on a road with even a slight uphill section.

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The Toyota Aygo X is available in four trim levels, starting with the entry-level Pure model. Aygo X trims climb in price and spec via the Edge and Exclusive models to the top-of-the-range JBL Special Edition.

Base-model cars come equipped with single-tone paint, 17-inch wheels and an unpainted rear bumper insert. You get the 9.0-inch touchscreen as standard on the two bottom trim levels, but it’s only the Edge and above models which come with 18-inch wheels, 10.5-inch infotainment and two-tone paint finishes as well as front fog lights and rear privacy glass.

Exclusive cars come with even more gloss black trim, but they also have contrasting silver accents on the exterior as well as ambient lighting and colourful trims inside the car. The top-range JBL Special Edition Aygo X comes with an exclusive paint finish and a JBL subwoofer in the boot as well as decorative JBL badging.

The Aygo X feels at home in town and it’s surprisingly adept on the motorway, but opt for the manual version if you can

In town

Around town the Aygo X is a very pleasant car to drive. A short wheelbase, narrow body and quick steering make the little Toyota a properly useful city car. It darts in between lanes and it’s a piece of cake to thread through narrow streets.

It’s hardly nippy though, as there’s only one engine option for the Aygo X - a tiny 72hp 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol. You can have it with either a five-speed manual gearbox or a CVT automatic, but the former is a much nicer option to go for.

Even around town, the manual is the better choice. That may be surprising, but with a light clutch and easy gear change it’s not worth dealing with extra engine noise that comes with the sluggish automatic.

On the motorway

Although it’s not completely at home on the motorway, it copes rather well, despite its low power output. It soaks up most bumps very easily and is settled enough to make long distances simple to cover. The seats might not be the most supportive, but they’re well-cushioned.

The Aygo X is also rather refined for such an affordable car. Active cruise control, even on the manual, and lane keeping assist. It feels genuinely stable at high speeds, especially on the 18-inch wheels.

They’re a double-edged sword though, as the larger wheels do generate some noticeable tyre roar, but wind noise is limited. If you open the optional sliding cloth roof you get quite a lot of turbulence, but it’s nice to have the option for sunnier days.

On a twisty road

Don’t expect high or even medium-performance from the little Toyota as 0-62mph is dispatched in a lethargic 14.8 seconds. Top speed doesn’t even crack the 100mph mark, falling short at just 98mph, but performance doesn’t tend to be a factor when choosing an economical city car.

That being said, it’s surprisingly planted in faster corners, if you can keep your speed up, and it doesn’t often feel short of grip. Bigger bumps and dips do unsettle the Aygo X though, and there’s a little shimmy from the rear of the car that can be a little unsettling.

As with any small hatchback there isn’t a great deal of space inside the Aygo X, but there are some useful storage cubbies

Up front, there’s a decent amount of adjustment in the seat to give you plenty of room for your legs, while decent headroom and thin door cards mean it’s easy to find a comfortable driving position for drivers of all builds.

A pair of cupholders in front of the gear lever, usefully large storage bins in the doors and a surprisingly deep glove box mean the little Toyota has plenty of space to carry the odds and ends of everyday life.

There’s even an optional full-length sliding cloth roof which is lovely on a sunny day and makes the cabin feel bigger than it is when open. It also insulates noise pretty well when it’s shut.

Space in the back seats

Headroom is at a premium for taller adults, and the lack of legroom means the Aygo X is best suited for short drives as there’s very little in the way of shoulder room.

You do get a pair of door pockets though, and a single central cupholder, but there’s no fold-down arm rest or seat pocket storage.

Both rear seats have easy to reach ISOFIX anchors, although fitting a child seat can be frustrating as the rear doors have very narrow openings, meaning a little jiggery-pokery is required. A Skoda Kamiq or Dacia Sandero is far more practical for families.

It’s far from flash and it doesn’t feel premium, but the Aygo X has some useful features as standard

The Aygo X is pretty stylish inside. The flashes of exterior paint colour on the door tops may be a cost-saving measure, but they do a good job of adding some highlights to what would be an otherwise very dark cabin. Unless your Aygo X is black, of course.

That being said, almost all of the surfaces are made from hard, scratchy plastic - a reminder that you are in fact in a budget hatchback at the end of the day. All of the panels and pieces feel well screwed together though, and the cabin feels unlikely to fall apart any time soon.

With USB ports behind the gear lever you’ll be able to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto – both of which are easy to connect to on the entry-level 9.0-inch display. You even get wireless smartphone connection for the Exclusive and Limited Edition trims, paired with a larger 10.5-inch screen.

You also get a small display in the instrument binnacle where you can see your speed, trip computer, the settings for your cruise control and your entertainment selection as well as a host of other features.

With its tiny 35-litre fuel tank, it’s a good job you can achieve a decent level of efficiency. The fuel economy figure sits at 56.5mpg, while emissions are 109g/km CO2when equipped with a manual or 113g/km and 56.4mpg with an automatic gearbox.

That means you’ll pay a first year vehicle excise duty (VED) rate of £390 for the Aygo X, with road tax then costing £195 thereafter. The yearly cost may seem high, but electric cars now pay the same amount of road tax as combustion engine cars - so the small Toyota is barely more expensive to tax than its EV alternatives.

As standard, all versions of the Aygo X come with Toyota's full suite of ‘Safety Sense’ driver aid technology software.

With that you get autonomous emergency braking, emergency brake assist, lane departure warning, automatic high beam lights and road sign assist as standard. You also get adaptive cruise control on all models, even with the manual gearbox.

The Aygo X scored a four star result in Euro NCAP crash testing, doing the best in safety assists with an 81% result. Both child and adult occupancy scored 78% and pedestrian safety scored 74%. It’s a respectable score for such a small car, but it’s worth considering that Euro NCAP standards have become much stricter since the Aygo X earned its stars in 2022.

Toyota models are well known for their reliability and solid build quality, and the Aygo X lives up to the reputation having not had a single recall or known issue come to light.

The 2024 Driver Power survey placed Toyota as the eighth most reliable car brand in the UK from a field of 32 manufacturers, according to owners. That’s a great sign for Aygo X owners in years to come.

You get a typical three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. Then with regular timely services at Toyota dealers you get an additional 12 months and 10,000 miles up to 10 years and 100,000 miles of warranty. An excellent proposition.