I am looking to buy my daughter a small car which must be cheap and economical. The one I think suits her best is either the Toyota Aygo; Citroen C1 or Peugeot 107.
I believe these cars are more or less identical and made in the same factory but just badged differently. Can someone please offer some advice as to which would be the most sound buy ? My gut feeling is the Toyota as it would be more reliable but also costs more in the first place.
Any info (IE Problems/Downsides) on any of these cars greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
TrevTheBev
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I think I would be influenced most by meeting the service managers of of the three marques in your local dealerships.
Regards
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I cannot see how the toyota would be any more reliable - as you say they are produced using pretty much the same parts, in the same factory by the same workers.
I would probably go for the C1 as usually citroen have good incentives and often give the car a better spec as standard. Also the Aygo looks a bit uglier than the citroen or the peugeot.
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Friend bought a 107 recently. Toyota couldn't get anywhere near the price he got the 107 for. He's (well his wife actually) hasn't had any issues at all.
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Decide the specification you want then get prices. If you want a three door base model Citroen are usually cheapest, but if you want a few more comforts such as electric windows, remote locking, 6 speaker stereo you need to go up the models and check specs and prices carefully.
We ended up with a 5 door Aygo + because we wanted electric windows, remote locking and this was the cheapest of the three - £7,000 from drivethedeal. Had it just over a year and only one minor problem, but local toyota dealer is excellent and fixed the problem quickly - fault was diagnosed by service receptionist.
One other issue to consider is servicing price. Our Aygo first service was £105, Pug and Citroen may cost more than this. I have read of C1/107 owners being charged £150-200.
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Check the service costs, if the petrol engine needs its tappets adjusted at one of them. In particular, how much it costs if they need adjusting rather than just checking.
IMHO, The Fiat Panda with the Multijet diesel is a step up in size and feel and the engine is a chain cam with hydraulic tappets (no adjustment or checking required) with only oil and filters needed in (engine) servicing over 150,000.
Despite the official -warm air-California derived fuel consumption figures, multi stop start cold UK running would really favour the diesel Panda.
You could get one for £6,300 (ish) recently on fiatsupersaver.
( I wouldn`t touch the diesel Citroen C1 though as its a belt cam design)
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 22/03/2008 at 07:41
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"Also the Aygo looks a bit uglier than the citroen or the peugeot."
Peoples perceptions are always interesting. We lease an Aygo as a 2nd car and chose it because we thought it looked better than the other 2! Anyway, it's been faultless for the 18 months we've had it and incredibly economical. I think you may find the cheaper prices of the other 2 may be reflected when it comes to selling it, ie. I imagine (based on absolutely nothing but guesswork) that the Toyota might retain its value more.
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Why not a Ka - could get a new one cheaper than the C1 clones - and just as cheap to run?
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They were advertising 2007 KAs in a particular dealer for £2999 on the box yesterday.
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Aygo,citroen,peugeot and Fiat Panda are all galvanised...........
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And if you are keeping it for 10+ years thats relevent, but as most will be sold on a a few years time....
Having said that most cars are pretty good on anti-rust these days.... my '97 Polo is still in good nick...
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They're all the same car at the end of the day, so as others have said, if you want one of these, get the servicing costs and add them to your calculation.
Some franchises will undercut substantially their same brand competitors by a large amount so phone around.
As an aside, IMO do not be tempted by the base model, it doesn't have central locking and you have to use the key to open the boot every time....annoying, also the window winder handles are awful silly narrow things and are nail breakers (ruin mine when i become clarissa at weekends), also some of the base models have no closable glovebox, and evrything is displayed for the local chavs.
Other than that they really are super little cars, surprising quick and torquey for such a small engine, petrol or diesel. Instant starters, instant power steering from cold, no coughing and spluttering and very difficult to stall, nice simple easy controls.
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Good points made about specification and servicing.
If there was nothing much in it, I'd go for the Toyota badge. There would be a perceived better resale value and I think in the event of a major problem, Toyota UK would be more likely to behave honourably than PSA.
659.
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Last year, I was considering buying either a C1 or an Aygo and, as I wanted a base model, I went for the C1.
If you are looking to buy a base model then the Citroen can be had for considerably less than its Toyota equivalent and is also available in several different colours (all basic Aygos are red).
If, however, you are looking to buy one of the better specified variants, you will probably find that a C1 is only marginally cheaper than the equivalent Aygo and that, as the Toyota will presumably hold its value better, the overall costs will be more or less the same.
Incidentally, in response to b308?s suggestion, my previous car was a Ford Ka and, when I sold it, rust had perforated one of the sills. The lack of a galvanised shell means that the Ka is a bad bet for long term ownership.
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Coincidentally spent some time looking at Aygo/C1 only yesterday, and liked what we found. But then we looked a the Fiat 500. A bit more money but fulfils a similar function and felt a much nicer place to be for us. Might well be one of those I think.
If I do go for this it will be..um..interesting...after the Lexus.
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Was considering all three in the same situation last December. Then saw a Mazda2, arranged a test drive and it was a clear winner. The Mazda2 TS is very close in price to the Toyota Aygo, and it is a much better car (more power, less noise, more space).
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Surely the Fords have a perforation warrenty which would fix that?
I also looked at them when considering a second car with low tax band for commuting - I tend to agree with the Fifth Gear mob when they suggested, after testing all three, that the C2 was a better bet - more room, same engines, but not much different in price...
The Ka was just a suggested altternative as it seems very popular these days, don't like the styling myself, actually prefer the C1, but everyone to their own, eh!
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The Mazda2 TS is very close in price to the Toyota Aygo
Depends how you define "very close", but you've got to be some way up the Aygo range to ge tot the Mazda price.
I'd also suggest looking at Mitsubishi Colt - 3dr CZ1 is available for £6K in many dealers and there's a useful 3yr servicing package for £150.
If you did just want as cheap as possib;e Aygo/107/C1 - I don't know how widely available it is, but I have seen our local Citroen dealer offering C1 for £99/mth PCP for 3yrs with no deposit. I'm not usually a fan of PCP's, but I thought that wasn't a bad deal - renting the car for 3yrs for £99/mth.
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"Fault diagnosed by service receptionist" That just means everyone sold has got it!!
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Agreed it was a common fault - dodgy boot lock, but it's one of the few occasions where I haven't had to book a car in for them just to look at it. She actually left her desk, assessed the problem, parts ordered straight away and it was done for lunchtime the following day - excellent service.
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I think the Aygo has the best image of the three ,making it more desirable when the time comes to sell it. The Toyota looks the best IMO. It's a sad state of affairs that of the 3 the Toyota should be the most stylish.
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Many thanks to all who have taken the time to respond. There is a lot of information here to digest. I have seen a price for a brand new C1 for £5700 (Carquote.co.uk) and that sort of money would only get me a 56 plate Aygo. Like for like, I'll need to check out the spec.
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I have seen a price for a brand new C1 for £5700
Is that price after Citroen's £500 part/ex allowance?
£5458 after £500 part/ex allowance here - tinyurl.com/3bbvym
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Sorry for the typo in my previous response. The car site I got the good price was from www.carquake.co.uk
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I agree with the point above - they are the same car so one will not be anymore reliable than another - (a bit like audi, VW, skoda, seat - although they share identical parts and not necessarily the same assembly factory).
So it's really down to which deal you get and your confidence in the dealer for any warranty work afterwards (personally I would go for an aygo).
Residual value would be greater with the aygo IMO but you are keeping it for so long that should not be an issue for you.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
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As there is so little difference, why not just let your daughter choose which she prefers?
Edited by oilrag on 22/03/2008 at 18:19
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Hyundai Getz 1.1 comes in under £6k and it has a far better warranty than anything european, gets reasonable write ups too.
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As someone sugested above, I would def. look at the Panda before you make your decision.
Might not look as "trendy" as the C1/107/Aygo but has other advantages!
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