• Cheap to buy
• Cheap to run
• Cheap to fix

Toyota Aygo running costs are low, whichever way you look at it. Offering an average of 65.7mpg and falling into some of the lowest insurance groups, running an Aygo is unlikely to break the bank even as the cars get older.

Even the automatic is great on fuel – an upside to the rather slow and occasionally unreliable MMT automated manual design.

Later Toyota Aygos are in VED band A – which for the time being, makes it one of the rare ULEZ-compliant petrol cars with free road tax. The rest sit in band B, at the time of writing £20 per year.

Aygo Mk1 reliability and repair costs

• Simple, easy to maintain engine
• Lots of cars being recycled as well
• Robust foundations reward caring owners

The spark plugs and air filter should ast 40,000 miles (and there are only three plugs and coil packs to worry about), while the coolant should be changed every 100,000 miles. Diesel models have more expensive needs, with a timing belt and diesel particulate filter, but they are rare now and not worth seeking out unless you do long distances away from clean air zones.

For young drivers keen to learn about cars, the Toyota Aygo is simple and easy to learn DIY skills on. There’s a large stock of cars being recycled as well, so eBay Motors has plenty of second hand spares to choose from for bigger items.

Toyota also designed the Aygo to be easy to repair after low-speed crashes (below 10mph), with easy-to-replace bolt-on crash boxes and large, flexible bumpers. This keeps insurance excesses low and also makes it a good choice for learning to drive, or as a winter runabout.

Toyota Aygo recall data

As with other Japanese car-makers, a raft of official recalls has led to Toyota’s reputation taking something of a knock in recent years. The Aygo hasn’t escaped unscathed, being among the 174,000 examples of various models that were recalled in February 2010 to rectify a sticking throttle pedal.

March 2014 saw a recall issued for 604 cars built in the latter half of 2013, the potential problem being a broken weld between the rear axle and the body.  And in January 2015, 2,128 cars built between June and August 2013 were called back due to possible breakage of a front shock absorber rod.

Toyota’s reputation for reliability is second to none, and as it has done the lion’s share of development of the Aygo, leaving just the diesel engine and seat design to its Peugeot and Citroen partners.