Toyota Aygo X review

Welcome to the Nineties: ovals are back! Just look at that great big ovoid dashboard, like a squashed Mini fascia. Amid it lives the usual Toyota infotainment system, looking like a great big oblong peg in a round hole.

Like the old Ford Ka, the Aygo X makes a virtue of exposed metal on its doors. So long as you've gone for one of the cheerier colour options, it's a vibrant place to sit.

If you’ve sat up front in a current-gen Yaris, there’s plenty of bits you’ll recognise inside the Aygo X. The steering wheel, infotainment and climate control panel (yep, it has a proper one) all migrate from the larger hatch and are all sturdy, easy-to-use bits of kit.

Anything new for the facelift?

Materially speaking, not really. You get a seven-inch digital driver’s display now instead of the old screen-inside-a-speedometer of before, but the interior is one area of the Aygo X that Toyota has left well alone.

We’ve talked it up a bit, but don’t go expecting to find the reception of a lavish hotel when you poke your head in one of these in the showroom: there’s any number of nasty plastics and several reminders – from the lazy auto-dipping headlights to the dual-voiced sat nav – that some expenses have indeed been spared.

New for 2026 is some additional active safety gear, but all being well you’ll never need to call on it.

What’s the situation with the screen?

There are four different grades of Aygo X: Icon, Design, Excel and GR Sport. The first two get a nine-inch touchscreen, while the latter pair gain a 10.5-inch item. Every inch counts, right?

The screen looks smart and the graphics are crisp enough, but… there’s barely anything for it to do. Nor does it make it easy to turn off the litany of beeps and bongs which, by law, default back to ‘on’ every time you start the car.

The interface has been a big Toyota shortcoming for some time and it still is: at least you get wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity to bypass the pain.

Credit too for the dedicated row of climate control buttons. We approve.

Is it practical?

There’s plenty of space in the front, though passengers might grumble at the lack of height adjustment in their seat and the absence of reach adjustment for the steering wheel is a big oversight.

Shoulder space is good in the back if you’re two-up, but legroom… isn’t. No way are you ferrying around adults back there for any meaningful length of time. The optional canvas roof – while lovely – eats into headroom in the rear.

More credit where it’s due: Toyota has found room for the hybrid system’s battery cells and cooling fan under the back seats, so boot space isn’t compromised. It was 231 litres before and it’s 231 litres now – smaller than the Fiat 500 yet larger than the Hyundai i10. Knock the seats down (they don’t fold flat) and you’ll have 824 litres of space.

The rear doors are a lot bigger than their opening: it's like heaving open a church door to find an aperture the size of an advent calendar.

Anything else?

The fabric rollback roof doesn't do anything for refinement. There’s really two trains of thought here: one, it adds to the fun factor, but two, until cities are dominated by EVs and trees, why would you want to breathe in everyone else's fumes? Only you know where you stand.