Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Not only that they both belong to the micro car segment and utilize the same 3-door hatchback body style, they are even powered by the same Daihatsu-developed petrol engine! There is not much there to point us towards one vehicle or the other. Or is it?

The fact that the Citroen got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Toyota with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Citroen badge with 4.1 out of 5. The same official information place Aygo as average reliability-wise, and C1 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 4.1 out of 5.

Citroen is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 157 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 4.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (63 mpg), in combined cycle.

Toyota appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the French car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Citroen offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. Fuel consumption is more or less the same. It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Citroen. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.