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The Agila came into being just before the turn of the century to satisfy a perceived need for a dedicated city car. The answer was provided by Suzuki — which remains part owned by General Motors — in the form of its space-efficient Wagon R.

Vauxhall installed its own engines and tweaked the styling slightly, but it remained very much a Suzuki product adapted by Vauxhall. Vauxhall says that the Agila is more of a joint venture, although it is built alongside the Suzuki equivalent — the...Read the full article

Much has been said here about it's high price and its excess weight. A look at the data section suggest this is really a high-roof MPV-like supermini, (e.g. length comparable to Yaris and Swift as opposed to a city car like the i10 or Panda,) rather than the city car. It should really be considered a basic alternative to a Meriva.

Autocar says: "...should even a mid-spec 1.0-litre Agila like our test car really cost almost £1000 more than a car such as 1.2-litre Fiat Panda..." Well, no. Vauxhall need to start discounting, especially when you consider you can easily get a brand new Panda with the excellent 1.3 Multijet (which Vauxhall should know all about!) for £6,295.

 Reading the review published in March 2008,

 

In the Living Section

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsLiving/Vauxhall-Agila-1.0i-12v-Club/231814/

 

I read that it is exempt the London Congestion charge from October 2008, yet that is not explicit from the TFL website, neither was it mentioned as selling point when I recently purchased new. I do have the 1 litre version.

 

I have a few queries about it but have yet to find a user friendly website of Agila drivers. I am not surprised there is little here as there is not much Street cred to such a vehicle such as is likely to interest The Autocar reader. Nonetheless I would appreciate some comments about these points, particularly the Congestion Charge one.

 

I am sure I will Google some more but Autocar may be interested to know that my search brought me here first.

 

Shame your Forum does not have a Preview function like the BBC Message boards and Yahoo groups with which I am familiar, then it is easier to proof read and check if Links work, never mind.

I purchased the Diesel 1.3 Club on Monday after trading in my Mitsubishi iCar. I actually thought I wanted a Suzuki Splash (my son works for Suzuki HQ) but I am pleased I bought the Vauxhall. The exterior shape is actually quite different, with the Agila the far better of the two. (Check out the rear door and front bonnet/lower valance for example). Whilst I am not a fan of the bright Moroccan Blue I actually bought, it is far better than the dreadful Lagoon Turquoise on the Splash. So far so good with the car - it has a credible turn of speed for such a small engine and it is amazing to see the fuel consumption hover between 48-58 to the gallon!  I like the high driving position, the huge windscreen, feel of roominess about the cabin and the trend setting looks. The short stubby tail is great as are the massive (if not particularly bright) headlamps.The back seats are bloody uncomfortable, being far too upright and hard for passengers which is a pity as my previous shopping trolley was very comfortable and even had reclining rear seats! In addition rear space behind the back seats is very limited unlike the iCar. Wish it was an auto, didn't have the MOST ANNOYING two-tone blipper for the indicators (that must be some sort of Japanese joke, right?), wasn't so taxi-like noisy at idle (you can hear the car coming 100 yards away with the clatter coming out of the Diesel engine) and the internal plastics didn't look so very cheap.  The red illumination on the huge speedometer sounds cool but in reality just looks cheap and nasty. Pity they still supply "keep-fit" window winders on the rear doors, no cruise control or lumbar support for the driver’s seat at least. And is the stability control really a £400 option? It should be standard on the price of this car.I couldn't get the "Design" spec as the supplying dealer didn't have an ex-demo in my price bracket so I have ordered a set of 16" Momo alloys for it, changed the front grill for the Irmscher version, along with the exhaust tip and also the leather steering wheel from the design.  I am also having the roof and wing mirror covers painted the same white as found on the bright blue metallic Mini Cooper. Together with the Momo wheels etc., I think it will set the car off well and hopefully set it away from the blue rinse brigade that drove the previous Agila (Wagon R) version. Biggest mistake was calling it another Agila. Even Suzuki realised that and changed it to Splash...  Daft name anyway and no one seems to know how to pronounce it. (Me included)

 If anyone is interested in the final look email me.  I may post images up on here anyway

Car now fitted with Momo 16" Alloys and Toyo Tyres. It originally had the 15" steel rims with plastic wheel trims like Dorothy would have had fitted in Eastenders...

I think they make the car far more modern and haven't upset the ride at all. You can also see the very over prices Irmscher exhaust tip that was a bugger to fit and doesn't even have the company name on it!  Could have done the same job at Halfords and saved £40. Off to the spray shop for the roof and wing mirrors in pearl white.

I'm afraid the Irmscher grill looked pretty poor too, (no chrome at all!) so that went back in the box and the better finished original grill went back on.

I Have to say since the launch of the new Agila just over a year ago, It seems to be  attacting a younger customer base.

 The average age of the last Agila customer was around 70-80, Now customers in their 50's are buying them! Maybe they are looking top add some fun into their daily driver? These guys maybe love to own a sports car like an Aston or a Corvette or would love to own a Bentley but the funky Agila with it's sporty looks and high end interior fit's the bill fo them?

These are great little cars and with the Vauxhall badge gives them a upper class feel better than the Suzuki splash. Only the other day I saw one with three guys crusing the streets of Surrey in one! The driver looked like he was better sterring his zimmer frrame!

Maybe the Vauxhall Agila is going to start a new trend? The high seating postion is great for the older generation who have trouble getting into lower cars or for those who do not ride bikes anymore. Looks like the Vauxhall can win over almost everyone..