Used 2014 Hyundai i10 1.2 SE 5dr in Aberdeen | arnold clark (2023)

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

There are times when building a class-leading car means pioneering new technology, commanding attention with bold styling and combining ideas in ways never seen before. Hyundai's second-generation i10 city car charted a slightly different path when we first saw it back in 2014. It's certainly updated, smartly shaped and practical, but its main attraction is probably the way you'll find it actually works. the basic stuff, just fine. If you're looking for a used city car from the 2014-2016 era, there may be more exciting small city vehicles on your radar than this one, but there aren't many better ones.

History

Hyundai's i10 has always been one of the best-selling city cars in this country. With the original version of the MK1, this was mainly due to the affordable price. However, with this MK2 project, this Korean competitor intended to claim his place in the nation's affections on his merits. Indeed, at its launch in 2014, it was recognized not only for being a very good relationship, but also for being spacious and versatile, these being the three priorities that buyers in the smaller segment of the market always privilege, one of the few in the car best seller can be expected to also be the best car. Buyers looking for an urban vehicle may not have to worry about the snobbish image issues that restrict Hyundai's sales in larger market categories. The Korean brand has always had a real opportunity for sales growth when it comes to vehicles like this: an opportunity the company has grabbed with both hands over the last two decades. True, his first attempts at city cars - the curiously quirky 1998 Atoz and the Amica-like Postman Pat that replaced it almost immediately - were more suited to Far Eastern tastes than European tastes. But in 2008, Hyundai was learning what Western families were looking for and brought us an i10 model that offered supermini style in a smaller, more economical, more agile and more versatile package than anything we'd seen before. Sales soared, boosted in the UK by the government's scrapping scheme, and across Europe nearly half a million i10s found happy homes. However, fast forward to the end of 2013 and Hyundai's headaches were mounting. Despite a 2011 facelift, the original version of this car was struggling with big brands stacked in the design-led city car segment we know as Volkswagen up, Skoda CitiGo or SEAT Mii. With Fiat also revitalizing its offerings and Citroen, Peugeot and Toyota about to do so too, there was a need for a second generation i10 model that could take a big step forward. In many ways, this MK2 model managed to do just that. It was sold until the end of 2016, when it was extensively renovated.

What do you get

There used to be only two ways to style a city car. One was the cutesy approach championed by models like the Fiat 500. The other represented the more versatile and practical option promised by competitors like the original MK1 version of this i10. However, in recent years the waters have become muddy here, the 2011 Volkswagen up/Skoda CitiGo/SEAT Mii design proving that style in this segment can be practical and practicality can be elegant. With the bar raised in this way, when it came to creating this second-generation i10, Hyundai's designers realized that they had to bring us more than just another small, tall, practical car. To be fair, they knew that smart design was already the number one reason for the company's increased market share, with models across their lineup shaped by a fluid style philosophy called "fluid sculpture" that was still here. It works? You are the judge. It's certainly a step up from the sensible box of the original MK1 version, though it falls a little short when it comes to ultimate urban chic. In part, this is due to Hyundai's preference for being a practical transport rather than just another urban trinket. Which perhaps explains why this is the longest car in its segment from this era: at almost 3.7 m, it stands 20 cm from a supposedly much larger Fiesta supermini of the era. Which isn't to say this car doesn't have the kind of individuality that has recently become so important in this segment. In fact, the opposite. Take the front end, where you get the kind of large trapezoidal air intakes normally found on a sports coupe. And complex mottled taillight units that flow into a sharper side molding designed to give this design's profile a little more shape, aided by a blade-stamped line running through the door handles. integrated taillights that penetrate a tailgate that rises to reveal one of the largest trunk openings in the segment and a total trunk capacity of 252 liters, one of the largest in its class, 10% larger than the previous one that it held the MK1 i10 and easily enough to match the Volkswagen! and its designer clones. Once again we're getting into supermini territory, that number is just 10% less than you'd get in a Ford Fiesta, and, more pertinently, about 50% more than you'd get in a Toyota Aygo, a Citroen C1 or a Peugeot 108. One of the reasons the cargo area is so large is that there is no standard spare wheel, just a mobility kit, although many original owners would pay extra for the added security of a space-saving replacement. The rear seats split and fold, but there's no completely flat cargo floor and that makes carrying heavier items a little trickier. Still, it's hard to complain about the 1,046 liters of available space. Of course, whenever you put a decently sized trunk in such a small car, there's always the fear that backseat passengers will pay the price for it. Especially in this case, where much of this model's increased exterior length has been absorbed by the need to increase the front overhang to comply with pedestrian impact legislation. In fact, once you enter the wide-opening doors, you'll find a decent level of space for this class of car, as long as you only carry a few adults. True, the sharp row of windows may not be popular with very young children, but they won't complain about the legroom provided. Even with a pair of six-foot chairs installed in the back, front-seat occupants shouldn't sacrifice space to accommodate them. We'd also like to point out that unless you opt for the frugal Blue Drive i10 model variant, three seat belts are provided at the rear; You only get two in many other cars in town, which would be very annoying for the family with three kids. And in front? Well, it looks roomy here too, with head and elbow room also plentiful by class standards. It's easy to find a comfortable driving position, even if the steering wheel only adjusts for height, not reach. However, you'll find it a little annoying that you can't comfortably adjust the seat height without opening the driver's door. The dashboard is as logically arranged as you'd expect from a Hyundai, and while some of the plastics are a far cry from the modern, plush materials some brands offer, guess what? It really doesn't matter in a car like this. Do you really want to put the weight of a huge molded dashboard on a city car? Exactly. Still, the key touchpoints feel very well done to us, with the steering wheel, gearshift and in-dash buttons working at a higher quality than you'd normally expect for this price. In fact, they have an oddly Germanic feel to them, which isn't surprising when you remember that the motherland is actually where this car was designed. Alright, you could still argue that the overall style of this interior might not be as stylish as you'd find in, say, a Volkswagen Up, but it's not far off. It would be nice to have the kind of color touchscreen infotainment you get in some city car rivals. The simple dox matrix display offered here is clear enough but a bit old technology. Still, the important things have been carefully thought through. Cab practicality, for example, is why you get a huge cubbyhole in front of the gear lever and a glove box big enough to hold more than just an owner's manual and a pack of polo shirts. There are also good-sized door compartments, big enough at the front to fit a 1.5-litre water bottle, or a 0.6-litre bottle if you're sitting in the back.

what to look for

We met many very satisfied i10 customers in our owner survey, but inevitably some issues were reported. A recognized fault relates to squeaky gear changes and a general difficulty selecting reverse gear; look it up on your test drive. One owner we encountered had clutch related issues. Another had to deal with squeaks coming from the suspension. One discovered that his car's engine start/stop system had stopped working. And there were several reports of parking brakes not holding the car properly on steep inclines. In one case, the power window switch console failed. And one owner found that brake discs regularly rusted.

Spare parts

(roughly based on a 2014 i10 1.0 - excluding VAT) An air filter is around £10-£12 and an oil filter is around £3-£5. £40 for a set and brake discs are in the £40-£52 range, although you could pay up to around £64 for a pricier brand. Windscreen wipers cost between £4 and £10. A replacement rear view mirror will cost around £10.

That street

There are a few things you should check once you're behind the wheel of a good city car. The first is visibility. If you're going to jump from lane to lane, you need excellent lines of sight all the way around. This i10 scores well in that regard, with good mirrors, windshield pillars that don't get in the way too much, and a fairly high seat height. Point two: direction. If there's one thing that instantly numbs a city car, it's the heaviness and numb feeling at the wheel. The i10 rack is fast, accurate and very light. And the third thing to look for is a small turning circle. And this i10 certainly answers that call. The 9.56 m turning circle requires less than three turns of the steering wheel, end to end, so if you find a parking space on the other side of the road and check that everything is clear, you'll find this i10 can take a dive. quickly. Another area where this Hyundai is ahead of some of its 2014-2016 era rivals is in its engine selection offering. Many city cars of this period came with a single engine and multiple trim levels to disguise this fact. This i10 is available with three and four cylinder units, respectively 1.0 or 1.2 liters, offering a choice of 66 or 87 hp. Unsurprisingly, in this corner of the market, we're talking about gasoline in both cases: most automakers realized long ago that low-end buyers in this segment don't want to pay more for a diesel engine than not be financially justified by the miles. limited urban areas likely to be covered. We often recommend a larger engine on cars of this type with modest power, but in this case there's a lot to be said for the 66bhp 1.0-litre unit. Sure, it's lighter than the 87hp 1.2, but almost as fast for urban driving. It even makes a pretty cool noise. Sure, put it on a test track under the uncompromising scrutiny of some data-logging performance monitors and the 14.9-second sprint to 62 mph doesn't sound quite as impressive, and the top speed of 96 mph won't get you into trouble. front page of evo magazine. Trust us though, you feel pretty excited when you're in your city. The 1.2 liter engine is slightly faster, but as we've suggested, the difference is marginal. Hyundai says it will hit 62mph in 12.3 seconds and top out at 106mph - in other words, a level of incremental performance that seems pretty academic to us. But we are missing the point here. The i10 was never about going straight. Don't take this as a boring trip. Ford's original Ka was a diminutive city car that sold for years mainly because it was so underpowered but so much fun to ride, and this i10 has enough to give even the most enthusiastic drivers a little fun behind the wheel. The key to this is your suspension. There's really nothing particularly smart about its basic setup. You get a pair of struts up front and a torsion bar in the back, but as always with these things, it's the details that count and there's a fair degree of flex in the ride that smoothes out the worst city streets. he. That's the easy part. Combining that with decent body control when you push a little harder is a much tougher task, but credit goes to the chassis engineers at Hyundai's German engineering centre. Thanks to this MK2 i10's stiffer chassis and lower center of gravity, cornering is crisp, though the downside to that effortless steering is that there's not a lot of detailed feedback at speed. However, it is not noticeably worse than many of its main rivals in this regard. The other minor issue we raise is that it's not the quietest car at high speeds, although criticizing a small city car for its refinement at high speeds feels a bit like complaining about how bad a Lamborghini is for a visit to IKEA. To be fair, Hyundai has put a lot of effort into reducing noise, vibration and harshness. For this, this MK2 i10 gets more robust hydraulic engine mounts, a three-layer panel with anti-noise panel, double sealing strips on the doors and two measures to reduce wind noise: redesign of the door mirrors mounts and change of the radio antenna further to the rear edge of the roof. Koreans claim that at 65 decibels on uneven surfaces, this car is quieter than its main rivals, and at lower speeds, one could argue about that. Take a freeway, however, and you'll find a fairly frequent hum in the cabin around 70 mph. However, we have no issues with the quality of the stick shift action. It's light, crisp, and feels like work has been done to match the consistency of clutch weight and shifter movement. Hyundai has also made the brake pedal action very light, so keep that in mind if you're getting into the car for the first time. Doing this carefully is the best advice when you start using the heavily assisted center pedal. The big draw for some (possibly older) buyers is the fact that the 1.2 liter variant can be had with a four-speed automatic transmission. Choose the car for effortless city driving, but be aware that it makes the car slower and thirstier than the 1.2 liter manual and significantly increases the carbon dioxide rate.

In general

City cars have evolved. These used to be models that people sought out because they needed to. Now, it's often small vehicles that customers have by choice. For all the industry accolades the first generation i10 received, it wasn't a car you'd be happy to own. But specified correctly, this second-gen version could be. Here we have an A-segment competitor that is everything it needs to be and pretty much everything such a model can be: as cheap, frugal, clean and practical as it was in the first generation version, but with the look of the MK2 model, which featured greater quality and character, along with a more accurate European feel. Other direct city car competitors from the 2014-2016 era can also offer this, but do your math on the specs and you'll find that almost all of them are more expensive. Which wouldn't be a problem if they offered lower operating costs. , stronger build quality, or more interior space than this i10 can offer. But they are not. This Hyundai can match or beat its rivals in all these areas. Which means that if you're shopping in this segment, you should consider it.