Go for a petrol Hyundai i20, either a manual with bills for a new clutch and gearbox seals or a Mk1 with the 4-speed torque converter automatic, but avoid 2015-on cars with the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
5 known faults, 3 rated high severity in our database; owners report 47.2 mpg, 83% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
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Paste the Hyundai i20 advert and we read it against its 5 known faults, the MOT history and the DVLA record, then tell you what to ask the seller and what to look at on the day. Free, about a minute, no card.
Check a Hyundai i20 advert (free) →The safer i20 is a petrol with either a manual gearbox whose clutch and seals have been replaced, with bills to prove it, or the Mk1's 4-speed torque converter automatic. Clutch trouble isn't confined to one era: on the Mk1 (2009 to 2015), oil can seep past the gearbox shaft and differential seals onto the clutch from 10,000 to 50,000 miles, and petrol manuals up to 2020 can judder and slip from a leaking input shaft seal.
The Mk1 automatic sidesteps both of those clutch faults, and it's got a dipstick, so pull it and check the fluid level before you hand over any money. Whatever the gearbox, a Mk1 also carries a known fault for seizing rear brake calipers from 30,000 to 70,000 miles. Treat a 2011 1.4 CRDI 90PS diesel with care: its injectors can fail at 100,000 to 120,000 miles and dump diesel into the sump.
Don't buy an i20 built from 2015 to 2023 with the 7-speed dry dual-clutch automatic, whether it's the 2015 to 2020 five-door, the 2015 to 2017 Coupe or the 2020-on car. It judders at crawling speed, overheats in stop-start traffic until drive cuts out, and suffers mechatronic failures, from 30,000 to 90,000 miles. The newer manuals aren't off the hook either: one 2016 car had its clutch replaced at 8,000 and again at 17,000 miles, and another's went at 12,000 after an oil seal leak.
The 1.2 and 1.4 petrols are the engines to go for, since the known faults on them sit in the clutch rather than the engine. That doesn't make the clutch any less of a worry: on petrol manuals up to 2020, oil from a leaking input shaft seal often reaches the clutch plate and causes judder and slip, showing up from 15,000 to 70,000 miles and sometimes well short of 40,000. Where a new clutch has been fitted, check the bill shows the seal was replaced too.
Avoid the 7-speed dry dual-clutch automatic paired with the 1.0 T-GDI and 1.4 on cars from 2015 to 2023. It's got a serious known fault: judder pulling away and at a crawl, overheating in slow traffic that brings on a temperature warning and cuts drive, and mechatronic failures, all from 30,000 to 90,000 miles. The Mk1's 4-speed torque converter automatic isn't covered by that fault, and a resonance at 3,250rpm on post-facelift ones is cured with a damper on the longer driveshaft.
The 1.4 CRDI 90PS diesel needs more care than the petrols. On 2011 cars its injectors can fail at 100,000 to 120,000 miles and dump diesel into the sump, so the oil level creeps up the dipstick, it's slow to start and it cuts out when cold. One owner of a 2011 car with three failed injectors at 112,000 miles was quoted £1,400 to replace them, so check the dipstick and cold start on any high-mileage CRDI.
The 1.0 Kappa three-cylinder uses a timing chain, and Hyundai treats it as maintenance free with no scheduled replacement. That doesn't mean oil changes can slip: a rattle at start-up on one that's missed services points to the chain needing work. Ask for a record of regular oil changes and listen to the engine start from cold before you commit.
Test the clutch before anything else, ideally pulling away up a slope. Shudder as it bites often means oil's reached the plate, and revs climbing without the car speeding up in a higher gear means it's slipping. Sniff for a burning smell after some stop-start driving, notice whether the pedal feels heavy, and check reverse goes in without pumping the pedal, which one owner of a 2014 car had to do. Then look under the car for fresh oil marks below the gearbox.
On a Mk1, check the rear wheels for heavy brake dust and feel whether the car pulls to one side under braking, both signs of the seized rear calipers that turn up from 30,000 to 70,000 miles. Under the bonnet, the coolant expansion tank sits at the back left of the engine bay and should be filled to the F mark, as Mk1s left the factory with the level low. Ask whether the tyres keep losing pressure, since leaky valves are a Mk1 weak spot.
If the car was built in 2013, make sure the battery's clamped down firmly and ask for proof the service bulletin work was done: a loose battery on some of these could cut through its earth cable and kill all power and lights, and some independently serviced cars missed it. Open and close the folding key several times, try the radio, and on a white car look along the wheel arches for fine rust, which one owner found on a 2010 car.
On a CRDI diesel, check the dipstick once the engine's cold: oil sitting well above the mark, a sluggish start or the engine cutting out in the first few miles all point to injectors leaking diesel into the sump. If you're looking at a 2015-on automatic anyway, spend time in slow traffic and feel for judder at a crawl, a hesitation between first and second, or a transmission temperature warning. Ask for invoices for any clutch, gearbox seal or rear caliper work.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
A Mk1 i20's worth buying once the clutch is proven, because the manual's gearbox and differential seals can leak oil onto it from 10,000 to 50,000 miles. Separate owners have had clutches give up at anywhere from 8,000 to 47,000 miles, one through contamination and another where the owner suspected an input shaft seal leak. Euro NCAP gave it five stars in 2009, and if you'd rather dodge the clutch, the four-speed auto comes with a dipstick for checking its fluid.
The clutch isn't always the end of it. One 2011 1.2 had been through two clutches, a gearbox shaft seal, a differential seal and a driveshaft seal that was failing a second time, all by 53,000 miles, and another car was leaking gearbox oil at 10,500 miles. A clutch at 30,000 miles cost one owner £600, another was quoted £575 for a heavy one at 26,000, and a third was asked for £800 after 8,000 miles.
Rear brake calipers can seize on the Mk1 from 30,000 to 70,000 miles, which wears the brakes early, drags economy down and can fail an MOT. Engine trouble beyond that comes from single owners' reports: a 2010 1.25 misfiring on all four cylinders at 27,000 miles a year after two new coil packs, a 2012 1.2 with low pressure in one cylinder at 75,000, and a 2009 car needing new exhaust valves at 78,247 miles, which its owner was quoted £702 to fix.
Some 2013-built cars were covered by a service bulletin because the battery wasn't held down properly, and as it shifted about it could wear through the earth lead and leave the car with no electrics or lights. Broken folding keys have come up more than once, one owner's motorised throttle failed twice, and another found fine rust on a white 2010 car. One owner paid over £400 at 30,000 miles for new front drop links plus bushes for the strut mounts.
Real-world economy on this generation: Hyundai i20 46.9 mpg, Hyundai i20 47.6 mpg, Hyundai i20 Coupe 50.2 mpg.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Hyundai i20 advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 47.2 mpg across the Hyundai i20 engines with data, about 83% of the official figure, from 946 submissions.
Hyundai i20 Real MPG by engine →The 2015 to 2020 i20's a calm, comfortable car to drive, and its cabin is well put together from good-quality materials. It's a practical hatchback too, with a large boot and plenty of legroom for whoever sits in the back. The 2020-on version carries on in the same vein for space, with a roomy back seat and plenty of boot space.
Go for the 2015 to 2017 i20 Coupe and you get sporty looks that set it apart from the five-door, and the sloping roofline doesn't cost you much: there's still a good amount of room in the back for passengers, and it's got space for their bags too.
Go for a petrol Hyundai i20, either a manual with bills for a new clutch and gearbox seals or a Mk1 with the 4-speed torque converter automatic, but avoid 2015-on cars with the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Our database holds 5 known Hyundai i20 faults, 3 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
Test the clutch before anything else, ideally pulling away up a slope. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Hyundai i20 fault before you travel.
Owners report 47.2 mpg on average, about 83% of the official figure, from 946 submissions. Chain (G3LA, 1.0 KAPPA): no fixed replacement interval, so budget for it if the history does not show it done. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Hyundai i20 Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Hyundai i20 buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 62 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
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The Hyundai i20 is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
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