My friends would say that I am car obsessed. If asked to prove the point, thy would explain about my bank balance crippling car magazine habit, about the lectures I give on engine size and fuel economy, about the writing I do and the car I drive. Actually, scratch that last bit – because I drive a Toyota IQ and even my least car savvy mates don’t consider that car to be cool. It is a shame that they think this way – because I think that the IQ is a much maligned car that actually serves its purpose brilliantly!

I suppose it is the looks that people first have a problem with – and this is something that is wholly personal when choosing a car to own. One of my mates, for example, owns a Lotus, which they saved for years to be able to buy – but I personally can’t stand the design at all! In much the same way, I have always felt a little guilty about loving Smart Cars, as doing so it much the same as a fashionista admitting to wearing crocs or Ugg boots. I reckon the small design is one of the things that first go me seriously considering the IQ – it was like the tiny Smart Car city run around just looking a little cooler. Instead of chunky edges and a strange shape, the IQ was much smoother and much smarter – like a grownup version!

However, I would never buy a car purely on looks alone – and if I was being serious and practical on looks then I probably would have gone for a Yaris or even an Auris. The used Toyota garage was full of all of them, and all at cheap prices. The thing is, however, that I do actually live in a city, and my work isn’t easy to get to by public transport. As such, I have to drive to and from my office on a daily basis – which is a nightmare at the best of time. Having a large car would have made it much more difficult to navigate my lanes – and incredibly hard to find a coveted parking space on the on street parking that I have outside my house. The IQ was the sensible size and shape, yet still manages to fit 4 people inside.

See, suddenly it makes more sense why I own this tenacious little car – looks and practicality! I will be honest and say that the drive (surprisingly rugged and athletic for a car the size of a hamster!) was just a bonus. My research had told me that a used Toyota IQ would be thoroughly economic, and at 65.69 MPG combined, the facts and figures were certainly convincing. I was also sold on the fact that I didn’t have to pay any road tax, thanks to startlingly low CO2 emissions! When I took it for a test drive, however, I clicked that the little engine was actually hiding some dynamism – and it was immediately clear that the acceleration was faster than my current car with a much bigger engine!

As you can see, I may not drive a typical car addicts car – but I drive my little IQ with a whole lot of good reasons to back me up!