My feedback after driving an aqua for 2 months.
So i bought a pearl white toyota aqua, self imported via a cousin in japan. There was jo damage to the body, only front windshield and front headlights had to be replaced. It was a vandalized car (someone broke the headlights and the windshield out of anger with a hammer), therefore no bodywork repairs, only replacements with original windshield and headlights. 2015 model. S grade with push start.
Drive:
Well it was no doubt an upgrade for me from a passo (i own a brv, mira and city). The drive is VERY smooth. The car was only 16500 driven in japan. So naturally the engine was in top notch condition. The seats are very comfortable. The car is extremely powerful (although i believe the feeling of power is subjective, a guy who drives it after driving a passo will find it powerful, but a guy driving an audi will find it underpowered). But the response is amazing. It has ecvt, which gives much less lag in response as compared to a conventional cvt. The handling is amazing, the car feels stable at the sharpest turns owing to its low ground clearance. Suspension wise, its not as soft as a corolla but not as hard as a city. I replaced the tyres with michelin energy xm2 made in uk and these are soft tyres so they absorb jumps from uneven roads pretty well. I tried finding advandb but they werent available. The engine sound is high but aqua is known to be the noisiest out of the whole prius family.
Build quality:
The build quality is good. I wouldnt call it amazing, but its good. Ofcourse the panel gaps and basic things are well taken care of (these things arent even an issue except in pakistan where panel alignment is an issue). However the interior plastic feels mediocre. Not as good as a honda fit.
Economy:
This car is known for its economy. The hybrid synergy drive is really sophisticated and returns me a figure if 28 kmpl in city without ac. And 22 kmpl on motorway. I drive with a normal foot, on eco mode.
Maintenance:
So this is where i was skeptical. Hybrids are NOT meant to be touched by the local ustaads. Toyota provides support for hybrid vehicles as they are selling imported prius here. So all checklights etc are taken care of at toyota. The regular maintenance includes oil change etc. I use 0w20 as it is the recommended oil grade. There are a lot of discussions and arguments about how its not supposed to be used in our climate, but toyota spends millions on research and development. As for our climate, it matches the temperatures in Florida and 0w20 is still the recommended viscosity. I may be wrong but i think the external tempurature has little effect on viscosity as the engine maintains its own temperature. If its 5 degrees outside, the engine will still run on its optimum temperature regardless of whether its cold outside. (I may be wrong). There is no special maintenance required if you do preventive maintenance. For people who get a bad average, there is a battery cooling fan located under the left rear passemger seat. It gets choked with dust and needs to be cleaned regularly.
Mods:
I like sticking to OEM stuff so all i have done is, i installed a leather steering cover and cruise control. Cruise control can be operated from 40kmph till 115 kmph speeds. In the 2015 models, its plug and play and there is a light provided in the meter cluster.
So this is my opinion about aqua. I might have missed some details, please feel free to ask me any questions you might have and ill try my best to answer you. This is my personal opinion on this car.