Toyota iQ review: a brilliant city car Bahrain never officially got
3.1/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The iQ is an engineering party trick that happens to be a genuinely safe and easy car to own — if you accept it as a private import with no local warranty network and a resale pool measured in single digits. Buy one only if you specifically want the smallest four-seat Toyota ever built and are prepared to source parts and expertise outside the mainstream dealer system. As a mainstream used-car purchase in Bahrain, it makes little sense.
Pros
- Nine-airbag package and a 5-star Euro NCAP rating were unmatched by anything else this small when new
- 1.0-litre three-cylinder and CVT are cheap to run and simple to maintain mechanically
- Smallest turning circle of any modern Toyota makes it unbeatable for tight Manama parking
- A genuine engineering curiosity that still turns heads on a Bahrain street
Cons
- Never officially distributed in the Gulf, so no local warranty network or dealer parts supply
- Rear seats are a tight, asymmetric afterthought — usable for children only
- Boot space with all four seats occupied is close to nothing
- Resale pool in Bahrain is tiny; expect a slow, patient sale when you move it on
Toyota built the iQ to answer a question almost nobody in the Gulf was asking: how small can a genuinely safe, four-seat car be made? The answer was 2,985 mm nose to tail — shorter than a Smart Fortwo's badge suggests it should be able to manage — with a nine-airbag package and a five-star Euro NCAP score that embarrassed cars a full class larger. None of that mattered commercially here, because Toyota never opened an official Gulf sales channel for it.
What it actually is
Under the bonnet sits a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol making a modest 68 hp, paired with a CVT badged Multidrive. It is not quick, and it was never meant to be — the engineering effort went into packaging, not performance. The turning circle is the smallest Toyota has ever built, which makes reversing into a tight Manama parking bay almost comically easy.
The clever bit is the asymmetric rear seat layout, which frees enough legroom on one side for a genuine adult while keeping the other tight enough for a child seat. It is a real four-seater, not a strict two-plus-two, though the boot with all seats occupied barely holds a shopping bag.
Owning one in Bahrain
Because there was never an official distributor, every iQ here arrived as a private import — most commonly from Japan or Europe — which means no factory warranty, no guaranteed dealer parts pipeline, and a resale pool small enough that finding a buyer takes patience rather than an online listing. Independent workshops that know Toyota's small-car mechanicals can service it without drama, but expect to source anything body-specific yourself.
It suits a very particular Bahraini buyer: someone who wants a second car for city errands, values the safety package more than most people shopping this size, and does not need to sell it quickly. As a primary family car, or as a purchase made for resale certainty, it is the wrong answer.