Owner Review: 2020 Little Tikes Cozy Coupe
These kids give a pretty thorough review of the classic toy car
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In mid-2020, I decided to buy the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. It’s a simple and classic kids’ car, perfect for my then one-year-old, who had recently reached the recommended age of one to five. My mission was to entertain the kids on a budget — without me having to do the entertaining — and force some pretend and imaginative play on them.
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If you’re patient, you can also get some pretty good deals and discounts on this plastic. The regular price at Toys ‘R’ Us is $79.99, but with frequent weekly deals and massively advertised sales, you could likely get it for quite a bit less. If you need it now, Walmart has the coupe for $69.96, a starting price of $10 less (including free shipping) than the toy store. If you’re looking to save a bit more, you’re sure to have lots of luck finding a used Cozy Coupe on sites like Kijiji. It’s no surprise that there are tons of used Coupes being sold; it’s been a best-selling car for years, outselling many engine-powered cars around the world.
We have a couple other toy cars — motorized and not — but I’ve decided I’ll let my kids explain that in a bit more detail. I could write a scathing review of the Cozy Coupe (and other cars we own), but since I’m not the main driver, I figured it would make more sense to go straight to the source and get what’s probably the most honest review possible — since kids are pretty straight up.
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So, I asked my seven and five-year-old a series of questions (similar to those used for our owner reviews ) pertaining to the car; I also asked them separately, so they couldn’t copy each other’s answers. I tried asking my two-year-old, but her attention span is limited and she mostly ignored my questions, instead preferring to talk about yogurt. I’ve added additional details in brackets to add context where needed, because kids are confusing.
Renita Naraine: When and why did you decide to buy a new car?
Melody (7): Well, umm…I think Laila [my two-year-old] likes cars and we bought her another one because she likes cars and she likes driving them.
Nathan (5): I think, I don’t know, but I think dad was at home [as opposed to working during the week], so I would say on Saturday.
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Laila (2): *walks away*
RN: What was the main reason you wanted to buy this car?
7: I don’t know what you’re talking about…
5: Because Ryan [the multi-millionaire on YouTube who reviews toys and is nine -years-old!] had it and it might be fun for Laila.
RN: Were there any other cars that you wanted, instead of this one?
7: I don’t think so.
5: I think I wanted a Spiderman or a rainbow car.
RN: So, why did you choose this car?
7: I like it because sometimes when babies are little, you have to push them, and I’m fine with pushing them. Bigger kids can just [remove the bottom piece and] move their feet and push themselves.
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RN: What do you usually do when you’re playing with the Cozy Coupe together? [Full disclosure: I needed to ask this question and a couple others to get the complete answer I wanted]
7: When Laila was little, I would push her around in circles and around the house. And now [that she’s not so little anymore], we push it outside in a circle on the deck.
5: I put gas in it [ this is the gas pump he’s talking about] and I park it; some spots are easy to park and some are hard, and if you can’t fit, you have to find another spot.
[What I wanted them to explain: we set up a mini course on our deck, where they basically drive in a big circle and stop at the “gas station,” then continue on to the food truck , filled with way too much plastic food, and repeat until someone cries]
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RN: What is your favourite thing about the car?
7: My favourite part of the car is that I actually like it because if you’re pushing it outside and it’s really bright, it has a roof so babies have shade. When I go for a walk, I can push the baby and exercise.
5: That you can fill up gas. And my most favourite thing is because we can all use it. We can take the bottom off and put it back on [I’ll explain this at the end]. It looks like a McDonald’s car.
2: When daddy comes home, we have to buy yogurt.
RN: What don’t you like about the car?
7: Well, the yellow, I don’t know about that, because I’ve never seen a yellow roof. The red is fine because there are lots of red cars.
5: The horn is a little bit, but not loud. When you drive it on the deck, it [the deck] has holes, so it’s bumpy. I want the wheels to be bigger and I want it to be a real car so that all of us can fit in there [my heart melted].
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RN: Do you think it might break easily?
7: I don’t think it’s easy to break. Sometimes you have to break it apart but you need to get a drill to break it and take it apart, so I don’t think it’s easy to break.
5: No, it won’t break easily because Nana [my dad] drilled it on.
RN: Do you own any other cars?
7: We have a Frozen car . The seat belts are kind of weird because for real cars, it has a seat belt with an angle and over your legs. And if you’re little and you go in it [the Frozen car], you might fall over because it’s not on your chest and you might hurt yourself.
5: I have my Paw Patrol motorcycle [it’s not a motorcycle, just another tricycle ], and I used to use the Thomas car .
RN: What’s the first car you owned?
7: I have to say the first car we got was the Frozen one. [Wrong.]
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5: The Frozen one. [Also wrong, but I won’t hold it against them since they would have been too young to remember; it was this Fisher-Price one ]
RN: What’s your dream car?
7: A toy car or a real car? I would like a real turquoise van so I can see higher.
5: Remember what I said about that motorcycle with the red light on the forehead? [I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I can only assume this is some kind of remote-controlled car that has a toy driver, hence the forehead]
2: I want pink.
My final thoughts:
At first, we came across the Fairy Cozy Coupe , but I’m not a huge fan of butterflies and tiaras. There is tons of selection for coupes, wagons, and push cars including a Cozy Truck on the Toys ‘R’ Us website , and don’t even get me started on the Power Wheels options. I prefer the classic look, but if you’re the crafty type, the Internet is filled with ideas to customize your Cozy Coupe .
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Like any other (engine/battery-powered) car, the Cozy Coupe has gone through a few minor refreshes since its creation in 1979. In 2009, it celebrated its 30 th anniversary and with that celebration came a slight makeover, abeit nothing that would make the classic car unrecognizable; it got wide eyes up front, and a floorboard at the bottom (perfect for little toddler legs). As of 2012, the Cozy Coupe had sold 22 million cars worldwide and continues to be a best-seller — at the time of writing this, the classic version is sold out on the Toys ‘R’ Us website.
It’s sturdy for a piece of plastic — it gets some pretty rough play being pushed around a lot. It has hit a bunch of walls, and has taken numerous hits to the side from incoming basketballs and whatever else is being thrown around. But despite its hard life, it still has zero dents!
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Nathan made a point to talk about the bottom that comes out, because until recently, we made it a habit to attach the (removable) bottom piece every time Laila got inside. One time, while being pushed, she slowly fell out the bottom; I’m still chuckling at the thought. There were also a few weeks when it was the only way to get her to fall asleep: someone had to push her around in the little car until her head bonked the little red horn, and then everyone could get some rest.
I think what we’re all trying to say is, yes, we would recommend the Cozy Coupe to any baby, parent, family member, pet owner, person-looking-to-buy-a-present-for-someone-little, and anyone else who decides they may need this car at some point in life.