suzuki swift of the 2005 -2009 era

[mobile chicane22]

1.5 or the 1.3 any niggles, common faults, what are they like to live with is the 1.5 auto dog slow or not that bad ?

[davebem]

My wife had a 1.3ddis for 2-3 years or so. It was a good car on the whole, never had any problems with it, didnt even wear its tyres out. Fiat engine was very un-responsive and had to be worked hard but still did around 55mpg. Handling was good, but not quite as grippy as a MINI or a Clio. Build quality was questionable (I think they are made in India). Couldnt live with the small boot although for the size of the car there was plenty of room in the back seats.

[rallycross]

The 1.5 auto will surprise you by how well it goes - for a small auto they are quite lively, will happily sit at 90+ on the motorway and round town they feel quite nippy/responsive, plus they have good handling, roll free and quite grippy.

I just did 320 miles in a 2008 1.5 auto and would recommend one. The auto is an old fashioned 4 speed box but it works fine and I would rather have one of them than the horrible cvt in the Jazz.

Good value as well when you compare it with a Jazz or Yaris of the same spec/age/miles the Swift comes out cheaper and drives better (if you enjoy driving).

Not aware of any reliability issues with the Swift, a friend who works for a Suzuki main dealer reckon's they never have to do much warranty work on the Swifts they are well built.

[pembo]

I had a 2006 1.5 in 2006 brand new for a couple of years and loved it, really good little nippy cars. I only sold it because I came into a bit of cash and bought the 350Z otherwise I'd probably still have it now.

Surprisingly spacious inside too, after taking off both wheels I managed to fit 2 adult mountain bikes, camping kit for the weekend including BBQ and a unicycle in the back with the rear seats folded down and still had plenty of space.

[Mykap]

Wife has an SZ4 1.5 auto.
Brilliant car, feels surprisingly nimble. In the SZ4 climate control is good and keyless entry is useful, the stereo is crap though. It was bought new in 2010 end of the last shape on a great deal from Suzuki. Gives a constant 37-40mpg. The only criticism is the road noise when cruising on the motorway above 70mph - it will happily run all day at 90 if allowed. Only issue since new was a shock absorber replaced under warranty at 10,000' picked up on service by main dealer. I hadn't noticed. main dealer servicing is a little pricey for a small car IMO.

We are absolutely floored by what to replace it with next year. The new Swift auto is rubbish in comparison. OK its quieter and more economical but the performance feels reduced when driving compared to the 1.5 with it's old school 4 speed auto. It's also cute looking and pretty classless. We have looked at Citroen, Peugeot, Ford even bloody Fiat but think we will have to go German next time. Shame - I will be sad to see it go.

[JonRB]

mobile chicane22 said:

1.5 or the 1.3 any niggles, common faults, what are they like to live with is the 1.5 auto dog slow or not that bad ?

I'm running the 1.5 auto and, whilst it is pretty slow and not particularly economical, it's ok. It's white goods motoring and nothing has gone wrong with it, apart from a failed Oxygen Sensor that I must get round to fixing sometime.

The Swift Sport is very well regarded by EVO though, so is probably the one to go for.

[mobile chicane22]

cheers guys we did a 90 mile round trip to a dealer to test drive one yesterday even though we phoned about an hour before we arived and clearley stated we were intrested in the red swift which is still live on autotrader now ( link below )

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...


It had been sold for a while and the dealer thought we were talking about the red suzuki jeep on the phone.

so that wasted half a day.

Wifey had a sit in it and likes them so far but obviously no test drive as its already sold.

original stig also had to go to the vets as he was a bit sick but a thermometer up the bum and some injections later and he's back to his good old ways


( yes yes I have a 9 year old completley black cat called stig )

[chevronb37]

My parents have this bad boy as a supermarket/dog carrying/local runabout. They love it. The visibility is tremendous, the interior is workmanlike and it's been faultlessly reliable. I haven't driven it yet but the old man reckons it's a bit light and toy-like. I suspect most cars of the genre are. He also looked at a Panda but couldn't get along with the lack of left footrest. He also has a 335i and V8 Vantage and genuinely loves driving his little Swift - reminds him of his hot hatch days as a yoof.

Here it is on the banking at Oulton Park looking utterly splendid.

[Japveesix]

Folks have a manual gearbox 1.5 which I've driven a lot. Really nice little car, great visibility, genuinely feels nippy at low speeds, and has a sensible and useable interior (much better than some I've been in - Ford Ka). It handles well, is roomy inside (one of the widest in it's class) and still looks good - I always far preferred it to the countless minis I see everywhere.

Downsides, it's slightly thirsty (gets maybe 42mpg at best - sure you can do better with small cars nowadays), the boot is pretty small and that's about it.

[JonRB]

Japveesix said:

Downsides, it's slightly thirsty (gets maybe 42mpg at best - sure you can do better with small cars nowadays), the boot is pretty small and that's about it.

Yes, I'd agree. With the auto I really struggle to hit 40mpg even on the motorway which, as you say, is a case of "should do better".

The boot is small, but the rear seats do fold and also tip forward. Also it has surprising length. I can get 2M contiboards in it.

[rallycross]

JonRB said:

Yes, I'd agree. With the auto I really struggle to hit 40mpg even on the motorway which, as you say, is a case of "should do better".

I dont agree with that as its a 100 bhp 1500cc petrol 5 door - with an old fashioned 4 speed auto box, getting 40 mpg would be good for that spec.
I was impressed by my trip in one which driving it pretty much as fast as conditions would allow and it managed mid 30's mpg over 300+ hard miles. Good little cars, drives a bit like a Jap version of a Bmw mini but much cheaper.

[caterhamboy]

The wife's got the 1.5glx manual, its averaged 41.7 mpg over the last 2 yrs mainly around town. Good fun to drive and engine is very revy. Not had any problems at all.

[Swifty Stig]

Evening I have an 08 1.5 glx auto with 45k miles and its nippy! Comfy place to be, spacious inside (im fairly big built) and its grippy round corners. I dont know why but I worry about its fuel consumption. Its serviced regularly and yet it can guzzle the fuel. Especially around town! Also, on a duel carrigeway should it really be doing 3k revs at a steady 70mph?! Iirc a v8 monaro does 1.5k!! Haha
No mechanical problems as such to report but do check the rear suspension as it can creak (bushes I think) and the handbrake cable may need tightening as they can get loose causing the light to come on when cornering and sometimes under acceleration. Also watch for steering wheel pull to the left. I learned and passed in a 1.3 manual version and it pulled too. It doesnt use much oil and ive only had to top up maybe once and it was inbetween services when i went over the recomended by near 2k! Oops! Haha! Regarding the stereo I think its not too bad. Radio reception is meh though! Bassy enough and the avc is pretty useful for covering road noise at speed (30, 45, 57 mph you can notice volume increase especially) and quieting down when braking (brakes are not to bad either). All in all its been a great car to me in past 2 and a bit years and passed both MOTs with flying colours

[Swifty Stig]

mobile chicane22 said:

original stig also had to go to the vets as he was a bit sick but a thermometer up the bum and some injections later and he's back to his good old ways


( yes yes I have a 9 year old completley black cat called stig )

poor cat great name! my poor puss has suspected broken pelvis after a run in with a car today bit off topic I know but your comment bout your cat caught my attention hehe

[Ebo100]

We bought one of the last Swift Sports brand new as a 60reg for the wife. It was an amazing car to drive, with a cracking engine and fantastic handling. MPG was reasonable and we managed to get all our holiday luggage in complete with two large teenage lads in the back. However over the year we had it slowly every bit of trim started squeaking, the door trims especially bad. Even though I drove it only at weekends it just bugged me to the point I would get the lads to sit up against the side trims when we went out. It might seem trivial but the constant squeak over the radio drove me mad and this is saying something as I drive a VX220 as my daily drive which could write it's own book on NVH problems.
On a plus point an identical black one passes my house every day and I always have that "why did I sell it" voice in my head as it really was a cracking little car.