Nearly new Suzuki Swift 1.0 boosterjet
Discussion
Hi all,
My car lease goes back soon and this time I’d quite like to buy a car for daily duties instead of rent. It’s been a good and adequate comfortable mode of transport for getting to work and back, but I’ve gone well over the mileage I was supposed to, so looking at buying on HP or loan to avoid this next time.
I’m buying a house in the next 12 months so I need the monthly payment to ideally be sub £180 a month so it doesn’t affect mortgage affordability too much, and one of the only nearly new offerings i’m Keen on for my ‘budget’ is the Swift.
I had a Swift before, the 1.6 sport, and loved it apart from how noisy it was in the cabin. Does anyone know if the new shape has addressed this?
I’m looking at the 1.0 Boosterjet, does anyone have any experience with this engine? Of course I’m going to test drive one ASAP but if anyone owns or has driven one any comments on its performance etc welcome.
Finally, any reasonable alternatives to this car? I’m choosing it as a mode of reliable and fairly cheap transport to take me 33 miles to work and back, and some running around at the weekend. The plan is once we have bought a house to buy another fun car to live in the garage so it doesn’t have to be anything blistering, just comfortable with some toys, and quick enough to keep up.
Cheers
John
My car lease goes back soon and this time I’d quite like to buy a car for daily duties instead of rent. It’s been a good and adequate comfortable mode of transport for getting to work and back, but I’ve gone well over the mileage I was supposed to, so looking at buying on HP or loan to avoid this next time.
I’m buying a house in the next 12 months so I need the monthly payment to ideally be sub £180 a month so it doesn’t affect mortgage affordability too much, and one of the only nearly new offerings i’m Keen on for my ‘budget’ is the Swift.
I had a Swift before, the 1.6 sport, and loved it apart from how noisy it was in the cabin. Does anyone know if the new shape has addressed this?
I’m looking at the 1.0 Boosterjet, does anyone have any experience with this engine? Of course I’m going to test drive one ASAP but if anyone owns or has driven one any comments on its performance etc welcome.
Finally, any reasonable alternatives to this car? I’m choosing it as a mode of reliable and fairly cheap transport to take me 33 miles to work and back, and some running around at the weekend. The plan is once we have bought a house to buy another fun car to live in the garage so it doesn’t have to be anything blistering, just comfortable with some toys, and quick enough to keep up.
Cheers
John
I have a 2017 Baleno 1L BoosterJet. Haven't driven the Swift.
I can't fault the engine and gearbox. There's no turbo lag, only a very slight surge at 2500 rpm as it starts turbolating. Very smooth progression of low down torque for town driving, it all feels very classy.
Rev limiter is at 5500 rpm, by which time you're doing 80 mph with two gears left. Enjoys been driven briskly. Save 5th gear for motorways.
New interior with SLDA SatNav is fine. Mine's an SZ-T - without cruise or obstacle-sensing braking.
55mpg or better, VED: £140.
Quibbles: SatNav is not very good at navigating, and still based on 2016 maps. It takes Android Auto or ApplePlay, so you can use Waze/whatever. However it is quite a good looking unit with DAB etc. No CD.
Road noise: It's not intrusive for me, but test drive first.
Torsion beam rear axle: hops about a bit when you're in the frisky zone. Otherwise handling is quite sporty.
Suzuki servicing is at 9000 miles. It annoys me every year.
I like the Baleno, it's a touch bigger than the Swift and a good four seater. Engine is excellent. Still pleased with it after a year.
There's often a lot of demonstrators around toward Nov/Dec. Don't know about leasing costs, though.
I can't fault the engine and gearbox. There's no turbo lag, only a very slight surge at 2500 rpm as it starts turbolating. Very smooth progression of low down torque for town driving, it all feels very classy.
Rev limiter is at 5500 rpm, by which time you're doing 80 mph with two gears left. Enjoys been driven briskly. Save 5th gear for motorways.
New interior with SLDA SatNav is fine. Mine's an SZ-T - without cruise or obstacle-sensing braking.
55mpg or better, VED: £140.
Quibbles: SatNav is not very good at navigating, and still based on 2016 maps. It takes Android Auto or ApplePlay, so you can use Waze/whatever. However it is quite a good looking unit with DAB etc. No CD.
Road noise: It's not intrusive for me, but test drive first.
Torsion beam rear axle: hops about a bit when you're in the frisky zone. Otherwise handling is quite sporty.
Suzuki servicing is at 9000 miles. It annoys me every year.
I like the Baleno, it's a touch bigger than the Swift and a good four seater. Engine is excellent. Still pleased with it after a year.
There's often a lot of demonstrators around toward Nov/Dec. Don't know about leasing costs, though.
Edited by Slushbox on Friday 28th September 13:04
pb8g09 said:
Used Abarth?
Used Fiesta ST?
Used Audi A1 TFSI?
World is your oyster unless you've got more parameters?
At £180 a month over 5 years I'm assuming we're talking about £9k budget or thereabouts?
Great suggestions but If it’s just a comfy economical commuter car, none of these will be anywhere near as hassle free as a nearly new Suzuki SwiftUsed Fiesta ST?
Used Audi A1 TFSI?
World is your oyster unless you've got more parameters?
At £180 a month over 5 years I'm assuming we're talking about £9k budget or thereabouts?
steedy27 said:
If its a first mortgage I was told by a mortgage adviser that it was preferable not to have outstanding finance as some providers arent keen. Buy a banger for 12 months then get something after?.
Think this varies depending on how close to the limit you're borrowing at and what your credit score is.I've bought my last two houses both with outstanding loans on cars and it wasn't even sniffed at.
CX53 said:
Great suggestions but If it’s just a comfy economical commuter car, none of these will be anywhere near as hassle free as a nearly new Suzuki Swift
I wouldn't disagree, I was trying to demonstrate that your criteria gives you a massive amount of selection! 
I was in a similar boat myself a year ago to you, I opted to get a 'relative' banger for £3k that was reliable and then dumped it off on the p/x after I'd got the mortgage on a newer, better, faster car. Is it worth doing this just to keep your credit file cleaner for the mortgage? - so long as you don't buy a VED heavy 17mpg barge, insurance will be dirt cheap, and then you don't have to worry about parking it in car parks etc. because it was cheap in the first place?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
pb8g09 said:
Think this varies depending on how close to the limit you're borrowing at and what your credit score is.
I've bought my last two houses both with outstanding loans on cars and it wasn't even sniffed at.
I just got my first mortgage recently whilst repaying 400 a month for my current car, most lenders reduced the amount I could borrow by circa 20%.I've bought my last two houses both with outstanding loans on cars and it wasn't even sniffed at.
Something to think about.
Hammy98 said:
I just got my first mortgage recently whilst repaying 400 a month for my current car, most lenders reduced the amount I could borrow by circa 20%.
Something to think about.
Wowzers £400 a month on a personal loan? - you're either driving an M3 or you've borrowed for a very short period of time?!Something to think about.
One thing to consider in regard to the mortgage is that the amount of credit showing on your profile for a lease is lower than if you go HP/PCP due to the total of the payments being recorded (in the case of the lease) rather than the amount of money borrowed (in the case of PCP/HP.
My car lease with VWFS shows up as a utility on Clearscore.
My car lease with VWFS shows up as a utility on Clearscore.
Thanks for the replies and feedback everyone.
I’ve since been to test drive one and really liked it, but also test drove a Kia Pro Ceed 1.6 CRDi, which I really liked and which would also save me a lot in fuel with the mileage I do...
With regards to getting a mortgage, a friend of mine just secured his mortgage being 6 grand overdrawn so I don’t think this should hurt me too much, the amount they should lend is acceptable with the monthly commits I have now (£185 pcm lease) so I’m hoping it should be fine with this car purchase.
I would buy a banger but one days work missed is more than the monthly on the new car so I’d rather go for the newer reliable option if I can..
I’ve since been to test drive one and really liked it, but also test drove a Kia Pro Ceed 1.6 CRDi, which I really liked and which would also save me a lot in fuel with the mileage I do...
With regards to getting a mortgage, a friend of mine just secured his mortgage being 6 grand overdrawn so I don’t think this should hurt me too much, the amount they should lend is acceptable with the monthly commits I have now (£185 pcm lease) so I’m hoping it should be fine with this car purchase.
I would buy a banger but one days work missed is more than the monthly on the new car so I’d rather go for the newer reliable option if I can..
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