I am about to buy a smallish car for around town and the odd out of town trip. I love the look of the Swifts, but wanting to do some homework on them first. Actually I am open to any suggestions of other makes and models that you find awesome wee cars please. Do you find there is enough room n the swifts or pretty cramped! What are they like on open road, would be looking at 1500cc. Is there much differance in the standard or sport.! Any help and suggestions would be appreciated thanks.
carmedic,
Jan 25, 6:00am
Quick Jazz they want a Punto!
berg,
Jan 25, 6:19am
I have a Sport and love it. We have traveled with 4 adults but not with a lot of luggage. The Sport handles better than a standard Swift but the trade off is a stiffer firmer ride.
jrlaw,
Jan 25, 6:30am
Daughter has changed cars, out from a Mondeo, into a Swift. She says it is the best car she has every had. Half the petrol bill.
joel14,
Jan 25, 8:00am
Thanks for your posts. It is helpful to hear your views. Is there any more Suzuki Swiftees out there!!Please
jasongroves,
Jan 25, 8:04am
Swift is a great wee car. My mum looked long and hard at buying one, but ended up going with a late model Daihatsu Sirion. Not as many features as the Swift, but reliable chain driven Toyota engine, shit loads of cup holders (LOL), reasonable space for a small car and very frugal (she has a manual).
jasongroves,
Jan 25, 8:06am
Oh, and the price difference between the Swift or other Toyota equivalent is huge. They aren't everyones cup of tea design wise, but they are an option to consider.
theunicorn,
Jan 25, 8:14am
We have a Swift Sport. It is remarkably roomy, has very good front seats and is excellent to drive around town. Good performance, excellent handling, remarkable brakes and very economical.
It is not so appealing on the open road, because it is quite low geared so revs up near 3,500 rpm at 100km/h so is quite busy sounding.It also lacks a spare tyre, which is a potential problem out in the country. The standard model may well addressboth these issues.
joel14,
Jan 25, 8:15am
Thanks jason, I will check them out. Cheers. It looks about the same size as swift.
nick_o_teen,
Jan 25, 8:16am
we sell swifts very fast, they are very popular. they are also roomy for a small car. i like them too ;-)
srs5,
Jan 25, 8:20am
I have a ltd/sport! Amazing, LOVE it! Three kids, lots of room and incredible what I have managed to fit in it. Travel on the open road regularly and it is terrific, economic etc.
joel14,
Jan 25, 8:21am
Thanks theunicorn that is helpful. nick o teen do you know if the standard swift would be a better option to go for than the sport!
nick_o_teen,
Jan 25, 8:49am
depends how much you want to spend. you get what your pay for basicly. go do some test drives and see what you think.
poohy99,
Jan 25, 6:37pm
I've owned an '09 Sport for just over a year now.Great fun to drive and brilliant handling.You need to drive both to decide.Note that the Sport is only comes in manual trans.
joel14,
Jan 25, 6:57pm
Thanks poohy9 I didnt realise the sport were only manual as I am looking for auto (i think!) I live in a town where there are no swifts for sale to take for a drive unfortunately, so am trying to find out as much as I can about them before I go travelling to view them. Cheers
mrskathy,
Jan 25, 7:34pm
I have a Swift Sport automatic.These are imports as they only sell manuals here.Ive had mine for approx 3months,fantastic cars.Cheap to run,easy to park and I have had 4 adults fitting in there comfortably.Excellent cars.
3tomany,
Jan 25, 7:58pm
we test drove a new swift sport and a new ford fiesta and after a back to back drive the fiesta beat the swift sport in almost every regard so we bought the fiesta so do yourself a favour and try them both and maybe others to. we now have two fords and two suzukis in our fleet
zetec,
Jan 26, 6:20am
I bought an older model (07) Fiesta for my wife last year, we also liked the Swift. But you get more for your money with the Fiesta with a 1.6 engine than a Swift 1.5 (and even than a 1.3 import) around $1-2k cheaper for same year and mileage.
mrskathy,
Jan 26, 8:47am
I drove both the 1.3and the 1.5 swifts but much prefer the 1.6 Swift sport that I bought as it was a lot more gutsy.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 26, 9:41pm
joel, The Swift is grossly overpriced. Its a very average cheap entry level old technology car wrapped up in a slick party dress. People who think they are great (sorry no offense people) have generally not driven what else you can buy for the money. (unless its another equally overpriced asian car)
Its simply obscene that these things go for nearly MK5 Golf money (which is like a Youth Hostel to the Novatel for nearly the same price).
If you want something like the swift why not grab a 2001 or newer Punto, they are a better car for half (or even a third of) the money or less. If you are considering getting an Auto then you would be insane not to get the Fiat as its CVT makes the Suzuki Auto look like a joke.
You can get a properly pristine Punto with say 30'000km on the clock all serviced and ready to go for about $5000 if you look around. I have seen perfectly tidy ones 2000 or newer go for half that.
If you really want to spend that much money spend a little extra and buy a Golf, you are going to make it back in that you then have a proper car thats just as economical (or more so) and won't depreciate like made when the next fashion item comes along.
If you HAVE to have the Suzuki based on looks thats fine, but just make sure you are comfortable paying a premium of $6000 for the party dress.
BTW, the Suzuki isn't a terrible car by any means, so I hope I have not given that impression. BUT for what you are getting they are a $5000 car not a $10'000 (or more) car.
vtecintegra,
Jan 26, 9:54pm
Actually a lot of us have driven a variety of cars.
The Mark 5 Golf is nice enough true but its a bigger, bulkier and less fun car.The Punto is just not a nice car in any area, weird driving position, poor ergonomics and some of the most gutless engines in existence (you live in an utter fantasy world where these are concerned, yes I'm sure the 1.8 goes well but these are not plentiful)
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 26, 10:10pm
You clearly have not driven both.
I have driven both Auto and Manual Suzuki's and jumped straight back into our Punto. Absolutely no contest on that one.
The Suzuki Auto is a terrible noisy clonky heap compared to the smooth quiet CVT of the Punto.
If the standard Golf is to plain there are several fun variants.
Your comments about the ergonomics and the engine etc in a Punto indicate you have only driven the first generation Punto which is a 20 year old car now and is clearly NOT the car we are talking about here. I thought you have more brains than to judge a car by its CC rating.
All poster one needs to do is jump in the Golf and Punto and see for themselves. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see the Punto is as good or better for a fraction of the money.
The smallest readily available Punto engine in NZ (1200cc 16v used in kiwi and jap imports) gives much the same experience as the 1500 Swift. Slightly better power with Auto vs CVT and slightly worse 5 speed vs 5 speed.
AND thats Fiats smallest vs Suzuki's biggest (no sport engines) which just shows how far wrong your comments are.
PLUS don't want to compare Fiats bigger HGT Punto to any of Suzuki's equivalent hotter line up. its just embarrassing for the Suzuki.
But none of that matters. All that matters is the Punto is just as quick. Your other comments make equally no sense at all.
BTW, if you buy a Suzuki Diesel (not really around in NZ) it runs a Fiat engine anyway!
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 26, 10:44pm
BTW, poster one. With a title like "OK HELP PLEASE! Suzuki Swift owners please!"
You are not actually going to get a useful well rounded opinion. Its going to be horribly skewed towards the Suzuki whether the car is good or bad. Best ask for opinions on the car in a thread. You definitely need to talk to people who decided against buying the Suzuki (as I did for work vehicles).
Also, try and figure out exactly what they are basing their opinions on and what they have compared the car too.
redwood107,
Jan 27, 12:47am
Hi OP,I love my swift it's a standard model but I'm going to trade it for the sports version (no reason other than time for a change of colour - I'm obviously not a bloke then).Mostly everyone I know who drives it is pleasantly surprised by the space.We use it mostly around town, unbelievably economical.But have used it on open road and will often take it on long trips when it's just the two of us - I'd rather save the fuel money towards vodka.I'm sure people who know their cars inside out will point out faults with it and that's fine, but I love it, it suits me perfectly (carting around 2 teenage boys).They are hugely popular in our area so we are either all really gulliable or they are actually a good wee car with quite a loyal following.Infact 7 months on I'm still waiting for someone to trade their Sports Swift so I can buy it.By all means compare and look around but I still don't think you'd regret a Swift.
theunicorn,
Jan 27, 5:35am
To help clarify a few claims made in this thread.
Claim "Its simply obscene that these things go for nearly MK5 Golf money" Fact On TradeMe Swifts $12,000 to $27,000, Golfs $17,000 to $80,000.
Claim "The smallest readily available Punto engine in NZ (1200cc 16v used in kiwi and jap imports) gives much the same experience as the 1500 Swift." Fact Swift 1.5 75kw, 133NM Punto 1.2 59kw 114NM
Claim "All that matters is the Punto is just as quick." Swift 1.5 0-100 = 10 secs Punto 1.2 0-100 = 11.4 secs
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