Have a friend looking around for a little run about to use around town & at the moment they are currently looking at a tidy, very basic, white color 1991 Suzuki Swift 1.3L manual 4 door hatch with 180,000km. They have asked me to post on here for advice on general reliability, common faults, things to look out for with them if any! opinions appreciated. thanks :)
mugenb20b,
Oct 17, 4:09pm
Make sure the cambelt's been done, or not due soon. Check for rust. They are very good, but boring cars.
the-lada-dude,
Oct 17, 6:21pm
don't ignore what the europeans have to offer,renault, vw, fiat, bmw, you can get twice the car for 1/2 the money. or is that 1/2 the car for twice the.dam can't remember !i wonder if thatsomeone canHELP!
lisa534,
Oct 18, 11:02am
I'll check with my friend about the cambelt & rust. i agree mugenb20b! when they showed it too me I couldnt help but yawn. but hey i guess every1 has a different taste in cars. at the "the-lada-dude" dont think they would even touch a euro. even tho i do like them personally! :)
curlcrown,
Oct 18, 12:42pm
its twice the maintainance for 4 times the money.
serf407,
Oct 18, 12:57pm
Check out the safety rating. Swift in NZ = Cultus overseas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cultus Even for suburban streets where silly accidents can happen when some idiot (in an old suv etc) drives into you , I would be looking for something with a better safety rating.
vtecintegra,
Oct 18, 1:23pm
3/5 in the US test is actually a pretty good rating for a small, old car like that.
lisa534,
Oct 18, 7:39pm
Thanks for the advice. will try see if I can get them into a little corolla/civic/familia/mirage type of car instead as they seem to be less "tinny" than the little Suzuki. they have 3000 to spend so should be able to get something safe with reasonable fuel economy. :)
serf407,
Oct 18, 9:00pm
If you have the time go to a wreckers and have a look to see how small cars regardless of brand perform in NZ real world collison conditions.
franc123,
Jan 3, 9:04am
You can do much better than that for $3K.If safety is a consideration consider bypassing the Civic/Sentra/Corolla/Familia class completely and going to something slightly bigger, trust me your dollar will go further for not a lot more outlay on petrol and you will get more space and comfort thrown in, smallish 90's era Jap cars especially are selling for really a lot more money than they should be because of the ongoing obsession with fuel prices, even worse many of them are mechanically getting towards the end of their life and costing $ to keep on the road.
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