Suzuki Swift

haventrader, Feb 16, 2:24am
Friend dragged me along to test drive a 2012 Swift she's interested in. Immaculate little car, 44,000km, drove well, except that at a "low" gear (CVT gearbox), from about 20km/h through to 60km/h, it would jerk, almost like it was missing. Was not an electrical problem though. The bloke selling (claims he is a dealer) called me later that day to say he agreed something was not right. Today he called me again to say that his mechanic has checked the car and says there is nothing wrong with it- I was driving the car too hard! Is this common on these cars, or what could be causing it?
woody1946, Feb 16, 2:33am
the jerking is just wheelspin---powerful little beasts those Swifts
jessebird, Feb 16, 2:36am
Thats what i was looking at getting, or Mazda Demo.
haventrader, Feb 16, 3:03am
If only!
franc123, Feb 16, 3:06am
Look for another one if you aren't happy with it, or happy with their 'explanation'. Not like there is a shortage of them on the market, they're good little cars generally but the fact they're too easily lost in car parks due to there being 15 other ones there in the same colour at the same time irritates (well if it wasn't for remote keys. ) and the terrible boot space is the main reasons they get sold. Certainly look at the Toyota and Mazda options.
ml6989, Feb 16, 3:55am
Terrible boot space? Mine can get $300 of groceries in hers with out even squashing the bread or the dunny paper!
franc123, Feb 16, 4:10am
I'm talking with the seats up not down. Even a Chihuahua would feel claustrophobic in there.
twindizzy, Feb 16, 12:28pm
We have new models as pool cars at work. You have to be careful what model you buy. Most are gutless wonders but one model was quite peppy (and nice to drive).
3tomany, Feb 16, 1:17pm
I don't like swift but in its defence if you drive it hard the traction control or esp could be reigning in your enthusiasm giving the appearance of a misfire
kazbanz, Feb 16, 1:39pm
Its not common and there is an issue.
3 here all don't do this.
Simple issue is dirty throttle body or water down a plug hole.
right up to computer fault with that car.
This is assuming you waited a couple of minutes before giving it the berries.-long enough for oil to circulate and the fast idle to settle down a bit
Sometimes when fast idle is starting to back off from full on they give a stutter.
haventrader, Feb 17, 1:49am
Thanks all for the comments. Kaz, the motor was up to running temperature (I normally start a car, check the motor bay while it's running and do a once over before running it into the ground- kidding). Drove another today and it was fine. Agree so many to choose from. Cheers.
bwg11, Feb 17, 2:08am
Probably not your issue as yours seems much more severe, but the CVT on the Swift Sport has a 2 speed planetary box on the side of the CVT box. This overcomes one of CVT's problems, namely lack of ratio range without using huge pulleys. It allows a low first, and also a nice high economical overdrive high gear.

This secondary box shifts automatically, but sometimes strange times, the shift feels like a normal conventional auto shift, and the CVT compensates instantly.
thejazzpianoma, Feb 17, 2:28am
If your friend is still hell bent on getting one, consider getting the updated model (late 2013 I think) which has the new dual jet 1.2 engine. It is supposed to be considerably better on fuel, it's not direct injected, but it has some similar advantages.

I have seen imported ones with the new engine going pretty cheap. You definitely want an import because the kiwi base model one with the 4 Speed auto is a bad joke IMO. While I haven't driven one yet the CVT + dual jet engine potentially solves many of my criticisms of the Swift, on paper at least. An immaculate low km 12Kish Swift will also theoretically avoid the steep depreciation cliff that many buyers have been getting caught with. I suspect a lot of new Swift buyers have been stung thinking they were going to experience the same depreciation curve as they did with the previous model. Quite the opposite has occurred.

It's anyone's guess how reliability will be with the new engine, but Suzuki haven't been doing too badly with reliability overall so that's encouraging.

Sorry that's a bit off topic but thought it might be relevant to the situation in general. Happy motoring.
haventrader, Feb 17, 3:34am
Thanks Jazz. I pushed her towards a late model Polo, but nope, the Swift is the verdict. Must say after viewing many other small cars, I was quite impressed with the quality of the Suzuki and other than the one I drove on Sunday, thought it went quite well. A bit strange the CVT g'box- I suppose one gets used to it over time, but it did remind me of my 1969 Type 2 VW bus when a crankcase oil seal went outside Berlin, covering the clutch plate with oil. Still, got me back to old blighty.
mikew, Feb 17, 3:53am
Had a manual Suzuki Swift Sport. loved loved loved it. It was a very nippy little car.
Mrs M
berg, Feb 17, 2:05pm
Plus 1. Put 165,000 trouble free kms on ours in 5 years. 6 tyres in that time (2 fronts were due when sold), 1 set of sparkplugs, 2 air cleaners and oil/filter every 15,000km. Never even needed discpads. Was a fun wee car to own.
wasgonna, Feb 17, 2:16pm
$300 doesn't buy much that's why that amount fits.
kazbanz, Feb 17, 3:24pm
hey haventrader have you looked at the SX4. Specifically the 2wd 1500cc version. Its basicly a stretched swift
cor.-., Jun 12, 11:49am
move on there are plenty of these about, it sounds like a lemon