Hey guys, I have noticed there are a million Suzuki Swifts (2005 - 2012) on Facebook marketplace - all different sellers. Are these cars okay cars when the Km's start getting up a bit? Are the expensive to maintain/repair? Just wondering why there are so many of them. Wouldn't actually mind one myself as they're pretty economical.
strobo,
Aug 1, 3:31pm
#1 They all traded up on real cars like Holden
berg,
Aug 1, 3:39pm
165,000km on mine when I traded it. Rock solid reliable
ambo11,
Aug 1, 3:44pm
So many around because years ago people thought they were cool, so everyone had to jump on the bandwagon and buy one. Now there are millions around. Think they are perfectly reliable cars, just look like an obese turtle. Each to their own I guess. Latest ones are much better looking.
slarty45,
Aug 1, 3:54pm
Yeah but, didn`t you have to replace 1 kaput bulb
aoc1,
Aug 1, 4:04pm
Awesome cars really reliable and economical
curlcrown,
Aug 1, 4:49pm
Soon we will all be educated. - .
tshop,
Aug 1, 5:11pm
Sure beats buying 5 digit 1970,s something bogged up shitbox thats been on here for over a year. Suzuki make musical instruments also fyi.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 1, 5:31pm
A lot of those are the 1.4 with 4 speed auto. Surprisingly thirsty and also not at all good in a real world crash despite what the crash rating is. (look up the real world crash ratings on the nzta website) Not sure what your budget is but you can buy a 3 year old Fiat Punto for about 6K and it's a million times more car. Galvanised so no rust, simpler engine, far better economy, better in a crash, cheaper to maintain and of course quite new and low km. A much much better proposition. Plus, you even get boot space with the Punto unlike the Suzuki. Drive them both and see the big difference.
sw20,
Aug 2, 2:27am
Right on cue.
countrypete,
Aug 2, 2:29am
Gosh, just 3 years old and only worth $6,000? That's appalling depreciation! Why would anyone in their right mind buy into that? A Swift (or a corolla for that matter) does everything people need reliably and efficiently, and don't have such massive cost to run as your punto!
marmar1,
Aug 2, 3:38am
All the more reason to buy one, can't devalue much more and better looking car.
poppajn,
Aug 2, 4:11am
44 mpg, I would'nt call that thirsty. Thats what mine averages on the open road,
kazbanz,
Aug 2, 4:24am
They were and ARE a very VERY popular car. THAT is the reason you will see lots of them for sale. They have also finally -after MANY years dropped off the price pedestal they were on -due to the popularity. BUT word of warning.This isn't unique to the swift but definitely get a FULL pre purchase inspection carried out before purchasing. There are :private" sellers who are buying cars and boogying them up to sell.
gazzat22,
Aug 2, 5:08am
Actually Kaz i,ve noticed in my corner of the world the Swift seems to have been replaced by Tiida's by the older generation.Everything has its day!
ema1,
Aug 2, 5:19am
Or brainwashed. into oblivion ?
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 2, 5:29am
You know the car is thirsty when people post the open road economy. Put it his way. I get 5l/100km out of my similarly priced auotmatic city car (Fiat Panda) doing typical city/motorway running as these cars are generally used. If I do the same running in a Suzuki Swift 1.4 Auto I get just under 9l/100km. That's a BIG difference.
The key reason is because the 4 speed auto in the Swift does not have enough gears AND has a torque converter. So while on the open road that does not affect economy much. However in town you are losing a third or your economy to the torque converter alone all while it's unlocked and it's unlocked most of the time in the city.
Anyone can test this theory and it's the same for most 4 speed auto cars (including the Peugeots and old Polo's I have owned.) It just makes sense not ot buy a small car with a 1980's technology transmission.
If the OP isn't concerned about crash safety, drives on the open road where there are not significant hills and doesn't need hardly any luggage space. Then all power to them, buy the Swift. Otherwise, if they are doing typical small car running, there are better vehicles out there.
I like my 2006 Swift Sport manual. Has the 1600cc engine (high compression so runs on 98 octane fuel). But having driven a couple of 1500 and 1400 automatics, no. The 4 speed auto spoils the car. Mine has done 124,000 kms and still purrs like a kitten, no oil leaks or burning. Car has a few rattles and creaks from plastic interior bits made worse by the Sport having firmer suspension than the standard versions. Fun to drive. Bought 3 years ago for 8.5k would probably still get at least 6k for it. No repairs, just servicing and some tyres in that 3 years.
puddleduck00,
Aug 2, 7:33am
All good advice. Has anyone had experience with repairing them? Are parts/labour significantly more expensive? I remember an article on Stuff.co.nz warning people off them years ago due to the maintenance and repair costs (Stuff isn't exactly a reliable source of info though).
Thoughts?
kazbanz,
Aug 2, 7:52am
IMO that's because this generation of "oldies" are generally going for a more comfortable vehicle. Bigger doors. higher seats plusher ride. that's not a reflection on the swift as all of the smaller cars have a similar ride.
kazbanz,
Aug 2, 7:55am
Day to day maintenance on any of the swift range is EXACTLY the same as for any of the jap hatches of the same era, There are NO surprises to be had when it comes to day to day repair costs or even the unexpected stuff. There WAS a period where accident damage repair was a total nightmare. The reason for that was simply that the manufacturing plant for exterior components like bumpers was about 2.0m under a thick layer of sludge after the Tsunami in Japan. that is no longer the case. The only component ive noticed needing more attention than most is the front.suspension top mount bushes. -They are a couple of rubber "donuts" (not accurate but think of full sized donuts and you have an idea) But the entire replacement cost is about $300 and its worst case every 70000km-BUT this isn't every swift--far from it --I strongly suspect the people who wear them out are in and out of car park spaces and sawing away at the steering to park.
tgray,
Aug 2, 9:40am
The OP asks about Suzuki Swifts and here we are talking Euro's again. I wonder what would happen if someone posted a thread about Euro's and I came back telling them how good Suzuki Swifts were. I give up.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 2, 12:21pm
Because depreciation is now pretty much nill for the next few years. That's the whole, point depreciation is never linear, a smart person picks a car that is about to platau. The Swift is an excellent example of this actually. Back when the model being discussed here was current people on here were swarming to buy them for their "excellent depreciation". The thing was they held their initial value from new very well. But that meant people who were busy paying near new price for several year old models were inevitably going to take a BIG depreciation hit as it finally caught up.
I warned against this at the time, I explained the math and gave examples. Yet I was laughed at. Then what happened? Sure enough those people took Massive hits in depreciation 10K was scrubbed from the price very quickly.
Same thing happened with Vitz's before the Suzuki's. I was laughed at for telling people to buy the depreciated (MK2 at that stage) Punto for a third of the price. In a couple of years the Vitz's took a massive hit and caught up to the Punto in value.
How is this so hard to understand? Is there some better way for me to explain it because people just don't seem to get the concept.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 2, 12:23pm
That happened in another thread just yesterday I think. All perfectly fine with me. If a car is any good it stands on it's own merits. Pretty damn stupid to talk about cars in isolation without comparing them to anything else if you ask me.
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