Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues

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Sat 8 Feb 2020 23:50
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Zippy123

I can't decide on a new motor and am current borrowing SWMBO's car (she is not a happy bunny).

My Tucson lease went back and I want something similar but a lot cheaper.

To that end I have been looking at manual Nissan Qashqai and Suzuki Vitaras.

When I was speaking to the Suzuki garage they said that they had an SX4 pre-reg at a price that makes it cheaper than a used Fiesta at £11k so I am quite tempted.

The SZ4 is the base model so I guess I will need to add parking sensors and satnav at my own cost but I've been told that these are robust cars.

It's likely to be needed for about 5 - 6 hours a day once or twice a week (20k a year).

What does the forum think?

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 00:14
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Avant

Suzuki have a very good name for reliability. You'd need to test drive this one to see if it has enough power for yout needs.

One litre pulling a medium-sized SUV doesn't sound much like fun - but some of these small turbos punch above their weight, and Suzuki's engine may well be one such.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 00:37
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - SLO76

Not what I’d buy to do 20k p/a, it’ll see its value annihilated. These are decent enough little cars but they typically sell to older buyers who want reliability and high mileage absolutely kills them. I’d look at a Toyota Auris 1.2T, Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC or a Mazda 3 2.0 Skyactiv for this sort of usage with the focus being on the Civic which can do a genuine 70mpg and will fetch substantially more than the Suzuki with say 80k upwards on the clock.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 00:48
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Zippy123

Not what I’d buy to do 20k p/a, it’ll see its value annihilated. These are decent enough little cars but they typically sell to older buyers who want reliability and high mileage absolutely kills them. I’d look at a Toyota Auris 1.2T, Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC or a Mazda 3 2.0 Skyactiv for this sort of usage with the focus being on the Civic which can do a genuine 70mpg and will fetch substantially more than the Suzuki with say 80k upwards on the clock.

I have been looking at the Civics, but there is a huge disparity in price.

The car I'm looking at costs £11k. The nearest Civic age and mileage wise is £17k and in garages that are about 150 to 200 miles away. Nearer examples are about £20k.

I expect the Suzuki to be a <£2k car at the end of 4 or 5 years so that's £9k depreciation.

I would be surprised if the Civics would be worth £9k to £11k with 80k to 100k on the clock!?

Edited by Zippy123 on 09/02/2020 at 00:49

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 08:36
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - barney100

Mileage will damage your trade in value, SWMBO's Volvo V70d does around 15k a year but she keeps her cars for years and the Volvo's take it. Maybe take the long term view with a car that is known to last and you can break the circle of regular car changing. Volvo '08 cost about 8k but is a mere youth compared with some I see around.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 09:40
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - badbusdriver

Given you plan to keep the car for 4-5 years, and given what you plan to do with it, i would't be unduly concerned about the resale value. That sort of mileage is going to make a big dent in the value of any car. If you are starting with something cheap, the depreciation is going to be a bigger percentage of its purchase price, but i doubt the actual amount you lose would be much more.

What i'd be most concerned about (after relaibility) would be comfort and refinement, because of the time spent in the car. In terms of comfort (looking at owners reviews), Suzuki seem to do OK, but in terms of refinement, not so much. Suzuki's tend to weigh less than the competition like for like (Avant, the 1.0 manual SX4 S Cross only weighs 1160kg, which is about the same as a Fiesta), and one of the area's for this would be sound insulation. Reading reviews for Suzuki's, they are generally quite noisy at main road speed. So i'd be looking to give the car a good long test drive, taking in a section where you can get it up to 70mph+ to see how you find it.

By contrast, the 9th generation Civic SLO mentions, is one of the most comfortable and refined cars in its class.

You should be looking for the best car for your needs, not the newest one. And that, IMO, does not need to cost anywhere near £11k. I could find an old Toyota Avensis for under £3k which i'd be quite happy to spend that amount of time behind the wheel, and be confident in its reliability.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 10:33
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - SLO76
“ The car I'm looking at costs £11k. The nearest Civic age and mileage wise is £17k and in garages that are about 150 to 200 miles away. Nearer examples are about £20k.

I expect the Suzuki to be a <£2k car at the end of 4 or 5 years so that's £9k depreciation.

I would be surprised if the Civics would be worth £9k to £11k with 80k to 100k on the clock!?“


I wouldn’t buy a £17k Civic either, i’d stick around £10k for a good previous gen 1.6 DTEC. It’ll lose less money than the Suzuki, it’s better to drive at speed and it’ll stand the heavy use better in my opinion. The Suzuki will have no market at 100k plus while the Civic will sell easily If in good order.

Of course there nothing wrong with the Suzuki if you really want one then do so, I doubt it’ll let you down but I’d take an extended drive in one and an older Civic to see which you favour and don’t worry about it being a few years older, these last very well. My brothers in law both run Civics I sourced for them and one is 19yrs old with 140,000 miles up yet is still solid and reliable.
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Sun 9 Feb 2020 11:02
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Zippy123

Just to throw the proverbial grenade in to the mix...

Rules for the car (stipulated by work) is:

Under 10 years old.

Under 110k miles.

Unfortunately a 5 year old car with 50k on the clock would be ideal privately, it would not be suitable for work as after 2-3 years it would be outside of the requirements mileage wise.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 14:23
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Happy Blue!

How strictly do they check the mileage?

If you buy a car that looks like new now but it four years old, are they really going to force you to change it just because of reaching a miles threshold? I can understand that they have the rule so you are not breaking down and not doing your job, but if your car is reliable will they be fussed by keeping the car for an extra 20,00 miles?

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 15:07
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Falkirk Bairn

I knew a high mileage driver wanted the very best for every £ but wanted a newish & reliable car..

He bought 2/3 year old car with 15K-20K - kept it 2 years or with 60K ish miles

Still very sell able at a good price.

Then started the ball rolling again with a 15-20K car

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 15:05
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - SLO76
Some good deals on new shape Civics, not that much dearer than a late previous gen car. It’ll do 62.8mpg average, I can vouch for this too as I was getting 56mpg from a CRV with the same engine and it’ll be far nicer to drive over distance than the Suzuki which according to the tech specs on Autotrader averages 44.9mpg a difference which will rapidly eat into the lower price.

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200206702...8

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 15:16
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - Ethan Edwards

I looked at the SX4 myself. Its larger than the Vitara. I wanted the 1.4t but at the time they were like hens teeth. Buyers buy them to keep. Make of that what you will. I settled for a Vitara bit smaller but I got the1.4t engine. I also have a Swift with the1.0t engine and it's a decent engine. I suggest you do an extended test drive. .

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 16:42
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - daveyK_UK
If you can live with losing the ride height, some fantastic deals on the last of the UK stock of Suzuki Baleno’s.
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Mon 10 Feb 2020 20:17
Suzuki SX4 SZ4 998cc - The buying saga continues - S40 Man

Get something with a comfy seat if you will spend 5-6 hours a day in her. Some toys and nice to drive would also be good

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