When I last checked a few weeks ago, Drivethedeal were doing about £300 off. Autotrader national search showed demonstrators around 5k miles at between £500 and £1000 off IIRC.
Not a bad car but I'd rather pay the extra for a "real" mini! If you trust What Car depreciation index the "loaded" 1.5 5 door swift loses more in £££ over 3 years than a Mini One that retails for £3k more.
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It was made Car of the Year by CAR magazine, and is being heavily advertised. There could be quite a lot of demand for thenext few monthgs.
What Car suggests about £300 off as a target price for the 1.5, which seems to be the one to go for.
Aprilia, I'm interested in your thought that it makes more sense than a MINI (which is what SWMBO wants for her next car) - I can see that it has more space for less money, but is it as much fun to drive? Our kids are grown up so she's less worried about practicality, and anyway, when needs must, my A4 makes a better van than one might think.
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In response to Flying Red's point about depreciation, I would imagine What Car are going by what Suzukis are normally worth after 3 years (not much). If the new Swift is popular and in demand, I would hope it'll hold its value better than its stablemates.
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Aprilia, I'm interested in your thought that it makes more sense than a MINI (which is what SWMBO wants for her next car) - I can see that it has more space for less money, but is it as much fun to drive?
I have 'followed' the Mini with interest because I was doing consultancy work for Rover at the time it was being developed and knew quite a few of the people working on it. I have driven quite a few since - both the original model and the '04 revision.
I honestly have to say that whilst it is a very 'trendy' car, I think it is much over-rated. Sure, the handling is very good, but this has been achieved at the expense of very poor ride. In fact I once drove about 150 miles in a 1.6 and it honestly made me feel ill. Continued restlessness from the suspension and buzzing from the engine - they seem to find every imperfection in the road.
Add to this that its a 3-door with very poor rear room (not much good, even for children), boot is uselessly small, its quite heavy on fuel for a small car and the turning circle is not great. Moreover, every one I have driven has had a lot of rattles (probably the harsh ride shaking the trim loose).
The Suzuki Swift doesn't perhaps have quite such good handling (I would say its 90-95% of the Mini) but the ride is just so much better - up to the standard of a much larger car. You could comfotably tackle a long journey in it. Add to this its quieter, a lot more room in the back (and you can have 5 doors), a nicer dash design (IMHO), tighter turning circle and apparently better fuel consumption.
My guess is depreciation on the Swift is not going to be too bad. It hits all the right buttons and is well priced.
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Well I went into google.co.uk, selected uk sites only and searched for 'suzuki swift discount'...
One of the replies was from HJ's Telegraph column dated 26/11/05 (hope it's ok to post it here)
"Swift - a modest proposal
I am looking to buy a new Suzuki Swift 1.5GLX in Xtreme yellow, list price £9,274 including a six-month tax disc. Am I being unreasonable in offering £8,900? The dealer tells me Suzuki is not offering any discounts and the only extras it could offer were a tank of petrol and some mats. I have made similar offers to other dealers but haven't had the courtesy of returned calls. According to What Car? magazine the target price should be £8,690. Am I being greedy?
S.H., Thatcham
I put S.H. on to www.buysuzukidirect.co.uk, part of the Stoneacre group, and she obtained a satisfactory discount. "
I think it's made in Hungary rather than Japan so they will no doubt be cheaper to build and import from EU than from Japan.
Good luck!
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Meant to add - please update if you get a better deal from them. Cheers!
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Been in touch. Not much of a discount on offer.....
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Maybe see if a car broker can get you a better deal.
Autobytel or Carfile perhaps? Good luck anyway.
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Just noticed - this month's 'What Car?' states best discounts on these via www.tins.co.uk/ - but again only a few hundrded pounds off :-(
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Phoned around a few dealers and got no worthwhile discounts (max is £300). Tins seem to be selling only at list price at the moment.
Interestingly several dealers open told me that whislt they themselves would like to sell at a discount, Suzuki UK were not allowing discounts on the Swift and that they would have supply restricted if they sold at discount. The 'free market' at work again, eh?
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