Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ?

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Sat 1 Sep 2012 14:54
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - dsuk81
What problems might I encounter from buying a 2005 Suzuki alto with 500 ( yes 500) miles on the clock. Garaged from new. Serviced every year.

Brakes might have some surface rust, battery flat, other than that?

Would £1000 be a good price
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Sat 1 Sep 2012 15:04
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - gordonbennet

''What problems might I encounter''

Ripping the sellers arm off before someone else gets there first?..;) if i knew where it was i'd be on the way now.

Why would the battery be flat unless the car has stood for a long time, the only thing with cars that stand is that if they are used in the salt then stood, the salt solution is left encrusted in all the nooks and crannies to do its thing, so a thorough underbody and brake examination is a must.

Tyres should be as new but should be checked carefully for perishing, luckily they'll be about the cheapest size you can buy.

Edited by gordonbennet on 01/09/2012 at 15:04

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Sat 1 Sep 2012 15:08
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - Falkirk Bairn

Do you intend to drive it?

Tyres - need replaced - in the dark they will not have perished but they will not be round!

Seals perished?

Brakes - need attention clean/ greased. Brake fluid replaced.

All fluids

Battery - new one needed

Somebody else will add to this I am sure

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Sat 1 Sep 2012 15:33
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - Auristocrat
What problems might I encounter from buying a 2005 Suzuki alto with 500 ( yes 500) miles on the clock. Garaged from new. Serviced every year. Brakes might have some surface rust, battery flat, other than that? Would £1000 be a good price

Well if it has been serviced every year, is there too much to worry about? Have you got proof of the servicing and what has been done?

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Sat 1 Sep 2012 17:15
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - tony g
Hi ,I bought a new alto for my wife back in 2000 ,it proved to be a good little car.
The only issues we found with it were the build quality was poor ,but then at £5000 new it was still good value and it never let us down .I think at that time they were made in India but now are made in Hungary ?

The other main problem was the lack of power ,the car was fine as a town runabout ,shopping car etc .But with 4 adults in it really struggled on hills ,we were often reduced to second gear ,when most similair cars would be in third .

With those exceptions ,as a cheap town runabout they are fine .

Tony g

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Sat 1 Sep 2012 18:47
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - Auristocrat

The Alto is still built in India - along with the Nissan Pixo (which is a mild re-work of the Alto).

The Swift, SX4 and Splash (together with the related Vauxhall Agila) are built in Hungary.

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Sun 2 Sep 2012 15:06
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - bear807
Sound very good to me! Better check for rust. My uncle has a 54reg alto and damn is a robust little car, he doesn't care much about his car, right now it has done 140k , no problem so far only front suspension arm failure!
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Sun 2 Sep 2012 19:14
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - tony g
140'000 in an alto, the guy deserves a medal ,what does he do to cover so many miles .
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Mon 3 Sep 2012 02:47
Suzuki Alto - Buying a low milege car ? - bear807
My uncle used to do 70 miles a day mostly b-road that's might have cause suspension fail, this include school runs and to work occasionally 100 mile trip to Manchester and Sheffield. The alto lives a really tough life, my uncle treat it like s*** just yearly mot and basic servicing, not even bother to wash it properly now the red colour has become faint pink. This car is really meant to be a basic transport, the ride is really harsh, build quality is so so but it serves as a really robust car, now the car only use for town run as he bought a used bluemotion Touran ramming up the mileage.

Edited by bear807 on 03/09/2012 at 02:55

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