1.3 SZ3 3dr Hatchback

Would make a fun track car but too flimsy for the real world.....

If your looking for a cheapish car to run but with a little bit of car park kudos then you could do much worse than a Swift. It looks good, cheeky even, in a BMW Mini type mould. Handles really well on standard wheels and modest tyres and the performance from the 1300cc engine is peppy, if not earth shattering. It can cope happily in town at 30mph as it can at, (ahem!), 95mph on the motorway. It still amazes me how it defies its diminutive size and feels stable and controlled cruising at higher road speeds. It can feel a little crashy over bumps and potholes on day to day roads but im guessing that is the comprise Suzuki engineered in for a more compliant ride on longer motorway trips. As for economy, it is acceptable for a car designed and built in the mid to late noughties but lagging behind todays fuel miser superminis.
However its not all plain sailing, this car does feel flimsy and can dent very easily with the slightest of parking mishaps. Some of the fasteners are made, i believe, by Cathedral City as they simply round off or snap with just the mere wiff of a ratchet spanner passing by them! Whilst we are on the food theme, credit is due for Cadbury's who obviously decided to diversify their buisness model and venture into making gearbox bearings. As far as i have subsequently found out, (Hindsight is a wonderful thing), this only seems to have affected the 1.3 petrol models. After being quoted £1400 for a gearbox rebuild, i approached the dealer i bought it from and then Suzuki GB to ask their opinion why a car with 57,000 miles and full history has fallen apart so spectacularly. Suzuki GB flatly denied any recalls or reports of problems with thisbox despite countless reports on owners club websites pointing to the contrary. Not the way to impress or retain a potential future repeat customer!! After much personal money juggling, the gearbox was final fixed, otherwise we would have a very expensive pile of swarf parked on our driveway - couldnt sell for anything we wanted for it as it was, so damned if you do......etc. Oh almost forgot, if you do have the financial nerve to have the transmission tinkered with, might be worth setting aside £200 plus for a new gear linkage kit too. These are mainly comprised of 2 cables and will leave you absolutely stranded, without notice, should one break.......as we found out 4 weeks later!!

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