Faults:

Absolutely nothing.

General Comments:

I have read the review on the DDiS version on this website, but it just doesn't reflect my experiences, so time to balance the story.

Suzuki revised the model around 2008 and addressed a few issues. As a consequence, my car has performed perfectly. It looks lovely, mine even has the Carlos Fandango spoiler and stripes. Interestingly, I have noticed several times that the boy racer stripes bring out the critical parent in some other drivers, who do their best to keep you safely 20mph below the speed limit. First time I have noticed this kind of behaviour. I'm not that young either.

If you wanted to fit a new headlamp bulb (I haven't needed to), it isn't an engine out job like the Renault Modus.

Tyre consumption is low, rear tyres are still original replacement fronts on 12000 with loads of tread left, and the tyres are cheap.

Fuel has been around 43 mpg summer, and seems more like 40 mpg in winter.

Servicing has not been expensive. The engine is a Toyota chain cam VVT, which finally swung the buying decision for me.

Driving it is excellent. Going, stopping, cornering all fine. It is easy to park, and the size means multi storey car parks are a pleasure rather than the normal worry in a bigger car. I still enjoy it every time I get in.

The keyless entry can be a fiddle, so read the manual and prevent your passengers getting soaked.

So, in summary, very good, and remarkable value. Appliance-like reliability, The DDiS owner's experience is not totally representative of the breed.

Strangely enough though, my seven year old daughter absolutely hates it because of the stripes; and she keeps asking if she can walk instead.

Faults:

Squeaky on the rear end, perhaps in the rear seat. Gone when I changed the upholstery.

General Comments:

The swift that I own is the Completely Knocked Down version, assembled in Indonesia. Unlike its predecessor (CBU from Japan), many options are gone, e.g. airbags, ABS, EBD, fog lamp. The quality of upholstery is downgraded, probably to reduce the cost to around USD 1400 from initial price of USD 1700 for CBU version (on the road). Dark colored interior and upholstery is not so comfortable to sit on, and the plastic panel brings noise when driven on harsh surface.

Anyhow, the design of the structure is still Italian, so it still retains the goodness of Swift as positively reviewed all around the world. The fact is, as I tried the Swift and Jazz; noticeably the Swift is much more comfortable, and as I tried at high speed, it's still firm and the steering is pretty accurate.

The size-wise, the Swift cannot beat the Jazz, particularly for the trunk size. Clearly European design neglects the needs for trunk space, but it is still better than the Yaris.

The 1.5 l VVT engine is strong enough to handle this size of car, easy on overtaking. The fuel economy could reach 15 km/liter on semi urban (not highways), but on city trips, it drops to only 11km/l.

With 17" alloy wheel fitted, it looks pretty much like Mini Cooper :-)