23rd Nov 2006, 02:47

I just feel that we have the ability to produce excellent cars, and we mess them up by not thoroughly testing them in a variety of conditions, or asking for owner feedback.

None of the faults should be there; rattles are unacceptable in a new car. If you use the car in the rural stop, start, gates, reversing up narrow drives situations that I do, you do get irritated by the thoughtless designs, not at first, but after two or three months.

I just now feel that the car is not as good as others at a similar price, as the engineering is not as good. It looks good and has good spec, but the build quality and materials used as below average and there are just so many little irritating things about it on a day to day basis.

Having had many cars of a similar price, I can rightly expect that my £9290 should buy something that is of similar quality to a Skoda Fabia or a basic Peugeot (not a 5 series!).

On reflection, yes I am critical, but I am just saying how I feel; which is the point of the site; and I feel that the Swift has good points, but these are outweighed by the irritations, and the car is below the average quality standard in this sector.

My £9000ish shortlist was chosen on cost and location of dealers in this rural area and narrowed to: 207 (base), 1007 HDi Dolce, Fabia TDI PD70 Ambiente, Toyota Yaris Ion, Toyota Aygo, Citroen C3, New Corsa (base)

I chose it over the Fabia in the end, as for the same price it looked nicer. But after three months, I yearn for the solid, honest quality of the Skoda and the ease of living with it, rather than the appearance of the Swift.

The Swift looks best on paper with all the kit, economy, alloys air-con etc etc, but misses the integrity of Toyota and Skoda.

I'm glad you're pleased with your 1.5GLX-undoubtedly a good deal, and probably much better to drive than the asthmatic 1248cc diesel I have. Perhaps saving £1000 by having the petrol would have been better for me, as the drive is so much better and I could forgive it its foibles.

I would agree that the 1.5GLX is excellent value-I was offered a metallic new one for £8000, and this just wipes the floor with the competition at this price. My criticism must seem petty at this kind of price as nothing comes close.

I will send it in to the dealers and see how I get on!

Enjoy!!

Geoff.

2nd Dec 2006, 03:08

Geoff.

I have the Grand Vitara DDiS and it has similar traits, however the central locking does not open all doors once the engine runs.. perhaps yours is a faulty model???

In the Grand there is a button to the right of the fuel usage meter that toggles from live to average and blank screen to suit the user.

I have also found that if you stop and remove the seat belt the alarm sounds.. but use the hand brake on one notch and it shuts up!

As I said I have a Grand, but the electrics may be the same. Hope this helps.

Wayne.

4th Dec 2006, 03:18

Hi Wayne.

The electrics are very different, unfortunately. The all door opening is standard- I argued this with the dealers and they showed me four other Swifts doing the same.

On the Swift, there is no switch for the fuel economy meter!

The seatbelt still sounds with the handbrake on, and the dealers can't and won't turn it off.

I will update my 2006 Swift DDiS page soon with the full details about my dealer visit to sort the problems...!

Needless to say, I am still annoyed by the stupid designs.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Geoff.

19th Dec 2006, 03:29

***UPDATE***

Now at 3700 miles and car has been to dealers.

They have fixed the glove box lid rattle, had both rear door panels off and fitted a missing clip on each door trim. They seem better, but not perfect.

The dashboard rattle did not occur on their road test, so they did not fix that, but said that if it is a problem to bring it back in. They also said that the problem is likely to be a rattle in the cross-member of the dash which involves removing the entire dash (a two day job) and warned me that doing this would solve one rattle, but cause three!

This is annoying, because the dash top rattle (by the clock) is intermittent, but drives you mad when it starts and stays rattling for hours. I think it is sensitive to the car heating as it does not occur at some temperatures.

The drivers seat was inspected and lubricated, but still clicks when your bodyweight transfers from one side of the seat to the other on corners. The click is on the right runner somewhere and is something to do with the seat height adjuster. Minor but irritating.

The clutch was checked, but found to be OK, however still struggles to get into reverse without grinding slightly, which is irritating as it makes you look stupid every time you try to reverse. Again, minor but irritating.

The dealers originally offered to commence work on switching off the seatbelt/key-in/stereo volume alarms, but wanted to charge £52.50 per hour to do this, and said that doing so could upset the entire electronics system, and was not recommended. I was cross about this, as Fiat will turn theirs off without charging.

I asked them to contact Suzuki technical (who will not speak to owners, only dealers) to see if it was possible to reprogramme the module.

I went to collect the car and nothing had been done to the alarms, and the dealer told me that the alarms were part of a sealed module and could not be silenced.

I cannot express how annoying this is! This sounds like an easy answer to me, and I wish they had tried harder.

I now use the car slightly differently to avoid setting off the damned stupid key-in alarm and badly thought out seatbelt alarm, but whenever they sound I grimace and wish I had a different car, for example once I have exceeded 10mph in a journey the seatbelt alarm is armed and will sound even when you stop with the handbrake on-really annoying if you have to get out briefly to open a gate.

These alarms are thoroughly annoying and very poorly designed by Suzuki. Other manufacturers set their alarms up better-I never have this problem in all of the other new cars I use.

I have now fitted a Suzuki Ignis parcel shelf string and clip, which I ordered at a cost of £7.65 from the dealer. This means that the shelf now rises with the bootlid at last and is one less irritation. This would cost pence to fit as standard and I begrudged paying £7.65.

The stalling and flat spot seems to have cured itself and I think that stalling was caused by me trying to drive off too quickly after getting in the car-I now start the car immediately and let it tick over for ten seconds while I put my belt on etc and it has not stalled since. It seems to like to settle down before driving off from cold.

The engine and box have improved massively now that it is run in and the flat spot has disappeared.

The engine on the car is now superb-quiet, torquey and smooth and gives me an average of 50mpg+ for stop/start driving in cold weather.

The dealers advice to give it some stick when run in to loosen it up worked very well indeed, and the car has transformed from sluggish to effortless.

I do wish it had a better steering wheel, in leather-like the Swift Sport. I had considered a Sport, but the three door only bodyshell in UK, the ROCK hard suspension, narrow sport seats and the petrol economy put me off-the DDiS is a better balance of economy, driveability, comfort, performance and practicality for everyday use, even though the Sport looks fabulous and has nicer trim and climate control instead of manual air-con.

The Sport has a clutch rest too, but smaller mirrors.

It annihilates the DDiS performance though!!

So to sum up, my DDiS is improving with use, but still has rattles and rage-inducingly badly programmed alarms.

It offers practicality, is enjoyable on twisty roads and gives excellent fuel economy. It also gets endless admiring glances and comments, surprisingly for a cheap car.

Come on Suzuki-the Swift is a great product let down by a few minor details, and this will have a bearing on my next choice of car. Suzuki should be asking us owners what we think of our cars so they can improve the next range.

Geoff.