28th Dec 2006, 13:01

Hi Folks, Just found this web site and smiled at the comments, have had a 1.5glx for about two months now, 1300 miles or so and the engine/box is improving, but reverse can be difficult to select sometimes, it might be possible to disable the annoying seat belt alarm by foxing the switch/wiring under the seat so that the system thinks the belt is engaged, will investigate the possibility.

The ignition alarm is stupid I agree, and so is the central locking, I've all, but given up using the button on the door system, its poorly thought out and irritating so is the fuel consumption indicator.

I also have the 'near the clock rattle', not been able to stop it yet, have been able to reduce a fair bit of road noise in the car by removing interior trim and installing soundproofing, as the car is built simply its not too difficult to remove the trim.

I've also got a rattle which I'm so far unable to pin down, but it occurs at low speed only, over concrete roads especially, sounds like the suspension/linkage might be loose, but it disapears at speed so one for the dealer.

Town fuel consumption is poor at about 28mpg (short, cold trips)motorway at 41mpg (over 70mph!).

So far the car has been reliable and I remind myself its half the price of the Golf it replaced and will probable be half the trouble too!! Donny.

10th Jan 2007, 14:11

Hi geoff.

Had dash rattle looked at, was a loose wire/connection block in the steering cowling, now lovely and quiet. might be worth mentioning to your dealer to let them have a look.

Paul.

11th Jan 2007, 02:31

Thanks for that Paul. I am right on the verge of swapping this daft car for something else. I have written to Suzuki to ask them to contact the dealer to arrange a quote to disable the alarms, to be carried out when the car goes back in again to sort the dragging clutch and various rattles.

Through past experience, Suzuki UK Head Office are not very helpful, relying on the dealers to do the PR, so I will wait and see.

I will give it another month for them to get it spot on, or get rid of it.

Current faults:- rattles, dragging clutch when selecting reverse, buzzing rear speakers and door panels, loose driver's seat.

Current hate factors:- those %^) &%* *^^ %%*&* %^%&* alarms, the stupid two presses key system (particularly when opening the boot), tendency to stall easily when cold, the looks you get every time the cars stalls or grinds when you select reverse, the poorly set up electric power steering which weights up at higher speeds, but is very heavy, dead and lifeless around the dead ahead position, the 60 volume increments on the stereo.

Basically, the thought that I should have bought the 207.

I'm not loving this car at all.

The best thing about it is the smooth and torquey engine (when warm) but 45-50mpg does not justify it.

It looks nice, and has a long equipment list, but not enough thought went in to designing it and getting the details right (see previous comments).

Watch this space!

Geoff.

15th Jan 2007, 14:06

*****UPDATE****

As expected, no answer from the ever helpful (?!) Suzuki UK, so rather than setting fire to the Swift or shooting myself, I have had to take it to pieces myself.

The stereo bipping on using the steering wheel audio controls comes through the speakers and the unit maker (Clarion) says nothing can be done about it.

The key in alarm sounds from one of the modules on the upper underneath of behind the dash, but is impossible to locate which one without a volt-meter so I gave up. After taking the steering column cowling off, sliding the lighting ring of the ignition switch and generally investigating it, there was no obvious way to disable this sodding alarm.

I have KILLED the seatbelt alarm FINALLY (oh, deep and wonderful joy) by fiddling with the underseat connectors and finding out that the larger connector relates to the pretensioner system, but the smaller (rear) connector is the switch that tells the computer that the seat is occupied and the belt is not on. This must be an open circuit, as it seems to have safely fooled the car that the seatbelt is on, so that the warning icon and alarm is deactivated, but the pretensioners and air-bag system is active. HURRAH!!

To do this, just feel the rear connector under the driver's seat, and depress the tiny locking toggle on the inner (handbrake) side, and then the lower half of the connector pulls down and can stay loose and disconnected. It all works fine and I feel like I have won the lottery.

When Suzuki finally contacts me to tell me how to do this, I hope that they have a cure for the other two damned alarms, too.

It's not made me happy with the Swift, just a little less annoyed. Next up; trim rattles, buzzing speakers, grinding reverse gear, stalling.

Still, it saves me money- I try to drive it as little as possible...

17th Jan 2007, 06:26

Still no response from my letter to Suzuki- it's been over a week now, even though I put my mobile and e-mail contact details on the letter. Considering we have bought five new Suzuki cars in recent years, this is not good.

The dealers are good, but my experience of Suzuki UK has always been poor-for example Suzuki UK told me that the Jimny JLX+ model I was actually sat in at the dealers just did not exist, but if it ever did exist, they would send a brochure. When I later queried a fuel economy misprint on the web-site, they had no answers as to the correct figure.

I never did receive the brochure, or an answer to the fuel economy, even after I bought the car.

When the Jimny rolled over and was written off, I wrote a nice letter to Suzuki UK asking if they would offer a little incentive for me to buy the third new Suzuki in two years (fifth in total), because the insurers would only pay the invoice amount which the dealers had fiddled to be artificially low with a low part-ex price, after leaving the sales order form blank. They wrote a letter back basically saying the accident was my fault and that only the dealers can do deals; it was not even a nice letter; no effort was made at all.

The dealers did offer me a good deal on the Swift in the end, so as I like the dealers, I begrudgingly went for Suzuki no. 5.

Now, after buying the fifth car off Suzuki UK, and asking them direct for advice regarding if it was possible for the various warning alarms to be disconnected-after the dealers said they couldn't-they have not even responded.

In 2007, for a car manufacturer not to have an e-mail contact point is just unbelievable-"we do not have that facility at present"-and the delay in contact just adds to my feeling of poor service from Suzuki UK.

They will only talk on the phone to main dealers about technical queries, too, which is most helpful.

If they finally offer some help; even just some advice, then maybe the delay will be worth it as it means that I may be able to finally start to enjoy the car. I don't hold out much hope, though.

I think I will have learnt my lesson by the time we order our next new cars, one of which will probably be very soon at this rate.