Used Suzuki Swift Sport 2018-present review reliability

When viewing a used car, always follow our used car buying checklist.

Check the rear bumper for any signs of parking damage because the Sport doesn’t come with parking sensors. You do get a colour reversing camera, but this gets covered in dirt quite easily which may obscure the view somewhat.

Make sure the brakes don’t judder when you try them on a test drive, otherwise you’ll need to budget for new ones.

The alloy wheels are diamond cut and, if they have suffered kerb damage, could cost you more to fix than regular painted alternatives.

Make sure the clutch engages as it should and doesn’t slip under hard acceleration. You can also access the condition of it by trying to pull away from a stop in a high gear: if the car stalls, then the clutch still has plenty of life left in it.

Battery

A software issue on some Swift models built between 7 Jan and 1 November 2017 could lead to the main battery (the one used to start the car) not being charged while driving, leading to it going flat. Find out if your Swift is affected by this because an update will be required to fix this.

Integrated starter generator

A problem has been found with the belt snapping on the integrated starter generator that forms part of the mild-hybrid system. It only affects a small number of examples made between 3 February and 13 March 2017, but make sure you check whether the work has already been carried out by speaking with a Suzuki dealer.

Side curtain airbags

The side curtain airbags and seat belt pretensioners fitted to Swifts manufactured between 3 February 2017 and 13 February 2019 could deploy if one of the rear doors is slammed shut. Find out if your car is affected by this because it'll need to have a software update carried out to prevent this from happening.

Click here for more information. Contact your local Suzuki dealer if you believe your vehicle is involved in a recall.

The Suzuki Swift trumped all its rivals to take the accolade of most dependable small car in our What Car? Reliability Survey. A mere 4% of the owners who completed our survey reported any issues with their cars, and the only area to give them any grief was the interior trim. All remedial work was completed in a day or less, demonstrating that faults were minor. Even better, all work was done for free.

Reliability rating 99.5%

What went wrong? Interior trim 4%

As a car brand, Suzuki came fourth out of 32 manufacturers in the same survey. Based on that and the above, the Swift Sport is a very reliable car, more so than the Ford Fiesta and Mini Hatch.

Used Suzuki Swift: owners' reliability data

Suzuki Swift owners are a happy bunch, reporting dependable, strong reliability of their cars.