Used Suzuki Swift Hatchback 2010-2017 review

The Suzuki Swift might not be one of the biggest selling small cars, but there’s still much to like about it. For a start, this version has always been one of the more exciting cars in the class to drive. What’s more, it’s reasonably spacious and pretty safe, as shown by its five-star Euro NCAP crash test score.

Initially, just one petrol engine was offered – a 1.2-litre rated at 92bhp – and while its vital statistics show 0-62mph taking 12.3 seconds, it feels much livelier than that. True, the Swift is at its best around town, but it’s also fairly quiet and smooth on the motorway, by small-car standards. The five-speed manual gearbox is good to use and encourages you to get the best out of the car while the steering is well weighted and direct.

The petrol was later joined by a 1.3-litre diesel, though only as a five-door model, but its performance isn’t great and it is much noisier.

For performance car enthusiasts, the 1.6-litre Sport is the one to go for. It arrived in 2012, and with 136bhp, it is significantly quicker than the 1.2 with a 0-62mph time of 8.7 seconds. It also handles brilliantly, and yet despite being so much fun is perfectly capable of returning over 40mpg if all the performance isn’t being used.

While there’s much to like about the Swift, there are a few things to dislike, too. Its interior plastics aren’t up to class rivals such as the Ford Fiesta or Volkswagen Polo, and while it is available with five doors, accommodation in the rear is tight for larger adults. Its main Achilles’ heel though is a boot that is notably smaller than the class leaders. It also has a high lip, and while the rear seats have a split-folding function, they don’t fold flat, as they do in many rivals.

A facelifted model arrived in 2013 with some styling revisions and a boost in equipment, and in 2014 the diesel engine was dropped in favour of a 1.2-litre Dualjet petrol that offered similar performance but with lower emissions.

Interested in buying a used Suzuki Swift? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.

The lower end of the Suzuki Swift price spectrum starts at around £3,000, which will buy a 90,000-mile example of either a 1.2 petrol or 1.3 diesel. Increase the budget to £4,000 and mileage drops to the 40k mark for a 2011 petrol Swift or 50,000 miles for the diesel. The higher specification SZ3 and SZ4 models are more plentiful than the entry-level SZ2 but don’t carry much of a price premium.

A facelifted Swift from 2014 in SZ3 guise with 25,000 miles on the odometer will cost upwards of £5,000 while the rare 4x4 that made its debut as part of the 2013 facelift starts at £6,500.

Prices for the Sport start at £6000 for a 2012 example with 30,000 miles on the clock, while a facelift Sport from 2015 with 10,000 miles is £9,000.

As one might expect from a car of this class, running costs are very palatable. Road tax ranges from £0 for the 1.2-litre Dualjet to £30 for the vast majority of the petrols, although the less popular automatic will cost £115 a year. The 1.3-litre diesel will cost £20 to tax and even the range-topping 1.6-litre Swift Sport will cost no more than £150.

In terms of fuel economy the automatic models fare worst, returning 43mpg, but the rest of the 1.2-litre petrols will just break through the 50mpg barrier. The diesel model will return more than 60mpg while even the Sport will achieve in excess of 40mpg, slightly less if all of its performance is used.

Suzuki’s fixed price servicing for vehicles over three years costs £129 for a 25-point check service or £259 for the more comprehensive 35-point check. Pretty good in other words, even if the 9,000-mile service intervals are on the low side.

If you buy an approved used car from Suzuki, you'll get a 12-month warranty – as long as the vehicle isn't older than eight years old and doesn't have more than 80,000 miles on its clock.

Petrol Suzuki Swifts come in both three- and five-door guises, but the diesel only came to market with five doors. While the diesel is capable of impressive economy it’s a slightly lacklustre unit, so we’d stick with a petrol, which also happen to be in more plentiful supply.

The automatic transmission (only available with the 1.2 petrol) saps a fair bit of performance and economy so unless you must have an auto we’d go for the manual gearbox.

There are three trim levels to choose from starting with SZ2, which offers traction control, electric front windows, remote central locking, and a radio/CD with a USB port. SZ3 adds air con and larger alloys while the SZ4 has climate control, Bluetooth with music streaming, cruise control and automatic headlights. The Sport is similarly specified to the SZ4 but with chunkier styling, bigger alloys and racier seats.

The 2013 facelift brought some subtle styling revisions and a modicum of extra equipment. This was followed in 2015 by the 1.2 Dualjet petrol engine with its sub-100g/km CO2 output.

Our favourite Suzuki Swift: 2014 Sport

Like the Suzuki Swift, the Ford Fiesta offers a good deal of driver involvement, but it has a better interior and a larger boot.

The Honda Jazz is another rival worthy of consideration and while it can’t dole out the fun driving experience you’d expect of the Fiesta or the Swift, it offers a versatile cabin and a larger boot than the Swift and should be similarly reliable.

The Volkswagen Polo is also a worthy competitor and again offers more interior space than the Swift. What’s more, it’s very nicely built with a more premium feel to the interior, and is quieter and smoother on the motorway than the Swift.

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Interested in buying a used Suzuki Swift? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.