Budget fun - Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S
Discussion
I have been watching these for a while now, probably getting on for 2 years, but haven't needed to change my car until now. My NB MX-5 of 8 years was about to fail its MOT in spectacular fashion and with a new job coming up next month I needed to change to something that was still going to be cheap to run but also entertain when required, as well as comfortable enough to be commutable in, in all weathers. Also with an expanding young family I also needed something that could do the occasional school/nursery run.
Ideally I was after a 5 door, a bit newer and lower mileage, but one Sunday afternoon my phone pinged with a new notification from Auto Trader. When I looked this one was only 3 miles away from home and despite being older than I initially wanted, it was so close to home I thought it was worth a look.
As it turned out it was a 1 owner car with a FSH, and although not mint it was priced reasonably, looked straight and I think can be brought up to standard without too much work. I rationalised it to myself by being well under budget any niggles could easily be sorted as it was less than what I had initially set out to spend!
It is a local owned car, initially by the local Suzuki dealer for 6 months, and then it's '1 owner' for the previous 9 years, which I felt bodes well.
Plans are, as it will be a daily I will keep it relatively standard and just do the tidying and maintenance jobs that quite often get missed on used cars of this age. A wheel refurb and new rubber are a priority, the tyres are a bit of an uncommon size - 195/45/17, so a lot of people go with 205/45/17 instead, which opens up your options and is quite often better value too. I managed to buy a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 for a very decent price that were on offer from blackcircles, so will have these fitted when the wheels get refurbished.
First job though is to give it a really good clean, inside mainly, it appears to have had a small dog in the boot, judging by the white fur, and doesn't look to have been vac'd for a while either. It doesn't smell too doggy but I've got a mate to give the interior a deep clean and steam clean everything, seats, seatbelts headlining etc.
Hopefully it will prove to be a decent little car and fit my current requirements well.
Ideally I was after a 5 door, a bit newer and lower mileage, but one Sunday afternoon my phone pinged with a new notification from Auto Trader. When I looked this one was only 3 miles away from home and despite being older than I initially wanted, it was so close to home I thought it was worth a look.
As it turned out it was a 1 owner car with a FSH, and although not mint it was priced reasonably, looked straight and I think can be brought up to standard without too much work. I rationalised it to myself by being well under budget any niggles could easily be sorted as it was less than what I had initially set out to spend!
It is a local owned car, initially by the local Suzuki dealer for 6 months, and then it's '1 owner' for the previous 9 years, which I felt bodes well.
Plans are, as it will be a daily I will keep it relatively standard and just do the tidying and maintenance jobs that quite often get missed on used cars of this age. A wheel refurb and new rubber are a priority, the tyres are a bit of an uncommon size - 195/45/17, so a lot of people go with 205/45/17 instead, which opens up your options and is quite often better value too. I managed to buy a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 for a very decent price that were on offer from blackcircles, so will have these fitted when the wheels get refurbished.
First job though is to give it a really good clean, inside mainly, it appears to have had a small dog in the boot, judging by the white fur, and doesn't look to have been vac'd for a while either. It doesn't smell too doggy but I've got a mate to give the interior a deep clean and steam clean everything, seats, seatbelts headlining etc.
Hopefully it will prove to be a decent little car and fit my current requirements well.
Absolutely love these. Especially the 6-speed gearbox. I've wanted a Z31 Sport for a while now but I just don't have space. The M16 engine in these is a pretty hardy little lump. Only issue Suzukis commonly suffer with is thin paint (chips very easily) and rust. Coating the underside in some kind of rust prevention is probably a good idea.
The Bearded Tit said:
Absolutely love these. Especially the 6-speed gearbox. I've wanted a Z31 Sport for a while now but I just don't have space. The M16 engine in these is a pretty hardy little lump. Only issue Suzukis commonly suffer with is thin paint (chips very easily) and rust. Coating the underside in some kind of rust prevention is probably a good idea.
The M16A is a cracking little engine, the VVT gives it a different character above 4500rpm and revs out to 7000rpm.I must have looked at 4 or 5 of these before this one and they all had stone chips on the leading edge of the bonnet, does seem a common issue. I have some touch up paint but need to put some rust convertor on a couple of them first. One of the cars I looked at was newer than mine and was already starting to show signs of corrosion on the underside, but this one doesn't seem too bad. Would probably benefit from a coat of something under there though, Dinitrol or such like.
I'm playing catch up with this thread as I bought the car about 6 weeks ago. I had about a month before it was pressed into daily service so I had some time to address any issues I came across so here are a few things I have sorted.
First up was the clean, the outside wasn't too bad but the interior hadn't been shown much love so it was given a damn good clean. I've not had a black car for a while, they always look so good when clean and shiny. The exhausts looked like they had never really had a proper clean so I ended up sanding them lightly with some wet and dry and polishing them with some Angelwax Alchemy which is a specific metal polish, they came up a treat.
Then I booked it in for a wheel refurb and got them to fit the new tyres. I went for an anthracite finish on the powder coating which I am very happy with, and the new tyres are a transformation.
Not the best pics as they were still covered in tyre fitting gunk but I was excited for my new wheels.
The gear change can be a bit notchy on these when cold, they are a cable shifter too so not the greatest shift in the world, night and day when compared with my MX5 which had a phenomenal sensation to the gear shift.
I won't get close to that but anyway some preventative maintenance consisting of some fresh Redline gear oil.
The engine is chain driven so not much to worry about there as it has had regular oil changes, but the 2 aux belts were looking their age and had no evidence of being replaced, at £10-£15 a piece it's a no brainer.
One of the rear calipers was squealing slightly so all 4 calipers were stripped and sliders greased, the caliper in question may need replacing in the not too distant future but for now it is working fine. Rear pads were also replaced with OEM spec Brembo items.
Aircon has been regassed, air was blowing cool but not cold. The garage said there wasn't actually any gas left so could be leaking, but it passed the leak test, another one to monitor but fingers crossed it is ok.
I also replaced the rear gas struts, a nice easy 10 minute job. The original ones were tired and weak, a strong gust of wind was enough to close the boot so they definitely needed replacing!
It didn't come with any mats, which are a must in any car for me. Seems wrong to put your feet directly onto the car carpets for some reason! I really wanted OEM because they always fit the best so I spoke to Suzuki but was told the OEM ones were no longer available new.
Instead some new mats were ordered from carmats.co.uk who claim are a made to measure fit. They also have lots of choice to customise if desired. To be honest the fit isn't perfect but for £40 I'm happy enough with them, and quality seems decent enough too.
The standard stereo comes with Bluetooth but no DAB as this is an early car, which I can live with but the sound was a bit weak so I upgraded the speakers in the front doors. In the process I managed to get distracted and had to rush off mid job to collect a poorly toddler from nursery in the Volvo. I somehow didn't close the door properly and came back to the car later in the day only to realise I had drained the battery! The multimeter showed under 6v so it was well and truly gone and the charger wouldn't touch it, so the next morning a new one went in. At least I now know it has a good battery on it, and I finally finished the speaker install, they are a huge improvement over the originals, but ideally a new HU with DAB and Android/Apple Play will go in.
Washed again with the newly refurbished wheels and all the tyre fitting gunk cleaned off.
First up was the clean, the outside wasn't too bad but the interior hadn't been shown much love so it was given a damn good clean. I've not had a black car for a while, they always look so good when clean and shiny. The exhausts looked like they had never really had a proper clean so I ended up sanding them lightly with some wet and dry and polishing them with some Angelwax Alchemy which is a specific metal polish, they came up a treat.
Then I booked it in for a wheel refurb and got them to fit the new tyres. I went for an anthracite finish on the powder coating which I am very happy with, and the new tyres are a transformation.
Not the best pics as they were still covered in tyre fitting gunk but I was excited for my new wheels.
The gear change can be a bit notchy on these when cold, they are a cable shifter too so not the greatest shift in the world, night and day when compared with my MX5 which had a phenomenal sensation to the gear shift.
I won't get close to that but anyway some preventative maintenance consisting of some fresh Redline gear oil.
The engine is chain driven so not much to worry about there as it has had regular oil changes, but the 2 aux belts were looking their age and had no evidence of being replaced, at £10-£15 a piece it's a no brainer.
One of the rear calipers was squealing slightly so all 4 calipers were stripped and sliders greased, the caliper in question may need replacing in the not too distant future but for now it is working fine. Rear pads were also replaced with OEM spec Brembo items.
Aircon has been regassed, air was blowing cool but not cold. The garage said there wasn't actually any gas left so could be leaking, but it passed the leak test, another one to monitor but fingers crossed it is ok.
I also replaced the rear gas struts, a nice easy 10 minute job. The original ones were tired and weak, a strong gust of wind was enough to close the boot so they definitely needed replacing!
It didn't come with any mats, which are a must in any car for me. Seems wrong to put your feet directly onto the car carpets for some reason! I really wanted OEM because they always fit the best so I spoke to Suzuki but was told the OEM ones were no longer available new.
Instead some new mats were ordered from carmats.co.uk who claim are a made to measure fit. They also have lots of choice to customise if desired. To be honest the fit isn't perfect but for £40 I'm happy enough with them, and quality seems decent enough too.
The standard stereo comes with Bluetooth but no DAB as this is an early car, which I can live with but the sound was a bit weak so I upgraded the speakers in the front doors. In the process I managed to get distracted and had to rush off mid job to collect a poorly toddler from nursery in the Volvo. I somehow didn't close the door properly and came back to the car later in the day only to realise I had drained the battery! The multimeter showed under 6v so it was well and truly gone and the charger wouldn't touch it, so the next morning a new one went in. At least I now know it has a good battery on it, and I finally finished the speaker install, they are a huge improvement over the originals, but ideally a new HU with DAB and Android/Apple Play will go in.
Washed again with the newly refurbished wheels and all the tyre fitting gunk cleaned off.
Kaveney said:
Only drive i have had for me was at the ring from rent 4 ring first ever time driving the ring in one of them so they hold very fond memory's.
Same here, engine felt smooth/took the abuse well, and with the obligatory coilovers/AD08Rs the thing gripped like s
t to a blanket. I fancied one as a daily 'run around' but couldn't stomach the prices for something the missus will ultimately drive in to most kerbs in town - ended up with an old ST170 instead...
OP - nice choice of car and look forward to seeing your future updates with it
TeaNoSugar said:
Garett said:
My NB MX-5 of 8 years was about to fail its MOT in spectacular fashion
Unless I’ve got the wrong person, I think you bought that MX5 from me (I have no photos of it but V694 DBR springs to mind)? My intention is for the Swift to fulfil some of those duties, it's certainly more usable as a daily and feels moderately quicker. It can't hold a candle to the Mazda in terms of feeling/sensation you get through the steering wheel and seat of your pants.
trails said:
Looks smart with the wheels refurbished 
Be interested in your feedback once you have replaced the gearbox oil, my wife has a 14 plate with only 31k on it, and it's notchy as hell going into 2nd.
I didn't drive it much before I changed the gear oil but they are known to be a bit notchy, especially when cold, and can be a bit of a vague gear change as the bushes in the shift cables wear. Could be worth investigating in yours.Be interested in your feedback once you have replaced the gearbox oil, my wife has a 14 plate with only 31k on it, and it's notchy as hell going into 2nd.
For the sake of £40 (less if you go for something cheaper) I'd change the oil in the box, needs 1.8l and it's an easy enough job. I had read somewhere it is a service interval item around 80k.
Garett said:
Hello, yes that's me! Sadly the MX5 has gone, now broken for parts. It hadn't had a great deal of use or attention on the last 2-3 years and I'd let the rust issues get away from me a little. Priorities have changed since I bought it off you back in 2014. I had a great time with that car, holidays, track days and drives just for the hell of it. Don't have much time for any of those things at the mo!
My intention is for the Swift to fulfil some of those duties, it's certainly more usable as a daily and feels moderately quicker. It can't hold a candle to the Mazda in terms of feeling/sensation you get through the steering wheel and seat of your pants.
Good stuff - yeah I think I remember you posting some nice photos of the old Mazda at the Nurburgring? Glad you had some fun with it. I never really got to drive it much as it was my wife’s daily driver but still had a few really memorable early morning/late evening journeys belting it across the Peak District (and one holiday to the Isle of Mull and back).My intention is for the Swift to fulfil some of those duties, it's certainly more usable as a daily and feels moderately quicker. It can't hold a candle to the Mazda in terms of feeling/sensation you get through the steering wheel and seat of your pants.
The Suzuki looks great. I’ve never driven one of that type, but I did have an Ignis sport for a year or so which was
hilarious to drive. Enjoy it!
The Swift has been running well, clicking over 80k a couple of weeks ago. So far I've covered about 1500 miles averaging 36 mpg. I did 1 tank on E5 97RON and it did 37 mpg so I think it's fair to say normal unleaded is sufficient for the M16A. I've only done 60 miles on the motorway and it's actually fairly decent, surprisingly quiet, and the seats are very comfortable, having cruise is a real bonus. I drove back at night on the same journey and the xenon lights really are excellent.
Looking back through the service history I noticed there is only 1 record of the spark plugs being replaced at 35k miles, around 5 years ago. These engines use Iridium plugs which are long life and supposedly can last up to 100k or more, NGK SILFR6A11 are recommended in the manual and they are £60 for a set. I did a bit of digging and found Denso IKH20TT is an equivalent and as Denso are an OEM supplier to Suzuki who manufacturer amongst other things the ECU in these cars I decided they were a suitable substitution and around half the cost of the NGK.
The Bosch items that came out although still functioning perfectly fine looked to have seen better days.
Whilst in there I noticed there was a clean and recently date stamped Mahle air filter installed so that was left alone, it must have been replaced by the dealer I bought it from as part of their service, which as far as I can tell was just a basic oil change and air filter replace, still at least they did it!
I doubt I'll notice any difference with the new plugs but I feel better in the knowledge now that it has been done.
Looking back through the service history I noticed there is only 1 record of the spark plugs being replaced at 35k miles, around 5 years ago. These engines use Iridium plugs which are long life and supposedly can last up to 100k or more, NGK SILFR6A11 are recommended in the manual and they are £60 for a set. I did a bit of digging and found Denso IKH20TT is an equivalent and as Denso are an OEM supplier to Suzuki who manufacturer amongst other things the ECU in these cars I decided they were a suitable substitution and around half the cost of the NGK.
The Bosch items that came out although still functioning perfectly fine looked to have seen better days.
Whilst in there I noticed there was a clean and recently date stamped Mahle air filter installed so that was left alone, it must have been replaced by the dealer I bought it from as part of their service, which as far as I can tell was just a basic oil change and air filter replace, still at least they did it!
I doubt I'll notice any difference with the new plugs but I feel better in the knowledge now that it has been done.
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