1.0 SZ3 68 5dr Hatchback

An Economical Run-Around

If you're looking for a car that will get you places cheaply, this is your car.

Mine happily takes me up and down the country, at least once a month, and takes it all in her stride. Sitting at 70mph is no effort at all, I can make the trip from Southampton to Liverpool for a £27 tank of petrol.

She won't win any prizes for drivability - with a 1.0 engine she hasn't got much power, and her acceleration is something to be desired! However not so painfully slow that it will irritate you - you can be up to speed on the motorway within 10 seconds which is just fine.

Where the Alto does win prizes, though, is in saving you money! We've discussed fuel economy but there are other aspects that make this car cheap to run. Tax, for example, is only £20 a year. Insurance is nice and cheap (not exactly a boy racer's car!). I can't comment on how much she'd be to repair as I haven't had any problems yet!

She's not the largest of vehicles but there is plenty of room inside, and 5 people would be able to travel fairly comfortably. As a student I've also had experience of moving my entire life around in her and it's amazing how many boxes and suitcases the interior will take! The only let down is the boot. It's big enough to fit your shopping into, and probably a small buggy (it's quite deep which makes it bigger than it initially looks). Really, it's the parcel shelf that bugs me! It's not help by strings or anything and just sits on a hinge. Most of the time you need to hold it up when you're in the boot as it likes to flop down and hit you in the face. Minor bug-bear I suppose, but something to consider!

Finally, the radio. Good sound and simple controls around and about the city. But when I'm travelling up and down the country reception is poor to say the least. I can spend hours of the journey listening to white noise because it really struggles to pick up stations.

Enough about the car, something about the dealer. Suzuki were good to buy a car from. Friendly, professional, not too pushy. And happy to address the few issues I had before buying the car (e.g. swapping mismatched hub caps to all matching Suzuki ones).

All in all I'm very glad I bought this car. It suits a student/a young single/couple who just want something to run around in down to the ground. Might not be too practical for a family given its limited space. Buy an Alto!

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