1.3 SZ4 3dr SUV

Good fun alternative to a "normal" car

Tough little off-roader. Nothing like a normal car - the beam axles give it a very hard ride (high unsprung weight) and it leans a bit in corners. Happier at 60 than 70 on the motorway. Rear space is very limited and if your children are turning into teenagers, you'll need a different car.

However, it's fantastic around town, the easiest thing imaginable to park, laughs in the face of snow even on its standard tyres and the seats are very comfortable. There is enough power from the engine if you use the gears properly and it will overtake HGVs uphill with 4 occupants and a camping trailer.

The local dealer is excellent, although servicing costs in the warranty period are high. VED under the 2001-2017 CO2 regime is a bit rich at £180 although new ones are cheaper to tax from April 2017. I get 38mpg brim-brim, maybe 40mpg on a long run, exactly what Suzuki claim it should do, so it's not exactly a gas-guzzler.

The only issue I've had is that the clutch release bearing started to chirp at only 23,000 miles, annoyingly outside warranty, so a whole new clutch kit was fitted; this cost little more than doing the bearing on its own. This doesn't seem to be a common problem so it was probably just a bad bearing from new.

It's never actually broken down on me and the comment about the spark plugs costing £70 is just plain wrong - the correct platinum plugs are about £20 if you don't buy them from a main dealer.

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