The Arch Bishop
Active member
Well, after more than 4 years with my Subaru Forester, it was time to find something smaller, less juicy to run and a little bit more modern.
I was after a warm hatch - 120bhp being my personal sweet spot for enjoyable hoonery without licence losing, and as simple as possible. Handling was the priority with decent-ish economy and practicality 2nd and 3rd. Oh and reliability of course.
It came down to a choice of one model in the end, having read nothing but glowing praise for the Suzuki Swift Sport, it looked like a fun but sane choice.
The first cat we went to look at was a 2010 car with only 9,000 miles on the clock on sale at a dealer in Maidstone - yours for just £5700. My wife and I took a trip up there after booking an appointment and was a bit surprised to be ushered down to the end of the lot to a car with a wheel clamp still on it and a nearly dead battery. The paintwork was fading slightly and had a few large stone chips as well as a small crease on the rear bumper. We had a look around it and went in to talk to the dealer who didn't want to let us drive it until we'd thrashed out a deal. Oh and they'd give me £370 for my old car... We politely declared we'd leave it and gave it up as a bad job.
Lots of other cars were about, but nothing that was quite right either being nearly 100k miles or overpriced, modified or unloved looking.
In the end we found a 2009 car with 56,000 miles, in silver with a well written advert and a matching set of expensive tyres for under £3000 (much more my comfortable budget). The private seller was keen to talk me over the car on the phone and we drove up to see the car in South London with high hopes.
Not perfect (it's a £3000 car after all), but in great condition with anthracite alloys a good history and with absolutely no issues. It drove perfectly on a test drive with not a jot of slack in anything, no nasty noises, nothing I could honestly fault.
The seller, explained that he'd bought it for his wife a year previously, but while he adored it, she hated it as it wasn't her style. Eventually, he'd relented and bought her a Fiat Abarth - a car he didn't seem enamoured with...
Anyway, we bought it there and then and drove it home. It was a very pleasant buying experience!
On to the pictures;
The anthracite wheels were not my cup of tea, but I'm starting to warm to them. The dreadful 'Swift' stickers that get to the end of the door then just finish, will have to go. Makes it look like a caravan.
The wife declared that the tail pipes were 'a bloody disgrace', so I set to them with some fine wire wool and Autosol. They were hiding a little secret under the crud;
"Ah, Milltek exhaust finishers" I thought, and then looked underneath;
Looks to me like a stainless backbox! it still could be just the finishers that are Milltek, but either way I'm chuffed. I thought it sounded a bit fruity when the wife drove off in it!
I emailed the seller " You didn't tell me it had a stainless exhaust". His reply - "I didn't know! Otherwise I'd have stuck a few more quid on the asking price!"
Anyway, initial thoughts on the car - it has a tonne of grip, rides better than I was expecting, goes pretty well, could do with a 6th gear, a little more feedback in the steering and the stereo is a bit cack.
After a few days of typical commuting and some shorter shuttling kids about, it's sitting just under the 40mpg mark too. Better than I was expecting.
Unfortunately, having a MPG readout has had the effect of making me drive like a nun. Might have to turn it off and actually try driving the car properly...
I was after a warm hatch - 120bhp being my personal sweet spot for enjoyable hoonery without licence losing, and as simple as possible. Handling was the priority with decent-ish economy and practicality 2nd and 3rd. Oh and reliability of course.
It came down to a choice of one model in the end, having read nothing but glowing praise for the Suzuki Swift Sport, it looked like a fun but sane choice.
The first cat we went to look at was a 2010 car with only 9,000 miles on the clock on sale at a dealer in Maidstone - yours for just £5700. My wife and I took a trip up there after booking an appointment and was a bit surprised to be ushered down to the end of the lot to a car with a wheel clamp still on it and a nearly dead battery. The paintwork was fading slightly and had a few large stone chips as well as a small crease on the rear bumper. We had a look around it and went in to talk to the dealer who didn't want to let us drive it until we'd thrashed out a deal. Oh and they'd give me £370 for my old car... We politely declared we'd leave it and gave it up as a bad job.
Lots of other cars were about, but nothing that was quite right either being nearly 100k miles or overpriced, modified or unloved looking.
In the end we found a 2009 car with 56,000 miles, in silver with a well written advert and a matching set of expensive tyres for under £3000 (much more my comfortable budget). The private seller was keen to talk me over the car on the phone and we drove up to see the car in South London with high hopes.
Not perfect (it's a £3000 car after all), but in great condition with anthracite alloys a good history and with absolutely no issues. It drove perfectly on a test drive with not a jot of slack in anything, no nasty noises, nothing I could honestly fault.
The seller, explained that he'd bought it for his wife a year previously, but while he adored it, she hated it as it wasn't her style. Eventually, he'd relented and bought her a Fiat Abarth - a car he didn't seem enamoured with...
Anyway, we bought it there and then and drove it home. It was a very pleasant buying experience!
On to the pictures;
The anthracite wheels were not my cup of tea, but I'm starting to warm to them. The dreadful 'Swift' stickers that get to the end of the door then just finish, will have to go. Makes it look like a caravan.
The wife declared that the tail pipes were 'a bloody disgrace', so I set to them with some fine wire wool and Autosol. They were hiding a little secret under the crud;
"Ah, Milltek exhaust finishers" I thought, and then looked underneath;
Looks to me like a stainless backbox! it still could be just the finishers that are Milltek, but either way I'm chuffed. I thought it sounded a bit fruity when the wife drove off in it!
I emailed the seller " You didn't tell me it had a stainless exhaust". His reply - "I didn't know! Otherwise I'd have stuck a few more quid on the asking price!"
Anyway, initial thoughts on the car - it has a tonne of grip, rides better than I was expecting, goes pretty well, could do with a 6th gear, a little more feedback in the steering and the stereo is a bit cack.
After a few days of typical commuting and some shorter shuttling kids about, it's sitting just under the 40mpg mark too. Better than I was expecting.
Unfortunately, having a MPG readout has had the effect of making me drive like a nun. Might have to turn it off and actually try driving the car properly...