It’s hard to believe that Suzuki stopped imports of its little Swift in 2000. Swift had been a huge hit in the 1980s and ‘90s and the new model was greatly welcomed when it arrived here in February 2005. An all-new Swift is coming in early 2011 and this will ignite further interest in the 2005 - 2010 series cars.

Australian Suzuki Swifts are built in Japan to a high standard and have long had an excellent reputation for long life and reliability.

The 2005 Suzuki Swift was bigger than ever before and its chunky lines appeal to just about everyone, be they a teenager looking for their first new car, a retired couple wanting a bit of oomph in their driving life, and just about anyone in between. Swifts respond really well to a set of bigger wheels and tyres and come up looking particularly neat when a body kit is applied.

Suzuki Swift isn’t only about looks, it provides real driving pleasure to those who like sharp steering and good throttle response.

There's good interior space for a car in the 3.7-metre super-mini class. You can't expect stretch out room for big adults in a car like this, but the Suzuki lets you juggle the seats to get the best from the interior space. The front seats have plenty of fore-and-aft adjustment and the driver’s seat can be raised and lowered.

Boot space is good for a car of this size, though small in absolute terms. There's the usual option of folding down the seat back in various ways to make it a better luggage carrier.

As a family car for parents and a couple of kids under the age of about 14 or 15 this Suzuki will do the job well, and be very economical to run as a real bonus.

Power comes from a twin-cam, multi-valve engine, with a capacity of 1.5 litres in most models. It puts out a handy 74 kilowatts and 122 Newton metres. The latter comes to a plateau at 3000 rpm and remains there until the tacho gets to 4000 rpm. There's also a Sport model with 92 kW and 148 Nm, more about it in a moment.

Many Swifts in Australia have a five-speed manual gearbox, which is probably the pick of the transmissions in a car of this class. There's also the option of a four-speed automatic transmission, the latter is not offered in the Swift Sport.

The Swift is sold in several models; the standard Swift and the semi-sporty Swift S-series (called Z-series in Queensland and northern NSW). The Swift S and Z have alloy wheels and foglights.

You can also buy an interesting Swift Sport. Unlike many so-called sports models, the Swift gets a larger engine, at 1.6 litres, to back up its firmer suspension, sporty body kit and enhanced interior. The Swift Sport engine is a punchy unit and while it doesn’t exactly turn the Swift into a hot hatch it offers enjoyable performance at an extremely modest price.

Though this is a small car there's generally good underbonnet space so it’s possible to do a fair bit of repair and servicing work yourself. Please leave anything that could affect safety to the professional mechanics.

There are a reasonable number of Suzuki dealers in Australia, though they tend to be concentrated in the metropolitan and major country cities. It’s a pretty simple design so most mechanics will have no trouble looking after it if you’re in an area without a dealer.

We have heard of no real problems with spare parts supply and the prices aren't too bad for a fully imported car.

Insurance costs are towards the lower end of the scale and we don’t know of any companies that charge extra for the Sport model. As mentioned, while it does have more power than the standard Swift it doesn’t have an excess of performance.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Swift is built to a high standard, but it's still smart to have a good look over the complete vehicle, then call in a professional for the final inspection.

In particular, look for body damage and/or signs of it having been repaired. Ripples in the metal panels when viewed end-on may be a sign of poor repairs. Also look for paint colours that don’t quite match and for tiny spatters of paint on areas that should be unpainted.

Check that the engine starts within a second of you turning the key, even if it’s completely cold in the morning.

Manual gearchanges should be light, easy and quiet. Anything else should immediately make you suspicious.

Automatic transmissions that skip up and down through the gears too often may have problems.

Make sure the brakes pull the car up evenly and that none of the wheels locks up before the others.