Faults:

The brakes had rusted and seized on the car after it had been lying for 2 months, so these had to be replaced.

The power steering drive belt had mysteriously disappeared.

One of the tyres ripped apart on the wall.

Exhaust (supposedly 2 years old) holed in the silencer and the pipe split apart before the first silencer - required new exhaust.

Just discovered the Front offside spring is broken, been like that for a while it seems, will wait till I can afford to fix it.

General Comments:

The Swift is by no means a bad car, but it's not that great either.

Mine is a 2000 V plate and inside is exactly the same as my mates old K reg. Very dated and almost agricultural feeling.

Saying that though it does most things well, the 1.3L engine pulls quite nice and has good mid-range torque, but if driven hard it eats a rather large amount of fuel. I've seen 29 MPG once, worse than my old man's E230 Mercedes!!!

It's OK on the motorway being tall geared and the clutch and gearbox are slick and positive feeling.

The power steering is extremely light and vague and does not fill me with too much confidence when cornering.

Ride quality is harsh at best and doesn't so much soak up bumps as it does bang over them.

Interior trim falls off when the wind gets in the car, very poor.

Saying all that though, I do have a soft spot for it and as a general town car, its not too bad.

Faults:

Nothing. It was a rebuild title, but everything ran fine. I replaced nothing and was able to do all my own maintenance. I was evolved in a hit and run and was even able to repair that damage myself. I was able to remove the fender pretty easily to repair the dent.

General Comments:

I loved this car. I've always owned simple, easy to maintain vehicles and this one definitely fits into that category.

It had no special features. No power locks/windows, no cruse or power seats. It didn't even have power steering.

It was easy to work on and got great gas mileage. It had pretty good power for it's size and the lack of overdrive helped that on the interstate.

This is a small car with no frills so don't expect any. It's great for getting from point A to point B.

Sadly, this car was totaled. I replaced it with the model that is one up from it, a 1997 Geo Prism. It has a slightly bigger engine and 4 doors.

Faults:

Currently having a problem with the head lights going out while driving. High beam lights work and headlights are on as driving lights, but do not operate on dim setting. Running with driving lights is not acceptable as there are no tail lights. My son works nights and has experienced this problem several times. I checked the lights now and they are working properly. Could this be just a circuit breaker cutting out? This has been the only problem he has experienced so far.

General Comments:

I was surprised by the handling and comfort as this small car felt like a larger vehicle when I got behind the wheel. It would be more economical as a manual shift, but the price was right and my son was in the market for a different vehicle. He was able to purchase the vehicle for $2,300 from a private party. Fuel tank capacity is only about 10 gallons, which makes it suited for local commutes only. 35 MPG is about what he is getting.