1994 Suzuki Swift review from North America

NOTE: All of these issues were relatively small and easy fixes and did not take much away from the performance or overall enjoyment of the vehicle.

Starter started acting up (not starting at times) - just rebuilt it.

Driver's side window dislodged - just clipped it back in and was done with it. note- apparently the arms of the window regulator have a knack for bending, probably due to too much force exerted on the window lever when the window has already reached the end of its travel.

Some rust - no biggy, some simple body work. note- could've been avoided with some simple preventative measures by previous owners (yeah, yeah, I know, just blame the other guys)

CV boot tore - not a sign of poor workmanship, just an expected wear and tear item for a car with over 150K on it.

Deteriorating gas mileage - shouldn't be a bid deal, just have to find the problem. Probably just need to tune up the carbs or something. Maybe alignment too. This will happen with any car if not taken care of.

Generally speaking this is an awesome car. Sure it may not look the 'coolest' but with some simple changes (e.g. taking the springs down a few coils to give it a more aggressive stance), the car can be made to look quite respectable and even may garner a few admiring stares depending on the surrounding landscape (e.g. parking lot full of soccer-mom mini-vans). The car handles really well due to its extreme lightness of weight and also as a result really flies off the line. I haven't driven aggressively in a while (I'm soon to hit a ripe old age of 30 years), but this car begs to be launched at every red light. It will easily eat for breakfast many cars with twice the horsepower merely due to it's super light weight. Although this may be bad for accident protection, it's great for driveability and fuel economy when everything's properly tuned. That being said, I am currently in the process of reclaiming some mileage, but feel that I am close to the problem.

All in all, a great little car that you can, with some patience, find at a super low price. Sure the car doesn't feel as solid as a Toyota or Honda, but the price is reflected in that aspect.

Let me finish off by saying this. I beat the crap out of this car on a daily basis and see no sign of it letting up. Just stay on top of the routine maintenance such as oil changes, coolant inspections and typical wear/tear items and I firmly believe that this vehicle will take you to the ends of the Earth!!!