‘What Car?’ readers rate Suzuki as top of the tree for reliability.
Kim Henson reports…
Japanese cars in general have deservedly earned respect for their dependability, and, more specifically, for many years motor trade contacts and owners alike have been telling me about the real-world long-term reliability that has been rewarding the buyers of Suzuki vehicles.
As one example, the owner of a three cylinder Alto bought new in the mid-1980s was full of praise for its consistent good service over more than three decades (“In all that time, apart from routine servicing it’s only ever needed tyres, batteries, exhaust and brake components; I’d certainly buy another Suzuki”, is what he told me).
A motor trader was also happy to extol the virtues of Suzukis in general, and a hard-worked ageing Swift in particular (“It’s been used as my family’s own car and more recently as a driven-by-everyone courtesy vehicle for my garage business, and it has required just regular servicing, with no major unit replacements required, in more than 10 years of excellent service”). I have heard similar heartening stories about Jimny and other models from Suzuki.
2018 Reliability Survey Results
In view of my comments above, it is no surprise to me that Suzuki is celebrating some very good news from the results of the 2018 ‘What Car?’ Reliability Survey in which readers report on their ownership experience after the first year and up to four years old. Of the 31 car brands measured, Suzuki is at the top of the league table with a score of 97.7 per cent and even when measured at over four years old Suzuki remained in the top five with a score of 88.4 per cent. The sample size of Suzuki owners for this year’s survey was 193 and What Car? measured 159 different models across the industry.
Full marks for the S-Cross? 100 per cent? Surely not?!
The good news continued for the popular S-Cross model too as owners reported 100 per cent reliability during their ownership with no faults recorded whatsoever. Editor of ‘What Car?’ magazine Steve Huntingford comments: “Not a single S-Cross caused its owner any trouble, making this not only one of our favourite budget small SUV’s but also the class’s most reliable car. Many owners told us the thing they like best about their S-Cross is its durability”
The S-Cross is available with either 1.0 litre or 1.4 litre Boosterjet petrol engines and has low rate PCP and HP agreements on offer until the end of September. This is in addition to a £2,500 customer saving for SZ4 models and a £3,000 customer saving for SZ-T and SZ5 also in place until the end of September.
Taking a 1.0 litre SZ4 model as an example on Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), a deposit of just £2,104 is required followed by 48 monthly payments of £199 and a final optional payment of £5,534 to keep the car. The representative APR for the PCP agreement is 5.9 per cent.