Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion long-term test: cheap fuel bills are overshadowed by high insurance

Verdict

The Suzuki Swift is a fantastic option for penny-pinching motorists who want to
get from A to B as efficiently as possible. But this little foray into the cost of motoring only highlights how expensive most cars are becoming to buy and run. This could price many people out of the market and, unfortunately, there aren’t any ‘Chance’ cards in real life to pay bank dividends.

• Efficiency: 56.8mpg
• Mileage: 4,000

When testing a car’s outright performance, you often see fuel economy figures tumble. But even when pushing on in the Suzuki Swift, and revving out its modest three-cylinder engine, I struggle to get much less than 40mpg. In fact, most of the time when I’m pootling in town or on long journeys to and from the airport, my real-world figure is close to 60mpg – dropping to around 57mpg during the recent cold spell – which means the Japanese supermini has the Monopoly on fuel economy.

Compare this with my colleague, Ellis Hyde, who only a few months ago took custody of the award-winning MG3. He was shocked to find that even despite the MG’s hybrid tech, he was struggling to return more than 50mpg.

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Putting my GCSE maths to good use, I worked out that filling up the Swift’s tank from full to empty at my local fuel station would cost around £50, while doing the same with the MG’s larger tank will set you back more than £62. 

Used - available now

2019 Suzuki

Swift

14,066 milesAutomaticPetrol1.0L

Cash £12,249

View Swift

2019 Suzuki

Swift

25,000 milesManualPetrol1.2L

Cash £8,899

View Swift

2019 Suzuki

Swift

44,110 milesManualPetrol1.0L

Cash £8,649

View Swift

2019 Suzuki

Swift

29,984 milesManualPetrol1.2L

Cash £9,200

View Swift

With this in mind, running the Suzuki will cost just 11 pence per mile, compared with around 13 pence per mile for the MG. While this might not sound like a drastic difference at face value, over the course of a year and 7,500 miles, you’d save around £150 in fuel costs by choosing the Suzuki.

Of course, the MG3 is a lot more powerful than the Swift, but neither is a hot hatch and for most owners, overall running costs are likely to be a much more important factor. So, I’ve been jollying around feeling like I’ve just passed ‘GO’ on the Monopoly board. I may not have collected £200, but I’ve been spending very little on fuel with the Suzuki.

Since we took custody of the Swift, its base price has risen to just over £19,000, although Suzuki does currently offer it with a zero-interest PCP option over two years when you put down a 20 per cent deposit. 

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Yet perhaps the Swift’s biggest Achilles heel is its rather high insurance group; Suzuki’s supermini occupies group 21 alongside the likes of the much larger Nissan Qashqai, BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé and even the rather obscure Aston Martin Cygnet city car. Our example insurance quote for a 42-year-old living in Oxfordshire of £640 would be quite a bit below what it’d be for me, a 25-year-old in Norfolk. I entered my details online and was quoted around £940 – a long way from what most people would call ‘affordable’.

Another sore point is that the Swift can no longer use its mild-hybrid status as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card when it comes to VED. Its classification as an alternatively fuelled car  currently qualifies it for a £10 discount on VED, meaning it costs £180 to tax. But from 1 April 2025, owners must pay the full £195 charge. This doesn’t just affect the Suzuki, because all cars, even EVs, will be liable for VED in April.

Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion: third fleetwatch

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A ‘change oil’ light popping up on the Suzuki Swift’s dashboard led to us swapping our white Motion model for an orange, top-of-the-range Ultra example for a couple of days. When I informed my girlfriend, Victoria, that the example we had been loaned was the swanky range-topper, she forthrightly replied: “I can’t really tell the difference” – only solidifying my case that there’s no need to spend the extra.

Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion: second fleetwatch

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Our Suzuki Swift has been the victim of a car park hit-and-run and, as now seems to be customary, no note was left.

I honestly feel bad for the little Suzuki, because this appears to be its reward for all the hauling it’s done recently. Whether running to and from the shops, or lugging the proverbial kitchen sink from my parents’ house to my new gaff, the Suzuki has handled everything I’ve thrown at it.

Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion: second report

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Temperamental headlights take the shine off our supermini

• Mileage: 2,246
• Economy: 59.0mpg

The new government began its research into headlight glare and the dangers it causes only a month ago. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of complaints has skyrocketed since the nights got darker and I discovered the Suzuki Swift’s rather temperamental auto-dimming headlight feature.

Of course, this isn’t something exclusive to the Suzuki; in fact, I’d bet almost every single car on the Auto Express test fleet boasts some kind of auto-dipping headlight function. But what truly gets me is how the Swift’s set-up lulls me into a false sense of security.

For example, I can be driving along and the system works completely fine, switching the headlights from full to dipped beam almost instantaneously. Then, once the car senses I’m getting a little too comfortable, it decides not to work, thus blinding any drivers coming  in the opposite direction.

The RAC reckons that 85 per cent of UK drivers feel the problem of getting dazzled by oncoming headlights is worsening. And while this is certainly thanks in part to makers  fitting their cars with increasingly bright LED bulbs, the rise in popularity and inconsistency of matrix, adaptive and auto-dimming headlight systems surely feed into this.

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It wouldn’t be so bad if it was easy to switch things back to a dipped beam, but while I’m not sure whether it’s because the system is poorly designed or that I’m just technologically inept (probably the latter), every time I try to do so, I just end up switching the lights into their full high-beam setting, further burning the retinas of my fellow motorists.

On the topic of things burning, the Swift’s heated seats only have two settings: off, and what feels like something akin to the surface of the sun. Mind you, it’s a miracle that a car as cheap as the Swift has heated seats at all.

You see, as I mentioned in my first report, the example we have on test is the entry-level Motion model with no optional extras fitted other than its pearl white paintwork. Although I originally thought it was a little dull, the colour really comes to life in the darker months as the streetlights reflect off of it.

With this in mind and never wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I’m very glad to have the heated seats, because once you get used to them, it’s really easy to find yourself pining in their absence. Also keeping me toasty is the air-conditioning system which, while not the fully automatic set-up that you get with top-of-the-range Ultra trim, is more complex than you might expect, with a digital display and a good amount of adjustability.

Yet despite the Swift being a ‘hot’ hatchback in the very literal sense, I’m pleased to report that its efficiency is much better than the Hyundai i20 N that I drive at the weekends – even in the cold weather. On longer trips with a mixture of motorway and B-road driving, I’m managing as much as 59mpg, despite having the heated seats and air-con on full blast. This, combined with the unusually low fuel prices at the moment (a full tank is currently setting me back around £40), is a welcome surprise for my wallet, with a house sale and Christmas just around the corner.

Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion: first fleetwatch

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Senior content editor Shane Wilkinson wasn’t too impressed by my first report, in which I drew connections between the Suzuki Swift and a certain pop star with a similar name. Thus, he took revenge by taking me out for a spirited spin in his racy 2015 Swift Sport. The drive was intended to reintroduce me to my lunch, but merely cemented my desire for more oomph to make the most of the Swift’s chassis.

Suzuki Swift Hybrid Motion: first report

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Tom's embracing his inner Swiftie and asks if his new 'getaway car' is '...ready for it?'

• Mileage: 1,300
• Economy: 56.0mpg

I've never quite got the hype surrounding Taylor Swift. Without resorting to the cliché of being born in the wrong generation, if you ask me about her, you’ll be met with a puzzled stare.

But as the saying goes, don’t knock it until you try it. So I’ve taken custody of the latest addition to the Auto Express fleet to find out if I really can be turned into a ‘Swiftie’.

When the Suzuki Swift landed on my driveway, I wondered if someone had left it in front of a radiator. I’ve always thought it a smart-looking supermini, but this latest model has a droopy face that looks as if it’s melted slightly. 

The version we’ve got is the entry-level Motion, which starts from £18,699. I was impressed when I received the spec sheet, because despite the eye-catching price, there’s very little ‘Blank Space’ on the kit list. Our test car gets adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, heated seats and a reversing camera – all features you pay extra for on top models from brands like Volkswagen.

One surprising omission, however, is that of a fully digital instrument cluster. The Swift sticks with old-school analogue dials that sit alongside a colour display and relay details such as the MPG and sat-nav directions.

While this could be seen as a drawback, I’m the first to admit that, in the time I’ve been driving, I’ve spent most of my time relying on digital readouts rather than needles and gauges, so I rather enjoy the simplicity of it all.

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Something I’m not a fan of, though, is the interior quality; textured white and grey plastics go some way to brightening it, but a few too many brittle plastics are a reminder that this is a budget car built to a price.

What’s more, despite having recorded only 1,000 miles, the trim around the centre console has popped out of place, exposing clips that feel difficult to slot back into place without snapping something.

Without wishing to create ‘Bad Blood’, I’ve also been making use of the standard-fit Apple CarPlay to avoid using Suzuki’s own infotainment as much as possible. The system feels antiquated and there’s little to delve into other than sat-nav, radio and efficiency stats, while the graphics are gloomy. Then you’ve got the display itself, which can be lethargic in responding to inputs and lacks contrast.

With just 81bhp going to the front wheels from its 1.2-litre mild-hybrid petrol engine, you might expect the Swift to be rather lethargic. However, thanks to a lean 945kg kerb weight, the Swift feels rather, well, not swift by any means, but nippy. The lack of a turbo means you’re encouraged to rev it hard, but I’ve still managed to return over 55mpg.

The Swift’s lightweight build does make it feel incredibly nimble, and after being in too many two-tonne EVs it’s refreshing to drive a supermini that doesn’t weigh the same as an adult hippopotamus. The steering is light, too, and while this would certainly be a problem if I had a full-blooded hot hatch, it suits the Swift’s character, and its precision makes it easy to zip around through traffic.

So, as my experience with the Suzuki Swift gets under way, two questions remain: is this the beginning of a brand new ‘Love Story’, and will I ever live down this article’s photoshoot? 

All I can say is that one of those scenarios is more likely than the other, and that I’m already eyeing up a romantic getaway with the Swift in the Lake District to give its lightweight chassis a proper test. And I might even take my new wardrobe with me…

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.