40 plus miles per gallon and a whole lot of fun for $400

[The Vinyl Ripper]

I was looking for a cheap motorcycle on craigslist last week, typed in Suzuki and one of the very first things that popped up was a 1993 Suzuki Swift GT for $400.

After doing a little research I found out this is a really cool little pocket rocket of a car that can get well over 40 mpg on the highway.

I called the owner the next morning, which happened to be a Saturday and arranged to look at the car that morning, expecting to find a ragged out piece of crap..

Imagine my surprise when I found a little car that, while filthy, was in quite good shape. After taking a test drive for about fifteen minutes or so I came back with a big grin and immediately gave the dude the $400.

This little car is probably the most fun I've ever had in a car. It's basically very similar to a Mini in the way it accelerates, drives and handles. It has a 1.3 liter double overhead cam engine that is basically a detuned Suzuki motorcycle engine and puts out 100 hp. In a 1700 lb car, that is more than enough power to give the thing rocket ship like acceleration in first and second gear and a 120 mph top end.

The suspension and brakes are also very good, it brakes like running into a foam rubber wall and goes around corners like it was glued to the road.

Another great point is that the tires, while over sized for such a little car, are still small enough to be ridiculously cheap. Of course, the a car I bought had almost new tires all around, so I won't have to worry about that for quite a while.

I can't believe my good fortune, I got a fun and high mileage little car for a good bit less than what I was expecting to pay for a motorcycle. Every time I drive it I get a big grin that takes a while to go away after I get out of the car.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that a car with excellent gas mileage doesn't have to be a boring econobox.

[mvccd1000]

1. Sounds like fun!

Should be a nice little ride. I had one of those engines for a while, but it was only on two wheels. Got about the same mileage you're reporting. :)

[Mr Rabble]

2. Perhaps more important-

It required NO new energy inputs to get to you.

Buying a "new" vehicle which gets great mileage has a very unpleasant side effect: energy required for production.

The average vehicle requires the input of roughly 2500 barrels of oil to produce. This really should be factored into the overall mileage of a vehicle.

In your case, you dont have to do that equation. Smart move.

[SoCalDem]

5. aaah. you have discovered the wonder of the throwaway car

We bought for $500, a Toyota Corolla wagon '80 and it's sister vehicle a Toyota wagon '81 (from the same people) paid $500 each.. we bought them both in '92

We eventually sold the '80 (after about 6 trouble-free years..sold it for $750)..we only sold it so we could have one fewer car for insurance purposes (had a teenager driver& the ratio had to be just so)
That little gem was sold to our oldest son for $500..he drove it up to Concord, where he lives, & kept it for about 3 years, and gave it back to us (he's our rich kid)..

Kept the 81 until a few months ago, to gain some driveway space..


we sold it to a friend of our youngest's , for $500..:)

That car will run forever.. It's a bit ugly, but it's cheap reliable transportation :)

[The Vinyl Ripper]

9. I bought a Subaru 4WD wagon for $50..

One of the earliest ones, all that was wrong with it was it needed a battery.

I drove it 75,000 miles and sold it for $75, best deal I ever got.

Of course it wasn't as much fun as this car but it was excellent transportation..

[Mr Rabble]

10. Sure its ugly. On the other hand...

All of those great looking newer cars get worse mileage than your 20 year old Toyota.
Funny how that works, isn't it?

Buying used, to me, is the only way to go.

1. It stops the abhorrent behavior of the OEM's. I will not give any more money to Toyota, GM, Ford unless I absolutely have to. For me, this will occur in the form of purchasing replacement parts. They have made it very clear, by way of their actions, that they are in no way interested in producing a car that anyone wants. Further, they all spend massive sums lobbying for subsidies, tax breaks, etc...all the while doing everything they can to screw their US based workforce.

2. Keeping an older car running might actually be an economic stimulus, especially in your own community. Again, I would much sooner pay a local business to keep my vehicle running, than contribute to corporate malfeasance at the hands of GM, etc...

3. The net energy equation. This should be, and will likely become, the single most important factor in the replacement vehicle purchase decision. By taking in to account the entire energy picture over a vehicle's life span it is easy to see where we can save energy. That new vehicle smell? Petro-chemical vapors escaping from materials inside your vehicle!

[The Vinyl Ripper]

22. I didn't know it was that much oil..

I knew it took a good bit, but didn't realize it was 2500 barrels.

That will make a lot of gas..

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. I'm a small-car-aholic: You're talking my lingo.

I've owned:

A Tercel Hatchback
A Civic Hatchback
A Mazda 323 Hatchback
and something called an Austin America ( judged 'incompetent as a motor vehicle in the US' by Consumer's Reports). It had a sort of hatch... I don't think it ever quite worked, though.

And 2 small Japanese sedans. Currently driving a 'monster' 4-dr. Corolla... a phenomenal buy that I found, like you, on Craigslist.

They all exceeded expectations in each of the categories you described. Except for the British- made Austin.

Unionism and protectionism ( I'm for 'em, in principle) have to be weighed against environmental ( I have to breathe; like everyone else, I'm human, rumors to the contrary not withstanding) and economic ( I've always been on the margin in this category) considerations. I couldn't afford to own and maintain an American car.

And , yeah.... they're just not as much fun to drive and own.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

25. We had a littte 323 about 20 years ago..

It was a great little car and remarkably quick too.

[graywarrior]

4. I was just checking out the new Suzuki's because of their mileage

You got a great deal.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

12. The used Suzikis are going very cheaply..

Nobody seems to want them.

And, since they are Japanese, they have excellent reliability.

This one has 221K on it and all it's had is a clutch about 40K ago.

I got it from the second owner and he had bought it from a friend who took good care of it.

[graywarrior]

17. Hmmm, perhaps I should look for a used one.

[PDenton]

6. Isn't that a Geo Metro?

[IDemo]

8. Same family

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo_Metro

[zeemike]

7. Wow what a great deal

I am passionate about not buying new cars and think everyone should abstain from it until they come out with a reasonably priced electric.
Until then looking for deals like you got saves soooo much money and energy too.
The only new car I have ever bought was a 1980 VW rabbit that bot 50 mpg consistently over the 250,000 miles that I drove it. The money I saved on gas paid for the car.
So congrats on a smart move.

[durrrty libby]

11. Lucky you. I would love to find something like that for my son

[The Vinyl Ripper]

13. Here's a couple of pics of the actual car..

I've washed it (with greased lighting !!) but I haven't waxed it yet, doing that today..

On edit: I forgot to mention that the seats are designed by Recaro and are very comfortable and supportive, wide side bolsters to help keep you in the seat under hard cornering.

Plus it has a Aiwa CD cassette player in it with 35W for four channels, sounds pretty good..

[madrchsod]

14. you`ve scored one of the most sought after pocket rockets

get a copy of this magazine....http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ and i`m sure there are clubs/website devoted to this rocket

[The Vinyl Ripper]

16. Yeah, I know..

I checked before I bought it and saw one with considerably fewer miles and in a little better shape go for over $3,000 on ebay..

That's why I jumped on it so fast, the dude didn't know what he had.

[KillCapitalism]

15. Wow man, not bad for $400.

From the pictures there it looks like it cleaned up well.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

18. I am contemplating doing something not quite so smart.

here in the uk they still have alfa romeos. An alfa 156 sedan with everything and about 50k miles on the clock costs less than £3500. Not the smartest decision but it will be a blast until it breaks. 110mph in third. :-)

[The Vinyl Ripper]

20. The little Suzuki goes 120 in fourth..

Fifth is an overdrive and you can get it down to about 45 mph in fifth and it will still pull smoothly, even if not very hard.

I very nearly bought an Alfa about 40 years ago.. Sodium filled valves and all..

[The Vinyl Ripper]

19. We're going to sell the wife's Infiniti J30 in the background..

And I'm going to part out the Beemer you see in the background that isn't worth fixing but still has a good engine and tranny.

We're going to use the money to by her a good Infiniti G20, which has a 2.0 and gets about 30 mpg.

[arcos]

21. You would love the new Suzuki Swift...

[The Vinyl Ripper]

24. I don't even come close to having enough money to buy a new car..

It's nice looking.

Do they still make the GT model?

[The Vinyl Ripper]

23. Well, I'm going to go out and wax it now before it gets too hot..

I'll be back later..