Suzuki Ignis long-term review

• The car Suzuki Ignis 1.2 Dualjet SHVS Allgrip SZ5
• Run by Kris Culmer, sub-editor
• Why it’s here The Ignis offers something a bit different in the city car class – SUV looks, loads of rear seat space and the option of four-wheel drive
• Needs to Be frugal despite having four driven wheels, enjoyable to drive, reliable and able to show at least some off-road ability

Price £14,249 Price as tested £14,899 Options Fervent red paint with black roof (£650) Official combined MPG 60.1mpg Test economy 48.0mpg CO2 106g/km Mileage to date 14,337 Insurance group 18 0-62mph 11.2sec Top speed 106mph

14 December 2017 – servicing and satisfaction

The Ignis has now hit 14,200 miles. That doesn’t seem much; the average driver in Britain will cover that in less than two years. But it is a very long way – if there wasn’t the minor obstacle of the Pacific Ocean, I could have driven from our office in Twickenham all the way to New Zealand with a 1000 miles to spare.

Time for the Ignis’ first service, then, which either comes at 12,500 miles or after one year, whichever arrives soonest.

So, I booked the car in with my nearest Suzuki dealer, KAP Brighton, over the phone. The customer service I received was polite and the dealership had no trouble fitting me in the fllowing Saturday morning.

The garage I went to was sat opposite a flashy Jaguar dealership, so by comparison didn’t look as glamorous. That said, one must not compare butterflies with birds, and the cheapest Jaguar XE saloon costs twice as much as our range-topping Ignis.

In the recent What Car? Servicing Satisfaction Survey, which is collated using information from our readers, Suzuki came 16th out of 30 for servicing of cars up to three years old, with an overall customer satisfaction rating of 86.5%. From my experience, that admirable score seems justified.

The attitude of staff at Suzuki’s dealerships was ranked as excellent, and it was good on my visit. The quality of work was also praised, and again, I'd concur – my car’s consumables were changed and no fault was found.

In my last report, though, I mentioned a couple of issues: the odd clonking noise when changing gear and an unnerving juddering sensation when you apply heavy steering lock while parking. I mentioned both of these to KAP, but their technicians didn’t find anything wrong. I’ll be keeping a close eye on both issues to see if they persist.

What did let Suzuki down in our survey was value for money, and I’d also have to agree with this. To me, £210.96 for a two-hour service of an affordable small hatchback seems a little steep, and in comparison my local Ford dealer quotes £179 for the same service on a Fiesta.

Overall, Suzuki’s dealers appear to take good care of their customers. In addition, my issue-free service report only reinforced the brand’s position as 4th out of 32 manufacturers in our recent Reliability Survey.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here

Read more long-term tests >

More on our long-term Suzuki Ignis >