Suzuki Swift 2017–2024 reliability: 100% What Car? rating explained

© A. Krivonosov

97.8% versus 95.8% for its nearest rival: Suzuki has returned to the top of the British What Car? reliability ranking for the first time since 2018. The survey covered more than 39,300 owners, 225 models and 30 brands, so the result reflects real ownership experience rather than brand reputation alone.

Honda finished second with 95.8%, Mini third with 95.4%, followed by Alfa Romeo on 94.0% and Tesla on 93.8%. Suzuki's advantage over second place was exactly 2 percentage points.

The 2017–2024-generation Suzuki Swift stood out in particular. It scored 100%: none of the examples reported by participants in the survey registered a fault. The only other model in the current sample to achieve the same perfect score was the Mini Countryman generation launched in 2024.

The Vitara scored slightly lower at 97.6%, but the average for the small-SUV class is 91.7%. Overall, faults were reported on only 10% of the Suzukis in the survey, the lowest share of any brand. All repairs on affected cars were carried out at no cost to owners, including some vehicles that were already outside the standard three-year warranty.

The methodology matters. What Car? and MotorEasy ask owners of cars up to five years old about faults during the previous 24 months, repair costs and how long the car spent off the road. A model needs responses from at least 15 owners to appear in the published results; 225 models were included in this survey. The 2017–2024 label therefore describes the Swift generation, while only age-eligible examples entered the survey. A 100% score means no faults were reported among the participating cars, not that every Swift of this generation is guaranteed never to fail.

The next edition of the survey will show whether Suzuki can retain first place. For now, the Swift is the brand's strongest argument: not merely a high average score, but no registered faults across the participating sample for this model.