Suzuki Swift Gearbox & Transmission Problems

There is good news. Suzuki's Ruth John says: "In the case of a manufacturing defect within the warranty period, Suzuki Australia will certainly honour the warranty. In terms of the missed service, it isn't an issue in this case as the missed service in no way contributed to the transmission issue."

While the less sporty versions of Suzuki’s Swift of this era used a conventional automatic transmission, the Swift Sport used a CVT transmission. And I’m wondering if maybe that’s all there is to your question. The CVT is quite capable of feeling like its slipping when you use lots of throttle, such as when going up a hill or accelerating to overtake. It’s actually quite normal and is the method a CVT uses to maximise fuel-economy by keeping the engine operating in its most efficient zone.

But if you’ve owned the car for some time and its behaviour has changed, then it could be that the CVT is beginning to wear internally. Or perhaps it’s the torque-converter (that links the engine to the transmission) that is starting to wear out and allowing the engine to rev harder than it used to for a given road speed.

Suzuki did recall this model (and conventional automatic versions) to check for loose bolts that secured the torque converter to the transmission. But if these became loose and fell out, you’d have no drive at all, so I don’t think that’s the problem here.

This is precisely why we warn consumers about the worthlessness of extended second-hand car warranties sold through car yards. It’s amazing how many get-out clauses these contracts (for that is what they are) contain and the vast majority of them are designed to take your money and then refuse any costly claims you may have. If the warranty called for a vehicle service in 10,000km, but the transmission didn’t quite make it that far, you’d reckon you’d have a pretty good case for a warranty claim. But experience shows otherwise.

But before you do anything else, have the car inspected by a transmission specialist. It could be something less catastrophic than a completely torched transmission and the fix may be a lot cheaper than the $5000 you’re being quoted. Even if it does need a new transmission, we’d be going through the same specialist rather than a workshop suggested by the car yard that’s already dudded you.