[rjstyles69]

Hey GarotoCR, welcome to the forum and thanks for that comprehensive review of the Suzuki Swift. Congratulations and drive safe.

BTW I have a close friend who lives in San Jose, CR. He used to work in my company(an IT giant) and then quit to follow his passion for cars. Now works at this place : http://www.grupotcr.com/ .

[Rajeevraj]

Congrats on the purchase. Good to know that swift is a popular car in CR. One thing that struck me was your point on ABS and airbags. Glad to hear that it is mandatory on new cars. Wish they had that rule here.

In my job I work quite a bit with teams from Costa Rica and have heard a lot about the place. Hoping to visit once.

Wish you miles of happiness with the car.

[GarotoCR]

Thank you all for your kind comments, I will try to answer some of your questions. Also, I have additional pictures and comments, I will try to upload them soon.

Originally Posted by PGNarain

Welcome to the community and love your Swift. Nice to see that even base variants are well equipped with safety features!

Costa Rica sounds very exotic - with me sitting here in my office, so would love to hear form you about some travelogues in your Blu Garuti - btw why Garuti?

We call my son Garoto (child in Portuguese) as an affectionate nickname. He is 10 years old and insisted on the color of the car to be blue so we named the car in his honor Blue + Garoto + Maruti = Blue Garuti. Her license plate will be GRT-XXX as a result!

Originally Posted by mayankk

Brilliant!!

So, the Little swift is building bridges, who'd have thunk it?
Thats a neat little package, the Swift in the suzuki guise. Much better equipped than ours,more power too, but then the outlay is more too, yeah?
Anyway, its a perky little tank, going by the ones I have had the experience of , and keeps going on and on.
So, happy mile crunching!
And Welcome !

Yes, cars are VERY expensive in Costa Rica, with an import tax over 50%. So it means a Swift will start at 15,000 USD, a Honda Civic at 27,000 USD, etc.

Originally Posted by shipnil

Thanks for this nice review!

I have a question. How is the indicator stalk placed in LHD Swift? Is it similar to the one that we see in India, like, on the right hand you'd have indicator switches and on the left you'd have wiper switches?

For LHD is the other way around. On the right hand we have wiper switches and on the left hand indicator/light switches.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Hey welcome to the forum! All the way from Costa Rica I see. Yes, I was also curious - blu Garuti?

Hi , thanks, I explained above, its in honor of my son!

Originally Posted by john doe

Welcome sir, to Team-Bhp and may I add that you are a gifted photographer along with being an excellent writer!!

One question: How did you find out about this site?

Thanks a lot, I don't consider myself a gifted photographer but I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. I found about Team BHP through hours of research for our new car. I saw it and I am hooked! It beat hands down the forums I saw from Europe and other places.

Originally Posted by apoorv agha

Hi GarotoCR, Congratulations for your blue baby. Nice to see a Swift fan all the way from Costa Rica. A nice write up and awesome pictures, believe me I scrolled 3 times to appreciate the pictures and go ga ga over the color. This model from Suzuki stable is a heartthrob in India, may I ask if it is equally popular at CR also? Wishing many more miles of fun ahead and do keep sharing pictures !

To be honest, I had always been a sedan lover so I have to admit until 2-3 months ago I didn't care to put attention on the road to hatchs. But since we decided on one I now notice how popular the Swift is on our roads, I see around 10 every day on my way to work and back. I would say 50% are pre 2011 and 50% "new Swifts". From these around 70% are Japanese (I can pick them out because they have a particular type of 16" alloys and they have no lower rear foglight). Maruti Swifts are beginning to appear more and more since it started to be sold here in 2014. I see many Dzires and Celerios and since a couple of months ago, a lot of Ertigas and Ciaz, which speaks a lot about the presence of Maruti in CR.

And by the way, I am hooked on hatchs now and on our new pocket bullet. Never knew driving could be so fun without spending a million dollars!

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Hey GarotoCR, welcome to the forum and thanks for that comprehensive review of the Suzuki Swift. Congratulations and drive safe.

BTW I have a close friend who lives in San Jose, CR. He used to work in my company(an IT giant) and then quit to follow his passion for cars. Now works at this place : http://www.grupotcr.com/ .

Oh yes, that's very close to the Suzuki dealership.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Congrats on the purchase. Good to know that swift is a popular car in CR. One thing that struck me was your point on ABS and airbags. Glad to hear that it is mandatory on new cars. Wish they had that rule here.

In my job I work quite a bit with teams from Costa Rica and have heard a lot about the place. Hoping to visit once.

Wish you miles of happiness with the car.

We have a big shared service center industry here and we work a lot with people from India when it comes to IT topics, so we are closer than we think!

[avingodb]

Lovely report and nice pics!
Wish you many happy miles with your Swift.

First of all believe me, roads and parking facilities you have is way better than what we have in India in general. From the pics I can see such clear road markings which no one is in a hurry to break and no one seems to be tailgating too.

And those clear blue skies are a treat to our eyes used to (nearly 50 ) shades of grey here in Delhi.

May I say, more pics? You are the Costa Rican Ambassador to the Team-BHP after all!

[igybeck]

Welcome to the community friend and brilliant write up. We are glad that our forum helped someone on the other side of the world to make a decision. Hope you have great run with the swift!
Waiting for your first travelogue!

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by GarotoCR

Good evening all fellow BHPians.

Welcome GarotoCR to Team-BHP.

Congratulations on your new purchase. Swift is a very popular car in India and I am sure you will be happy owning it.

When you find time, can you share your experience of owning other two cars, Kia Sorento and Nissan Sunny Almera? Did you have any inconveniences / problems while owning these cars? If yes, how was the response of the authorized service stations?

Which cars enjoy good market shares in Costa Rica in various segments?

Your new blue colored Swift looks nice wearing raindrops!

[Mr.O]

Welcome to the forum GatotoCR. Your pics are awesome and Costa Rica looks stunning. The auto box in your car, is it a conventional automatic system or an AMT (Automated Manual Transmission)? If it is a conventional automatic gearbox, is it the same gearbox that is found in Swift Dzire automatics in India?

[NPV]

Congratulations on your new acquisition the Torque Blue Suzuki Swift and Welcome to the Forum This forum knows no borders so you being located in Costa Rica, will not matter, it's a small world
Wishing you'll a world of miles and safe drives on the "Blue Garuti"!

By far, one of the best reviews of the Swift, thanks for sharing!

I was wondering why you have referred to the Suzuki Swift as the Maruti Suzuki Swift. Is it just to differentiate it from the Japanese Suzuki Swift imports or also that these models are built in India and exported to Costa Rica ?

This one got me wondering, why 16 when you should get 4 or at most 5 alloys with the car ?

Originally Posted by GarotoCR

To me, 200 CC and 16 alloys did not warrant spending 4K USD more.

Then, on reading this I understood you meant the 16 inch alloys *wink*

- 16 inch alloys vs 14" in the Maruti

---------------------------------------------------------------

Originally Posted by Mr.O

The auto box in your car, is it a conventional automatic system or an AMT (Automated Manual Transmission)? If it is a conventional automatic gearbox, is it the same gearbox that is found in Swift Dzire automatics in India?

I'm quite sure the AMT has not made it to the Swift as it's a premium offering in that segment, at most it may come in for a lower priced automatic variant but not very likely.

[GarotoCR]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Welcome GarotoCR to Team-BHP.

Congratulations on your new purchase. Swift is a very popular car in India and I am sure you will be happy owning it.

When you find time, can you share your experience of owning other two cars, Kia Sorento and Nissan Sunny Almera? Did you have any inconveniences / problems while owning these cars? If yes, how was the response of the authorized service stations?

Which cars enjoy good market shares in Costa Rica in various segments?

Your new blue colored Swift looks nice wearing raindrops!

Our Kia is very new also (6 months) and no problems so far, it is a very sturdy car with good quality materials and a lot of features in the base model (alloys, bluetooth, steering wheel controls). We are very happy so far. Its FE is not the best so one reason to choose the Swift was to counterbalance that a little bit.

The Nissan Almera surprised us. We bought it with already 150K KM on it and after an additional 150K it is still in excellent shape. Only issue throughout the years were radiator and coolant leaks but other than that it is an amazing car.

Regarding service nothing beats Toyota service stations here. They are extremely professional, have good deals and charge according to quality.

The most popular cars here are Toyota Yaris and Rav 4, Hyundai Accent and Tucson, Nissan Sentra. Kia is on the rise also, lots of Kia Rios and Ceratos. Regarding big cars the most popular are Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Prados. Hatchs are dominated by Accent/Rio, Swift and Nissan March.

Originally Posted by Mr.O

Welcome to the forum GatotoCR. Your pics are awesome and Costa Rica looks stunning. The auto box in your car, is it a conventional automatic system or an AMT (Automated Manual Transmission)? If it is a conventional automatic gearbox, is it the same gearbox that is found in Swift Dzire automatics in India?

Correct, it is the same 4 speed AT found in the DZIRE. 6 speed AMT with steering column levers is only found in the Swift Sport here. However, that car is extremely expensive on par with Corolla , Jettas or Civics.

[rxpaul]

Welcome to Team-Bhp friend & congrats on your beautiful Swift. Well we don't hear too much about Costa Rica in this part of the world other than sometimes about your football team. Btw, your country must be having a lot of American & German cars also right? Do you also have the Tata & Mahindra cars/ suvs ? Do send us more pictures of your car & your country. Cheers

[cruising_rapid]

Congratulations for your new purchase. Swift is a workhorse and one of the few cars in India which a person can buy with his eyes closed and expect a happy and trouble free ownership.

I am glad to see that car production in Costa Rica is in line with the modern safety needs and standards. This needs to be enforced in India too.

The pictures are really good, especially the ones in rain.

I hope that you will tell us more about the handling prowess of swift. The Indian version is a very good handler and a notch better than it's competition. I hope that the forte holds on there too.

[girishglg]

Congrats on the stunning new Blu Garuti! Wow what a name!

At first thought you were an expat from India who bought a Swift as you clearly mentioned the Indian equivalent (VXi etc), however later figured out otherwise.

Also welcome to India's premier auto community, a place which cannot be matched or replicated. We promise you will have a good time here since you can find out more about your Swift from all the ownership reviews and issue resolutions.

Also do keep us regularly posted about your part of the world which would be fascinating to know especially non auto stuff like travels etc and a place where you can post them is our very own travelogues section-

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/

BTW you can explore India virtually with some superb travelogues from our very own BHPians!

[D4D]

Wishing you thousands of kilometers of happy and trouble free ownership.
Lovely to see the perspective of a swift from across the world. Makes me feel that the Swift is one true masterpiece by Suzuki.

That is one terrific colour and photos are set in a nice place. Keep updating the review often.

Just a few questions:
1. Is the market dominated by ATs?
2. Is the Hyundai i20 sold in Costa Rica?

Makes me wonder why we don't get ATs when our country manufactures the same for you.

[ashishmathur14]

Welcome to the community GarotoCR !! I am sure you gonna have lots of fun over here and would spend alot of time going through millions of reviews and ownership threads.. This is for sure a paradise for all automobile lovers.

Congratulations for your new swift !! feels good to know that lower end variants also have decent safety measures unlike Indian Market.

Enjoy your new Love. Drive Safe !

[Gansan]

Beautiful review and photos! The Swift looks beautiful and so does your country! Welcome to the forum!