Is there any difference between a Suzuki wagon R and a Vauxhall Agila..

[Vince70]

I was going to buy an A class Merc this week for a friend of my mothers but she doesn't have much to spend and the lower price ones do seem to have a few issues and we looked on eBay for dinky cars and she likes the look of the Suzuki wagon R..

 

She has about £550 to get one but I just wondered if there's any difference between the Agila and the Suzuki and does the the Suzuki use the Vauxhall 3 pot that has the the timing chain troubles..

 

If it was just me I would take a gamble on an A class for shite points but I wouldn't want to see her come unstuck with a gearbox failure or electrical gremlins so I thought something along the lines of a small jap motor would be the best bet for reliability..

[lisbon_road]

I don't think there is much difference.  I believe it is the same engine.  Been said on here before, but if the engine is quiet (ie the timing chain is ok) and you ignore the service instructions and change the oil very often (say 5K), they're generally not too bad.

[djimbob]

I have a Hyundai Atoz which has been mercilessly flogged within an inch of it's life by a succession of un empathetic Lady drivers, and has only required regular service items in the couple of years I have had it, apart from now when I fear a bearing is shot somewhere on the drive belts various pulleys - it's at my Classic car resto club garage with my tame mechanic awaiting a free hour or so to investigate - the belts are a bastard to get at space wise

 

However, mine is an proper auto, which everyone who owns it ends up loving it's practicality and general all round city car goodness, not sure what the manuals drive like, but no reason to suggest they are pants

 

The five doors really can accommodate four fat adults and a squashed child, or a double mattress equally squashed, all sorts really, and I totally recommend the Atoz experience for buggering about in small parking spaces etc, my fleet has gotten too large again, but this one is a keeper in a lock up as a spare for when the big work motors are unavailable, and the peugeot 205 is the one going on Ebay soon.

 

can't find any pics of it, so here's one of my old daihatsu Grand Move, which was a fine little car as well, if a bit longer, wider, and not so tall

 

[Tayne]

Can you really get an a-class Mercedes for £550?

[djimbob]

  On 23/01/2016 at 09:46, Tayne said:

Can you really get an a-class Mercedes for £550?

 

Yes, but they all seem to have issues, some rather expensive sounding

[RoadworkUK]

Rear numberplate is on the tailgate on the Agila, not in the little orifice on the bumper which was SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE JOB on the Suzuki.

[skattrd]

Daihatsu Move or Perodus Kancil/Kenari is the correct choice ... Unless you fancy importing a Wagon RR.

[brownnova]

The more it looks like postman Pat's van the better....

 

A mate at work has a Wagon R so one day we got a load of royal mail signs, and pictures of Jess the cat and Mrs Goggins etc and put them all over it...

 

Guess you had to be there!!

[Timewaster]

My dad traded his in last summer for a self igniting Zafira.

Whoever ends up with that will get a right bargain. 1 owner 05 with about 22000 easy miles.

He wouldn't say what he got for it so I'm guessing it was embarrassingly little.

[Timewaster]

As for the difference between an Agila and a wagon?

Any fool knows that all Vauxhalls are s**t.

One looks like a Wendy house, the other looks like a wardrobe.

One is embarrassing the other you wouldn't want to be seen in?

 

For some reason I would always favour the original.

 

I'd like my Agila to be a Suzuki, my Arena to be a Renault and my Monetary to be an Isuzu.

 

Not that I would buy any of that s**t anyway.

[jonathan_dyane]

Up until IIRC 2002 the Suzuki had a proper Suzuki engine (1.3) after they all had the rattling vauxhall number in 3 or 4 cyl versions.

[Cavcraft]

Keep several oil pressure switches handy for when the inevitable happens. I'd (predictably) rather have one than an A-Class, but then I'd rather have an STD than an A-Class.

[lisbon_road]

I am sure that the timing chain engine was originally designed by Suzuki.  Perhaps I am the only one but I have no problem with them - the three cylinder isn't exactly smooth to take off but it is ok once it gets going.  They're easy to work on and seem to leave loads of space in the engine bay, on a Corsa at least.  Water pump is on a separate belt too so that doesn't give much hassle.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Just watch out for rot. A giffer friend of mine had a Suzuki one on a 52 and it was very rusty underneath. The earlier Suzuki engine is 'ok' but uses a lot of fuel for what it is and a lot of them get smokey with age.

Vaux or Suzi.. I'd say there's nothing in it tbh..

 

Also, the Wagon-R is/ was the best selling car in Japan. Embarrassing.

[HH-R]

I thought it was a Suzuki engine too.

 

The Wagon R has a maximum speed of 39.8 MPH but the Vauxhall's is 39.9.

[Vince70]

I managed to bag her an Agila in the end and pick it up next week.. I've spoken to the seller and he seems a real decent bloke and in the end we decided to splash out a bit more and get a minter with a years ticket for under a grand.

 

It's a 54 reg with parking sensors and roof bars that won't get used etc in resale silver which has done a nice low 30000 so should hopefully last a few years..

I feel sorry for her as the last car I found her was an elderly low mileage Corsa that ended up rusting away underneath and we know all vauxhalls are shit lol..

 

It's a 1200 model is that a 4 pot.

[Christine]

When a T4 bumps into an  Agila at about 15mph ,  the Agila gets written off .Windscreen pops out and the whole front shifts over . T4 driver gets a grand cash in lieu ...  

 

 

[Lord Sterling]

Dunno about the Agilas. There seems to be an awful lot of them about.

 

A neighbour at Ma's used to have one. In fact he had 2, one after the other. The first one, a Green one had its timing chain go. The next one, a Silver one broke down a few times for some reason. One time I had to tow it behind the Micra to a local Vauxhall dealer.

[Lacquer Peel]

  On 23/01/2016 at 12:48, lisbon_road said:

I am sure that the timing chain engine was originally designed by Suzuki.  Perhaps I am the only one but I have no problem with them - the three cylinder isn't exactly smooth to take off but it is ok once it gets going.  They're easy to work on and seem to leave loads of space in the engine bay, on a Corsa at least.  Water pump is on a separate belt too so that doesn't give much hassle.

 

Suzuki's own small engines are belt-driven, the GM 1.0 3-pot is literally a 1.2 4-pot with a cylinder hacked off and a heavy flywheel fitted in a not entirely successful attempt to balance the odd-firing vibrations.

 

It's definitely more characterful than a 4 cylinder engine but compared to the best Japanese 3-pots it's rough as fuck - I drove a newish Corsa C 1.0 for my Pass Plus course and it was much rougher and more vibratory than my ancient and knackered Subaru Justy, the Corsa's gearstick and pedals vibrated under load (i.e. all of the time) and it was a war to get it up to speed.

[Cheggers]

  On 23/01/2016 at 13:32, HH-R said:

I thought it was a Suzuki engine too.

 

The Wagon R has a maximum speed of 39.8 MPH but the Vauxhall's is 39.9.

Suzuki use heavier badges

[cros]

I rode in the back of an Agila when my sister-in-law misguidedly bought a new one and it made an our Austin A35 seem refined. Awful drumming engine vibration, I can only think that no-one (including the development team at GM) has ever tried the rear seats. The Suzuki must surely be better?