Used Suzuki Ignis 2016-2025 review

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Suzuki's SUV is good enough - and cheap enough - to forgive its cheap-feeling materials and unsophisticated ride

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Compactness, efficiency and big value for money are all hallmarks of the Suzuki Ignis-and this quirky little hatchback goes several steps further than that, earning its SUV-esque styling by being a competent soft-roader with the option of four-wheel drive.

When launched in 2017, the segment-blending Ignis cost just £9999 in its cheapest, front-wheel-drive form and now you can pay as little as £4500 for one. Most examples at the cheaper end of the spectrum are powered by a naturally aspirated 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which makes 89bhp and 88lb ft of torque for a 0-60mph time of 11.1sec.

Whether you're off on an urban jaunt or a rough track, a four-wheel-drive Ignis would be ideal
Sam Phillips
Staff Writer

These performance stats sound rather staid, but in the main the Ignis has more than enough poke and is untroubled when pushed hard. Sure, it takes its time to hit the redline, but the five-speed manual gearbox is precise and adds to what is a pleasant driving experience.

You could have the 1.2-litre unit with 12V mild-hybrid technology, which added a starter-generator and a small lithium-ion battery to help the engine warm up and boost acceleration. It offered slightly better economy (expect around 55-60mpg) and a sub-100g/km CO2 emissions figure, meaning you will pay only £20 annually to tax it (if registered before April 2017).

Engine specification aside, the Ignis is an enjoyable car to punt along, its dynamic qualities helped by its 855kg kerb weight. Thanks to that lightness and a short wheelbase, the Ignis serves up plenty of grip and agility; just be prepared for plenty of body roll (the 1.6m-tall body doesn't help here) and a lack of feedback from the steering, which can feel a bit remote in its operation.

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As for ride quality, there's a bit of fuss and fidget around town, but the Ignis deals with lumps and bumps well and isolates passengers effectively. While an Ignis fitted with Suzuki's Allgrip four-wheel drive system offers a bit more adhesion and an equally comfortable ride, its ability to cover distance off road is admirable.

We don't mean the sort of beaten-up tracks and boulder-stricken paths that its Jimny sibling can tackle, but if you regularly find yourself on muddy grass or gravel tracks, the Ignis Allgrip is more than up to the task. It even has hill descent control.

Despite being one of the cheaper options in its class, the Ignis is generally well equipped, albeit at a cost of some material quality. Cheap plastics abound inside, but it is bright, it has enough room for four adults and there's a robust feel to the fixtures and fittings.

We would pass on basic SZ3 trim and aim for mid-rung SZ-T to get larger alloys, touchscreen infotainment and a reversing camera. SZ5 trim added climate control and keyless entry, but these cars are a little bit more expensive than equivalent SZ-Ts.

You will pay closer to £10,000 for a facelifted Ignis. The new car came in 2020 with an even more rugged, SUV-like aesthetic and an upgraded interior. It's powered exclusively by a mild-hybrid petrol engine with a larger battery. It should easily manage 60-70mpg day to day and you can have it with a CVT, although the manual is the better wingman.

With improved noise isolation, refinement and comfort, the facelifted Ignis makes an even better runaround - but any version is frugal, nippy and, above all, fun.

used Suzuki Ignis 2016-2025 cars for sale

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£10,495
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RELIABILITY

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Is the Suzuki Ignis reliable?

In the last What Car? Reliability Survey the Ignis finished first out of 22 cars in the small SUV category, a tremendous result. There are still some things to watch out for, however. 

Buyers Beware

Engine: The 1.2-litre Dualjet petrol engine is reliable, but be wary of high-milers that have been poorly maintained, as they can suffer from high oil consumption.

Electrics: Software glitches can knock out functions like Bluetooth and smartphone mirroring, so make sure these work properly. The same goes for the reversing camera: it can fail due to electric problems. Turning the car on and off again and connecting a USB lead to your phone might cure any connectivity issues.

Brakes: Listen out for a squealing noise from the brakes; salt and debris from the road can prevent the calipers from opening properly. A brake service will cure it, though.

 

Gearbox: In a manual Ignis, any crunching into first or reverse gear is caused by either a loose clutch cable or a worn clutch cable bracket. Replacing the bracket should cost only around £20. Don't be alarmed by clutch judder when pulling away. This is common with the Ignis and pulling away with plenty of revs can prevent it from happening.

Body: Inspect the bodywork for any dents and scuffs and check the underside of four-wheel-drive cars, as these might have been driven off-road.

Also worth knowing

If you want to make your Ignis a more competent off-roader, you can get a suspension lift kit from Eibach that will enable you to tackle some extreme courses. The Allgrip 4x4 version has a tiny 204-litre boot, and even the front-wheel drive model has only 267 litres for your luggage.

An owner's view

Tamsyn Murphy: "We needed a cheap second car, and I was immediately drawn to the Ignis, thanks to its compact size and roomy cabin. It handles well and is fun to drive; it has all the modern features you want, like smartphone mirroring; and it will do 50mpg most of the time. "So far I've only had to buy a new set of rear tyres, which cost £295, and I took out a three-year service plan with Suzuki, which I pay for monthly. If you're looking for a small SUV that has plenty of character, it's ideal."

DESIGN & STYLING

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suzuki ignis review 2024 02 side panning

The Ignis is based on the same steel chassis and Heartect platform on which the more conventional Suzuki Swift superminis is founded, but the Ignis's smaller dimensions make for a remarkable kerb weight figure of well under a tonne, even for four-wheel drive models.

Buy a simpler front-wheel drive model and you’ll get a front transverse-mounted 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a five-speed manual gearbox as standard; or a two-pedal CVT auto if you prefer. Suspension is via fixed-height coil springs, and MacPherson struts up front with a torsion beam at the rear.

Here's one for the cars round of the local pub quiz: it's the Ignis's live rear axle that Caterham adopts for its most affordable Seven sports cars
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

‘Allgrip’ four-wheel drive models substitute the beam at the rear for a live rear axle, with drive delivered to it permanently via a viscous coupling that diverts more torque rearwards as the front wheels slip.

Suzuki made some significant mechanical changes to the Ignis in mid-life. Ride and refinement were far from strong points, and to these ends Suzuki brought in new insulation materials to cut vibration and noise on the move, plus extra body reinforcements in the tailgate, roof, floor and suspension mounts.

Even more significant was the arrival of a revised engine. The latest evolution of Suzuki’s 1.2-litre four-cylinder Dualjet petrol unit, the ‘K12D’ came in for 2020, and benefitted from a series of design changes to give it even better efficiency. It remained available exclusively with 12-volt hybrid assistance, which itself received a bigger drive battery for 2020 (up from 3Ah to 10-).

INTERIOR

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suzuki ignis review 2024 11 interior

The Ignis seats four adults in surprising comfort; in the back, we're talking knees free from backrests and heads well clear of the ceiling here. The driver also gets a decent amount of adjustability behind the wheel, and behind you is an impressive 260-litre boot (204 litres if you get an Allgrip). The rear seatbacks adjust, too, and the seats themselves fold flat and slide back and forth in a 50/50 configuration.

So clever and spacious is the Ignis, in fact, that its cheap-looking interior materials seem to matter much less. Suzuki has at least experimented with a convincing two-tone dash; and it’s an interior that generally feels built to last, although the metallic-coloured plastic centre console sides are quite flexible.

Boots in city cars are usually pretty tiny, but the Ignis's sliding rear seats give it a carrying versatility you just don't expect of something so small.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

There are chunky physical dials and buttons for controlling the air conditioning – no longer a given – as well as for the hill descent control, Grip Control, and for turning off the car’s ADAS systems.

The touchscreen infotainment is a bit of a disappointment, because it’s not a particularly easy system to use, nor is it quick to respond to your prods. Thankfully, there are controls on the steering wheel for the stereo instead; and wired smartphone mirroring for both Apple and Android devices is provided.

The driving position is particularly upright, even compared with a conventional city car, such as the Volkswagen Up. The seat could do with better lumbar support, but the steering wheel adjusts up and down, so most should be able to find a posture that suits them. The Ignis’s tall boxy shape means the interior feels airy, too.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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suzuki ignis review 2024 17 engine

The Ignis adopts what you might consider a pretty typical performance level for a modern city car; it isn’t a fast car, and nor need it be. 0-62mph sprinting is claimed for something between 11- and 12sec, depending on your chosen specification. 

Whichever version you choose, getting up to motorway speed down a slip road never makes you sweat; though it’s done gently enough to remind you that motorway cruising wasn’t really intended to be one of this car’s core strengths.

Suzuki’s Dualjet engine revs with less freedom than some atmospheric petrols; but the 37lb ft of extra torque that the hybrid system can provide when the car’s picking up at lower revs is just enough to feel the benefit of, and means you don’t have to work the motor hard to maintain a decent give-and-take pace in traffic.

The car’s manual gearbox is light, short-of-throw, and pleasant to use; and its brake pedal isn’t a ‘blended’ style hybrid one, the car’s hybrid system scavenging instead on a trailing throttle - so it’s easy to bring the car to a stop smoothly.

As regards real-world economy, besting 50mpg comes easily, even if you’re driving the car fairly fast and hard; but better is possible. In fact, 65mpg shouldn’t be impossible if you drive sympathetically in a front-drive model.

RIDE & HANDLING

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suzuki ignis review 2024 18 watersplash

The Ignis was quite a rough-riding, coarse-edged kind of small car when first introduced in 2017, and while the latest model certainly improved when revised in 2020, it retains a slightly fidgety chassis that communicates its readiness to go offroad even when it’s on smooth urban Tarmac; especially in the case of the live-axle, four-wheel drive model.

The car bumps a little over broken asphalt, particularly at low speeds, and moreso in the case of the four-wheel drive model (because of the nature of that rear axle) than the front-driven one - but it’s without doubt more comfortable than when the Ignis first arrived. Cabin isolation is a little noisy at motorway speeds, but only as much as you’d probably expect of a car this size and price.

The Ignis isn’t really a car for sophisticated on-road handling, either. Steering it on country lanes feels like you’re having a relaxed conversation in which it amiably agrees to follow your inputs, rather than an exchange between a soldier and sergeant major; but what else would you expect from what is essentially a city car with rare dual-purpose remit?

Grips levels are perfectly respectable in any case, and body control is contained enough to feel like you can benefit from the basic agility and wieldiness of a small car.

In the case of the Allgrip model, offroading capability is limited mostly by the car’s standard-fit road-intended tyres; but, with a set of mud and snow tyres fitted, the Ignis would likely surprise almost anyone with how far and well it’ll climb, scrabble, ford and descend.

It’s not a car that rockets up slippery slopes, but a short first gear does a passable impression of low-range gearing, and makes the most of the car’s sub 100bhp. Those diminutive proportions also open up narrower green lanes; ground clearance is a decent 180mm; the car’s wheelbase and overhangs are short; and there’s electronic hill descent control included.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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suzuki ignis review 2024 01 front tracking

The European market for sub-B-segment hatchbacks is much smaller than it was when the Ignis was introduced in 2017, and prices are higher than they were, with safety and emissions rules biting hard. That’s what makes a lightly used Ignis so appealing.

Choose between SZ-3, SZ-T and SZ5 models. Even on the middle trim you get plenty of equipment and active safety kit (Dual Camera Brake Support, Lane Departure Warning and Weaving Alert, air conditioning, LED headlights, rear privacy glass, sliding rear seats, rear view camera, 16-inch alloy wheels and Smartphone Link Display with Apple Carplay).

SZ5 models also get air satellite navigation, cruise control and door-mirror-mounted indicators. SZ-3 is a little sparse.

VERDICT

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suzuki ignis review 2024 20 front static

The Suzuki Ignis is no replacement for the sadly departed (at least in passenger-car form) Suzuki Jimny as a proper off-roader, but it is one of the only real options for rural dwellers who want a really small runabout with four-wheel drive for when the weather turns against them.

It doesn’t look like the bargain as when it was new; but even so, you won’t find a countryside-capable equivalent little car for less money now that the Fiat Panda 4x4 is long departed.

If your budget will stretch to a Dacia Duster 4x4, much as it’s a bigger car, it’s also also a more versatile one; and if, on the other hand, four-wheel drive isn’t such a motivator, other small superminis have more apparent dynamic and material sophistication for the money - though perhaps not as much character.

Versatility, capability, functionality and value are the Ignis’s main draws - and they remain potent ones today, just as they were in 2017. Few small cars will do so much, or could prove so useful - but also so likeable.

Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips
Title: Staff Writer

Sam joined the Autocar team in summer 2024 and has been a contributor since 2021. He is tasked with writing used reviews and first drives as well as updating top 10s and evergreen content on the Autocar website. 

He previously led sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks. He is an expert in new car news, used cars, electric cars, microbility, classic cars and motorsport. 

Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.