Fault File
All models / All cars / Small SUVs / Suzuki Ignis

Suzuki Ignis

All generations and engines together · 24,303 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 40k

Reliability verdict
CBy age
CBy miles

Graded against its peers

Middling among small SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and brakes. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.

First-time failure at age 7
20.0%
Across 5,476 tests. The average for small SUVs is 20.5%.
First-time failure at 50-60k miles
22.8%
Across 1,889 tests. The average for small SUVs is 21.1%.
Rank in its class
32 of 52
1 = lowest failure rate among the 52 small SUVs we can rank.
Typical mileage at age 7
40k miles
How far the average car has gone by seven years old. Low-mileage models can look better by age than they are.

Generation

Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.

What owners report

Reported

Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.

Cold-start front end juddering

Emerging

Some 2017-on cars judder or shudder through the front end for the first minute or so after a cold start, most noticeable pulling away gently in the first journey of the day. Honest John logged this from new on a 2017 car, with the owner needing several dealer visits before Suzuki swapped the vehicle rather than fix it. No recall or published TSB has turned up for it, so it looks like a batch or setup issue rather than a fleet-wide one.

Reported from new, within first year · sources: Honest John reader reports

Front coil springs snapping

Partly in the MOT data

Front coil springs breaking near the top mount, usually announced by a clonk over bumps or a car sitting slightly down on one corner. Honest John has logged this on more than one car, including a 2017 mild-hybrid at 24,000 miles (Suzuki put under £100 towards a £353 repair) and a separate case reported in 2021. This lines up with the measured MOT data for the small-SUV segment, where the Ignis's suspension component failures run at or above the class norm, so the spring reports are the owner-side version of a fault that also shows up in the test lane.

Reported 20-40k miles · sources: Honest John reader reports, cross-referenced against segment MOT suspension data

AGS auto clutch wear and jerky changes

EmergingAutomatics only

The AGS automated-manual gearbox (a single clutch operated by the computer, not a torque-converter auto) has drawn repeated low-mileage clutch complaints: one owner needed a £600 clutch replacement well under 10,000 miles, and another reported sluggish, over-revving changes on an SZ3 at around 10,000 miles. One Honest John case even had a dealer warn the customer could be billed if 'bad driving' was blamed for a failed flywheel at 4,000 miles. Doesn't affect manual cars, which use a conventional clutch.

Reported under 10k miles · sources: Honest John reader reports

Infotainment screen freezing or failing to start

Emerging

The Pioneer-sourced touchscreen unit fitted to some cars can freeze or refuse to power up. One owner's 2017 car had the unit swapped by the dealer more than once, with the replacements also proving unreliable, which points to a design weak spot rather than a one-off dud unit. Sat nav and DAB drop out along with the screen when it happens. Repair is usually a warranty unit swap if the car is still covered; out of warranty, expect a few hundred pounds for a replacement head unit.

Reported from new on 2017-on cars · sources: Honest John reader reports

Forward safety camera / autonomous braking fault

Disputed

The windscreen-mounted camera that runs the autonomous braking and lane systems has been reported failing on at least one car, with a dealer quote north of £2,800 and Suzuki declining to contribute (the dealer knocked it down with a discount instead). It's only turned up once in the sources checked for this page, so it's hard to call it a pattern rather than a one-off, but the repair cost is high enough that it's worth flagging and worth asking about at a viewing.

Single reported case, cost roughly £2,600-£2,900 · sources: Honest John reader reports

What to check on this car

Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.

Saveable checklist

From this model’s MOT record

The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.

Bushes and ball jointsRuns high on this model Drive slowly over broken tarmac with the windows down and listen for clonks from either end. Back at the car, have someone rock the steering wheel while you rest a hand on each front wheel; play you can feel through the tyre is a worn joint.Recorded on 10.7% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 5.9%
Coil springsRuns high on this model Look through the wheel spokes at the bottom coil of each spring; when springs snap it is usually there, and the break is visible. Step back and check the car sits level too. A dropped corner is often a broken spring.Recorded on 7.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.4%
Brake pipes underneathRuns high on this model Follow the metal brake lines with a torch where they run along the sills and over the rear axle. White crust or flaking metal means they are corroding, and the online MOT history usually shows the same advisory creeping up for years before the fail.Recorded on 5.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.9%
Rubber boots and gaitersRuns high on this model On full steering lock, look in behind each front wheel at the concertina rubber boots on the driveshafts and steering rack. Splits, or grease flung around the arch, mean dirt is getting into a joint that costs far more than the boot protecting it.Recorded on 2.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.7%
Steering playRuns high on this model With the engine running and the car parked, waggle the wheel lightly about the straight-ahead. The wheels should respond almost at once. A dead zone before anything happens means wear in the rack or the track rod ends.Recorded on 2.1% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.1%
Underneath, with a torchRuns high on this model Get down and look at the sills, the subframes and the rear suspension mounting points. Flaking scale and bubbling matter; light surface rust does not. On older cars this is the one check that finds the fault that scraps them.Recorded on 1.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.7%
Lights and horn walkround With a helper, run every light: dipped, main beam, indicators, brake lights including the high-level one, reverse, fog, and the horn. On newer cars a dead LED section can mean replacing the whole lamp unit rather than a bulb.Recorded on 1.0% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.3%

Worth doing on any used car

These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.

Tyres, all fourRuns high on this model Check the tread across the full width of each tyre, inner edge included, and look for cracking and mismatched brands. A set of decent tyres is £500 or more on most cars, which makes this the easiest money to take off a price. If the pressure warning light is on, budget for sensors too.Recorded on 23.9% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 11.1%
Pads and discs Look through the wheel spokes at the brake disc. A pronounced lip on its outer edge, or a rusty and scored face, means discs and pads are due all round, a few hundred pounds on most cars. A haggling point rather than a reason to walk away.Recorded on 6.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 10.1%
Windscreen and wipersRuns high on this model Scan the glass in daylight for chips, especially in the driver's line of sight where even a small one can fail the MOT. Run the washers and check the wipers clear without smearing.Recorded on 3.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.7%

Because of what owners report

Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.

Start it stone cold and pull away gently before it's driven anywhere else. Juddering or hesitation in the first minute points to the cold-start fault.
Walk round and look at ride height side to side, and listen for a clonk over a speed bump. A car sitting down on one front corner, or a bang over bumps, suggests a broken coil spring.
Check the tyres for uneven wear, especially the front pair. Fast or one-sided wear can follow suspension work done to chase a knock or clonk.
If it's an AGS automatic, pull away from a dead stop a few times and feel for shudder, slip, or over-revving before the change. Rough low-speed engagement is the early sign of the clutch wearing, sometimes well under 10,000 miles.
Switch the touchscreen off and on, and cycle through sat nav and DAB. Any freeze, black screen, or refusal to boot means the head unit is on its way out.
Check for warning lights or messages relating to the safety camera or autonomous braking system. A fault here is rare but expensive to put right once the car's out of warranty.
Read through the full service history for goodwill payments or repeat visits on the same fault. A dealer contribution toward a spring or clutch repair is a tell that Suzuki has already seen the same complaint before.

Open the saveable checklist, tick it off at the car

The MOT data

Measured

Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.

How this model wears

Suzuki IgnisClass average, all tracked models

What testers flag

Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.

Faults with the car itself

The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 13,649 tests in this band.

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Advisory
12.2%class 6.0%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Fail
7.8%class 1.4%
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
Advisory
5.3%class 1.9%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Advisory
4.1%class 1.3%
A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated
Minor
2.6%class 1.6%
Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated
Minor
2.3%class 0.7%
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Fail
2.3%class 0.9%
Play in steering rack inner joint(s)
Advisory
2.1%class 1.1%
A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded
Advisory
1.8%class 0.7%
A brake hose ferrule excessively corroded
Advisory
1.4%class 0.4%

Wear, upkeep and luck

Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.

A tyre seriously damaged
Advisory
23.9%class 11.1%
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Advisory
20.5%class 22.9%
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured
Advisory
6.3%class 10.1%
A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
Advisory
4.6%class 8.7%
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
Fail
3.3%class 1.7%
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Fail
2.8%class 2.3%
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn
Advisory
2.8%class 3.4%
A tyre seriously damaged
Fail
1.8%class 1.8%

Others in its class

Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.

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