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We are planning to buy a small new hatchback to replace our 95 Toyota Avalon and we've been looking at the 2016 models, Suzuki Swift RSX, Ford Fiesta Trend and Mazda2 GLX.

At the moment we are more inclined to buy Toyota Yaris because of the offer right now with the free 5 year service and WOF. But it has a CVT, which have a bad reputation but regular service is supposedly to keep it in good condition.

Without the offer, we were looking more at the Suzuki Swift because the dealer's service centre is near us and the 4 disc brake sounds good. Ford Fiesta and Mazda2 seem to have a better engine and great reviews on the internet. The problem with Ford and Mazda is that the service centre near us is a different dealer from the one we are presently looking at. Also, I heared all these 3 cars seem to have a high service and repair costs.

So we are wondering what the reliability in comparison for the four cars? Any particular faults? And what are the service costs like?

Hi there,
All the cars your have mentioned are very good choices in our view, with no particular faults to mention. The cars have changed a lot since any issues they may have had in the past, like the Honda CVT seems very good now and the 2016 Focus has gone away from the disastrous Powershift Transmission. Service costs will vary from manufacturer and only they will be able to tell you the costs, I don't think they are too high when comparing these vehicles, there are manufactures with potentially a lot higher costs out there.