The Suzuki Splash, Squirt… or deterioration into choice alliterative expletives in relation to the difficulty of sourcing parts. Produced since 2008 in tandem with the Vauxhall Agila that shares the same underpinnings, the different manufacturers cunningly clad their respective cars with different bodyparts even including front and rear lights just to make life easier. I had owned a 2009 model around four years ago so assumed that in time, parts would be easier to find as more examples were scrapped. I bought a 2009 example with light front end damage. Mechanically fine, the front bumper bars were buckled to within an inch of the radiator with a warped bonnet, smashed driver’s headlight and cracked front bumper. My research stated that it had been owned and passed on to another family member who adorned the dashboard with stick-on flowers and air fresheners – it may have been those that intoxicated the driver, a shame as she hadn’t had the Splash for long and had just had it MOT’d.
A couple of months elapsed before the hunt commenced – an £80 headlamp was found and dispatched from Oxfordshire although the bonnet was bought for £108 in Wolverhampton at a distributor selling copy parts. Weeks later by chance, I had been at a dismantlers viewing a damaged BMW and chanced upon a turquoise Splash teasing me from three cars high – with a complete front end – %*&^!
The Splash is a good car and has proven popular with the older generation yet its ill-fated successor, the Celerio was blighted by a pedal brake issue that has been solved but it looks cheaper in build-quality so I suspect parts prices are cheaper.
Moral of the article: price parts up if you can find them before your purchase or you’ll call your newly bought car any unsympathetic alternative to its name!
Words and photos are copyright of Sotiris Vassiliou
March 2017
