Looks like I might be getting another XM, and if it's good enough, one
car for me instead of two.

I got this quite recently - end of May, early June - when my Delica
failed the MOT. It's done a highish mileage for a four year old car but
has proven to be a pleasant surprise mostly. Not a small car person at
all. Why sell it after a month? XMs are bigger and I'm moving house.

Car is:

2004 (March registered, 04 plate) Suzuki Ignis Sport 1.5 VVTi
It's done 61,000 miles (I've put nearly 4,000 on it in a very short time
indeed - it's not quite hit 61,000 yet but the mileage will be going up).

Drives very nicely, clutch/brakes/suspension etc. all excellent. Lots of
long, high-speed motorway runs without me losing my temper witht he sort
of things that irritate on old cars.

It has A/C which currently doesn't work due to a leak in the pipe. The
pipe is £80 and I plan to fix this, I like A/C. It has the original
MP3/CD Clarion radio included, but this skips on bumps. I've upgraded
the front speakers with Kenwood 3-way coaxials that fit the stock
spaces. One wheelbearing on the rear is new - I fitted it myself as a
new hub assembly. Took 10 minutes. Properly torqued/new staked nut etc.

It has Recaro seats, with yellow writing and fishnets. These are
standard. They also make what is a small car surprisingly comfortable
for long drives.

The tyres are all legal, the MOT is until March or April 2009, the tax
is until September.

It can carry a surprising amount for such a small car; the rear seats
fold flat with the boot floor (which is quite high) and there is storage
under the boot floor, sufficient for the rear headrests, high-vis vest,
power inverter, tyre pump - you get the idea.

For a car branded as a "Sport" it is very quiet at idle. The gearing is
a bit low for motorway drives but it is quite happy to keep up with the
flow of bigger cars without having to lean forward and urge it to go -
there's still healthy acceleration fully loaded at *ahem* speeds.

Cosmetically it looks quite nice, but isn't up to the standards I'd
expect from a 2004 car. The previous owner has worn a hole in the
/passenger/ footwell carpet in a corner near the seat rail (carrying
stuff, perhaps), the rubber roof trim has a failed clip near the
windscreen, the wipers have lost the paint where the arms attach to the
spindles but not on the arms. The tailgate has surface rust behind the
numberplate due to the original supplying dealer being utterly thick and
fitting the plate with self-tappers. This is easily fixed now and not
visible behind the plate.

The standard white alloys could do with being refurbished.

Because the design of the bodykit leaves quite a big gap, I've given the
inner arches and some areas under the bonnet a coating of clear waxoyl.

These typically go up for around £3,500. Because mine has a slightly
higher than average (15,000 miles per year instead of 12,000, but it's
done a lot very recently!) I'll accept £2,750 if I repair the A/C or
£2,600 if you don't care about having it working.

I'll need to move my plate off it, and it will have had an oil/filter
change before it goes. It has got what appears to be a pretty full set
of stamps in the service book - last one was 54,000 miles and there's a
sticker in the windscreen for 64,000 "next service" - from Suzuki, but I
don't think I'll take it to a main dealer myself. Oh, and it has a
timing chain, not a belt. The engine is fantasic, a really smooth little
four cylinder with VVTi.

On A/B roads it's entertaining and fun, and I'm getting 38mpg in fairly
typical running about. If it were bigger I really wouldn't have been
looking for an XM or want to sell it.

Richard