Toyota Yaris vs Suzuki Swift

The Swift GL at $23,990 is $5,000 less than the Yaris Ascent Sport at $28,990, both recommended retail before on-road costs. If you have seen an older version of this comparison saying the Yaris was the cheaper of the two, that is no longer the case. The Yaris moved to a hybrid-only line-up and the price went with it.

Running costs go the other way. At 3.5L/100km the hybrid Yaris is one of the most fuel-efficient cars on sale in Australia at any price. At $1.90 a litre and 15,000km a year that is about $998 annually. The Swift at 4.0L/100km costs roughly $1,140 a year. That is $142 in the Yaris's favour every year, or under $3 a week.

Do the arithmetic on that and it is sobering for the Toyota. Over five years the fuel saving totals about $710, which recovers 14 per cent of the $5,000 price gap. On fuel alone the Yaris would need roughly 35 years to catch up. So do not buy the Yaris expecting the pump to pay for it. Buy it for the safety rating, the warranty and the resale.

On warranty, Toyota gives five years and unlimited kilometres. Suzuki offers three years or 100,000km, whichever comes first. If you drive 30,000km a year you could be out of Suzuki warranty inside four years, and in year four and five you are carrying all the repair risk yourself.

Insurance tends to be slightly cheaper on the Swift due to its lower value, but the difference is typically only $100–$200 per year. Servicing costs are comparable. Both are cheap to maintain, with services running $200–$350. Toyota's capped-price servicing program gives you predictability, while Suzuki's servicing is generally affordable but not formally capped at every dealer.

This is the section that has changed most, and it is the most important one on the page. The two cars do not have the same safety rating. The Yaris holds five stars from ANCAP, tested in 2020. The current Swift holds three stars, tested in 2024 under the stricter present-day protocols.

Some of that gap is protocol drift, because 2024 criteria are harder to satisfy than 2020 criteria. But three stars is a published result, and a two-star difference is not something to wave away. If you are buying for a P-plater, a family member or anyone whose safety you feel responsible for, this should probably decide the comparison on its own.

Standard safety kit on the Yaris includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane departure alert, adaptive cruise control, and a pre-collision system. Toyota Safety Sense is one of the most proven safety suites in the industry, and you get the full package even on this entry-level trim.

The Swift GL gets autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control. It is a reasonable list but not as comprehensive as the Toyota's, and the assistance and vulnerable-road-user scores are part of why its overall rating landed where it did. The Yaris adds blind-spot monitoring at this trim, which the Swift lacks.

Both cars are built on modern platforms with good structural rigidity for their size. The Yaris rides on the TNGA-B platform shared with the GR Yaris, which is one of the stiffest small car platforms available. The new-generation Swift uses Suzuki's HEARTECT platform, which is lightweight but well engineered for crash protection.

One thing worth noting: the Yaris at 1,045kg is heavier than the Swift at 957kg. In a collision with a larger vehicle, additional mass can be a passive safety advantage. It is not something ANCAP tests for, but in real-world multi-vehicle crashes the heavier car tends to fare better.

The Yaris Ascent Sport gets a 7-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera, push-button start, automatic headlights, and rain-sensing wipers. It's not loaded with gadgets, but everything you need for daily driving is present. Toyota's infotainment system is straightforward and responsive, if not particularly exciting.

The Swift GL comes with a 9-inch touchscreen, noticeably bigger than the Yaris, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera, and climate control. The larger screen is genuinely nice to use and makes the Swift feel more modern inside than its price suggests.

Interior quality is a wash. Both use hard plastics in places and cloth seats. Neither feels cheap, but neither feels premium either. They're honest small cars that don't pretend to be something they're not. The Swift has a slightly more playful interior design with a floating centre console, while the Yaris is more conservative and Toyota-like.

Boot space is virtually identical: 270L in the Yaris versus 267L in the Swift. Neither is generous, a weekly shop for two fits fine, but a family of four with luggage will be playing Tetris. Fold the rear seats and both open up to around 750L, which is adequate for IKEA runs and airport trips.

The Yaris runs a 1.5-litre three-cylinder hybrid rated at 67kW and 120Nm. The Swift uses a 1.2-litre three-cylinder making 61kW and 112Nm. That is a 6kW and 8Nm advantage to the Toyota, which is a much narrower gap than the old figures on this page suggested, and it comes with the hybrid system's electric assist off the line.

The 0-100km/h claims: roughly 10.2 seconds for the Yaris against about 12.4 for the Swift. Neither is fast in absolute terms, and two seconds over that distance is the difference between adequate and slow rather than between quick and slow.

The Swift uses a CVT. The Yaris uses Toyota's hybrid transaxle, which behaves like a CVT but blends in electric drive at low speeds. Neither is a conventional stepped automatic.

Fuel efficiency is the Yaris's headline number. At 3.5L/100km it is one of the leanest cars on sale in Australia. The Swift at 4.0L/100km is genuinely good for a non-hybrid, which is precisely why the running-cost gap between them is smaller than you would expect from a hybrid-versus-petrol matchup. A 36-litre tank at 3.5L/100km puts the Yaris over 1,000km between fills on the claimed figure.

Neither car is rated for towing. If you need to pull even a small box trailer, you'll need to look at something larger.