The Suzuki nameplate/brand

[GearheadTool]

This has always been an odd bird to me, and conjures up images of the now-defunct Isuzu (as of ? I forget the year.) Is it accurate to say that Suzuki is entering the model year 2013 with just one model, the Swift? A Chevy clone?

LEts talk about Suzuki, its 1.0L 3-cyl of the 90s, and the brand.

 

[Pajamarama]

I see 7 models listed at www.suzukiauto.com

http://www.suzukiauto.com/

 

[The_Jeff]

There's a Suzuki "full line" dealer up here that sells cars and also scooters, atvs, motorcycles, etc. IDK if that's an odd relic of the importer agreement or what.

It seems to be a marque with little brand value that adds credibility to what would otherwise be a sleazy used car (only) dealer.

Last I heard they were still selling Kisashis (Japanese for "omen") but I haven't seen many on the road.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Some guy here got a Kizashi. Dont recall who - Maybe he could chime in on his experience. My Suzuki dealer (i had a 2005 Aerio) was a nissan dealer too and they had a good service dept.

 

[fisher83]

I think that if Suzuki brought back a car with the 3 cyl again it would sell great. The Suzuki Swift/Geo Metro was a good little car. When gas was <$1 per gallon I don't think many people cared about gas mileage. A 1997 Geo Metro with the 1.0 3 cyl and manual trans recently sold on eBay for over $7k. If they put out a comparable car today I would buy one. Most of what they have out right now from Suzuki isn't very competitive. I like the SX4 but the gas mileage isn't that great for the size of car. The Kizashi looks neat. Never owned a Suzuki myself but I'd give them a shot if they made something I liked.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I had a Geo metro 3 cyl ( suzuki) before GM ruined the suspension tune with IRS). Great li'l car, but that 1700 lb car wouldnt pass today's crash requirements and would weigh 2300+lbs and would be doggey.
-
If the new Chevy Spark (BELOW)wasnt Korean - id look at that. Nice little roomy 1.2L around 2300 lbs. Havent experienced its driving dynamics. I also had a Justy 3 cyl back in the day and that was fun little car, as was the '77 fiesta - likely the most fun.

 

[supton]

Suzuki doesn't sell enough here for me to think about buying--if kept for a long time, what would typical repair costs (a/c compressor, wheel bearings, clutch, whatever) cost? If buying as a "disposable" vehicle, or at least getting out of at 100-150kmiles, what would the loss due to deprecation be?

Small flickable cars are fun. But I sometimes toy with getting a Tracker, not sure why but it sounds like a fun toy for around town. Maybe outfit it with a tiny plow for snow duty, occasional off-road jaunts. But highway driving, not so much.

 

[bepperb]

We had a Geo Metro, around a '93 in the late 90's. It was terrible. Flickable? No. 3 speed auto making you want to kill yourself on the freeway? Yes. That was such a horrible vehicle that it still sways my purchase decisions now. I remember the brake pedal once touching the floor without any tires locking up, assuming I needed new brakes... nope. Emergency handling capabilities of a shopping cart. Safety last.

I've had two Civics since then. Both got gas mileage comparable to the Geo. Maybe the auto killed the Geo's mileage, but who cares. You don't buy a Swift, Versa or a Metro or a Spark because it gets 41 mpg vs a Civic/Elantra/Cruise getting 39 or 40. You buy it because you can't swing the extra three grand to buy something decent and you're too mechanically disinclined to buy a three year old car that would cost the same and be better in every conceivable way.

Suzuki.... let's imagine that they made a car that was as good as the competition (which is debatable at best, maybe the case with the Kizashi). Even then, why on earth would you want to buy a car with a smaller dealer network, smaller parts availability, smaller internet knowledgebase, no aftermarket support, lower resale value? Beyond me.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Drive your cars before you buy them? It was obvious GM tinkered with the Metro/swift which WAS the best driving and handling microcar of the time and GM completely messed it up. The twist beam rear axle was the good chassis. 3 speed auto on a microcar? Silly choice.

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Drive your cars before you buy them?


We grew up in a small town and at one point in time two of our three cars were in the shop. My father went to rent a car and was quoted something like 800 bucks to rent a car for two weeks from the one and only outfit in town. Instead he just went to the dealer and bought the cheapest thing they had used and it was probably around two grand. Rather than selling it we just kept it. So while your advice is good a car that handled decent would have cost enough more that the plan wouldn't have worked and we just would have rented one.

That car was totaled on the freeway and a Geo Metro is not what you want to be in when that happens (yes, four girls lived to tell the tale but I'm sure given the choice they would have chosen a different vehicle that particular day).

 

[Scum_Frog]

We had a Suzuki dealer in my town for years. As of Monday they switched to Mitibishi. I guess that tells you what they thought the future prospects for Suzuki were. I ran a Grand Vitara for 10 years and it was very reliable hard working little truck. Rust was it's enemy and why I got rid of it.

 

[kkreit01]

Suzuki or Mitsu...which will die first in the US? Suzuki has a bad rap around here -- due to the very shady dealers.

 

[PostalBound]

I am the owner of a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover (4 door hatchback) and love this little car. It is my first Suzuki and I got it on a good deal when they were doing the cash for clunkers thing.

I had a Explorer 4wd with 251k on it and knew its time was limited so traded it in while I had the chance. Besides the clunker money, no one was buying in 2009 so I got deep discounts. This is the touring model, All wheel drive, 5 speed, for little less than $12K brand new. Could not pass that up.

It is fun to drive and the AWD is great. Mileage is around 29 mpg with spirited driving. Have not needed any parts for it yet but everything else has been easy to get. Just rolled 90K miles on it with nary a hitch.

 

[addyguy]

Suzuki has become 'like' AMC was in North America - very small line-up, very limited dealer network, BUT the cars are exceptionally reliable.

My folks last year bought a 2011 SX-4, and THAT replaced a 2002 Aerio. Both have been very reliable, nice cars.They had to drive 25 miles out of town to get to the nearest dealership, but they still felt it was worth it.

I've never actually met anyone who has had a serious gripe about a Suzuki vehicle - they all seem to be very reliable. Even with the sparse dealer network, I'd buy one - I hope they stay alive in NA.

 

[hardcore302]

My father in law has an sx4 and some suzuki suv. i was suprised at how nice they were all around.

 

[Win]

I bought one for a teen age daughter and it took her all the way through college with no issues of any siginificance. The people she sold it to still have it.

I did all the routine maintenance, including valve adjustments. The only part I recall failing was a starter, and I replaced a couple of sets of tires.

It was heavy with a body on frame and real 4WD, so I felt she was reasonably safe in it for a smallish car, but it got lousy gas mileage as a result.

The HF V6 in our Torrent is Japan made. AFAIK, that would make it a Suzuki engine.

 

[VicVinegar]

I'd consider the SX4 for a new commuter. Small hatchback with AWD is pretty ideal. Plus a nice long warranty for piling on those miles. If only the fuel economy was a little better. I like the Kizashi too, but ends up being near $30k after I option it up. Too many choices at that price point.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

It seems to be a marque with little brand value that adds credibility to what would otherwise be a sleazy used car (only) dealer.


This is true here. The local Suzuki dealer seems to be more of a used car megastore than a Suzuki dealer. They often stock cars like Ferraris, Porsches, Lotuses, etc. They probably sell as many C-Class Benzes and Dodge Chargers as they do Suzukis. Still, the SX4 and Grand Vitara seem to be strong sellers. They are all over the place. The Kizashi is a rare sight, but it's in a tougher class where name recognition matters a whole lot. The Equator looks good, but doesn't serve much of a purpose. People don't associate Suzuki with trucks (if they associate it with anything) and it's a tough market right now. They missed the boat by about 10 years on that. At least Nissan did all the legwork for them so it's not a big loss.

I think Suzuki probably builds good cars, but they have a substandard dealer network for the most part. I doubt there are many Suzuki dealers that have even been in business for a continuous decade, so I'd wonder about warranty work and parts.

 

[PostalBound]

The dealer I bought my car from closed down. I did not really care though since I bought the car out of state (TN). I had to go out of state for the car I wanted and a dealer who was willing to do the cash/clunker thing.

Good news is a new dealership opened up in Lexington KY so I have a local one now. Been there a few times to check it out and looks legit. So I now have 3 Suzuki dealerships within 50 miles of my house.

I do agree that the marketing strategy the Suzuki uses is horrible. They do OK overseas, very strong in Japan and India. Strange they can't get a foot hold over here.

BTW, I just posted my first UOA on my suzuki tonight. Gotta figure out that code thing, its a bit wide but all in there.
Good thing is if it never breaks, I won't have to worry about the
parts availability !

 

[Spazdog]

I bought a wrecked Suzuki Swift GA years ago.

Bought a Geo Metro XFi front clip and bolted it on. Good as new...well, good as a used Swift gets.

I cannot fault the powertrain. I neglected the car more than I care to admit. The green arrow upshift light was to be ignored. Engine was to be revved. If they were worried about me overrevving it, they would have put a tach in it. Shifter was to be moved as quickly and violently as possible. Oil changes? Contingent upon when Havoline and filter was on sale at Western Auto. Coolant? Yeah, it had some.

In spite of the abusive driving practices, I cannot recall it getting less than 45mpg. It would not break.

It did have shortcomings. The interior door handles and window crank levers were made of compressed garbage. They broke easily and often. The seats were not very supportive. Kind of badly shaped. Not a nice place to be for more than an hour or so. It was softly sprung and didn't handle as well as you would expect a supermini to handle. (the Swift GTi did however) The muffler rusted out in Texas (it was replaced with the stock muffler from a GSX-R initially cobbled on in the most ugly fashion possible

then a Walker Dynomax )

The Swift had an extra cylinder over the Geo Metro. It could almost get out of it's own way - almost. It could holeshot a 3.4 Camaro with automatic (that would eventually pass it....but it took awhile

)

The Swift had 13" wheels. The Metro had 12". At the time, P155/80R13s were $15.99 at Western Auto. They had one variety of 12"s and they were twice as much. A new set of tires cost me less than $60 with employee discount. mounted and balanced them myself on my day off.

Overall, it was a tough little car. I chased a Dakota 4X4 at speeds I'm embarrassed to admit down a gravel and dirt road on the way to a tournament and hit some holes that were bigger than the aforementioned 13"s. It came through dirty but unscathed. Carried stupid amounts of stuff in the hatch with the seat down. Squashed the back suspension but no problems.