Suzuki Grand Vitara any good?

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Hi,

we're looking to replace my wife's car towards the end of the year. We know that the replacement car has to be Japanese and we know it has to be an SUV with 4WD (need to haul lots of construction material over the next couple of years, need to drive to work over minimally maintained roads in winter).

I've lately been concentrating on used Suzuki Grand Vitaras (looking at the 2.7l V6 model, 2008+). Is there anyone here who has the car and who can give me his or her opinion on it? I'm interested in the ride quality, the build quality (I hate it when stuff rattles in my car) and the durability.

regards,

Peter

2
We bought a swift 4x4 new in april last year, suzuki have come a long way since the tat they rolled out in the 80's and 90's, the car is well built, solid and comes with a fair few toys. the mechanics are simple (which for me is a good thing, anyone can fix em). still quite a way off the quality of say toyota but you get what you pay for.

It does have a couple of rattles though, one of the airvents rattle which is a bit annoying and there is a rattle in the drivers door which I'll get the dealer to look at at some point.

Apart from that no issues at all and its done over 20k km

3
Thanks for the reply!

We actually test-drove a Toyota RAV4 a month ago and were annoyed because it made a rattling noise in the air vent :-) I'm really not sure whether Toyota has better quality than Suzuki. The RAV4 and the Grand Vitara are priced almost identically and both are very similarly equipped.

My brother has a 17-year old Vitara - it just passed the MFK test for the 8th or 9th time without having to invest much over the years. It just keeps on going.

4
In the small SUV market it is out gunned by the Toyota Rav-4 - and to a certain extent the Freelander and X-Trail.

Unless you absolutely have to have an SUV I would look instead at a "normal" sized car - in hatchback or estate form.

Bigblue - my old BMW has done 23,000km in 18mths (including going off road in Africa) - and not rattles at all

5
your bmw cost a few factors more then the swift

6
can't afford a BMW, I'm afraid :-) The Freeland and the X-Trail are a tad too big for our parking lot. The RAV4 is definitely an option but I'm not sure it's a better choice than the Suzuki - what do you mean by "out gunned"? Does it have any massive advantages over the Grand Vitara other than the name tag? We're really undecided at the moment, so any advice would be welcome.

Another option in the same price-range would be the Honda CR-V, although I have to say that I don't dig the design too much.

Peter

7
IMO the Subaru Forester is the class act in this category of car. I wasn't impressed with the Vitara, it seemed to me to be a bit of a hairdressers car.

8

we went from a landcruiser to the swift (the landcruiser was uk registered) and that as extremly well built. Things like the quality and thickness of the plastics etc was way better in the toyota.

The suzuki's always seem to get good write ups for there off road ability.

The rav4 always strikes me a soft roader, not quite knowing what it is, espcially now you can get the swb 2 door landcruisers.

wouldn't touch a freelander with a bargepole!!

9
The BMW was 2900chf And is now 21 years old.

The Subaru Forester is a class act - and arguably the best car in that class - it is more car like than the others. As mentioned, why do you need the SUV part of the package? Do you need 4-wheel drive? Do you need the space? Do you need the towing capacity?

10
That's something I'm concerned about. My car is a Korean-made Chevy Cruze. While the car itself is feature-packed and reliable, the quality of the plastic panels inside is appalling - I've only had it for a year and it's totally scratched up on the inside :-/

We don't need a full-fledged off-roader. We do live in the country but there ARE some roads in Thurgau :-) My problem is that I have to drive across the Seerücken from Lake Constance to Frauenfeld every morning. Last winter, the roads were so bad most of the time that I thought I was going to hit a tree more than once - that's why it's got to be a 4WD.

A Swift would be too small for us - we recently had a house constructed and will be doing some finishing work over the next couple of years, involving wood paneling and other bulky material that we'll need to haul around.

We had a Ford Maverick before which made us get used to the form factor. Unfortunately, that one ended on the scrap yard after the transmission broke. My wife drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser at the moment - great for hauling stuff but very (very) slow and a horror to drive in winter. It's very old, too, so it has to go.

Peter

11
Yes to all three - need to haul stuff, need to be able to drive to work on snowy roads and we put our name on the waiting-list for a boat-dock a couple of years ago.

12
Big Blue hit the nail on the head.

Although personally I wouldn't stand next to a Suzuki 4WD (ex-Landcruiser man as well). All I can really offer you is to keep this in mind:

"Why do you need the car?"

If you intend to take the car offroad then you will need a 4WD, not anything like an AWD - There is a very big difference.

AWD is safe as houses on the road, but will get you into trouble as soon as the going gets tough.

I have driven Suzuki's before and they are tough little rigs. LandCruisers are massive - but you need this (Big wheels,weight and clearance) for sand (why I had one).

RAV4's, X5's, (the whole SUV class) etc. are NOT 4WD's.

I remember there being a thread about the difference between AWD and 4WD some time ago, but I am technologically inept to be able to find it, and post the link here.

If you are going to get into a bit of mud, and climb a bit -look for a 4WD, the Suzuki will be fine for Switzerland...... it's made from egg shells and coke cans, but they perform OK.

They are light, have a short wheel base, and don't take to a high load very well - but I think that is all you need for here.

If you are just looking from a safety point of view (re: road traction) stick with your SUV options. The AWD has less transmission friction and are cheaper to opperate. All options here are a personal choice (personally, Subaru or the RAV, but it's up to you).

This being said - I don't think you need a 4WD in Switzerland at all

Hope this helps

13
some of our plastic panels are scratched. but we do carry the dog around in the car. they are not *that* cheap, just not upto big brand standard, my fil had an impreza and the plastics are better then that, I'd say they are like a normal car (so mondeo etc) from the mid to late 90's.

dunno what they come with now, but ours has a 3 year warantee so at least if it does start to rattle you can take it back to the dealer and get it sorted.

14
Yupp, I seem to have that thoroughly mixed up. I'm really primarily looking for road safety in winter and a large trunk capacity - I'm looking for AWD, NOT 4WD.

The Forester looks great but as I'm forced to buy used, it's probably not going to be an option. I've been following the market for a while and Subarus certainly aren't easy to find used, unless they have way too many KM.

Peter

15
Mate, for rough road use....... an AWD vehicle is seriously enough.

The newer range of RAV4's are quite big now and would rival the space in the PT Cruiser. The PT Cruiser does have a pathetic power to weight ratio, so I think you'd enjoy a test drive in a RAV.

Subaru's are still my favourite AWD, but I don't think there is a vehicle that has the internal space you are looking for.

Your choice in purchasing a Ford Maverick has brought shame upon your family... don't do this again

16
That's pretty much what my dad told me :-) (and then "I told you so" when the transmission went out...). The Maverick's 3.0 V6 engine is really nice, though.

17
What is the budget? I can then bounce back some ideas once I know.

Something like a Volvo V50 AWD will also do the trick - as would a Golf 4-Motion

18

As far as I am concerned, there is only one 4wd on the market........ could be a bit big for parking though..but what a beast....

19

That's because they are the best in class and nobody want to get rid of them...

20
32'000 max. Looking for cars no older than 1/2008. Golf 4-Motion could be an option although I'd really prefer a Japanese car over a German one. We've looked at a VW Touran and a Passat but weren't thrilled by the form factor and the build quality. No idea about the Volvo - will check that one out although I believe it'll probably be out of our price-range.

Peter