How decent is a Suzuki car?

[princessh]

My dh is in need of a small car that is good on gas. He travels for his job, so we want something that gets really good milage. We went by one of our local dealerships, and liked the looks of a few of the Suzuki's. However we have not heard much about them. The car is in our price range. Any thoughts on the quality of a Suzuki?

 

[Shugardrawers]

One of our cars is a 98 Suzuki Swift. It's never given me a days trouble since I bought it new. For a cheap car it's been impressive. And it gets FABOO gas mileage. DSis has one of the new XL-7's and she loves it. Her mileage isn't quite what ours is but then again, ours in a teeny tiny car. I'd buy another.

 

[FayeW]

I have 2001 Suzuki Esteem (standard transmission). We always drive imports, and this car replaced a '94 Corolla. I replaced the transmission at 60,000kms, (about 25-30,000 miles). I would not buy another Suzuki. I would go back to any Toyota product in a heartbeat.

 

[HoneyPooh]

I just got rid of a 2002 Suzuki Esteem. Tin can on wheels is all I can say. By 30,000 miles it sounded like it was falling apart and from the end of 2002 the heat and air fan didn't work and they never were able to fix it properly (found out that was a major problem in that model car), the doors whistled air from day one, and the front end rattled. Glad some folks have had a good experience, but we would never do a Suzuki again.

 

[KarenAylwood]

You might want to look at Consumer Reports. When I was buying a car a little over a year and a half ago I remember Suzuki being rated horribly in most categories. IMO, a cheap car isn't worth it if you're going to end up having to put more money into it in the long run or buy a new car in a few years.

I ended up buying a Toyota Corolla and I get 37 mpg highway even with a car FULL of stuff. I've put 31,000 miles on it in about a year and a half and I absolutely love it.

If a Corolla is too much, even a used Honda or Toyota might be a better choice. My friend got a great deal on a used Civic last year and loves it.

 

[Stacerita]

My first car was a Suzuki and I had it for 12 years. It ran great and never gave me a day of problems. Till the last day I had it. But that is a different story. It was great on gas and ran great. I so miss my car.