Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
This is by far the most powerless V6 I have ever driven - for the amount of power it does deliver, it is a gas guzzler!
Ride quality is quite disappointing compared to a mitsubishi montero I rented recently, which had even more miles on it
The feel, build, quality and performance do not even begin to compare to the newer crop of vehicles - particularly the Mazda Tribute and Ford Escape (am i right in understanding these are in the same class as the GV)
The price apparently is as high as that for the Montero, Tribute etc.
Lots of niggling vibrations and knocks and rattles
Rear leg room is ridiculously little - got to be less comfy than even a tiny two-door hatchback.
As such, I wonder what leads to so many people having bought this car (I see a fair number of GVs on the roads) - considering the price, which is comparable to what I feel are better-value small-SUVs
Do I just have a real lemon from the rental company - but some isues are constants - low power, gas guzzling, small rear seat etc?
Just curious to see what people's experiences are - I am considering buying a small-SUV ina few months and am eliminating possibilities - I am really stuck on the Mazda Tribute for now, waiting for the second model year when they typically iron out the first year recall/defects!
-ashutosh
Thanks Dave
Chris Murphy
It took me awhile to figure out that the noise I was hearing is coming from the transfer case shifter. It sounds like a Heater fan on a very low setting.(only makes noise when moving) If I shift into 4wd the noise goes away. It's not that bad, but the rest of the truck is very quite and I do notice this. If I move the shifter slightly forward without shifting into 4wd the noise is amplified.
Thanks, Dave
We got a small SUV, body on a frame (not uni-body), rear wheel drive, which means never having to replace CV boots or joints at about $250.00 a side, chain driven cams, (no timing belt replacement at about $300.00 every 60,000 miles)body cladding, shielded gas tank, etc., for a drive out price of 19.3 which included, tax and title, and all the other fees, too. I know a Honda with similar features couldn't even come close to it in price.
As far at the V-6 is concerned, it is nothing to write home about. It is a whimpy 6, and it does gas milage is 20-21. But considering you will never have to replace a timing belt on it and that its first scheduled maintenance is at 100,000 miles, you save quite a few bucks.
So far after owning it for 4 weeks, everything works great. The ride is smooth, the tracker is stable at high speeds. No vibrations.
It is small, but it is hard to find a SUV built like a truck at its price.
Thanks
My first impression is that it looks great.
So far my only complaint with my 99 would be if there was only a little more room in the back.
This new model looks interesting.
Pocahontas,
Edmunds.com/Roving Host
After reading a lot of the posts on this board, my wife and I drove one. It happened to be a 00 Limited, with 1400 miles on the clock.
When I started it up, there was a loud ticking from the engine, Sales guy said it was because it had sat on the lot for several days. His response told me this question had been posed to him by someone else.
Fair enough, we drove it, it warmed up and the noise was still there. To drown it out required the radio on pretty high, or the AC and fan at a high setting. Goofy move to put a prospect in a vehicle with problems he already knows of.
Other observations from the low speed test drive were the vague feeling steering, choppy ride and much less oomph than one would expect from the V6.
Overall, the truck appears to be really well made. Some of the handling and ride issues are, IMHO, facts of life with a short body on frame vehicle.
The only other vehicle we will consider in this class is the RAV 4, which we have yet to drive. Aside from the Toyota price premium, it carries the reliability reputation.
I have a 5 year old Toyota Landcruiser which has been almost flawless. As that is also body on frame, I'm familiarr with what to expect in terms of minor rattles etc. However, it is quiet at high speeds and there is very little wind noise.
Question is, can you expect to put a lot of miles on the Grand Vitara without the host of problems on this board (RAV 4 board is much more positive).
Thanks
You're right about some of the "shortcomings" being inherent. However, even these have flipsides (e.g. The gas mileage is decent and parking is a breeze). If you can live with these things, I think the GV will be an enjoyable car that lasts you a long time.
On a side note, the CAMI plant (I guess this doesn't pertain to the Limited and XL-7) is already "legendary" in the GM world. I have a friend who is a GM engineer and he tells me that the main reason GM agreed to the CAMI cooperative was so they could see how Suzuki makes cars and implement some of these ideas themselves (it definitely was not for financial reasons b/c they're losing money on it). My friend works for Cadillac and they're redesigning ALL their models from the ground up with many manufacturing ideas "borrowed" from Suzuki. While Toyota is still the industry standard, I think engineers agree that some companies, like Suzuki, are not too far behind.
AJK
I like to keep vehicles for a long time and add on the miles. To accomplish that, I recognize good maintenance is critical.
I have an 86 Acura Legend with 149,000 and one of the reasons I keep spending money on it is the fact that people have these vehicles with in excess of 400,000 miles.
The Grand Vitara strikes me as a robust little vehicle that seems like it should hold up. With normal preventative maintenance, can you get 150,000 trouble free miles?
This is pretty much a given with most Toyota and certainly Honda products. If you contemplate that sort of life cycle, the upfront cost advantages are not significant.
Thanks
32,000 miles the engine slowly began self destructing necessitating a new short block at $3200 plus labor. Now at 72,000 miles, the auto tranny just blew up. The vehicle has been maintained at levels exceeding the manufacturer's recommendations (all my cars and trucks have gone at least 250,000 miles with NO problems under my ministrations: current truck, a 1987 GMC Jimmy, has 301,000 and is still going strong). Dealership Suzuki techs are undertrained. Parts are horribly expensive. The warranty period is woefully inadequate. Suzuki had little to say after a detailed complaint was filed. We wisely purchased a third party extended warranty when we bought the vehicle, and it has paid for itself five times over before the current tranny problem. Get any perceived problem diagnosed IMMEDIATELY! It will likely save you a bundle. I hope you all don't have the same problems we had. Good luck if you already have one!
might be able to help me diagnose the source of a
squeak in my 95 4wd 4dr. Sidekick JLX. There is
a sqeaking noise coming from the left front whenever I drive the car in cold weather. It goes away after a time, and hasn't seemed that serious but I would like to know what it is. I never hear the noise in warmer months. By the way, I love this
little truck. It's been very reliable, great in snow, comfortable and with the five speed, has
some spunk. I want something a little bigger and
more powerful, so I'm opting for an Xterra now, but
the Sidekick has been a great little vehicle for
me.
Grand Vitara owners. You are welcome to subscribe.
Only you can do is just send an email to
suzukigrandvitara-subscribe@egroups.com with blank
subject and message and then you are automatically
subscribed. You can click www.egroups.com and
see for yourself.
Good Luck and enjoy this mailing list.
Other than that, I love it. Besides, the rear seat is perfect for mounting a rear facing car seat with a base!
I had an '89 Sidekick JLX, and put 185K miles, and was still going strong when sold.
I always heard that the Sidekick is unstable. I never felt that it was. Once, Driving through Alligator Alley, I hit a deep, but narrow hole as I was changing lanes. At about 75 Miles per hour, the front right tire came off the wheel. The car suddenly skidded. I did not manage to get control on time, so By the time the car was going straight again, I was driving on the grass, on the right side of the road. The problem is that that grass is on a 45 degree incline and there is a marsh on the bottom. As the car was tilted 45 degrees , following the grassy incline, it started skidding , rotating the back towards the right. I recover control when the car was going backwards. Knowing that my front tire was gone, I was happy to go backwards. Eventually, the car stopped. We were inside the marsh, in water and mud to the bottom of the doors. But the car had not stalled. The engine was still running. I shifted to 4WD low, and drove out of the marsh and up the grassy ramp (about 3 floors up). The people that saw us going down could not believe that we were alive. They took us out of the car and checked us up from head to toe. We knew that we were OK. Thanks to the Suzuki, we were unscratched. Afterwards, My wife and I talked about how we never felt like the car was going to flip over, even though we both expected it. We also realized that if we had been in another car, the towing cost to get the car out of the marsh would have been considerable.
So, When I decided to replace the Sidekick, what kind of car would I choose?
A GRAND VITARA!!!!
So far, I like the way it rides. I am used to the carder suspension of the Sidekick. But I'll get used to the softer suspension. I like to feel the road. When I wanted a soft suspension, I bought an Oldsmobile. It was like an airplane on the freeway. My Suzuki should let me feel the road.
I normally carry children on the back seat. So, I don't find the back to be small. Actually, my Sidekick was smaller. Smaller is better. If I wanted a large vehicle I would buy a Durango, a MC, or some other bulky, heavy, hard to park absurd vehicle.
My Suzuki does not make any noises while I drive. I do hear the wind at high speed, and that is fine with me. I never heard the wind in my Old.
The acceleration is more than fine. I get to 60 in about 10 seconds. In other words, I am the first one out of the traffic light or the tall plaza. When I wanted more acceleration I bought sport cars. But since I left my twenties I stopped desiring that thrill. What matters to me now is that I can pass easily at speeds under 75 MPH.
I think that the complaints about acceleration and roughness that the reviewers are giving the Suzuki are leading Suzuki to go in the wrong direction. My brother just bought a 14 year old Samurai and I am jealous. He drove it up stairs that were almost like a wall. Perhaps I'll get one of those too. I hope Suzuki does not go the luxury way. Those of us who like rough small, gas efficient cars need Suzuki.
A complaint about the Grand Vitara. is that it gives me only 19 MPG. The Sidekick delivered 22MPG in heavy traffic.
I just installed from GM accessories a quality made skid plate package which included a large front plate and a long narrow transfer case plate, both from heavy gauge steel. This design is much better than Suzuki accessories plate which hangs down from the frame with brackets. GM's bolts directly to the frame. It fits from '99, 2 dr. and 4 dr., 2 and 4wd.
If you plan to get off the road, the Suzuki is the only small alternative.
I had a Sidekick for three years and gave it 100,000 miles. Now I have a Grand vitara. In 7 weeks I have added about 4000 miles to it. It seems perfectly fine.
Overall, I would not buy any thing other than a Suzuki.
I really like the GV
I was offered one for $18000 with 13000 miles
I would trade my Mazda 94 with 50.000 miles for $3500
is it a good deal
please some advice on what goes wrong with NV and if it would last for 100.000 headache free
thanks for your respond
Therefore, in certain terms, I highly recommend this understated ride to the discriminating dude or dudess who wants things a bit different when the V6 mill is 'fired off', subsiquently followed by unplanned urban vehicular adventures to the local shopping mall followed closely by a torturious trek to the fast food joint drive thru. Its even good enough for five hour drives back and forth to Florida - In sumptious leather decor wrapped comfort I might add, y'all! Henceforth, thinking about buying one are you? . . .well go ahead - you'll have no worries at all.
Bought this for winters in ne pa, but will be getting rid of come next winter. feel much more comfortable in 2wd subaru legacy. what's the use of 4wd if vehicle is too light-what i'm hearing now.
need to hear from others on how their gv reacted in slippery conditions.this thing is a MAJOR disappointment!!
Took to another dealer, who actually inspected it and determined that a timing belt tensioner had come off, and was knocking around in there. They ordered the part, and replaced it at no cost (under warranty!).
Still running great. I just put in new speakers and CD player... Other than that running great.
I appreciate your help in advance. Thank you