Faults:

Exhaust started to rattle, just loose heat sheilds.

Nothing else.

General Comments:

I am not ashamed to admit it, but I love Vitara's.

This is my second (had one before Micra) and both have excelled all my requirements. They start first time every time (unlike Micra, 1998 s-reg too) go well enough on road (be careful when it's wet though) and excel away from it.

Latest car is X-ec model, which has a limited slip diff fitted to the rear axle, which improves off-road and winter driving.

Economy is OK, I am getting 26ish mpg from Automatic 5-door estate, not too bad for an old auto 4x4 and the performance is reasonable too.

Vitara's have proven to me to be very hard wearing indeed. Previous Vitara was a 1990 H-reg which we bought with 75,000 miles on it and sold 2 years later with 116,000, it did a large commute daily and never broke down and the only cost excluding servicing was for a rear half of exhaust at £60. We only sold it due to a company car and regretted it ever since!

Current one is in excellent condition inside and out, but has no service history (I'm not worried). It has been well maintained (you can tell when you drive it) have receipts for last 3 years of servicing and It hasn't used any oil or coolant at all with me.

Try one and you'll agree they rarely break down, drive OK and have a character all of there own!

Faults:

Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with this car since I have owned it, considering the fact that I take it off road every weekend.

General Comments:

First of all I would like to dispel some nasty comments which have been made about this vehicle as of late.

For those of you who believe that the vehicle is not capable off road, This car is probably one of the best 4x4 vehicles on the road. Having pushed the car to its limits, it is a match even for Land Rover drivers (of which I am a veteran).

The low ratio gear box is very powerful considering the weight of the vehicle, although you have to make it sing a little since maximum torque is produced at 3,000rpm.

On road the vehicle is quite comfortable if a little noisy, Although in mine normal conversations can be had even at 60mph.

The interior is incredibly hard wearing so even after high mileages it should still be in good condition.

One thing to watch however is that the short wheel base coupled with rear wheel drive, makes this car liable to swap ends very quickly (Do not accelerate going around a bend if the road is wet!)

Since the chassis and lower body panels are galvanised, corrosion should not be a problem as with the Santana models.

Fuel consumption is voracious, this car will probably only get you 200 miles on a full tank (42 liters). But if you want economy, buy a compact car, not a Vitara!

As regards performance, 0-60 times are not impressive (12-16 seconds), however for a Jeep this is more than adequate.

All in all, a great little Jeep for its price range, just remember what you are buying. Yes it's thirsty, yes it's small, yes there are better 4x4 vehicles out there, but none as good looking, as reliable, as hard wearing, and as utterly dependable as a Vitara.

Faults:

Handbrake won't hold the car and a trailer on a hill. Battery needs replacing after 18 months due solely to minute battery size. Trim coming off around the windscreen. Wings rusted through where wheel arch trims fitted. Spare wheel carrier rusty. Fuel tank rusted through. Paint finish blotchy.

General Comments:

Sadly it is one of the few cars which has a low ratio box, is small, will tow a reasonably weight and has a small turning circle. The buzzer which sounds when you leave the lights on with the door open drives us demented.. we can't find it to disable it. The fuel tank is far too small for its poor consumption. All in all it does what we require but at an enormous cost in terms of money, frustration and despair.