2002 Suzuki Aerio Reviews

Thermostat went bad at 47,000 miles.

Part that held the timing chain broke and caused damaged valves at 56,000 miles.

Please avoid this car at all costs. I was expecting reliability from this Japanese car company. The car's motor is completely worthless because of bent valves and who knows how much other damage. Suzuki is not as reliable as you would think. Maybe there is a reason Suzuki is not being sold in the U.S. anymore. Honda and Acura cars lasted me forever. This one, however, lasted me about ten thousand miles before self-destructing.

Mass air flow sensor went around 151000km. Would have been $1100 new to replace. Purely by a miracle, my mechanic found a gently used one for far less.

Rear hatch handle's spring broke. $200 to replace the handle.

Air conditioner went. Something cracked right after I bought it, because it worked on the test drive. What exactly cracked, I don't know. I stopped listening when I heard the repair price.

Sometimes the transmission won't shift when it's supposed to, and I have to let off the gas and restart accelerating to get it to work properly. Simple fix is to not stomp on the gas. Bit of a problem if I'm merging onto a highway though.

On the 15" low profile tires it has amazing handling, but because they're horribly expensive, I changed out to 14" rims and tires. Gets great gas mileage, and up until 2 months ago, I've had no real problems.

The major problem with Suzuki in general is, in most cases, you have to use their parts to fix a problem, and their parts are very expensive.

Bottom line is, it's a great car that rarely needs fixing, but when it does... prepare to pay a lot.

The only ongoing problem we have had with this car is squeaky suspension at low speeds over large speed bumps, which they have tried to fix without total success.

We have also experienced inability to start the motor below -30c. Plugging in the block heater eliminates this problem.

If you let ice build up around the windshield wiper posts, they can freeze in place and you will have to re-tighten them.

While we don't abuse vehicles, we do use them and this one has held up beyond expectations. At almost 100,000km, it for all intents and purposes is still almost new.

The power to weight ratio is superb, and this little vehicle will keep up with our SUV in the mountains.

The engine is quite noisy at approx. 120km/hr (73mph), but is fine above or below this speed.

We find the fit and finish over all to be very good, and this is in comparison to our last 2 passenger cars, Volvo and BMW.

Overall dealer service has been the best I have experienced in over 45 years of driving.

Change belt and water pump around 300 000km.

New battery, and that's it.

Great car, always run, good on gas, always runs, even in the cold canadian winter. Never makes trouble, even at high-km.

The engine looks like new.

Never get wrong with Suzuki; cheaper to buy than Honda or Toyota, but the same quality.

So far not many things have gone wrong, if any.

The front right wheel bearing went out just last week at 61,000 miles.

The bumper cracked on two occasions, one being my fault and the other being a chunk of plastic in the road. The bumpers and body panels are cheap plastic, but durable.

All in all, it performs very well.

It has more than enough horsepower for its size, torque is admirable as well. The inside is really comfy and sporty. The stereo system is AMAZING! Beats the Toyota Corolla hands down, although you exchange a little power for gas mileage... but it's very worth it. A lot of people ask me what it is, and even when I tell them they say they have never heard of it.

The only downside that I can think of for this car is that no one services them! The Suzuki dealership that used to be down the street from me has moved to a different city! Suzuki is a great brand and a great deal, I just hope they don't go belly up.

I had to replace the air conditioner compressor at about 10000 kilos. This was done under warranty. Also I have had a squealing noise from the engine compartment for a couple of months now. The dealer tells me that it is a factory defect and will be repaired under warranty.

There are a couple of rattles from the tailgate that I am trying to have repaired.

The car is a joy to own and drive otherwise. Descent gas mileage and dependablity are two important factors for me.

The car could do with bigger tires. A arm rest for the driver and passenger. Needs to be supercharged! All in all a good bang for the buck! People still come up to me and ask what kind of car it is.