Faults:

I only discovered that there was no oil in both gear boxes when I had it serviced outside the authorized service station. After adding oil to both gear boxes and coronas, it has become a totally different car, less noise and very smooth. However, I failed to find an email for Suzuki Japan to issue a complaint regarding its local service stations.

General Comments:

It's a pretty nice drive, looks and feels elegant inside and out.

Faults:

Driver's seat had loose bolts, stated at 10k, still loose after many fixes at dealer.

I also noticed today that the driver's seat bolsters have a lot of wear for 24k.

A/C system completely went out at about 15k, replaced under warranty, but they had the car a full week. Luckily I put my foot down to get a rental.

Transmission had a rough/startling downshift issue after being at highway speeds which was fixed, but I had to find the TSB myself and give it to the dealer.

Radio was replaced under warranty as the screen would fade in summer months. Second unit is doing the same thing.

Tires are complete junk, they were worn down in the back at 17k, and at the steel belts by 21k. Unacceptable really for a new car to need tires that early.

General Comments:

Most of the problems I have had with the car came up in the first 15k of ownership, and I attribute some of this to this being the first year out of the new model. My advice is to skip this year, and buy a 2007 and up if you are set on a Grand Vitara.

The car is not a bad value overall, so I have mixed feelings about it. If you are a tall person over 6 feet and need leg room and head room, this truck deserves a look. Needless to say I will not be back for a newer version. It is just not a car that makes you excited to own it. There are highs and lows, and Suzuki in general seems to be aiming toward mediocre in their vehicle lineup.

Since I have the base model and 2wd, I find that the V6 engine is good, and I am never at a loss of power. This is my favorite facet of the truck. The handling is not bad for a small SUV. Gas mileage is not great around town, surprisingly bad actually, and the instant mileage readout on the dashboard is worthless.

Seat comfort is OK around town, but anything over 3 hours and you will be squirming. The biggest issue about the interior is the seat comfort. The plastics on the doors could be better, otherwise the interior is pleasant to look at and there is tons of front leg room.

Some design issues need to be addressed, such as the gas gauge being far off to the right, and not in your line of sight. Good thing they have a low gas light there! Also, the headlight setup takes getting used to. The headlights and indicator light are poorly done and you actually need to think about what "mode" you are in at night... The stock radio needs more power, the highway drowns it right out.

The truck seems to wear out tires much faster than normal which is a big problem as the tires are not inexpensive to replace. The dealer was not interested in talking about tires, although happy to do a rotation at a fee, which I agreed to do. I ended up replacing the tires soon after.

Faults:

Nothing - Touch Wood!

General Comments:

This is an good value for money car. We bought one to replace my wife's old runabout and my old Suzuki Sierra. This vehicle is a good compromise between a large 4wd (IE Pajero etc) and a car. Very economical to run for a 4wd. We are averaging 10L/100km in a mix of probably 70% city and 30% highway driving with the 2L 4cyl engine. Granted it is not very quick off the mark, but remember it's a 4wd so its horses for courses really. It is very practical and offers excellent comfort on long intersate trips. The monocoque construction definitely lend itself to good handling around the bends, but at the cost of tightly sprung suspension. Build quality is excellent and doesn't seem to have too many design faults. The cabin plastics are a little hard though and mark easily.

The biggest let down has been the dealers. We bought ours over the phone from NSW to get the trekker pack which added about $3,500 worth of extras for nothing. We saved around $5,000 by shopping around using the phone. Not bad for 20mins work. However the dealer fitted cruise control which didn't work. Why? They fitted it to ours, a 4cyl version which doesn't have a CC kit available! You would have though they would know this, but they shipped the car to us anyway and made it our problem despite knowing it would never actually work! No excuse for this!

The second issue I have had recently is with our local dealer in QLD. We are servicing it under the severe operating conditions which drops the interval from 15,000km to 7,500km fir oil changes. We had the oil change done however the dealer didn't bother to change the filter despite performing a manufacturers service and the book clearly stating that the oil filter had to be replaced! I have never heard anything so ridiculous, but they though I was a real idiot for asking and then demanding they change it. $65 worth of oil, $70 worth of labour, but couldn't see the logic in changing a $20 filter!

Once again a good car let down by incompetent and down right rude dealers!! Suzuki should take note and take some responsibility, after all these are the people selling and servicing your product! They will make you look either good or bad so sort it out!