2000 Suzuki Vitara 2 dr Soft top 4x4 review from North America

Timing chain rattle, replaced for big $$$$.

Rear main seal blew @ 94,000 ($$$$).

EATS up tires.

V-belt (broke despite no being that old).

Brakes (worn out parts).

Rear drive shaft u-joint wore out way too fast.

Leaked wildly.

Would pop out of 4WD from time to time (synthetic gear oil seemed to fix that).

Vibrated terribly @ 60mph+.

Where to begin. We really wanted to love this 4x4, but man it's got some serious gremlins lurking inside.

When we got it used, we were sooo excited, and it lasted about 1 month until the issues starting to arise.

Rear main seal went out in one big pop, and oil poured out like water from a faucet. We had to add a quart of oil every 50 miles to get it home on our way back from our road trip to the mountains.

Shortly thereafter, it developed a SERIOUS death wobble that no one (6 shops/dealerships) could figure out, including myself and I'm a seasoned shade tree mechanic. Once that happened its days were numbered. Timing chain was replaced before that, and that costs big bucks.

Oh and it loves to eat tires. They wear evenly, but waaaay too fast. Brakes pulsed due to "warped" rotors, that would "re-warp" after a short time of being repaired. When we sold it the T-case was developing gear chatter, thank heavens it gone!

It's great on trails and dirt roads, but OEM clearance is awful. We had to put a lift and larger tires on it to use tame forest roads.

Engine always feels overworked, and it's extremely noisy at idle. I really tried to like it, but the highway driving was never solid feeling, and after the death wobble developed it was a no go situation.