I admit that when my mom first bought this car, I was extremely skeptical about it. I mean, I thought Suzuki was known only for manufacturing motorcycles and boat engines. Thus, I was a tad upset when my mom brought home this toyish looking car made by a boat-engine company (ah, my ignorance at the time). I thought the car would immediately fall apart, but my God, I was wrong. We have had the car for about four years now and it has performed perfectly. We have had absolutely no mechanical failures and it performs well in the hills where we live. Gas mileage is not bad as well for the car. The car is also a blast to drive.
However, there are a few minor things that bug me. First off, we paid $24,000 and we have no leather seats. This is probably a dealer issue though.
Secondly, driving at around 65-70 mph is a scary experience. The car is easily able to achieve those speeds, but it is not at all comfortable at them. The steering wheel shakes ridiculously as does the cabin as well. There are also lots of rattles that occur. At any speed below 60mph, the cabin is fine and there really aren't any noticeable rattles.
Thirdly, the transmission needs a gear 3 instead of just "2 and L." This would make going downhill much easier on the brakes.
Fourthly, the car's body is quite thin. Thus, anything being played on the radio at a medium volume can be heard outside. Also, this contributes to the overall shaking of the cabin at 65mph (the legal speed limit).
Lastly, the radio speakers are of a poor quality. However, this might be because the sound is drowned out by the cabin rattles at around 65mph.
However, these are minor things. The car is reliable and can do the off-roading in the Sierras. You won't regret buying this car at all.
