Faults:

No problems with my XL-7's.

General Comments:

This SUV is both powerful and stylish. It has many safety features that drew me to purchase 2 XL-7's.Handles very well in the snow and rain. This vehicle is loaded with many options that are standard and that you would have to spend a great deal more on other vehicles in it's class. I highly recommend this vehicle.

Faults:

Sunroof: The sunroof doesn't close flush. I was first made aware of this at an automatic car wash. When the dryer cycle started, it pushed the sunroof open and it was raining water and suds in the car.

I took it to the dealership and they checked it for leaks and couldn't find any. They stated that there were no adjustment procedures in the shop manual. Other new XL-7's on the lot had both flush closing and non-flush closing sunroofs. We are still afraid to use the dryer in the car wash. Unacceptable. I now manually push the sunroof up from inside the car.

Wonky electronics: Both heated seats malfunctioned and wouldn't stay on. The car had only been running a few minutes and they weren't overheated. Only letting the car sit for awhile cleared the fault. It hasn't returned.

Auto climate control isn't: Setting both knobs to Auto and adjusting the temperature *should* be enough to maintain a pleasant temperature but the windshield will still fog and the car doesn't seem to maintain the selected temperature.

General Comments:

With all the current economic troubles you can find a great deal on these. Overall, we are happy with the purchase. It handles well, has decent room for passengers and a smooth, powerful (252 hp) 3.6L V-6 and available all-wheel drive. It shares a lot of commonality with the GM Theta platform SUVs.

Some of our dislikes:

Poor fuel economy. Typically, 17 city and 20 highway. We knew this wasn't an economy car but expected to at least match the EPA numbers. Even on a long highway trip averaging 70 mph, we averaged 20 mpg according to the on board computer.

Center mounted window controls. A carry-over from its GM roots.

Practically zero visibility through the rear window. Backing up is an exercise in faith. The Limited version has a backup camera, but our Luxury does not.

I am going to install an aftermarket camera and backup sensor.

Very limited cargo area behind the 3rd row seats.

Low resale value.

General Comments:

I just test drove a 2008 Suzuki XL7. Drives pretty well comfortable, handles real well.

Spoke to my brother who is a GM mechanic. He said the 3.6 Liter engine is pretty sound. In fact he mentioned the Japanese version produces more horse power and the internal components are a much better designed and the quality control in Japan is much better.

I believe this is one of the most affordable Suv's for the money. Plus Suzuki offers a 7 year 100,000 mile warranty.

The interior is not the best, but fully equipped the vehicle is less the $25k. The same features in a Honda Pilot would cost you 40k. You can almost buy two XL7's for that and the MPG is really about the same for both vehicles.

Vehicles are just transportation, not for trying to keep up with and impress Joneses.