2002 Suzuki XL-7 review from North America
"Never has the design of a vehicle and the lack support from its manufacturer made me more angry"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
A/C compressor locked at 40K miles (my brother has this same vehicle and his compressor went out at 65k). Suzuki is most unapologetic about the A/C compressor going out. In fact, they wanted me to pay them upwards of $2000.00 to fix the A/C. The A/C parts suppliers also know that this is flaw and have the parts marked up to the point where they are taking advantage of the customer.
General comments?
The good: It still runs (surprisingly).
The Bad: It isn't very comfortable (it's narrow - kinda' like an old VW Beetle). Very little passenger room i.e. room for "very little passengers"... oompa loompas. Cheap brittle plastic interior and overly complicated procedure for sliding the seats forward to access the back seats. No cargo room (even with no one else in the vehicle and the seats down). Anti-sway bars that give you whip-lash every time you enter/exit a drive... yet the vehicle is a "sail," on the highway in a cross-wind.
The Ugly: Poorly designed inefficient drive-train that pins the fuel economy just below 18 mpg whether in the city or on the highway. In my opinion... very bad support. I made several appeals to Suzuki and their attitude was: "You bought it... it's all your problem now. If you want A/C you can buy our parts at five times the markup." Re-sale on these is horrible... which is why I still own it (and why there are only 60k miles on a 2002).
Recommended reviews
| 2002 - XL-7 medium model 2.7L V6 An economical to buy and own reliable 4X4 |
| Great family SUV, easy on the pocketbook, yet sporty and spacious! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 2002 |
| Year of manufacture | 2002 |
| First year of ownership | 2004 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2009 |
| Engine and transmission | V6 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 5 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 1 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 2 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 0 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 0 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 29000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 60000 miles |
| Previous car | Jaguar XJS |
| Date of Entry | 3rd July, 2009 |