I drive my vehicles hard, and this SUV has taken everything I could give it. Excellent STANDARD accessories, with a low price tag. Has balls to the wall effect. With a few minor modifications, has beat the piss out of quite a few V8 SUV's. Anyone who dirt-rides this vehicle, must be on crack

poor speakers, cruddy original deck (replaced both on mine...works wonderfully) needs a bit more cojones on the stock model.(fixed that problem)

was looking for a jeep cherokee or something similar, passed right by the GV, figured it was 2WD with a 4 cyl. talked to the salesman, found out what it was, and loved it.

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pretty much any other mini-suv on the market....the Grand Vitara beats them hands down.

The Grand Vitara V6 is fast and smooth. 5 speed really pulls me up the mountain in the snow. Love the 6 CD player, the security system and remote keyless entry.

When the ground is wet and I take off from a stop the rear wheels sometimes spin until I gain traction. This only happens when I am in rear wheel drive. It doesn't happen when I switch to 4WD.

Happy to see a positive review about the Grand Vitara. I often see this model, either not mentioned, or rated poorly compared to Honda Civic, Toyota Rav 4 and Subaru Forester. These cars are all 4 cylinder, noisy and don't have the pulling power or response of the Suzuki. I know, I test drove all of them and was especially disappointed in the Honda because it was a hard ride, noisy and couldn't make it up the hill unless I downshifted to 1st gear.

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Tested the Honda Civic, Toyota Rav4, Subaru Forester and the Kia Sportage.

* Manueverability - love tooling around tight parking lots - as compared to my full size Chevy truck * Great handling on snow covered roads in 4x4 mode * Appearance - looks like an SUV - not some micro-car cross breed * Seating comfort - front seats at least - seem to fit me and my wife just right - even on long trips. Back seats ok for two - foot room too tight

* Engine - at about 29,000 miles it developed a rattling noise in the engine that has me and my mechanic worried. I've heard tales or bad timing chains and many hundreds of dollars repairing such. I just hope it makes it to lease end. * Air conditioning - anemic at best. Heater's great though. * Fit and finish - plastic interior is very cheap and easily scratched * Rearward visibility - that damn spare tire! * Rear door hinged for left drive countries - makes geting the groceries into the house a bit problematic. Top hinged door would be more friendly. * Fuel door on wrong side of vehicle - ok, this is getting picky * Tires - milked them to the very end and got a whopping 29,000 miles. Terrible! This vehicle must get a bi-annual alignment, with and rotation every 6,000 miles - no exceptions. Otherwise, goodby tires. * Highway handling - gives new meaning to "white knuckled driver". Hang on to that steering wheel if you're planning on exceeding 55 mph. Especially if there's any kind of cross wind. This puppy needs to stay in town or off the road at off-road speeds * Gas mileage - average 16 to 18 city, 22 highway - long highway

Overall I'm lukewarm about the Grand Vitara. Leased it for my wife - she likes it less each day. I'd say it's a competent urban SUV - I doubt the majority sold ever see real off road conditions. After 30,000 miles it's starting to show signs of wear I wouldn't expect - lots of rattles and squeeks - engine noise, too. If you want an urban commuter with 4x4 capability for little money, the the Grand Vitara is your answer. But if you want a family cruiser or plan on long trips at high speeds - spend more for a more refined vehicle.

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Jeep Cherokee (1980's - ok for it's time)

Boxed frame, good old fashioned manual shifting xfer case, thoughful Canadian assembly, robust engine design, coil on plug, mikuni TB. It comes with all the creature comforts you would need incl. AC, tilt, cruise, AM/FM CD player, power windows and mirrors. MPG seems pretty good, I actually beat the EPA ratings thus far.

No LSD axle, cannot adjust headlamps side to side only up and down. Xfer case low range is a little to high for serious rock crawling, Ac pauses a little to long on the off cycle before kicking back in so you notice the temp go up a bit. Cruise needs to be on the steering wheel , not the darn stalk that also works the wipers. No ABS offered as option. Hamster needs more testoserone for better pickup. A bigger oil filter in a more accessable location would be nice too. Finally, ''suki needs to use old fashioned nuts and bolts to hold stuff together. The plastic "clips" just don''t cut it in the long run.

The samurai hamster is a well rounded cute ute from a respected Japansese manufacturer. Suzuki has done most things well here however, they need to focus on just a few deatails to make it to the major leagues. But for the money, I think this is a fine SUV.

None.

Expensive parts. AC intake filter is 48$. The oil filter for Toyota Camry if you buy from dealer is 4$ for Grand Vitara. Is hard to find a convenient located dealer. Very uncomfortable cushion. Gas mileage is poor. This is because the transmission ratio in the last gear is too high. At 70 m/h the RPM is 3000. So the engine is running to a high RPM. The engine is not reliable. At 37700 mile my engine is very noisy. The chain failure. The service is horrible. After a week I didn’t get any answer if, due to the mileage at the limit of warranty, the shop will do the work without charge or not. Suzuki headquarter in Brea, CA is more bureaucratic than US Government. V6 engine is complicated. To change the timing chain or any parts in the area you have to remove almost everything (800$ in labor only). To replace the Oil pump you have to remove the front differential. The paint is too fragile, is peal off if hit by a small sand particle at 65 mile/h speed. DON’T BUY THIS CAR!!!!

Look like a good car by you will be very unhappy after you buy it. Nice engine by to my car looks like is not so reliable

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None

Reliability, looks, free extras, really a good strong SUV.

Almost no cargo space, but is more or less OK if you put the rear seats down. Not a family car, only for a couple at most.

Great mini SUV. I have the 2-door JLX. Strong yet comfortable. We are just a couple, so we don´t miss the extra room, or the 2 extra doors. Looks Great! We get a lot of compliments because it looks really cool. Very reliable. Seems like your are driving a much bigger SUV. Comes with a lot of extras included free of charge: power windows, a real nice Pioneer CD player w/4 speakers, power mirrors, adjustable steering wheel. 4WD shift-on-the-fly very nice. It is a mini SUV, but seems to even beat any bigger truck.

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Tried Toyota Rav-4 2door. Suzuki is a much better car, but Toyotas get good reviews no matter what (and really don´t know why).

Good road grip, easy handling, low maintenence frequency, good air conditioning especially for this part of the world, fairly comfortable, easy to service under the hood because of plenty of space,

Could have had a little more power, parts are relatively expensive, little more noise at high sppeds (above 120 kmph0, Tyres size could have been better, passenger space is just enough for anybody under 5.5 ft in height, probably because of more space under the hood.

Have had a Suzuki 800 cc in India and a Suzuki Baleno in Dubai (which was unfortunately sandwiched between 5 vehicles.) Any other toyota or nissan or even honda would have had me killed in the accident. That prompted me to buy another Suzuki this time a 4 WD. The Grand Vitara.

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Toyota Rav 4

Handles well for an SUV. Good get-up-and-go. V6. 5-speed manual. 4WD on demand. Good power for this type of vehicle. Lots of "extras" Toyota charges separately for.

It is a gas hog, esp compared to my Eclipse which spoiled me with 36 MPG. I had to have the differential replaced and the axle housing. But it''s under warranty. Since it had 1700 miles when I bought it (as a new vehicle) who knows what was done to it!? Cheap road tires.

First of all: RIMROCK Dealership in Billings, MONTANA STINKS!! I finally ended up taking my SUV to Casper, Wyoming, at FIRST CHOICE. They have been very good to me as far as serving my SUV. I needed something to go off road, but I don''t have a lot of $$ to spend. I reviewed the Honda CRX, Toyota RAV, Subarus, Ford Excursion, etc. I liked the looks and handling of the Suzuki Grand Vitara.

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BroncoII. I drive a lot of the larger SUVs and 4WD pickup trucks at work. For the money, etc., I love the Grand Vitara.

V6 Engine Nice looking body Looks better than the tracker Sits as high as any other SUV Shift to 4wd is simple

Should have come w/tinted windows Keyless Entry a nightmare (since I bought mine used I didn''t get but one remote and once that one was not working there is no replacement for it without paying to put in a whole new system). Poor Gas Milege Tires are expensive because they are off size and currently only three manufactors: Bridgestone (they are thin and don''t last) Arizone Limited ($100 per tire) and Michelin(?) If they are in stock. Not much passenger room - but enough for my dog.

I like this vehicle. I bought it for my dog and I so I didn''t need a whole lot of room. It is true that it is a gas monster, but it handles well and it can compete with the best of them. As soon as I bought mine I went on an 8 hr road trip and man....open road it is great. I should also mention that shifting into 4wd is wonderfully easy.

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Chevy Blazer

Quality of construction, offroad capabilites, engine smoothness, fit and finish

could use another 20 horses, but other than that can''t complain

suzuki seems to still be a little known secret out there, after owning some 5 suzukis from Samurai''s, Sidekicks and now the Grand Viagra.I call it the Grand Viagra because everytime I take this thing off road I get a chubbie(lol). This vehicle like all Suzukis is built tough and dependable, say what you want about their motors but they are smooth, rev freely and will get you there and back every time.You can count on your Suzuki to give you at least 2 complete rollovers on your odometer before the engine even shows signs of age

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jeep-piece of crap, chev blazer-repairs broke me, nissan kingcab- rusted around me