Suzuki Vitara

[Jack NUFC 1]

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Edited January 5, 2009 by ferretingkid

[Geoff.C 0]

Excellent choice. As a new and young? driver, you may be shocked at the insurance costs on these type of vehicles though. You would need to shop around a lot. The Vitara has been around for a good while and proved very rugged and reliable. There is plenty of 2nd hand spares about should you need them. Remember though,the youngest of the "old" Vitaras are going on for 10 years old. Mechanically long lived, some of them suffer dreadfully with rust, you must check sills,rear floor,rear wheel arches (5 door partic) etc for rust. There are some really solid old ones about and some rusty newer ones. Chassis is usually ok. Avoid the "wideboy" and "Fatboy" types, these usually handle poorly due to excess leverage and wear on the steering from the gross wheels. The too wide tyres also worsen fuel consumption due to extra rolling resistance. Poor off road too.

Check the vin plate on any one you are interested in, it needs to start with a J. This will be a jap built one, the Spanish built ones can be problematic getting spares like brake parts, switches etc. Also, the electrics are not so reliable. Actually, by the time you have passed your test, the early GV models may be an option for you.