Thread: Suzuki Grand Vitara Diesel....?

Not looking to tie a large amount of money up in a vehicle, are there any concerns with a 2005-2012 Suzuki Grand Vitara diesel?
My understanding to date:
…..they have a Renault sourced 1.9 litre engine....(potentially bad....)
…..Manual gearbox & transmission appear reliable
…..they have 4WD low range - something that bugger all others in this class have....

Anything that I should be looking out for and consider?

Cheers in advance.

We had a 2006, it blew a turbo, and was never reliable after that. Sold serviced and repaired through the dealership. The engine is a lot thirstier than you would expect. The high low selector is the dial type electronic engagement, and our one had a tendency to lock itself in 4wd low.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by MSL

We had a 2006, it blew a turbo, and was never reliable after that. Sold serviced and repaired through the dealership. The engine is a lot thirstier than you would expect. The high low selector is the dial type electronic engagement, and our one had a tendency to lock itself in 4wd low.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

…….Ouchy - thanks for the feedback. Open to any alternatives anyone?

I have the 1600cc petrol, goes great, goes anywhere and will tow a ton easily, in low, 4wd. Done over 200,000k's in it now, only needed cam-belt and water pump

As an alternative we have a 2010 2.4L Petrol Grand Vitara (nice model with leather interior) Have owned since 2013. Vehicle now done 250,000km and has had zero problems with the engine, has been our most reliable vehicle ever. only decent cost over the years was we had to get a new aircon pump last year and that's it. good on gas and plenty enough horses for general driving with the family. I know someone else who has the same vehicle but in the 3.0L V6 model, theirs drives heavier and is very thirsty on the gas so i see no real benefit to it.

Have a good friend who is a top mechanic and he told us to look at the Vitara due to them having an actual gearbox (not the problematic CVT like most other similar vehicles had).

Has proper 4WD lock and low range which has come in handy a couple of times...actually, we owned an older version when living in Canada (they call them Chevrolet Trackers), put snow tyres on it in winter and i could take that thing anywhere!

Thanks fullas - looking into diesel as a result of a work place pricing advantage for diesel, and some sort of SUV (there is a definite disconnect between ute pricing and the equivalent SUV).
I currently run a 3.0 diesel RA Rodeo, which is getting a little long in the tooth and has 350k+ on the clock.....

Not quite "go anywhere" good luck with a decent river crossing!

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

Not quite "go anywhere" good luck with a decent river crossing!

But river crossings in canada in winter wouldnt result in getting wet..... you would hope

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

Not quite "go anywhere" good luck with a decent river crossing!

…..we don't have the river crossings that you do down south - after seeing the milky shit produced by a 4WD without diff breathers, I'd be loathe to do anything nasty to what is essentially a soft roader with a transfer case....

Diesel does lose a bit of it's shine each time they put the RUC up. It is getting to be a substantial portion of the running cost. The lower the fuel cost the higher the proportion. If you are doing 10l/100km @$1.12/l you are doing $11.20 of fuel and $7.60 RUC /100km.

Originally Posted by 223nut

But river crossings in canada in winter wouldnt result in getting wet..... you would hope

Very true, it was regularly negative 25-35 degrees Celsius for weeks on end where i was living, even dipped to -42 degrees for a couple of days over hunting season...it was an interesting exercise gutting a deer before it froze on us on that day!