Suzuki Grand Vitara (1998 - 2005) 2.7 XL-7 V6 5d Auto (7 Seat) Owner Review

How reliable do you find the car?

Recovery vehicle had to be ordered three times in 12 months of my second hand ownership period due to weak & faulty fuel pump issues. The fuel pump can only be accessed from underneath by dropping down the fuel tank not as in some more thoughtfully designed cars that have an access port below the back seat. problem number two was that no dealer would supply a new fuel pump part (inexpensive at about £30.) but would only supply the whole unit including float & sender which retails at £400-£500 +VAT. Another problem is that such parts are hard to come by in the UK and I took to the cheaper option of sourcing just the fuel pump part which seems to be impossible to get in the UK but easy in Australia & USA. This takes time to order & deliver. I have had fuel pump failures in 12 months. Something is fundamentally wrong in this area and the supply of parts. Not happy!

Does the car do everything you expected it to do?

I bought this car a a replacement for my Jeep which I had for nearly 20 years trouble free - mainly for dog transport for my 2 dogs. I had not realised this is NOT a dog friendly car to buy. When you fold the back seats down ( I like to give my dogs the freedom of the rear of the car) there is a huge gap between the seats which does not allow the dogs to walk from back to front. I had to add a platform to bridge the seat gap. Secondly the height of the folded down seats from the outside made it very difficult for my dogs to jump up into the car unaided. I had no problem with the Jeep on this as it was a good 4-6 inches lower for them to get in with a single jump. Thirdly, the plastic covering around the doors and at the rear 5th door was so slippery that the dogs could not get any grip to get in (because of the extra high jump they needed to do). I have had to build a ramp to help them get in. Do not buy this car for your dogs!