2019 1.4 manual which i’ve owned for 2.5 years, and made five 7/8 week trips to Spain in it. Next big trip is May/June…N coast of Spain, East to French Pyrenees for a group walking trip, down to CBlanca, then a long loop west then north to Picos and La Coruna.
Some long driving days are simply unavoidable due to specific dates meeting up with walking groups…800kms isn’t that unusual. Vitara is not in it’s element on such long motorway days, quite tiring with lots of wind, road and engine noise…S Cross not much better by all
accounts.
It’s totally fine on narrow country roads, sometimes unmade, driving to trail heads & i’m not that bothered about the odd foliage scratches on such.
So, a 1.5 manual Karoq, circa 2022. No idea of their reliability, but no major warning signs and a far nicer cabin in which to spend 3,000 miles per trip.
Should I or shouldn’t I…not desperate either way ?
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Had one for a few days as a courtesy car while my Superb was fitted with an uprated cooling fan for towing.
My write up is here:
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=17111&m=682085
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Keep the Suzuki. It does a lot of things well as you say and realistically how many long driving days do you actually have? Per year?
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>> Keep the Suzuki. It does a lot of things well as you say and realistically
>> how many long driving days do you actually have? Per year?
>>
probably about 20 long driving days a year…including 4 to/ from Plymouth or Portsmouth ports which although only 340/300 miles are a miserable motorway slog.
>>
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I am a fan of the Vitara, my wife has one which she much prefers to my Golf estate. I enjoy both and, although the Golf is well-reviewed as a cruiser, I don’t find any hardship in taking the Vitara on longish stints (200 miles plus in my case). To my mind there is a difference but not a chasm between them on a trip. However I am sure that if I could be instantly switched between the two the Golf would be the quieter. But I don’t find the Vitara noisy per se, we just turn up the audio.
Anyway I am not telling you anything you don’t already know and if the Vitara hasn’t seduced you with its daily driver charms then it might be best to let it go. Whether the Karoq is significantly better to justify the cost of change only you can decide. Other than the 20 long trip days you still have the other 345 days when you might just miss the simpler Vitara.
One factor in the Karoq’s favour is its mpg is likely to be better. We find the Golf does 55 on a legal speed motorway trip and I imagine the Karoq to be similar. The Vitara is mid 40’s.
It’ll be interesting to see how this thread goes. Not having a personal buying itch at the moment I need to get my car changing pleasure second hand so keep going.
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does it need to be an SUV? If not, how about a Corolla TS/Swace?
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I had a bit of this debate on the other forum a while back.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=198588
You can find a previous generation Sportage reasonably priced that will be far quieter and more comfortable especially on the 16" wheels.
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Update. I’ve still got Sofia Suzuki.
Purchased 3 years ago from Coopers Skoda in Birmingham, a 2019 SZ5 1.4 two wheel drive.
In hindsight I should have bought the ALLGRIP as i live at the top of a short very steep road, not accessible by me if snow or ice, and I seem to drive increasingly on loose surface roads on my continental motoring trips…too late now and only been stuck twice.
MOT yesterday, no advisories and my MOT tester friend, who has looked after most of my cars these past 25 years, reckons I should keep it.
Basic service when I collected the car in 2023, then just the usual annual
maintenance since. New front pads in ‘24, major service inc iridium plugs in ‘25, brake fluid change on the last service.
It needed two new Contis shortly after buying it, the rears lasted 45k miles until replaced by Contis a few months ago. I’ve fit better speakers, decent mats but generally neglect the exterior washing it only 3 or 4 times a year…a recent rush of blood to the head resulted in clay bar & wax.
Only 52k miles but still in good condition at 7yo.
Total service costs to date, inc MOT, are £670…so four years by next August.
Extras are 4 new tyres, battery replacement a few months ago & that’s it.
Underbody still clean, brake pipes, suspension & exhaust good. Insurance this year £233 with £125 excess, just over 50 mpg overall using pen & pencil method.
I ‘think’ I paid £14k, now worth sub £10k despite its FSH and great condition, but overall cheap motoring.
Back to Spain next month from Plymouth…more exploring the north coast, then into the Picos, E to the Spanish pyrenees before meeting friends in two walking groups on the northern CBlanca.
The S Cross, or Karoq, will have to wait a while longer.
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You sound a bit disappointed by the current likely worth?
I don’t think it’s too bad. It’s 7 years old and pre-COVID and ICE scarcity it’d have been worth a lot less at that age.
Although you bought it as a used car, Suzuki used to discount them heavily from new and preregistration deals were common.
It’s only of academic interest but I suspect the annual depreciation from price paid new (or pre-reg) to now will have been about a grand a year. Not too shabby.
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>>In hindsight I should have bought the ALLGRIP as i live at the top of a short very steep road
My present car is an AWD Subaru XV e-Boxer. Previous car was a Suzuki Vitara ALLGRIP hybrid.
Before that I had a another Subaru XV, a Honda CRV and a Subaru Forester.
All those cars had 4X4 capabilities but (living in Cornwall) never used in anger :)
I found the Suzuki Vitara to be cheap 'n cheerful TBH - noisy on the motorway and didn't handle potholes too well.
I love driving my present Scooby Doo especially when it drives as an EV and my next car will definitely be a BEV ...
if I'm still alive!
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Have you considered a spare set of wheels (maybe steels) with some winter tyres?
I used to change mine around every six months when I was regularly having to, or choosing to drive to and from Italy.
Now I have crossclimates on all year round. They’re ok in snow and ice, but proper winter tyres are in a different league. Even my rwd car was capable of navigating really quite challenging winter conditions with those fitted. Our other car has Goodyear all season tyres on it which, a bit like the Michelins fitted to the Merc, are certainly better than summer tyres when the conditions get cold, but similarly, are no match for full winter spec tyres.
Anyway the point of all this rambling, if one can be found in it at all, is that you may be able to make your current car more winter compatible relatively cheaply.
As you were chaps, ramble mode off…
;-)
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Whilst Winter tyres are incredible, they don't help when the HGV is stuck on the slip road and blocking it so no-one else can get past.
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Absolutely, but they might help someone to not hit the back of the queue or to safely steer around it.
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>> Have you considered a spare set of wheels (maybe steels) with some winter tyres?
Living in Yorkshire I used to have a set of winter rims for my Superb II and swapped every 6 months although it was always difficult to pick the best day to swap! I gave a set of all season tyres a go and to be honest when I wore my winter tyres out I didn't replace them. The all season (latterly Michelin Crossclimate) tyres whilst not quite as good in the rare white stuff were truly fabulous in very wet conditions - rather common in Yorkshire !!
Clearly a car good for rough road conditions is needed as well, not always the best for a motorway though. In a similar situation one of my friends has bought a 4x4 Octavia Scout that is great both on a motorway and on remote roads.
Last edited by: BigJohn on Sun 2 Aug 26 at 22:01
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Decades ago i used a set of winter tyres on my vans. Once out of that business I used Michelin Alpins, possibly the predecessor to Cross Climates? Very effective, but more recently I have only needed to change tyres two at a time, and obviously you cannot mix all season & summer tyres, albeit on different axles.
Hopefully the tyres on Vitara will wear out at the same time so will make the change then, but it could be a few years down the line as i only drive 10k miles pa.
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>> Hopefully the tyres on Vitara will wear out at the same time so will make
>> the change then, but it could be a few years down the line as i
>> only drive 10k miles pa.
>>
>>
My "new" Swace is now a bit over 2 years old and over 22k miles so doing about 11k / year. Original Bridgestone summer Front tyres showing a bit of wear but still ok, both rears are showing very little wear although one was replaced very early due to a puncture. Fairly shortly I'll swap front to rear and vice versa to even out the wear. Guestimating in two years time I'll fit a full set of all season tyres.
The Swace is generally a very refined car re mechanicals / wind noise but I'd say road roar from the estate boot area, whilst not too bad is the worst noise. With my previous car a Skoda Superb when I swapped from original Continental Summer tyres to Michelin Cross Climates road noise rather reduced, hopefully this will happen again!
Last edited by: BigJohn on Mon 3 Aug 26 at 22:25
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Suzuki - To change or not? - Bromptonaut
