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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Suzuki - To change or not? - Bromptonaut
