Suzuki Grand Vitara JB / JT.II (2012-2019)

Bought new and broken down regularly – I bought this car new just over 3 years ago and we’ve had many issues, one after another. Luckily it’s still under warrantee but it’s been very frustrating taking it into be fixed all the time. It’s currently sitting in our garage unable to start. Warning lights flash everywhere when you put the keys in. Speaking with Suzuki, they can’t look at… Read more

it for weeks. We also have to pay for a tow to get it to the service centre. Even though it’s under warrantee. The car was clearly bought be faults. Would never buy a Suzuki again.

This is my 2nd Grand Vitara and I love it – I had my first Grand Vitara 10 years without any problems what-so-ever. I decided to upgrade to a later model. I have now had my 2018 model for the last 2 years and cannot fault it in any way. If a new one was available (3 door), I would not hesitate to purchase one. Show details

Great little run about but don't put tow bars on them – If towing it will break out the mounting points on the beaver panel, after talking with a mechanic he has seen it a lot with grand Vista's after 100000 klms 2016 jb 3 door has only done 40000 klms very disappointed . No help from Suzuki Australia or Suzuki Queensland Show details

Astonishing little car – I bought this car in March 2019,it being a 2013 manual model with 86000kms on the clock.I have just finished a drive lasting a month and traversing 10000 kms from Brisbane to Laverton via Winton Alice Springs Yulara and back via the Nullarbor and the Strezleckie track.Approx. 2500 kms of sometimes very rough gravel road. The car was superb.Totally… Read more

reliable.Surefooted on the bad corrugations and in the bulldust.Did not even rattle.Engine temp remained at all times half way between C and H. In short,a tough and dependable bush tourer.Heaps of space for its size.Just be aware it is a little thirsty at about 10 litres per 100 kms,although it does take 91 ron, and the tank is only 60 litres.However,never did I have to use the extra 20 litres I took with me.Some have commented that clearance is a bit low at 200 mms but this was never a problem for me. I am enormously impressed by it,particularly bearing in mind it its modest cost and that it was unmodified except for AT tyres.Most 4wds I saw in the outback must have cost a few times more than this car and could not have done any better.To top it off,it is also a practical and nimble car about town.

Good little off-roader or city run-about – This is a real 4WD, thats why I bought it. Its the only small 4 door "real" 4WD available except for the Jeeps which have quality issues. It also handles well around town as its permanent AWD. The 4 speed automatic is basic, but strong & I leave mine on POWER mode for the later gear shifts & improved acceleration. Fuel economy is usually… Read more

10.7L/100km in the city but on country trips it can get down to 8L/100km. The higher fuel economy figures reflect the fact that its a real off-roader, weights 1.6 ton, has a truck ladder frame chassis as well as heavy dual range gearing. I do some off-road work & it is very happy on 3 wheels, lose dirt, ruts as the traction control is very good to kick in & provide traction. I have not got it stuck off-road yet. If I was serious about off-road work I would get a 2 inch lift.

I did not choose a larger Landcruiser Prado or Nissan Patrol as the parking for these cars is impossible in the city and diesel maintenance costs are higher, also the driving experience in the city is much more fun with the little Suzuki. For the limited off-road work I do the car is a perfect fit for me. The engine needs to be driven pretty hard to feel any good acceleration but thats standards for a car meant to be in the off-road situation or on snowy icy roads.

Econmical car – We use the car for family transport on a daily basis and recently drove 4000kms in 2 weeks. The car drove great with no issues. the only problem we have is a clunking sound that cannot be diagnosed. The boot space is great and fits a pram and shopping in with no issues.  Show details

Love it – Ours is a Vitara 2016 turbo plenty of power and easey to drive. Have not had any trouble with it, service cost are very reasonable Would recommend it to anyone looking for this size car. My wife and I love driving it. Suzuki seams to be a company that fly under the radar  Show details

A great vehicle – We have owned our Grand Vitara for early two years. It is economical to run. In saying that, it could do with a larger fuel tank as it needs a petrol station visit often due to its small fuel tank size (35L). We have a pop top caravan which it pulls with ease and the weight it can pull is 1700 kg braked. Our van is 1200kg. The air conditioner Ning… Read more

works very well in really hot weather. There is plenty of leg and headroom and storage locations for travel documents and drink bottles. It is an automatic. The gear lever operating mechanism could have been designed with a bit more smoother operation as it is a bit clunky to move. It comes with an extended warranty of five years with fixed price servicing which is good to have. We like the car.

Genuinely love my ride – This is my first 4wd and I absolutely love it for many reasons... it’s quite economical and plenty of grunt both on road and off. Very comfortable in either the drivers seat or as a passenger. Iv had extractors fitted because the exhaust manifold was cracked, sounds very nice now. Smooth gear changes although iv replaced the clutch soon after… Read more

purchasing, it now has a heavy duty exedy branded one. the tailgate handle is plastic and has split so replaced that. Love all the storage compartments and multiple cupholders. Very spacious and the rear seat folds down which is great. I have a child seat in the back and it’s quite ergonomic to get my son in and out. Power mirrors and windows are convenient. Although I’m not tall I have no dramas seeing when reversing and I can comfortably see over the bonnet. The upholstery is kinda dirt coloured so if u didn’t fit seat covers it would make little difference as the upholstery will age well. For a 20 year old vehicle I’m very impressed!

Our 2-door Vitara 4wd – We purchased a motorhome and after 2 months realised to be totally satisfied we needed to tow a small vehicle behind for excursions away from caravan parks. The choice for us was a new Suzuki Grand Vitara 2-door. It has turned out to be the ultimate choice, free-wheeling with a Ready-Brute Ultra towing attachment. This vehicle is our off-road… Read more

tour vehicle, our shopping vehicle and performs well always. Thoroughly recommend this to all motor homers.

Good Value Proper 4wd – I purchased 2.4 litre 4 cylinder Grand Vitara Sport, 2013, vehicle came with roof racks and good nudge bar as free extra as vehicle was a clearance model from dealer, purchased 9/2014 it comes with Sat Nav and Reverse Camera standard, interior functional, seats are reasonably supportive for short runs, finish is Budget Japanese so better than… Read more

other brands, vision is good front and back side vision is reasonable but would require a blind spot mirror or monitor as it's higher than a sedan, ride quality for a 4WD is good, very little body roll when cornering and brakes work well, front suspension offers a lot of feedback, not rough on road but communicative just the same it has good power delivery, 122kw 225 nm, better mid to top end power than a diesel and very good fuel consumption if you go safe, could do with a fifth gear I think these days!. Tyres are road based, quiet enough and safe in wet, the Vitara isn't as heavy as other real 4wd so it handles a bit sharper and isn't as high off ground, off road the front McPherson suspension is a bit choppy, 4wd high and low range work, underbody protection is plastic so needs to be metal if serious off roading. Boot is spacious, seats fold and flip behind front seats room but could be more user friendly for storage. Headlights are okay just standard for price, rear camera basic. Stereo sound is nice enough and system is adequate. Paint quality is below average and could do with a better clear coat as it is not at all forgiving. A/C does the job, hot/ cold enough. This is our 4wd, it's also for school runs and moving work stock, it tows well suprisingly, rated at 1700 kgs (braked), not quite Prado level but okay for what it is. The Vitara has grown on us and it suits our needs, wife and kids like it as it's easy to park average to insure, services fixed at 269 per 6 months for extended warranty, doesn't give us issues so we are happy. Service at Ferntree Gully Suzuki service department outstanding, very professional and look after customers well, highly recommend them.Update 2018 i have found it to be still good no issues , have upgraded the tyres to BFG and added underbody protection , more responsive than our diesel prado , more car like in its behaviour , power to weight is good , its quite alright for what is.

Blue tooth Does not work – I have a brand new Suzuki grand vitara,that has steady got worse with bluetooth and Its becoming a major problem as i can not use the stereo to play music with or answer call safely in my car as the Stero picks and chooses what calls it will put through the stereo unit. Others don't get put through and just go back on the phone then you need to… Read more

pick up the phone which is against the law. . i have been talking to a brad from cardiff suzuki and we have tried every combination of this to sort this issue out. i got a new phone i took the case off the phone, I tried in another susuki, we tried other phones in the car. I tried contacting suzuki customer service. I love that car and i owned a suzuki before this one. However it is now letting me down as i own my own business and need the blue tooth out of desperation i purchased the airspeeds from apple to see if that WOULD HELP ME .

AS I am starting to think that Suzuki is not going to.

Perfect for our specific purpose – We have been using a 2004 Toyota RAV4 for 13 years as our "dogmobile" & second car. By simply removing the rear seats and lifting the footwells with timber platforms the car gave a large, flat, low (spare wheel on back door & not under floor) area which our dogs had no trouble getting in & out of and gave plenty of room for them & luggage to… Read more

travel. Replacing the aging car has been a problem as newer SUVs have the back load area far too high, especially for a large older dog to get in & out (even with our rear ramp) & if bought with all-wheel-drive (we do like to get off-road a bit at times) are only available in automatic which is an unnecessary expense with more problems in maintenance and loss of control and much of the fun of motoring is having full control of the car with manual gears. We now have a low mileage Suzuki Grand Vitara which is the closest thing to the RAV4. The rear seats do have to be unbolted to remove & it is slightly higher but suits our needs well & does have manual option (although now ceased for 2017) and has great off-road capability with low range selection. Have only had a short time but the basic design has been around with constant improvements for about 10 years and the lack of costly, potentially troublesome, and unnecessary electronic driver aids (I have not needed them in 55 years driving here & overseas) is also a plus for relatively trouble-free motoring into our twilight years.

Great little 3 door. A real 4x4 – Excellent visibility, good size inside (big) outside (smallish) and constant four wheel drive give great on and off road safety. I purchased a demo version which soon had a minor vibration in drive train and dealer fixed immediately at 15,000K service. Tail shaft was not originally installed to alignment marks. The only other and somewhat annoying… Read more

fault I have had is the known issue with the air conditioning drain leaking water down the passenger side floor. The problem was noticed after 3 year warranty had expired so got it fixed locally. Auto elec fixed for $600 labour which included removal of dashboard and a/c, fit a short length of hose to stop drain leak and refit a/c and dashboard and re-gas the aircon. All working well again.

Nothing else has gone wrong at all and am coming up for 90,000ks service.

Soon after purchase fitted ARB steel bulbar, Old Man Emu suspension (lift about 30mm) and slightly bigger Pirelli ATR 235/70/16 tires instead of 225/70/16 highway tires. Huge improvement off road and still comfortable and quite on. Have also removed rear seats and installed a cargo barrier so all of rear space is fully usable for camping and general gear. Great little tourer but watch limited fuel range as petrol tank on 3 door model is only 55 litres.

Given bigger tires, bull bar etc I am happy with economy on highway 10 - 11 ltr / 100ks.

The 2.4 litre four is surprisingly powerful for this size car and even with only a 4 speed auto provides for smooth and capable touring or towing. Some long hills will mean dropping back to 3rd but engine is a happy to rev and doesn't loose power. I tow a camper trailer which weighs about 1,200Kg loaded and fuel use goes up to 12 - 14 litres / 100ks. This 3 door model has 130kg max ball weight and max tow of 1600kg so my camper is well within tow limit. As I had the OME suspension installed from almost new I have never had a problem with rear end sag when towing.

Excellent around town where small external size makes easy for parking.

Awesome car – We love our vitara. It's a smooth drive. We love the built in interactive display for Bluetooth, satalite navigation and access music! The seats are comfortable and we love that we can fold the back seats down, then fold them up against the front seats to create more room for adventures! We love loading our mountain bikes in the back & finding a… Read more

new area to explore! This car has everything you would expect! Heaps of legroom, heaps of storage space, cruise control, radio, CD, sat Nav, Bluetooth, hands free etc. Awesome speakers to cruise to your favourite tunes!

2016 Grand Vitara Sport - Absolutely love it! – Bought a 2016 Grand Vitara Sport (automatic, petrol, 5 door) in South Australia. As of Sept 217 has about 20K on the clock and not a single problem, I think mainly due to Suzuki's reputation for reliability. Great all rounder, good for the usual school and supermarket run and shines in the occasional arvo trip outside the bitumen. Holds it's own… Read more

against bigger 4WDs twice it's price. Simple to operate, no auto stop start nonsense and other unnecessary technology. Absolutely love it!

Before I bought my beloved GV, I was influenced by these motoring articles, see link below as they are interesting reads:

https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car-reviews/compared-jeep-renegade-trailhawk-vs-mitsubishi-outlander-vs-subaru-forester-vs-suzuki-grand-vitara/

http://www.caradvice.com.au/444888/2016-suzuki-grand-vitara-sport-review/

Btw I have a few minor complaints:

1. More thirsty compared to popular soft roaders, not bad if compared to other real 4WDs (the GV is a real 4WD with low range). It doesn't help that I have a heavy foot ( I average about 15 li/100 km ), but bear in mind that the GV has constant 4WD and I bought this vehicle knowing well that fuel consumption is not one of it's strong points. And I don't like diesels because they have long term lung health implications and you have to change to alpine diesel if you're going to places like Snowy Mountains.

2. I wish there was an extra gear, especially when you are driving at 110km in the highway, have 4 adults, in cruise control, and the engine is at 4000 rpm.

perfect tough little car – i have the 3 door version of the grand vitara. i have 2 kids and a wife. we all manage to pack in this little beast every weekend. we actually prefer using this car, as its much more cheaper to run then our mercedes ml350 (2014). we save that car when we need to carry large items but the rest if the time we use the little vitara as it comes with capped price servicing, when u compare the servicing cost to a merc ml350 u will appreciate this.  Show details

Like a bad sequel this one is disappointing – Soft rear springs means towing anything shines low beams into eyes of drivers. I've installed airbags into back springs to address this. Now the car squeeks everywhere we go. Brakes need to be more powerful, barely pulls up when towing. 2006 model didn't have this issue. Rear door still hits trailer when attached. The number plate is still… Read more

obscured when tow ball attached meaning it needs to come off every time. The 2.4Lt auto insufficient for towing. The poor car revs its guts out when hitting a hill. The cruise control is still dodgy and if you don't watch it you'll be 10 to 15 over the limit at times.

The rear door used to lock at certain points of opening. Now it is fully open or closed. So in a carpark you need to be very careful.

The rear of the car is not meant for offroad work with alteration needed to avoid damage. 2006 model was made for offroad work with good design and protective plates.

Car good if not towing anything.

I compare the 2015 model to the 2006 model.