2009 Suzuki SX4: Parting Shots
April 01, 2010
Our 2009 Suzuki SX4 is gone. Read the wrap up and then
come back and see our parting shots, and don't forget to add your own!
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 20,174 miles
If the Italians were still doing business in the U.S., the cars would be just like this Suzuki. And I mean that in a good way.
Michael Jordan
Executive Editor, Edmunds.com
"Hey Mike, the SX4 has a check engine warning light on."
--Check the gas cap.
"Hey Mike, the SX4 has a brake warning light on."
--Top off the brake fluid.
"Hey Mike, the SX4 has an airbag warning light on."
--That part is on order.
"Hey Mike, the airbag warning light is on again."
--That part is still on order.
"Hey Mike, the SX4 has a headlight warning light on."
--That's because your headlights are on.
"Hey Mike, with all these warning lights, has the SX4 ever broken down or left anybody
stranded?"
--Nope.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager
Techno toys alone can't make a terrible car great, but they can make an otherwise mediocre car much better. Just knowing the SX4 had navigation and hands-free telephone technology made it easy to grab the keys for a weekend.
Karl Brauer, Editor-in-Chief, Edmunds.com
Am I the only person on staff who liked the Suzuki SX4? It had its issues but I thought it was cute and practical. It had good visibility, a helpful and removable navigation system, clear and easy-to-use climate controls, comfortable cloth seats. It was nice.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
"If there was ever a car that truly needed another 50 horsepower, our SX4 was it."
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor
This was a stout little AWD runabout that seems tailor-made for members of the just-married set who must deal with snow in winter. Well built and functional, the only thing it really lacked was decent power and a full-coverage dealer network. The former has been improved for 2010, but the latter probably limit the SX4's appeal to specific geographic hot-spots.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing
Voted "Vehicle Interior Most Likely To Retain Fast Food Smell."
Kelly Toepke, News Editor, Edmunds.com
"Likeable but not game-changing. That pretty much sums up my feelings on the SX4. It was better than our long-term Ford Focus but not as likeable as our long-term Honda Fit. A 2010 SX4 with a manual transmission, a different color and SportBack suspension tuning would be noticeably more fun to drive I think."
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor, Edmunds.com
I didn't fit in it. So I didn't drive it.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor, Edmunds.com
2009 Suzuki SX4: Stacking It Up
December 14, 2009
I'm a big fan of the SX4. I dig its roomy cabin, standard nav system and relatively smooth
ride quality; still, it doesn't exactly sprint with the lightning speed of Usain Bolt. With
this sort of tepid acceleration, the payoff is usually stellar fuel economy. But the SX4
ain't no champ in this area either, bringing up the rear in its category.
I thought about all this as I was making a recommendation this weekend to a friend who's in the market for a new car in the sub-$20,000 price range. My buddy's goal? He wants a cheap ride that's decent to drive and easy on the wallet at the pump. I love you, Suzy, but in this case, the smart money's on the Fit.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 18,872 miles
2009 Suzuki SX4: I Can See for Miles and Miles
November 17, 2009
Photo by Kurt Niebuhr
This weekend, as we were getting into the SX4 for a marathon session of errands and family duty, my husband said, "Wow, I forgot how much visibility this car has." He was really impressed with how much he could see while in the front seat of Suzuki's little hatchback. I thoroughly agree. With a lot of other modern cars, I feel like I'm fighting with the car to see clearly in all directions. Not so with the SX4.
While reversing into a parallel parking spot, I was immensely grateful to be able to see where the car ended just by looking over my shoulder. Not a surprising trait in a small economy car, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 17,759 miles
2009 Suzuki SX4: Getting Looks
November 02, 2009
Driving around in the Suzuki SX4 this weekend, I noticed the car gets a lot of looks.
I spotted people sneaking peeks in their mirrors or turning heads while walking down the street.
At first I thought it was my new haircut (just kidding, of course) or that they were giving me the stink eye for some reason.
But then I realized, the Suzuki is a good-looking vehicle, especially in its light blue paint.
Passersby were just appreciating its handsomeness in the golden sunlight.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 17,225 miles
2009 Suzuki SX4: Mirror, Mirror
October 26, 2009
Thanks to its low beltline, big greenhouse and useful little port-type windows
by the A-pillar, the SX4 offers pretty good visibility. That might be enough for most
manufacturers, but Suzuki takes things one step further by including the hugest side mirrors
this side of a Dodge Sprinter. These massive slabs of glass are the antithesis of the skinny
little side mirrors seen on cars like the new Camaro -- form-over-function mirrors that look
stylish, but don't offer much acreage for viewing purposes. Sure, the SX4's mirrors are a bit
on the homely side -- they're the side-mirror equivalent of dad jeans in that respect -- but
they're a pleasure to use, and offer a wonderfully expansive picture of the road behind you.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 6,971 miles
2009 Suzuki SX4 AWD: Suspension Walkaround
September 16, 2009
Our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4 didn't get the suspension walkaround treatment the last time it was car of the week, but it wasn't my fault. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. LOCUSTS!
But everything is all better now. The Suzuki is up on jack stands and it's not too terribly hot outside. Let's take a peek inside those wheel wells.
2009 Suzuki SX4: Owner's Club Meeting at Suzuki HQ
September 13, 2009
Last week we got word that the online Suzuki SX4 club, SX4club.com, was having a first-ever meet at Suzuki's U.S. headquarters in Brea, California.
Since Suzuki HQ is located about 5 miles from my house, I figured I'd drop in with our 2009 Suzuki SX4 long term car and see if any of the club regulars noticed my party crashing.
About two dozen vehicles participated. Many were locals from So Cal, but several had come a few hundred miles from places like San Francisco, Nevada and Arizona.
As an online club, everyone more or less knew each other already. But many had never met face-to-face, so it took awhile for the participants to connect faces to cars to online usernames.
Our unmodifed i-AWD SX4 and its automatic transmission was in the minority. Nearly every club member's SX4 was modified in one way or another, and more than half were 5-speed manuals.
2009 Suzuki SX4: Gaps Are All I See
August 31, 2009
Over the weekend I noticed that our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4's hatch doesn't fit right.
Specifically, the gap on the right side is bigger...
2009 Suzuki SX4: Practicality Minus the Entertainment
August 23, 2009
If there was no Honda Fit to fight for your dollar, we'd probably never shut-up about the SX4. It's all ate up with practical, and unlike the Fit, is available with all-wheel drive (AWD). Running errands around L.A. all weekend doesn't really require the AWD, however, and if you live where the snow is rare, you'd probably be perfectly happy with the FWD SX4 and its larger gas tank.
The heat was on this weekend, so the reasonably effective A/C was on full bore most of the time, and you notice the power sap especially when lounging away from lights. The Suzi also needed a scrub, and though not exactly the most butch color ever, the sea foam highlights do look best on the car when it's clean. The SX4 may not be the kind of performance car to boil you blood, but day to day, it's tough to beat for a runabout -- save the Fit, which adds frisky to the SX4's otherwise stoic resume.
Paul Seredynski, Executive Editor @ 13,165 miles
2009 Suzuki SX4: My Wish List
August 04, 2009
We had a spectacular sunset last night so I rushed to the beach to take some pictures of the Suzuki SX4.
The Suzuki SX4 is a pretty car anyway and it looks great against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.
If in some alternate future I was to purchase a Suzuki SX4, this would be my wish list:
- just a little more power (I know it's an economy car, I don't need to be blown away)
- quicker downshifts (so I can kick it when I need to)
- a moonroof (so I can enjoy the night sky)
- a kicking audio system (so I can disturb the neighborhood)
- some sun protection on all that glass (so my legs don't fry like they did on the way to
work this morning).