love my suzukis. Yes, I drive a suzuki, because I want to NOT use a lot of gasoline. I fought a war for oil and am not keen to do so again

You might still be able to find their vehicles under other badges.

Damn fine vehicles. Tracker lasted us 220,000 miles, sold it for $3,000. Only major mechanical issue was some bushings in the transmission. That's not bad at all.

Excellent little vehicle. Built tough and 4x4 works like a charm.

Getting it painted next week.

Mitt can put this on his "to do" list for Wednesday morning!

I considered the Kizashi a few years ago, but I felt I couldn't trust Suzuki to be here for the long term...

class of vehicles (like Toyota, Honda, Mazda)

One was a Chevy Sprint It was all Suzuki except for the name-- nearly an exact duplicate of the Suzuki Cultus that was being sold in Japan at the same time. That little car would get up to 50mpg on the highway.

picked up a 2006 forenza two years ago for under five grand, car runs great with no major problems (so far haha). Guess i'm going to have to stick to my Fords from now on. I feel bad for the workers who are now going to be out of work.


Off topic, but why the HELL is it so hard to find a car with a manual transmission these days?

They sure useta make good cars at that plant.

are depreciated former rental cars, and all of the major rental car companies have switched to all automatics. The last time I rented a car in the US, I specifically asked for a manual (I HATE automatics), and the lady at the desk looked at me like I had just walked out of a space ship. The reason they gave me for all automatics was "too many people were stripping the gears of the manuals".

I *rarely* get what I ask for in a rental car in England. I am one of those people who doesn't know how (yet) to drive a manual transmission vehicle (and for reasons I will not state here, my wife won't let me). I ask for something like a Ford Focus - with automatic transmission. I turn up to find no such vehicle exists. The rental clerk asks me if I will accept manual, and I ask them if they're planning to replace the transmission in the vehicle in a couple of days or so. So that Ford Focus suddenly becomes a large Volvo, or even a Minivan in one case. Admittedly the minivan was beat up a bit so when I did a little more damage nothing was really noted about it at all, blamed on the prior accidents apparently.

It's easier to aim your car vaguely in the direction you want to go while juggling your coffee and ithings. Can't really do that in a manual.

edit: The nice thing is if you've got a manual it keeps the theft risk down somewhat. And if it is stolen you're likely as not to find it a few blocks away where the kid who took it stalled out.

give it a push and "kick-start" the thing.*

*I have heard rumors that this was actually bad for manuals with catalytic converters, but a mechanic told me that that was not true. And one time my manual stalled while it was moving and the clutch was engaged, so I let up on the clutch and the car started back up. So I *think* it's safe.

It's not great for the driveline or the bearings in the motor, but won't hurt your catalytic converter or EGR system at all.

Even the Mazda mini van, the Mazda5, comes with the option of a 6-speed manual transmission. In fact, all but one of the Mazda US models can be had with a manual transmission.

I bought a new car last year for the first time in 11 years and there were several that got eliminated right off the bat because they were only available with autos. Even stranger, some makes only have manuals in their lower trim levels, while others only have them available in higher trim levels.

Edited to add: to get a manual transmission this time, I actually had to special order the vehicle I wanted; they didn't have any manual-transmission cars on the lot because (according to the salesman) the dealership didn't order any on a regular basis because they'd sit on the lot for a long time before they sold.

I couldn't believe it when I went truck shopping a couple years ago. Fortunately, Nissan makes a 6-speed manual. Snapped it up.

I love my Subaru Legacy I had a 96' that I just traded in for a new one a few months ago. My 96' is still on the road and I actually see it around Rochester now and then (I know b/c I was familiar with all the bumps I put on it!).

They are great cards and also they seem to be quite reliable needing very little maintenance.

And manual!

When you're looking for a vehicle on Autotrader, etc. --- when you put manual trans. in the search, it reduces the results by 90-percent.

I like a manual for driving in snow and pulling a trailer.

I've never seen a Suzuki ad

between Suzuki and GM might be at least partly to blame, as Suzuki is no longer producing small cars for GM. Also, the Suzuki cars that are popular here in Japan are generally too small for the American market. Suzuki, after all, specializes in small motors, which is one reason why they decided to concentrate on motorcycles, ATVs and outboard motors for the American market.

The stop selling cars bit will hurt dealerships. Personally I'm not impressed by the smaller Suzukis after having been hit by one... I was in the Focus, the Suzuki ran a red light. Both cars were a write-off, but the whole front end fell off the Suzuki. Thankfully we came out with no immediately obvious injuries. I hope their other business does well here.

Last edited Tue Nov 6, 2012, 07:31 PM - Edit history (1)

I have owned big Suzuki's, Honda's & Yamaha (I learned about Kawasaki after a 3cyl 2 stroke 500 H1) and I would never ever get anything but a Suzuki ever.

The old GS bikes would last 100k-150K miles & I have stuck with them for 30 years.
I have an 82 GS1100E that goes from 140 to 165 mph in a few seconds & is still pulling hard (very not stock).

This summer I was out with a group & despite being geared for fuel economy, the old GS whooped the tar out
of an MV Augusta Butelle 1090(sp??) despite being over 100lbs heavier.

It was like an 82 Camaro beating up a brand new Ferrari....... At the first stop the group was lookin at it like they found a live dinosaur. The bike is older than many of the group.

I am also working on a 95 Suzuki RF900. It runs on 87 octane does over 165, at 50 mph 60 mpg at 80 mph over 40mpg. It is over an hour to safe roads for semi sporty stuff so I usually run at 35-45 mph, 1 tank of gas every 2-3 weeks.

OK back to Stephanie............................

Check out a SmartCar w/ a Suzuki engine (Hayabusa engine that is Suzi M/c engine)

I think the GS1100E is one of the better looking motorcycles that have been made, very nearly the perfect UJM (which almost doesn't exist as a new product any more), I don't much like a lot of the new ones.

I had a Swift GT with the 1.3 and the near-rally suspension, fun car but you had to put it on with a shoehorn.