Faults:

After I first bought the car, I have noticed on three accounts there was a stall in starting. I work at a retail mall, and travel from store to store on rare occasions. Over time, I have learned if you crank the car, kill it, then crank it again; it will hesitate. However, to crank it, let the engine warm up a bit, then kill it if needed, then crank it again, it will do fine. As a result, I now just walk from store to store. I have read in the manual it is best to drive the car at least four miles in every crank. I have not experienced this problem in a number of months.

Over the past three weeks, I have noticed the tire pressure gauge coming on a lot; even after I have checked my pressure. I live in a tropical area, and I think the 40 degree weather we are having right now is causing this issue.

Other than that, there have been no problems.

General Comments:

Although this is not my top pick for a car that I wanted to replace my totaled out 2004 Cavalier LS, I am very happy with it. I am a college student, recently married, and this car gave me the most bang for my dollar. My car retails right at $16,000 with the LE sedan package, and I only had to finance $15,600 plus tax, title, and license. I wanted the crossover hatchback, but it was a bit more expensive, and I am on a strict budget.

When looking at this car, I also looked at the Chevrolet Cobalt. I decided against the Cobalt because my wife has a 2007 Cobalt LTII, and the basic Cobalt, which is what I was looking at, is around $15,000, and the dealership where I ended up buying my SX4 gave me a free lifetime power train warranty with a $100 deductible after my car hits 100,000 miles. Before then, Suzuki has a warranty on the power train with no deductible.

My car is equipped with a responsive, smooth shifting, six speed manual transmission, power windows, power locks, keyless entry, A/C, 6 airbags, lug nut locks on my steel wheels, wheel covers (hubcaps) AM/FM CD/MP3 radio player, and 8 speakers. I do want to add factory fog lights, under side spoilers, and a rear deck lid spoiler. All parts do seem to feel well intact without the irritating plastic feel inside the cabin. I do wish it had cruise control. I do also wish that instead of it showing the blank spaces by the shift, and to the left of the steering wheel, for missing options like most cars do, it had a clean surface instead.

The CD/MP3 player work flawlessly. I have heard better stock sound systems, but this will do.

The cabin is very tall and roomy. People with long legs, like myself, may find it tight in the back seat. I travel about 45 minutes to work, and the ride can get uncomfortable for me, as I feel the driver's seat does not go back far enough. I like to stretch my legs out all the way as I drive. I feel if I had cruise control, this would not be as much of a bother. My mom finds it extremely easy to get in and out of, as it sits higher. This is also a great convenience when driving in traffic and trying to see ahead.

My mpg rating is a bit better than advertised. My car is also equipped with a digital mpg-rating gauge, and when I first bought the car, I also did the calculations on my calculator. The calculations seem to be accurate. The SX4 is rated to get 23 mpg city and 33 mpg highway; a bit better than the previous models, however I get around 25-27 mpg city/ 33-35 mpg highway. Which is excellent! Keep in mind, this is driving in a "spirited fashion".

Driving this car is great fun, and it's easy to maneuver in traffic! There are minimal blind spots, as there feels to be a bunch of windows because of the front two by the dash board. There is some road noise, but nothing over bearing. The manual transmission shifts smoothly, and makes the car very peppy.

Before buying my car, I did a lot of research on it. So far I have found it to live up to the semi great reviews, keeping in mind it is an entry-level car. I hope you as a reader has enjoyed this review, and I plan to keep this updated in the comment section over time as my car gets older.

Faults:

Nothing, brand new.

General Comments:

I rented this car while mine was in for repairs.

The SX4 is a well-built car. The fit and finish are quite good, but I would say slightly below the other mainstream Japanese competitors.

The cabin is spacious for a smaller car and the seats are comfortable.

However, I found that the brakes are way too touchy, just a little pressure on the pedal is enough to slam on the brakes, though admittedly, I got used to them enough that it became less of an issue.

My biggest gripe with the SX4 would be with the CVT. When taking off from a standstill, it starts off in low gear, but unless you really lay into the gas, it goes straight to its top gear ratio, and bogs the engine right down. The sound it makes is comparable to that of a manual transmission in 5th gear when trying accelerate from 30km/h. Very strange. So you have to press harder on the accelerator, which then puts it back in low gear and the car suddenly lurches forward... a little bit scary.

That being said, the CVT also has a manumatic-type mode, with six ratios. This eliminated the aforementioned bogging, and actually made the car go quite well.

All in all though, it's quite a nice package, but if I were to buy one, I would get a manual transmission one, since I was not a fan of the CVT.