Faults:

Hardly anything.

A fan belt after a cross country trip from London to Portugal (Faro in the Algarve), and 6 months of use in mainly dusty and dry Portuguese landscapes.

The digital clock was starting to disappear.

Seriosly... that's it!

General Comments:

Such an amazing piece of kit considering the age and size.

It has a nice bit of kick when you need it to, and when it's on dusty tracks or off road it is an absolute pleasure to drive.

The handling is amazing on one of these, although when there are strong winds and you are at high speeds you can feel it wobble, due to its tall and thin design.

The size inside is quite roomy except for the back seats, however for a small utility vehicle I doubt you want to fit 4 adults in it.

My version was the soft top, which was a very nice feature although driving at higher speeds was quite noisy. However I never got bored or annoyed on long journeys... I made two 6 hour drives and two 12 hour drives in this car.

Fuel economy is outstanding. My tank was 40 liters, and I think I could make it go at least 250 miles, and then some.

After an accident with some drunken Portuguese truck driver, my poor Suzuki had a mangled front and side... so it has been written off the road. I will miss it!

Faults:

Transfer box seized in neutral 4wd when going off-road causing the gear box to become useless, had to be towed home.

Clutch cable snapped easily.

Gear box became stiff or jammed in certain gears... making it difficult to change gear.

Seats and hood wear badly.

General Comments:

Quality off-road vehicle, better than some Land Rovers due to high ground clearance.

Brilliant in summer when I took the roof off and drove round convertible.

Easy to clean due to the inside being mostly rubber and plastic.

Faults:

Carburettor worn out. Unfortunately, the unnecessarily complex design of this carb meant that repair or replacement was not cost-effective.

Corrosion to body, especially around arches under spats.

It disappeared overnight! Spontaneous Vehicle Combustion perhaps? Or just plain old thieving toe-rags?

General Comments:

Great fun! If you want to play. Let's get one thing straight, this is not a road-going posers 4x4. This is a scaled-down version of the real thing. If you want 4x4 style with car comforts, look elsewhere.

Comfort is what one would expect from a leaf-sprung off-roader. Bouncy, noisy and basic. On-road handling is OK, but don't expect anything more than OK.

The chassis is well-built and solid, and short wheelbase coupled with decent ground clearance and low overhang gives it decent off-road capabilities.

Trim level is spartan, to say the least. Noise levels are deafening. Also it's boxy shape means crosswinds on a motorway are to be given respect.

A good little town-runner however, even if it will never be taken off-road. And useful load-space with rear seats removed. Limited load space however with back seats in place.

Just watch the carburettor. They really are an expensive item to repair/replace.

Faults:

The rear leaf spring broke at 55,000 miles.

I've also had two starter motors fail.

General Comments:

I intended on keeping the Suzuki for no more than six months until I brought my next hot hatch, but six years later I have no intention of selling her.

These Suzuki's have got a real character.

They may be bumpy and a little cold in the winter, but they are great fun and very reliable. What more do you want for the little amount of money they are.

Faults:

Blew a gasket and leaked oil last year - easily fixed.

Exhaust rusty - replaced it.

General Comments:

Suzuki Samurai SJ43 1991 Santana.

I bought this exquisite Tonka toy of a car to amuse my dog. Whip out the back seats and you can take four lurchers or 6 carsick children for helluva bumpy ride. No danger of falling asleep at the wheel, the juddering loosens your teeth and deafens your passengers. On the plus side, this vehicle starts first time, makes awful grinding noises and keeps you fit by fighting all gear-changes like an arm-wrestling champion. Its 1300 engine can top about 85mph on the motorway without explosions, and its chunky body cheers up anyone from India by reminding them of their last tiger hunt. (See how many ‘Mahootis’ - little elephants - appear in David Attenborough documentaries).

The Samurai receives poor press from writers who can’t understand the joy of a reliable 4-wheel drive scuddering past a log-jam of snow-ploughed BMWs on a steep hill, or the fact that the soft-top takes little more time than a pram-roof to put down, and only the very thick-skinned could miss the weirdspooky feeling that this car actually has a soul.

Even if I became Very Rich Indeed – and I do intend to – this is my car. Traffic police smile at it and allow illegal U-turns in Central London. The populace of Watford see it coming and do not step off the pavement in front of it, and Bob-the-Car laughs at it, but finds it easy to service.

If I must dredge around for some faults, then rust is an expensive battle, and I’d like to know what is causing the GRRRRRRRRR-noise when the revs are up – could it be a hole or two in the exhaust? Going round corners is scintillatingly scary – this is a car with a reputation for behaving like a tractor on a hill farm, and there’s absolutely NO WAY I’d go ‘off-roading’ in it – I can’t orphan my dog; he’d be torn to bits by several people who want him for themselves. An ideal girl’s car if you miss your youth and don’t mind your Hendrix CDs jumping a few tracks when you go over the wrong kind of leaves. See you out there in one!