27th Dec 2002, 10:01

Good car had mine (GS 98 S reg) for about 2 years now. No problems with the car and it's not even had a full dealer service history. Bad thing is that it's darn hard to find any mods for the Baleno, any suggestions would be nice...

4th Feb 2003, 07:18

The past month's experience has made me revise my view of the Baleno completely. The gearbox bearings were replaced last April at a cost of £500. On the 3rd of Jan this year, the main shaft failed, destroying the gearbox completely. Quote for a new one? £1400. Second hand they're £400, plus £200 for fitting. They're also rarer than hen's teeth - if a lot of people are after them, a lot of gearboxes must be failing (this is fairly uncommon car in the UK).

Additionally, the engine seems to be drinking oil at an alarming rate.

To repeat my earlier comment, all this is on a car that is serviced every 6000 miles (6 months in my case).

When the bearings failed, the dealer commented that this was uncommon on a Baleno, but not unusual for a Vitara - as far as I am concerned, it should be unheard of on a 3 year old, 40K mile vehicle. Judging by other owner's comments, Suzuki have got some serious problems with transmission design. Even the gearbox in the Liana I was given as a courtesy car felt notchy and obstructive.

I won't be buying another Suzuki - no matter how cheap they are initially.

20th Jul 2005, 17:34

I've recently bought a 1600GS Baleno for what I thought was the bargain price of £1800.The looks of the car attracted me to it. The exhaust backbox is rusted and the brake pads need changing apart from that a great car and far more reliable than the peugoet 206 I had before it! It's an extremely underestimated car!

5th Nov 2005, 17:08

I previously drove a Honda Civic and this was 20 years old with 105,000 miles on the clock. Sadly corrosion set in. So I decided to buy a Suzuki Baleno 1590cc GS model R reg. So far the car has been a pleasure to drive. A little bit stiff sometimes going from 1st gear to 2nd. Light steering, good simple instruments. Handles well and seats are comfortable. Sun roof is an added extra and would be great for touring. So far the car has been fine with 86,000 miles on the clock, but will have to see what happens with next service. I am not sure whether to have the Suzuki serviced by a Suzuki dealer or small local garage, but so far I have enjoyed driving the GS.

12th Dec 2005, 16:42

I've had my S Reg Baleno since 2001 and have never brought it into a garage for servicing. The car has been so very reliable. At the last mot I was just told that I need new brake pads and disks, also like another owner I also need to look into replacing the exhuast back-box as it's starting to flake, but apart from that the car's been great!

20th Feb 2007, 21:43

I have a Suziki Baleno 1.8 R reg which runs perfectly well for the past 8 months until recently. The problem started by encountering occasional over/uncontrollable revs whilst driving or even minor stops.

As a follow on, the vehicle changed from that to frequently cutting out when there is no force on the accelerator. This cutting out problem seems to be getting worst with time and over three days of it occurring it just takes the engine getting warm for this to take effect.

At each minor stop the engine has to be started before moving off - an unbearable situation. The garage was unable to find specific reason (s) for this problem and instead refers to the dealer intervention, which we all know is "strains the pocket".

Can anyone shed further light on this issue and possible solution for speedy recovery?

Overall the vehicle is perfect, but this is a major hurdle to conquer!

Thanks.

25th Oct 2007, 09:05

I have a 99 baleno manual hatch with 150,000 kms and have had the gearbox replaced 3 TIMES!!! what a nightmare design. suzuki dropped the ball with the gearbox in my opinion. we keep getting second hand ones, but they keep failing. I have never had a gearbox fail on any other car I have ever owned.

21st Nov 2007, 14:48

I own a 1998 baleno gs I am on my second gear box and now the grating sound has returned what a nightmare.

12th Feb 2008, 15:15

Same here about the gear box... I love the car 1999 1.6 T... But the gear box is made out of paper : (

26th Apr 2008, 15:00

On suzuki baleno car, where is the front wheel bearing?

27th Apr 2008, 12:14

I have a 2001 baleno saloon, with 100,000 kms and have had the gearbox replaced 3 times.

4th Jun 2008, 22:33

It's the same as me. I just bought the Suzuki Baleno GS 1997 model, and guess what's the problem; THE GEARBOX!!! Maybe it might be possible to replace it with another gearbox of a different company like a Honda gearbox??? So maybe the problem will be solved?

9th Jul 2008, 19:12

I bought a Suzuki Baleno 1.6 T reg yesterday. It's very nice and you enjoy driving that. But what's the point when I have the same problem with GEAR BOX. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. It's going to cost me at least 300 pounds if I will be lucky enough to find one ever.

24th Mar 2009, 11:24

I bought a Suzuki Baleno 1990 last April, and have one problem on it. Sometimes, the "check engine" light comes on once I remove my leg from the accelerator. This happens especially when I change the gear from N to R or D, and apply brakes and steer the wheel all at the same time.

The engine rpm drops to virtually 0, "check engine" light comes on and when I try to accelerate, the engine shuts down.

When I crank the engine, it restarts with ease, and it may shut down again in the same way immediately or it may run as if nothing happened. This happens mostly in Summer time, and after climbing a hill or staying in traffic jam for over 20 minutes. My mechanic has replaced all the available sensors on the engine with new ones and the problem persisted.

Does anyone have an idea what I am talking about?