2004 Suzuki Liana GLX 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A reliable tank

Faults:

Thermostat.

General Comments:

Had this car 4 years now. I never intended to keep it this long as it's just a workhorse; I was recommended by a friend to buy it. I paid £330 as it had an overheating problem which turned out to be a thermostat that cost £4.50.

With the amount of stress I've put on this car, it turns over every single day without fail. Never once let me down, which is more than I can say for my previous Audi A3.

Interior still looks new; no wear or flaking buttons anywhere. I do have a little bit of rust bubble on the rear arches, which is common, and my Suzuki fanatic mate sorted it for me, but it was nowhere near as bad as the rust on my Audi, and that had less mileage.

I'm getting around 46mpg at best on motorway journeys. The car can handle motorways fine. Sound system is pretty good too; nice bass. Handles corners well due to my new Mazda MX5 alloys with 195/55/15 tires. I really am impressed with this car. I'm going for a Suzuki S Cross 1.0 Boosterjet next.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th July, 2020

2004 Suzuki Liana 1.6 petrol from Spain

Summary:

Reliable cheap workhorse, unfortunately hit with the ugly stick

Faults:

A/C not blowing cold.

General Comments:

Bought as stop-gap for 400 euros. Quite impressed with the way it drives. I am used to very powerful cars, but in this case what I needed was a temporary replacement to my BMW diesel, which was written off, so speed and power was not really top of my list.

Extremely reliable. Almost silent at idle, although when pushed the engine noise is quite unrefined. Very good around town, and being an automatic makes it very easy to live with. B roads are handled pretty well. Motorway driving experience is poor - noisy and feels a bit nervous at speed. I would not recommend cornering too quickly in it either, as it seems to have a high centre of gravity.

Equipment pretty basic as you would expect, but has everything you really need.

Boot is surprisingly large for quite a small car.

Looks wise - it's better on the inside looking out than vice versa! This car was hit with the ugly stick. It looks stumpy, the front slopes down too much, the rear is too high, it sits way too high on its wheels and looks all wrong.

Despite that it's bangernomics at its finest. I can see myself keeping it for a while.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 12th June, 2018

5th Sep 2018, 17:41

I have now done another 1,500km since I wrote the review around 3 months ago.

Since then I have changed the oil and oil filter and the front brake discs and pads (actually weren't too worn, but since I thrash the crap out of this thing and they were about 50 euros all in, I thought why not).

I finally got my Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2D-ID daily driver back from Mitsubishi after 2 months messing about with the dealer of the key reader/immobiliser. The Liana was the stop gap daily driver. After driving to work for 2 days in the Shogun I was straight back into the little Liana. Why? Because my commute to work consists of about 5km or B road and then town centre rush hour traffic. The Shogun, although powerful, felt slow, sluggish, HUGE, ungainly and frankly pointless. The little Liana is like a small excitable dog, off the line revvy and quick. Very comfortable. Frankly I love it!! Don't get me wrong, the Shogun is still a great vehicle, but now relegated to towing my car trailer at the weekends.

I would highly recommend this car to anyone who parks in a town centre, drives in traffic and needs quick nippy stop-go motoring that is comfortable.

The looks - well they haven't grown on me. I get a few kids laughing at it on occasion!! My friends hate it. My wife hates it. But sitting on the inside and looking out, it has everything you would need in a car FOR THIS APPLICATION.

It's a keeper I'm afraid!!!

I'll put another review in a few more k's time