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Welcome to this imaginatively-titled blog which aims to record real-world life with a real-world Suzuki Vitara.
I'm writing one mostly because a lot of the Vitara write-ups online are a bit superficial - ohh infotainment, ohh rear passenger headroom, ohh cheap-feeling interior plastic.
This blog is about brake noise, squeaking doors, interior cabin noise, window rattles and detailing, as well as about fun driving, frugality, running costs, etc. You know, day-to-day stuff.
There are a few models of the (new) Vitara around - Kuro, S, SZ-T, SZ-5, etc.
Then, there's the entry-level SZ4. Which is what I have.
Buying the car:
I'd actually been looking at new Dacias but decided on a nearly-new "round town" car instead.
I checked a few Vitaras out at secondhand dealerships - all the ones I looked at initially were ex-hire cars, which I didn't fancy, but that's for another post.
Then, a 66-plate one 30-odd miles away cropped up at just shy of £11k in a Ford dealership.
The dealership has a decent reputation but they are almost exclusively Ford on the used sales forecourt.
That Suzuki would either be getting dropped in price or auctioned, I figured.
A few days passed with work keeping me from searching for any more Vitaras.
Back to the dealership's adverts and the Vitara is now at £10.5k.
Mileage is a touch high at almost 20,000, but the price is still pretty keen compared to what's out there.
What's more interesting, though, is the private owner claim.
Sure enough, a bit of sleuthing revealed one middle-aged lady owner who chopped it in for a smaller Ford.
So, I brought a good friend of mine with me who used to live in Turkey. That makes her an expert at haggling.
The showroom wasn't busy and the weather was foul, and the car needed one tyre where it had obviously been run deflated or flat (sure enough, the service history showed it had had a puncture repair).
Beyond a couple of very small stone chips, the body work was immaculate.
The engine bay looked brand new.
The underneath looked like she'd never driven it on a wet road.
So, either kudos to the dealership for preparation, or a nod to the lady for looking after it.
We took it away for £9900, still needing a tyre (not worn completely but not a lot left in it). Part of the drop in price was the haggling, which made me embarrassed to be there, and part of it was that the salesman was massively into AV and we talked for an hour or so about OLED. He might even be on here - say hello if so.
Anyway, 10 out of 10 to the dealer - a genuinely nice bloke.
And 10 out of 10 to my haggler. Prosecco payment on its way.
Day one niggles:
Low-speed brake grinding/rubbing noise.
Audible from both front brakes, it was absent if braking from above 20mph but made a light rubbing noise if braking from below-ABS speeds.
I checked the pads and discs - pads not quite half worn, discs lightly marked, no cracks etc. Pistons free, nothing visible rubbing. Weird.
Phoned a Suzuki dealer and asked the service manager about the brake noise.
He was familiar with it. Nothing to worry about but happy to look over the brakes if I wanted.
He'd long since concluded it was a combination of noise projection from the disc guard set-up, hard pads, and a not very noise-insulated cabin.
There was no perceptible drag, just the sort of noise you might get from a sintered metal racing pad.
Anyway, took the car in for the brakes to be checked and a carpet mat set to be fitted, and a tyre.
Me being me, I turned that into a full second service (5 months early but anyhooo), 4 tyres (as I can't be asked to drive back for each tyre in turn), and the carpet mat set - which needs clips inserting to hold it properly in place.
A decent, friendly dealership and a chat with the service technician afterwards - brakes perfect from a mechanical point of view. He'd serviced the calipers and changed the fluid.
Driving home, rubbing noise still there during low speed braking, but a lot less prevalent (another technician I spoke to said the brakes tend to settle down after the second service, which includes a brake service. He was also familiar with the noise I was describing and said most people don't hear it or register it but, once heard, it can't be unheard.)
Tyre noise.
Pretty obvious on certain stretches of A road and dual carriageway, it's quietened right down since changing the tyres.
Door squeak.
Not what I expect to be hearing on a nearly new car - open the driver's door slowly and there's that "dry hinge" squeak. Fixed during second service - probably some factory lubricant/grease.
DAB radio.
Jury is out on whether this is operator error, or if its range is just poor, but I can only get a handful of stations while my mate's car parked next to mine gets loads. Have whacked it on to FM for now pending being bothered to investigate it further. There's storage for 12 DAB channels but I can only get four.
Interior rattles.
There were two - one from the dash which has disappeared since the tyres were changed, and one from the driver's window, which is present at low speeds and is still there. And it's kind of annoying me. But I suspect it's the sort of niggle that falls outside warranty work, so maybe I need to turn the radio up a notch. *Sad face*
Think that will do for an introductory ramble.
Current mpg average - round town and A roads for a combined cycle sort of effort: 48.1mpg average over roughly 270 miles. Close to factory claims.
Next installment:
Detailing the car at Petrolhead Detailing in Peterborough. |
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24-11-2019 22:54:41
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