Suzuki sx4 - thoughts or alternatives?

I've been driving a couple of years on my parents cars but I need to get a car of my own since I can't keep just borrowing theirs all the time. Plus it'll save a lot of hassle getting buses to work / uni since public transport is useless here sometimes.

Now I have to go up and down a few lanes that are absolutely pathetic gravel tracks, lots of potholes and ruts all over them, quite often. So I was looking so I was looking something with reasonable ground clearance so as not to scrape the underside which has happened before but without too much damage.

The other main thing I'm looking for is something that's not going to be useless if there's a bit of snow or ice which can happen quite a bit in winter on some of the roads round here that aren't getting gritted but I can't avoid using them.

So with those in mind and trying to find something reasonably sized so as not to be impossible to park in the town I've found a 3 year old 1.6 petrol Suzuki sx4 with awd. The mileage is reasonable for the price and I've checked all the usual like up underneath it for scrapes that look like it's been ragged around off road since its awd and it runs and drives well.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is how reliable it'll be especially the awd system which I know would be very expensive or if there's anything else that might be more suitable or I should know about the sx4.

Thanks

Reply 1

dhr90

Pretty sure there was a 4x4 version of the Fiat Panda, but it depends how you feel about italian reliability. What is your budget?

Reply 2

Alfissti

If you are worried about snow and ice, you are better off having a good set of winter tyres first before going for something all wheel drive. I survived a Norwegian winter using a RWD with a good set of snow tyres, never had any problems.

The SX4 is okay but very few are AWDs, think of it as a tall hatchback with AWD rather than a real off-roader.

Reply 3

quotidian

Original post by dhr90

Pretty sure there was a 4x4 version of the Fiat Panda, but it depends how you feel about italian reliability. What is your budget?

Thanks, I seen a fiat panda at a dealers and it was alright although a tad on the small side. Budget is up to about £8k, although I'm more looking at spending 6-7k unless its really worth it.

Reply 4

quotidian

Original post by Alfissti

I know winter tires will help far more than awd for snow / ice, i'm more interested in the AWD for the farm lanes I have to drive through, some of which are more or less just tractor wheeltracks with occasional gravel sections where its boggy.

Reply 5

RoundTrip

It's a Japanese car so it'll be reliable. I say go for it.

edit. Just googled it cos I remembered it shares parts with a Fiat. You'll be fine with the petrol because it's a Suzuki engine. Avoid the diesel because its a FIAT engine.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Naveed.178

Suzuki is Japanese, so I think it would be reliable. Looks strong too.

Reply 7

Alfissti

Original post by quotidian

Depending on your requirements, I personally would buy a Suzuki Jimny instead of the SX4 if a fuel efficient off road vehicle is what am after.

Otherwise the better AWD cars are the Audis, Subarus or Volvos, the Mercedes and BMW AWDs are good too but they are not sold in UK.