Suzuki Esteem

What's the gang's though on Suzuki Esteems? Not a horrible design for a small car. I think a wagon with a 5spd might be a nice frugal daily, no?

I actually kinda like the way they look. Still more reliable than a BiTurbo.

A 5-speed wagon would probably be the most interesting (to me) version of this car. Seems pretty boring but I think they're not badly made and should DD well.

I really liked mine and wish I could buy another, they are tough to find in the 5 speed package. I bought it and didn't look underneath at the rust, so I would say be vary weary if the underside is rusty and my front subframe totally rusted out.

mndsm wrote: Still more reliable than a BiTurbo.

Wow, such automotive praise.
Equal to, "you don't sweat much, for a fat girl."

I see these from time to time and every time, I mean EVERY time, I mistake it for a Subaru at first.

I suppose that's the best thing I have to say about them. And the worst.

Oh, and I finally saw my first Kizashi last week.

The auto shifters stick on all of them. They leak oil like a gm. The hubcaps are dumb. Its a car.

Swank Force One wrote: I see these from time to time and every time, I mean EVERY time, I mistake it for a Subaru at first.

+1. Every. Single. Time.

In reply to Swank Force One:

I actually see Kizashi's around quite often. But I think that was because Wichita had one of the biggest Suzuki auto dealers in the nation by the time functions wound down.

They're a decent looking car. I think a wagon variant would have looked amazing.

Esteems were great little cars. If you can find one with the 1.8 It would be great. The 1.6's were a bit underpowered. The biggest problem with them is rust. They, like the earlier Swift's, do not use a perimeter front subframe, so the engine/trans mount to the unibody. Guess where it's rusts? Gues what falls out when it rusts through? Guess what is no longer repairable?

It's a car.

i got one for $150 the other day. Plans were to fix the subframe (surprise! no subframe) and get 40MPG. After we found the unibody control arm mounts were gone and nothing to weld to other than air and more rust, we scrapped it. Got $210.

wae wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: I see these from time to time and every time, I mean EVERY time, I mistake it for a Subaru at first.

+1. Every. Single. Time.

When I first got my WRX wagon my sister said her friend had one exactly like it. It was an Esteem wagon.

Swank Force One wrote: Oh, and I finally saw my first Kizashi last week.

Funny you say that...

long story short I was in Northern Alabama for 7 days for work a few weeks back. That being said...

I have NEVER seen so many suzuki cars in my life! on the road and rust free even! I saw at least 3 Kizashi's a day there. I even saw my first suzuki equator in real life.

Never thought I'd see them there of all places...

oh and about every car was crimson or white, roll tide bitches...

The Esteem was some of the last real Suzuki's before GM forcefed them the Daewookis

I don't think GM ever owned more than 20% of Suzuki, so I'm not sure they were capable of force feeding them anything.

The Esteem is based on a stretched Swift platform. They're slightly better built, similar to the later Swift/Metros, but share the same penchant for rust. The 1.6 is a SOHC 16V G series engine (same family as the GT's 1.3, and the Metro's 1.0) , and the 1.8 is a DOHC 16V J series engine, a smaller version of the later Aerio, and SX4 engine. They have nice seats.

Next time I'm flush with cash and I come across a decent manual trans wagon, I might bite.

I would. It's weird enough to fit in here.

Supposedly, some overseas versions of the Esteem came with a Mazda 1.8L BP engine- same as a Meotter or Escort GT. I wonder if one will swap in easily...

Doubt it.

The auto shifters stick on all of them.

I knew i had worked on one at some point but couldnt remember what i did...

I fixed the shifter.

Sometimes, I wonder why I'm such a weird guy. Then I come across threads like these, and tell my not-girlfriend(who considers me socially inept and maladjusted) that I'm a perfectly normal human being and there's at least 1000+ people just like me that think the same things I do.

I too want one in a pretty bad way.

I remember driving 3 hours to test drive a Swift GT.. I was with my old man... He swore up and down the clutch was slipping, I told him it is supposed to rev like that. He said BullE36 M3. Then talked me out of it.. Great car though, revved like there was no flywheel attached, and handled great for a FWD vehicle.

Suzuki would still be around (here) if they still made cars like that..

On the upside I ended up buying a Miata..

I just found a forsa turbo in brevard county. 1700. Talk me out of it. I have a neon....

Do it, do it, do it.