2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara

The Grand Vitara has keyless entry. RFID technology makes me very happy. It is very nice to see that the relatively inexpensive Suzuki has this option. It makes life so easy, especially when carrying groceries or a sleeping five year old. No more fumbling around in my overstuffed pockets for the keys. I just press the button on the door handle and the door unlocks. I get in and turn the ignition. All cars should come with RFID keys standard.

The Grand Vitara has decent ground clearance, 7.4 inches minimum. Normally this would be fine, but like I said Vail has received lots of snow. I think it was the second morning of my review time and we had over a foot in one night. Then the plows came. The guys from the Town of Vail do an amazing job of keeping the streets clear of deep snow. Unfortunately the neighbor up the hill hired a plowing company that just moved the snow into the public right of way.

The Suzuki is very impressive. After the plows clear the roads they sometimes leave a slick thin layer of compacted and very slippery snow. This doesn’t always happen, it depends on the temperature and some other factors. But during the test drive it happened. Many cars couldn’t get up the hill to my house. The Suzuki and its Electronic Stability Program (ESP®) with Traction Control System (TCS) just rode right up. Going down the hill I used Suzuki’s Hill descent control. The Grand Vitara crushed it. I couldn’t be more pleased.

The vehicle holds five adults comfortably. The controls make sense and are very easy to use. The rear cargo space was very easy to access and held plenty of groceries and skis. I can’t really find anything to criticize in the Grand Vitara. I did get a chance to test the Grand Vitara on some dry highway roads. It handled competently. Not too noisy, but nothing special. OK acceleration, but not enough to cause whiplash. So maybe this would be a different review if I was living in Denver and it was summer. I might find the Grand Vitara to be just OK. But it isn’t summer, and I live in Vail.

The Suzuki comes with a great warranty. It has a seven year 100,000 mile, transferable power train warranty. And the best part about the Suzuki is what you get for the price. The Grand Vitara starts at $18,499 and goes up to $26,299 depending on the trim package. The keyless entry is standard, as is the auto on/off headlight, on all trim levels. Suzuki has done a great job packaging the Grand Vitara.

© Source: theautochannel
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