Video: 2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara

I checked it out again to see what might justify the lower fuel economy. Unfortunately, I didn't find that much. Now what makes this an off-road capable SUV is that it is heavier duty. It's heavier, and it has an extra low gear in the four wheel drive system that allows you to climb over rocks and stuff like that. Now, unfortunately that adds weight, and weight means bad fuel economy, 19 miles per gallon combined, when the competitors, which are mostly based on car platforms, are over 20 in combined driving. Some of them offer four cylinders, and even some of the V6s are more efficient than this one. Overall, the interior quality is good. The materials are nice, but then there are a little annoying things too. The sun visor, definitely not long enough. I've got a whole lot of space here, the sun comes in all the time, this doesn't extend. Now there is a lot of glass here that makes it feel open and airy, which is good. But out the back, the visibility isn't great because the spare tire is mounted to the swing gate, it blocks your view of it. Now also I found that when the steering wheel is turned all the way and you're taking a tight turn, the four wheel drive system binds a bit, and that is never a good thing. Now I'm six feet tall, I can make it work here in the back seat. The driver's seat, isn't all the way back, but overall, the dimensions are a little bit lower in this SUV than they are in the competing ones. There's no center arm rest, which is a bit of a bummer. You can adjust the back rest angle, but you've got to reach up kind of over here to that handle to do it. Now, one other shortcoming of sorts. When you go to fold the seat down to give more room for cargo, this is very high actually, it doesn't fold flat into the floor like some do. The other option is to pull this strap and tumble the seat forward. Now the problem is, if you do that, you come to a stop, this thing's bashing your seat. It's a real drag. Now their solution is a tether. Even like that, it still pushes your seat. I dunno what happens if you're rear-ended, it seems strange to me. Now moving back in the list of shortcomings, drum brakes in the rear, instead of disks, disks are standard on some of the competitors. Now this is a swing gate instead of a lift gate. The problem is obviously you need a lot of room behind the vehicle to open it. Also it's designed for the Japanese market. They drive on the other side of the road. So when it's time to unload your armoire, pretty small armoire, you can't go to the curb. You have to come out into traffic with it. That's a drawback. Now they do this so they can put the spare tire on the back and not have it take up space inside or under the vehicle. But for what it's worth, the Ford escape has a lift gate. The Honda CRV has one now too, though, the Toyota Rav Four sill has a swing gate too. Now another little weird, annoying thing I found was when the lift gate is open, the fancy keyless entry doesn't work. You got nothing. This is supposed to stay in your pocket, but once that is open, this one doesn't work. So some of these things are small, but small things can be annoying. You know, like Gary Coleman. And when there are a lot of small things like I imagine a lot of Gary Colemans would be really annoying, You're left wondering, why would I get a Grand Vitara instead of many other models out there. unfortunately with the bad fuel economy, it's hard to, you know, come up with a really good reason. There's just not that much demand for off-road vehicles. I question how long a model like this one can last, there are just many better choices for the vast majority of buyers out there, so that's it. I'm Joe Wiesenfelder, thoroughly annoyed by the Suzuki Grand Vitara for cars.com. For additional information on this car or any other go to cars.com and our blog Kicking Tires.