Suzuki's star car (Suzuki Baleno 1.6 3-door)

Member Name: doncasteryb

Product:	Suzuki Baleno 1.6 3-door
Date:	05/06/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very reliable, pretty nippy and alot of car for the money

Disadvantages: Not too pretty

This is one of those cars I waited for my whole life.....NOT! Actually, that's what I thought until I drove it. I have to say, I was shocked at the outcome because I really liked it. Ok ,I know what you're thinking, they're not the prettiest of cars, but sometimes with cars you just have to dig that little bit deeper. On the inside you have power windows, mirrors, steering, central locking, sports seats, immobiliser, cup holders, 4 speaker stereo CD all as bog standard. There was also very reasonable size boot space in the back enough to fit your family shopping and a bit more. There's also a hatchback, saloon, and estate version if you required more space.

When you open the bonnet you've got a 1.6L (94 bhp) engine which has 16valves (for a more responsive throttle) that can hurl you from 0-60 in around 10 seconds with a top speed of 108 mph. It's a shame they made it SOHC (single overhead camshaft) instead of DOHC (double overhead camshaft) as this shows on the top speed.

Now, I know the performance facts and figures alone are not exactly amazing but, when you consider that Suzuki is primarily a motorbike, ATV, outboard manufacturer (although they have been making cars for sometime as well) who have been around since the 1930's anyway the point being that it gives you some idea that these guys know their stuff when it comes to engines. I mean you just need to ask any biker and they will tell you the engines alone are awesome! But back to the baleno which had for a over a year and in that time. I only ever had a couple of minor problems with mine. These stemmed from a broken electric window mechanism to blown fuses and a replacement battery. Altogether i covered around 20k and it was showing 109k on the clock. Insuring the car(insurance group 7-8) was quite cheap (£350p.a) and the petrol consumption wasn't that bad either (38mpg combined). All in all, this was a great car to own, I would recommend it to anyone, particularly, as a first car.

Summary: If you can get past the looks, this is a great buy

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