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Old 01-11-2002, 09:37 PM   #1
Euro19
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I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Why the Esteem has so bad sales in USA and Europe? You think of a Suzuki as a 4WD rather than a car? I think itīs a decent little car that is better than itīs similars Geo Metro and Hyundai Accent and comparable with Daewoo Lanos. The quality of the plastic seem poor though, well in every Suzuki actually.
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Old 01-11-2002, 09:50 PM   #2
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Quote:
Originally posted by Euro19
I think itīs a decent little car that is better than itīs similars Geo Metro and Hyundai Accent and comparable with Daewoo Lanos. The quality of the plastic seem poor though, well in every Suzuki actually.
It is a decent car,way better than a Hyunday or a Daewoo,I really don't know why it doesn't sell in the U.S.
Here in Montréal,they're quite popular,I've worked at a Suzuki dealership and I own a Swift gti myself and can say firsthand that the quality of these cars rivals Honda and Toyota more than the cheaper brands.

The interior finish are a little on the cheap side,but it's still way better than some Chevy's costing double and triple the price of the Suzuki.
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Old 01-11-2002, 10:12 PM   #3
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Yes. I ment the interior plastics, not the whole car of course.
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Old 10-14-2003, 11:01 AM   #4
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Talking Re: Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

I have a 99 Esteem that I think is a decent car as well. In the 2-3 years I have owned it the only things I have had to replace are the things that any car needs (brakes, oil, spark plugs, air filter, etc.)

The timing belt and battery are due for replacement, but considering the milage this car has on it this doesn't surprize me at all.
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Old 03-04-2004, 12:40 PM   #5
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i have a 1997 suzuki esteem i got used at 39000 kms. it now has 241000 on the clock and still runs great. i lost the AC last year, but the engine is running good. only regular maintenance, fluids and tires.
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Old 12-20-2006, 07:56 PM   #6
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

My dad owns a 98. Great cars the only thing I don't like about it is that the gas pedal is to close to the inside wall, but other that that I like those cars very much. And he only puts like $8 every 5 days or so.
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Old 01-18-2007, 09:51 PM   #7
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

I bought a 2001 Esteem 1.8 DOHC 5 speed, with 63K miles for 2995, I thought must be something must be wrong with it, but the salesman told me they are low sellers and its the stripped down model, no PW, no PL, no cruise. The car drives like new, only problem I have is it sometimes comes out of OD, it seems like the shifter isn't locked in good enough, the slightest pull back makes it come out. The other gears are fine, it shifts normal and sounds OK, I changed the fluid.
Its gets great mileage, I average between 30 and 35 MPG.

Let others hate this car, I love it and got it for a steal.

One think i can't figure out is how to adjust the mirrors.

I need a fact service manual set, just missed a set on Ebay, I was willing to give more than the final bid.

Yea the gas pedal is to close to the heater too, my foot feels like it's going to catch on fire.
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Old 02-19-2007, 12:05 PM   #8
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

I have a Suzuki Esteem 2000. Bought it for my daughter. Now, she bought a Mitsubishi Spider and I'm driving the Suzuki. Great car, got in love with it. The air filter is $30 here in Toronto, though.
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Old 02-19-2007, 10:38 PM   #9
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

I still have my 1999 that I commented on in an earlier post in Oct 2003, the Esteem has been an amazing car, I changed the timing belt a while back which was a long project that took hours but technically was not all that difficult and required zero special tools.

I have fallen in love with mine too, my wife wants to get rid of it at some point due to high mileage but I would rather replace parts and have the engine and tranny overhauled than get rid of it.

Air filters down here in the US are not much better at $20 to $27 (US).

I think that part of the reasons that there have been so few posting in this thread is that the Esteem has been such a reliable car that there is nothing to complain about.

On the other hand an '84 Nissan Sentra that I am working on for someone has turned into absolute hell it was such a badly designed car, I'm not saying that Nissan makes bad cars, just this one in particular.
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Old 02-20-2007, 08:28 AM   #10
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Quote:
Originally Posted by Torch
I still have my 1999 that I commented on in an earlier post in Oct 2003, the Esteem has been an amazing car, I changed the timing belt a while back which was a long project that took hours but technically was not all that difficult and required zero special tools.

I have fallen in love with mine too, my wife wants to get rid of it at some point due to high mileage but I would rather replace parts and have the engine and tranny overhauled than get rid of it.

Air filters down here in the US are not much better at $20 to $27 (US).

I think that part of the reasons that there have been so few posting in this thread is that the Esteem has been such a reliable car that there is nothing to complain about.

On the other hand an '84 Nissan Sentra that I am working on for someone has turned into absolute hell it was such a badly designed car, I'm not saying that Nissan makes bad cars, just this one in particular.
Question. When is good time to change the timing belt ? Are there some symptoms I have to look after ? Did you use a technical manual to change it or just common diy sense ?
Thank you,
aa
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Old 02-20-2007, 05:41 PM   #11
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Go by the factory manual that came with the car, for the 1999 Esteem this basically means that you need to change it every 60k miles under normal driving conditions for both the 1.6 and 1.8 engines.

There really are no symptoms for a timing belt that needs to be changed, the timing belt stays a timing belt until it breaks and then it becomes a piece of shredded rubber, at the same time your pistons and valves get the kiss of death and slam into each other.

There is no available manual for the Suzuki Esteem aside from buying a factory manual from the dealer, I'm not sure why neither Haynes and/or Chilton made a manual for this car.

But anyway there is hope, I have a growing website at: http://home.comcast.net/~lj_robins/99suzuki/ click on the BELTS section to view how to change the timing belt, its really not that hard.
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Old 02-21-2007, 09:36 AM   #12
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Torch, thank you.
Very nice site for Suzuki, and helpful.
Question. When I start the car, every morning, I get a blue smoke, and I have to keep the garage open for a few minutes. lol.
Anyway, a friend told me that is normal, when the engine is cold. Maybe, but I don't like it.
How should I fix it and what is the problem ? I know that is oil burning, but I don't know why.
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Old 02-21-2007, 10:18 AM   #13
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Torch, what timing belt should I buy ? I saw a few around $20 -$30.
thank you
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Old 02-22-2007, 01:01 AM   #14
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

Hi Andrew,

The belt that is pictured on my website cost $15.00 (US), buy whatever you feel that you can afford.

Blue smoke could just be the result of the engine getting old, pistons and their rings contract as they get cold, then when you start the engine not all of the oil gets scraped off back into the crankcase until the pistons warm up and expand then seal themselves.

You could also have some valve stem seals that are getting old and letting oil down past the valves and it is leaking down into the cylinder, either way it will take an engine tear down to fix either.

My car just rolled 110k miles this evening, to get the dip stick back into the normal zone I have to add half a quart of oil every 3000 miles, so if you do the math a quart of oil every 6000 miles is very reasonable.

If you haven't done it in a while try changing your oil, works wonders sometimes. I use Valvoline MaxLife 75000 mile+ 10W30 oil and a Purolator oil filter, I change the oil approx every 5000 miles, I was doing it at 3000 miles but I noticed that I was still getting clean oil out of the oil pan when I changed it so I switched to every 5000 miles.

You could try putting some seal reconditioner stuff in with the oil and see if it helps.
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Old 09-23-2015, 09:47 AM   #15
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Re: I see the Esteem doesnīt interests anyone

I loved my Suzuki esteem. bought it with 50k on the clock my daughter rolled it in a ditch at 160,000,

Pro's
Peppy
MPG
easy to work on

Cons
Cheap car can't be jumped backwards and flipped in a ditch without suspension work.


Seriously the door handles were for shit. Broke every outside handle on the car and the passenger front one twice.

My daughter was the death of the car though, infrequent oil changes took their toll and being upside down didn't help it's looks. started blue smoke and I finally sold it to someone in a pinch for a song.
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