Overview & Reviews

At some point in their lives, most people find themselves in need of a small, inexpensive car that gets them around with minimal hassle. While the names "Civic" and "Corolla" come up in most every small sedan buyer's research, the trouble is that you often pay dearly for these household names. In hopes of attracting people on a tighter budget, Suzuki offered the Forenza from 2004-'08.

This value-oriented compact came in sedan and wagon body styles. It boasted a low price of entry, a roomy interior, European-inspired design, a host of standard features, competitive power figures and a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

At a glance, the well-equipped Suzuki Forenza appeared to offer terrific value. But in our evaluations, we found that it fell short of the segment leaders in terms of performance, fuel economy, handling and interior refinement. Unless you really need the extra space of its available wagon body style in a used car, we recommend that you focus on one of its more worthy competitors.

Most Recent Suzuki Forenza

The Suzuki Forenza debuted in 2004, with the wagon model following in 2005. The Forenza was actually built by the Korean automaker Daewoo and rebadged as the Forenza for the American market. It was offered as a four-door sedan or wagon in a single trim level with various available packages. Standard equipment included four-wheel disc brakes, air-conditioning, front seat side airbags, full power accessories and a CD/MP3 stereo with steering-wheel controls. Notably, ABS was an extra-cost option.

The Forenza was powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 127 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque. This engine performed adequately with the manual transmission but felt burdened and underpowered when saddled with the four-speed automatic. To make matters worse, it wasn't particularly fuel-efficient or refined, either.

The Forenza's cabin was something of a mixed bag, too. It was spacious, with lots of stylish metallic accents, but this was offset by inconsistent materials quality and an overall lack of refinement and quality compared with class leaders. If you can get past that, there was lots of rear legroom for adults and a 60/40-split-folding seatback for extra utility. The sedan provided 12 cubic feet of trunk capacity, with the wagon offering nearly 62 cubic feet of space with the rear seat folded.

On the road, the Suzuki Forenza exhibited soft, rubbery handling and a poor ride quality compared with its competitors, as well as excessive wind noise on the highway. Although it was compliant enough, it exhibited little suspension control over bumps and ruts. Handling around corners was loose and unsure, with excessive body roll and minimal grip from the tires. When merging into traffic, automatic-equipped Forenzas accelerated weakly, and any such maneuver took some advance planning.

Changes were slight during the Suzuki Forenza's run. For 2005, side impact airbags became standard for all Forenzas. The Forenza was freshened up a bit for 2006, receiving a new front fascia, redesigned seats, new wheels and revised trim levels. Bluetooth became available for 2008.

User Reviews:

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  Never again! - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Cara - September 29 - 5:00 pm

  I bought my car brand new and It goes through tires and rimes like crazy, the passenger airbag sensor went out (2000.00 part) a .75 cent spring in console cost me 200 to fix, now the Transmission range sensor is going out. They really need more recalls on this car but no one seems to care until the problems start to leave dead bodies on the road, hint (Toyota), back door handles are pealing, i would never buy one again. thinking about having a bomb fire with it, at least than it wouldnt fail me!

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  Poor build quality, dont buy - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By rick_vandeven - June 19 - 1:43 am

  My daugher bought a 2006 Suzuki Forenza with 22,000 miles on it in 2012. Less than a month after her purchase, the transmission selecter switch went out. This switch failed again after 8,000 miles. I stocked up this time. The car required a full tune up at 35,000 miles. The plugs were dust. I have never seen plugs look this bad in a car with this few miles. I replaced the timing belt while I was at it. I had a hunch this was the next item to fail. I just replaced the struts with 50,000 miles. They were absolute junk and would not stand on their own without the springs. Unless you like working on vehicles, do not purchase a 2006 Suzuki Forenza. Poor, poor, poor build quality.

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  $4500 in repair bills in three years - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By Bill D. - February 13 - 10:00 am

  I just put on the fourth set of tires in three and a half years. Just spent $1400 on struts and alignment. Door handles broke off at 50K miles. Power steering pump went out at 70k miles. I have spent enough on repairs to buy a new car, and I am still paying on this one. This $11,000 car is now a $16,000 car. I will never buy another Suzuki product of any type.

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  This car is garbage - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Ray Rivera - January 1 - 12:53 am

  I have had this car for two years and i have had nothing but bad things to say about it ever since. It was labeled as getting 31 MPG highway, estimated. It gets 24 MPG highway. With the fuel costs over the past couple years, it almost killed me to drive this car. I had to fill up about every 3 days to get back and forth to work. The inside passenger door handle broke off in my wifes hand a few weeks back. High quality plastic that stuff is. Now the break pedal gets stuck and makes my taillight stay on and drained my battery the other night. The fans inside the engine well came loose when 3 of the four bolts fell out, now the hood release wont work either and I cant keep my hood closed. JUNK!

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  I wish I would have known o_O - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Jenny - July 8 - 10:00 am

  I wish I would have known that this car is the cheapest car there is! My SIL had this car (2004 version) and I really liked it. I asked about the reliability and heard it was good. Well, the only thing I had wrong with this car so far is the gear change. Knock on wood. Thats all. I drove this car from Lawrenceviile, GA to Houston, TX twice (so you get the ideal miles I put on this car). I only now use this car to and from work. The tire pressure is low for some reasons. I get what I paid for. Errgghh.

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  Forenza - Another Citrus Fruit - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By J - June 24 - 8:43 am

  At 6,000 miles, my 2005 Suzuki Forenza needed a new oil pump. At 9,000 miles, it needed a new transmission. No wonder Suzuki touts the best warranty coverage in America. If you buy one.........youre going to need it!

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  I hate this car - 2008 Suzuki Forenza
  By LW - May 23 - 11:50 pm

  We bought this 2008 Suzuki Forenza new. We took it back to the dealer three times within the first 3 months for them to check the transmission. It was shifting from one gear to the next unpredictably. When driven down hill it jumps into gears. When driven up hill it drags then jumps into gears and will excelarate unpredictably. The mechanics in the Suzuki dealership told us the car will stop doing this after 6K miles that because it was new this was expected and normal. It is past the 6k mile point, we have about 12k miles on the car and we still have the same unpredictable shifting and excelaration I am not comfortable driving this car any more and am wondering why there hasnÂ’t been a reca

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  Car Has a Hard Time Starting! - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By valerie - May 20 - 3:10 am

  I bought my car brand new in June of this year and it has been in and out of the shop for 53 days. They have put new spark plugs and a new computer and it still diont want to work. I have been just getting the run around fron Suzuki and my dealership.

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  poor gas mileage - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By brodie3 - April 3 - 1:38 am

  I bought a 2007 forenza in Dec.11th 2011,it had 49,515 miles on it then and now on Sept. 25th I have 60,371 miles on it. How is that possible when I dont go anywhere. The furthest I have been in this car is 25 miles one way. Never been out of the state of ohio, gas burns really fast, took it to dealer spent 1400 in repairs the biggest was trans range sensor,timing belt, serpentine belt 2 tires,tune up, oil change,etc, not satisfied , after repairs cold start has car knocking was not doing that before service work. Dealer wants to keep it to check it out, used mile markers on highway for every 1 mile I got 2.3 miles how can this be. I need help.

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  Piece of crap - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By lynn28 - November 12 - 12:10 am

  Omg, I have had nothing but problems with my car ever since I have owned it. Had the problem of it not starting then the passenger seat belt light coming on and I have gone threw tires with it left and right. I just found out my car needs front struts with only 60,000 miles on it what the heck?