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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  I will miss it - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By njrp2000 - September 26 - 3:27 pm

  Bought the car with 2 miles on it. Drove it until she had 108,547 miles when the timing belt and pulley system broke taking along some valves and pistons with it while on a road trip. Worth more to fix than the cars value so I decided to junk it. This was the only "necessary" major repair work I had to do on the car. In 7 years I never had to change out the brakes, the clutch or anything else. Replaced the serpentine belt once and the battery just once. The only negative I have was the paint was faulty and the interior door handles broke very easily.

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  So far So good - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Forenza005 - July 15 - 8:20 pm

  I bought my 2005 Suzuki Forenza and the dealership failed to give me a car fax and tell me it had been in a tiny wreck prior to purchasing it. I have spent money on it for 60K tune up, cost me 2K, at least that and the tire rims well they bend easily and cost 150 bucks each and can only be purchased at the dealership. But its paid for and NO I will not buy another one. I want a Ford or a Honda next time. My car makes odd sounds and groans like I do when I have to go to work. But at 116K miles and going and the gas mileage is excellent 35+ on the highway, I will not give her up unless my little silver money drainer dies first.

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  Dont Buy One - 2004 Suzuki Forenza
  By Sarah - April 18 - 12:20 pm

  This car was purchased primarily because of the cheap price & options. If only I had been wiser. It worked well for about the first 2 years. However, city MPG is usually 20 or less, which doesnt make much sense for a car of this size/class. Ive had numerous issues with the car alarm randomly sounding & the engine not turning over at all. At one point, it took over 30 attempts to turn the engine over. It was in the shop 5 times, yet the Suzuki dealer couldnt solve the problems. Go figure. The paint job is cheap & chips/scratches way too easily. Buyer beware: you can get a brand-new used Corolla for about the same price as a new Forenza. Get the Corolla, avoid the hassle.

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  Two interior door handles broken - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Donna - May 26 - 6:40 pm

  The interior door handles broke on the front driver and passenger sides. Electrical issues....Occasionally, the emergency lights flash when opening the door and will stop when the ignition is turned on..several trips has been made to the dealer but they cannot find the problem. It also causes the AC to randomly blow hot and cold air while in the on position.

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  trying to hard - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By sparkey424 - April 19 - 5:07 pm

  although this is one of my favorite cars i have had, it has a lot of problems. its estimated mpg is [non-permissible content removed]. i have never seen better than 25 mpg. it looks pretty ugly, paint is terrible and is chipping away. has no power what so ever. if i have my ac on and try to go i have to burn the clutch to hell. recently somebody tried to break into my car and messed the locking system up and the dealership wants to charge 1200 dollars for it. break light never goes off. dealer wants 2300 for that. and my airbag light is on, which again is 1200 dollars to fix. although i have no problems with the rims. take it off roading where im not supposed to be and can take the abuse.

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  How to Pick a Lemon - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Wratchet - April 3 - 4:26 am

  The car was great-at first. It ran clean, and was not so quick but picked up fast. Though I kept the car in great condition, oil changes on time, here I am not even two years later finding problems with the transmission that no mechanic can seem to fix. I used to love the car until it started to experience shifting problems-in an AUTOMATIC! This is very disappointing to say the least.

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  Please Read before buying! - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By ccmarie88 - February 18 - 11:03 am

  If I can help anyone about making a decision on buying this car I will feel at least a little bit better about owning it. I have had so many problems with this car in the last year. In the last 4 months I have replaced the serpentine belt, the ENTIRE throttle body ($600), and now the head gasket which thank god is covered by warranty! I took it back for two recalls (the headlights went out and the seat belts were replaced). Its sad how much time I spend in the Suzuki dealership with this car! Now I am stuck with this car and I dont know what to do because I am completely upside down! Do NOT buy!

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  Clarity from Reading Customer Reviews - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By rie_2011 - January 19 - 11:11 pm

  Im trying to recover from being layed off for almost 3yrs. The last car I had was dying. Finally just got a new job. I bought my 07 Forenza Sept 2011 from Carmax. reading all the above comments help me accept that I financed a POS. not even 60days yet and already the alternator and transmission sensor has been replaced. Carmax is refusing to let me add the warranty on now; saying I passed up my chance at signing. so Im going to continue being screwed over royally with this POS until I can get something better.

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  ... - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By D - January 12 - 1:26 pm

  I bought this car new over 2 years ago, have 61K miles on it. its a base model with a manual trans. only problem i have had was bent rims, and check engine light for throttle sensor (unplugged and replugged sensor and was fixed). I get 28-30 MPG on average. I havent had any real troubles, dont have any real complaints on my car except for dealers (all suzuki dealers are nightmares) the interior is not great but havent had anything brake, transmission isnt great but dose its job just fine. never had an engine problem, or any of the problems most other people seem to have and i tend to abuse my car.

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  I tired of it - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By jody - December 19 - 12:23 am

  Door handles broke off, needs constant tire balance, rotation, alignments. Interior lights quit working, passenger seat airbag sensor quit working. Cig lighter quit working. Car is only 3 yrs old (Dec 2007 purchase date). Been through more tire and alignments in 3 yrs than I did in 10 yrs on my Chevy 1500 used to pull horse trailers and hauling hay and driving dirt road looking for a camping spot.