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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  Long Travels! - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Steven - August 20 - 3:13 pm

  I would have to say that this little car has very good fuel economy (28/31mpg). I bought the car new and have really put it through its paces. I have taken it from southern Kentucky down to Miami at about 1100 miles, three times. Most of the miles put on this car are highway. A/C went out after about 36000 miles with the warranty running out at 35000. The seat cloth pulls away and doesnt matter if you put it back on track or not. Its a five speed so that may be why I am gettting better gas mileage than most of the reviews. I had to take it in for some recalls with the water pump and my dim lights went out because of the wirring harness. Overall not impressed but its still running.

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  Peice of S@#$ - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By JC - July 19 - 10:16 am

  I am also having transmission problems, door handle problems, and one i havent seen on here is the brake lights are coming on randomly and staying on and killing my battery, I expect the brake switch is faulty, Im thinking about just outing a master disconnect on the main battery cable and shutting it off when the car is not in use, sure cure any electrical pull Rather it is the brake switch or not!

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  Cheap car - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Angie - July 14 - 12:43 pm

  Bought the car in 2007, I Had the transmission fault issue, the door handle issue, the paint on the wheels issue, the seat belt recall issue. the acceleration issue. Now I am buying my second set of tires, why put these expensive tires on this cheaply built car? It does get me from point A to point B, I do feel safe.

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  Not bad at first - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By curt fletcher - March 5 - 2:00 am

  If you notice reading all of these reviews, the recent ones are not good. All of the good reviews are from 2006-2007 when the car is fairly new with not a lot of miles on it. Seems like once it hits the 50,000-60,000 mile range is when things start to go pretty rough. Our front door handles broke off quite early, but they replaced them at the dealership no problem. Just recently the transmission has been slipping and has almost caused a few accidents. Ive noticed the tires arent the greatest either, seems like a pretty uncommon tire size, too. Luckily the car is under warranty, so hopefully I can get the transmission problem fixed soon.

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  Overall Disappointment - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By RCassell - December 5 - 11:43 am

  When I first got my Forenza I absolutely loved it, the styling and ride were seemingly above class. I purchased it used with 6,000 miles on it. Then, when it hit 20k miles, there was a problem with the brakes and it wouldnt go into gear. Needless to say, the brakes are only covered to 12k miles. Now, the door handle fell off, my speedometer is off by 5+ mph depending on your intended speed, a valve gasket is blown, and the power steering pump needs to be replaced. It only has 33k miles on it! This shouldnt happen, and while the warranty covers it, Im still disappointed that I spent 10k on this when I could have bought a different make and had less problems.

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  Dont do it - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By guyandron - November 12 - 9:27 pm

  I bought my 2005 Forenza brand new. Ive bent numerous rims on it (7), Its been through 2 transmissions only one of which was covered under the warranty, its gone through 4 sets of tires and Im happy to say I just traded it with 126,000 miles on a Ford Taurus. The gas mileage was horrible even thougg I did mostly highway driving. The car left me stranded on three seperate ocassions and Ive had numerous electrical problems. Also went through 8 headlights. If youre looking for a car in this catagory, stick with the old timers like Nissan, Honda, and Toyota. You may pay a little more up front but your cost of ownership will be significantly lower. I will never buy another.

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  Door Handles - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Suzuki Forenza - November 3 - 8:36 pm

  I have had both all of the inside door handles break off. Ive noticed that those plastic door handles snap very easily during the hot summer months as well as during the winter.

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  Its not the best car! - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By bcchunk - August 17 - 6:46 am

  I have had this vehicle now for 3-4 years and havent really had major problems. My airbag light wont go off. Ive recently had my check engine light come on a lot. My friend says that it probably the transmission. The last time I got an oil change the service guy says I need new brakes and Ill probably need new tires. Im coming up on 60K miles and the service for that is over $400. Not cool. I dont want to put any more money in this car. The car doesnt really have a high value and the suzuki dealerships are going out of business so when trying to trade this in most companies are only giving me $3-4K. I should have left this vehicle where it was and tried for a nissan altima.

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  Decent Ownership - 2004 Suzuki Forenza
  By RichW1 - April 13 - 3:23 am

  I bought mine new in 04, have been blessed with only minor items.Overall experience has been great. At 57,000 miles I need to spend $1200 on "normal" things like a water pump,struts, transmission flush, and timing belt. I cannot complain.

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  2007 Suzuki Forenza - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Stephanie - December 24 - 5:46 am

  I have owned my 07 Suzuki Forenza for two and a half years and my transmission is having major problems and most likely needs to be replaced. I did have a decent warranty at my time of purchase, but unfortunately my dealer went out of business. I am still trying to figure out where to take my car to get warranty work done at no cost to me. I am very frustrated with Suzuki in general.