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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  Good car, low price for options provided - 2006 Suzuki Forenza
  By hoogie - January 3 - 1:56 pm

  This has been a reasonable economy car for the money. I did experience an occassional unnerving vibration until the tires broke in. Both headlights went out at the exact same time at 20,000 miles. Replaced those with no more problems. The car is an econobox so dont expect Honda/Toyota handling and performance. The features are good but dont expect to easily fit and aftermarket stereo or speakers in the car. It was a pain, trust me. Overall you get what you pay for.

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  Not an Econo Auto - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Cliff Ray - December 23 - 12:53 am

  The Forenza is not a bad car. However the gas mileage is not good. In the city the best I was able to get was 15 MPG.

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  Suzuki the other Japanese Auto Company? - 2008 Suzuki Forenza
  By DK - November 15 - 8:50 am

  I have purchased a Suzuki product once before and was please with the quality and performance. I was looking for a car for my daughter and found the Forenza, its quality and performance match that of the previous 1995 Esteem. Suzuki has one of the best car warranties around.

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  Decent car/ great price. - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Gabe - October 21 - 7:50 pm

  I bought the car because it was so cheap. i received a killer warranty and great service from the dealer. I financed the car for 60 months, but as long as i owe money on it it is covered because they gave me a 7 year/100000 mile bumper to bumper. who could beat that. it gets good mileage and is a fairly decent looking car. They beat everyone elses price by thousands and gave me a car easily as nice.

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  Forenza Review - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Mary Tinsley - June 26 - 11:56 am

  The car is roomy in the front but less leg room in rear seating area. Easy to handle and rides very smooth. One drawback on the interior is the steering wheel blocks the speedometer. The seats adjust easily and are quite comfortable. Controls are easy to reach and use. Gas mileage is great I get around 34-35 hwy. It is an attractive looking car with many pluses when you compare it with the price of the vehicle. It handles well in heavy traffic and stopping is not a problem and has a good turn radius. Easy to parallel park. Overall the best vehicle I have owned and really liked the price.

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  It gets me where I need to go (: - 2008 Suzuki Forenza
  By mwaskey - June 24 - 2:14 am

  I love my little baby car she gets me where I need to go. I live in Alaska so that is kind of saying something havent gotten stuck or had problems with the car starting up in the freezing cold.

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  A lot of car for the money - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By john - April 29 - 12:23 am

  good more than basic transportation.Comfortable interior with a really good sound system. A nice riding car for its size it does have 4 wheel independant suspension. It seems hard to grow tired sitting in this car on long drives. One nice feature is that the car comes complete no options other than auto or manual trans. My dealership was a very pleasant no hassle dealer.It could use more power on long grades (126 hp) and the fuel economy is alittle short on what I hoped for averaging about 23 mpg with mixed driving. I was very surprized at how many people approached me to tell me how much they really liked the way it looks. Insurance was also cheaper ( no one steals suzukis I guess

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  good lil car - 2007 Suzuki Forenza
  By Tena Moore Holbrooks - April 13 - 3:12 pm

  my 2007 forenza has been very dependable. i passed a few higher priced, newer cars on the side of the road during our snow storm last week. but, me and my forenza got to our location just fine. alot of it has to do with how well you maintain your auto. i have a 2007 with 130k miles with regular oil changes and a recent tune up i look to get many more. and the gas mileage - great!!!!!

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  Mutiple trips to the dealer - 2004 Suzuki Forenza
  By Therese - March 11 - 10:00 am

  I wanted to buy a vehicle that has a lot of style/ comfort and reliabilty and a good warranty so I chose the Forenza. I purchased this car last Saturday and am happy with all but one aspect of the car...it pulls to the right regardless if Im accelerating or driving at a normal speed. I have made 3 trips to the dealer since buying this vehicle and have been told that this may be NORMAL for this car by the service dept. There is no way it is normal to drive off the road! I have also been told that the hard pull to the right when I accelerate is due to the torque steer/pull. That it is normal for it to due this.

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  forenza sedan "S" - 2005 Suzuki Forenza
  By Jean - February 28 - 5:40 am

  This car has so many features I doubt I could list all of them. With the automatic transmission it a takes off really fast with a sufficent amount of pedal pressure, but then it seems to shift to low in order to keep the same acceleration. Other than that its a great car. It has alot of cabin room, great looking interior, and a sleek looking exterior! Everything is automated like windows, gass cap, mirrors (heated) trunk...etc. Seats are manual and uncomfortable. Has driver/passenger, and side airbags. I like the 15" wheels with P195\55R15 Kumho touring tires. Also has very stylish high intensity headlights. 2 cooling fans on radiator. Has 4 wheel disc brakes. Its a great car for the $.