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| 2005 Suzuki Verona Review | |||
| Whether you're about to spend $40K on a brand new car, or half that on a used car, it is always important to learn as much as you can about the used car. Read these car reviews to learn about all aspects of the vehicle. Each of the usedcar reviews cover interior and exterior features, options, road tests, and more. | |||
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Introduction
| Road Test
| Inside & Out
| Other Thoughts
| Last Word
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| Other Thoughts | |||
Let's talk price a little more, for this is where Suzuki hits hardest. The basic Verona S isn't basic at all, coming with stuff like power everything, leather wheel, cassette and CD, remote radio controls, seat height adjuster, cruise, keyless entry, and tire-pressure gauge (plus disc brakes and six cylinders). For $18,094, can't complain.$1,800 more buys the $19,894 Verona LX adding a sunroof, automatic climate control, outside temperature gauge, 16-inch alloy wheels, and antilock brakes. A final extra $1,200 buys the $21,094 Verona EX for its leather interior, heated front seats, power driver's seat, and auto-dimming rearview mirror. The only option anywhere is the EX's $500 traction control. Front seat side air bags are new and standard on all 2005 Veronas, though curtain bags are lacking. Go back to the 18-grand Verona S: it's about equal to Honda's mid-level Accord LX, which runs nearly 3,000 extra big ones. Even other discount-rack cars like the Chevy Malibu and Mitsubish Galant start at nearly 20. The only ones beating the Verona's base price are the Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata - by 54 and 200 bucks. Looking good, Suzuki, looking good. Of course, what you save at the dealer, you often pay for at resale time - and then some. Not this time. At the risk of judging too much on a one-year sample, a 2004 Verona S seems to be holding up fairly well, worth about $14,000 on Kelley Blue Book private party scale (as of June 2005). That trails the Accord, perched high and mighty at 18, but it's about par with the Malibu and Galant and stands on far stronger ground than bottom-feeders like the Sonata, Optima, and Dodge Stratus, which have all tanked down to the 11-grand range. As long-term investments go, you could do a lot worse than the Suzuki Verona. But why sell so soon? Its owners seem to be a happy bunch. The Verona's average user rating on Eopinions.com works out to a perfect 5 stars. The 2002 BMW 7-series got 4 stars. Imagine that. The only serious red flag seems to be that every time some agency crashes a Verona into a wall (or vice versa), the data looks fairly fatal. The NHTSA gave it three or four stars in all categories, and in the IIHS's front, rear, and side crashes, it scored acceptable, marginal, and poor. Lastly, Suzuki seriously needs to stop telling the world that it has "America's #1 Warranty." They reason that their powertrain coverage of 7 years/100,000 miles is better than the 10 years/100,000 miles of Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi because Suzuki's works out to an "average" of 14,285 miles a year. Excuse me, but THERE IS NO AVERAGE in "miles or years, whichever comes first." Whether this asinine advertising speaks more of Suzuki's honesty or of its target customers' intelligence is for you to decide. And that's just the powertrain warranty. Suzuki's basic warranty (the one that covers everything besides the engine and transmission) of 3 years/36,000 miles meets only the minimum standard. No wonder it isn't mentioned on their website. |
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