Suzuki's Draggin' Wagon

The Aerio station wagon is plenty cheap, but with lackluster design, a noisy engine, and stiff suspension, it's no bargain

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Low price, all-wheel drive, excellent warranty

The Bad: Quality and reliability doubts

The Bottom Line: A winter car for bargain-basement shoppers

Reader Reviews

When it comes to cheap wheels for winter driving, there's nothing quite like the Suzuki Aerio. It's a fuel-efficient compact that, as far as I can tell, is the cheapest all-wheel drive vehicle on the market. My test car -- the top-of-the-line Aerio SX all-wheel drive station wagon -- listed for just $17,579, yet came with power windows and doors, heated and power-operated exterior mirrors, remote keyless entry, cruise control, antilock brakes, a six-CD sound system, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Even the most basic Aerio AWD sedan starts at just $16,579 and comes with power windows, doors, and locks; steering-wheel-mounted controls; a tilt steering wheel; and a keyless entry system. All versions of the car come standard with a peppy 2.3 liter inline four-cylinder engine that generates an impressive 155 horsepower, making it far more powerful than rival compacts.

And, if you buy one before the end of February, the company is offering a $750 cash rebate, which can be combined with additional $500 rebates for recent college grads, active military personnel, and current Suzuki owners. That means many buyers are coming off the sales lots with a loaded-up all-wheel-drive Aerio for around 16 grand.

RATTLE AND HUM.

To give you an idea how cheap that is, the bottom-of-the-line Kia Sportage with all-wheel drive starts out at $19,000 -- and that's with far fewer standard features, a smaller engine, and a manual transmission. With features like an Aerio's, an all-wheel drive Pontiac Vibe or Toyota Matrix (sister models made in a General Motors (GM)-Toyota (TM) joint venture) starts at $21,000 but has a much smaller 118 horsepower engine. If you can wait, another alternative to consider is the new 2007 Dodge Caliber compact wagon, which is due out this summer. But it, too, will cost considerably more than an Aerio: The all-wheel drive version is expected to start out at $20,000.

So, everyone should rush right out and buy an Aerio, right? Not quite. There's a reason this little Suzuki saw its U.S. sales drop 15% last year, to just 7,967 (while Suzuki's overall U.S. sales rose 11%, to 82,101, during the year). There are definite trade-offs to buying a Suzuki because the company is small and doesn't have the sizable dealer network and reputation for quality of major rivals such as Honda (HMC), Toyota, Ford (F), and GM. Other Suzuki models may be much improved, but the Aerio, which first hit the market in 2002, isn't quite there yet.

This is by far the flimsiest car I've tested in the past year. After a week, a loud rattle had developed in the dashboard of my loaner. In cold-weather, the engine sounded like a tractor before it warmed up. I haven't heard anything like it since starting the old junkers with questionable mufflers that I drove as a student. And, even with standard side airbags, the Aerio did poorly in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's side crash test, though it did pretty well in other tests.

NO OFF-ROADER.

The Aerio's design also looks dated, despite some improvements in the '06 model. The upholstery and other interior materials seem cheap. And the steering-wheel-mounted controls for the radio are sort of tacked onto the steering column like an after-market add-on. Several times I inadvertently changed the radio station by bumping the control with my knee. Similarly, there's a sort of exterior visor over the rear window that looks as if it was attached as an afterthought.

I don't think the Aerio drives particularly well, either. Despite its relatively large engine, the car doesn't feel speedy. The suspension is stiff without feeling sporty. I suspect the sedan with a stick shift is a lot more fun to drive, but the AWD wagon only comes with an unrefined four-speed automatic transmission that was loud and seemed to spend a lot of time searching for the correct gear.