I like this car, but find it hard to love as I feel my previous car; a 1993 Subaru Impreza was an all around better car. Don't get me wrong about this car - it is nice and I may feel better for it after my mourning for my Impreza (that ended when a driver cut in front of me and the Subaru valiantly gave its life for mine).

I have several pet peeves about cars and this one met them all in an adequate fashion. This car has a buzzer that will go off if you leave your lights on or your keys in the car. Not as fancy as some other models that turn the lights off for you - but hey you probably are saving a few dollars with the Esteem's frugal approach. My main pet peeve about the Subaru was the placement of the drink holder. The drink holder was placed above the radio and led to condensation dripping into my radio and eventually ruining it. The drink holders are better on the Esteem as they are at the bottom - they aren't quite as large as the Subaru's, but still function to hold a medium size McDonald's cup. There is also another cup holder that sits underneath the arm rest, but since I use that arm rest it is useless for me - so I throw miscellaneous stuff in there instead. My only pet peeve with the Esteem is the holders on either door. I believe these are supposed to be used for maps, but I use them for mail and was able to do so in the Impreza without a problem. The Esteem's are too small to hold business size envelopes without bending. If you aren't a pack rat like me - this might not matter much.

As far as more normal criteria goes, the Esteem drives nicely even at higher speeds (I had read some reviews criticizing the power - I find no problem here, but some of those reviews were for earlier smaller engines of prior years). Same with radio controls, I had read complaints, but these were from earlier years and I see no problem with the 2001 model. I actually like the radio and feel it will be more than adequate (comes with a CD player standard) for 98% of the population. The car is comfortable enough for me at 6'0", but I believe I the Subaru was a bit nicer. Trunk room seems fine, but there is no trunk light standard.

Reliability is the most important thing to me about a car. The Subaru salesperson was quick to point out that the Subaru has a timing chain, instead of a belt and the timing chain should never need any maintenance. I have seen both sides of the chain/belt debate and am not sure I buy this (Subaru literature also claimed this as an advantage), but I guess I will see. Suzukis are considered very reliable cars, but unfortunately Suzuki Esteems are not popular cars and there is little in the way of reliability data. I have read no repair complaints and am crossing my fingers, but I believe this will end up being a reliable car based on other Suzuki data.

My complaints are that the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty is pretty poor for a car that really isn't a hot seller to begin with. This car really could use an edge to compete against Nissan and Ford and a better warranty would help. It seems noisier than my 7-year-old Subaru and I think it should be quieter. It definitely is not a luxury car. I drive quite a bit and notice speed bumps nice much more than I used to. Also the trunk and doors don't seem to close with much confidence as the Subaru did.

Overall I believe this car to be more than adequate for most people. I think it will be reliable and that is most important to me. It is also economical, but probably should be a little cheaper than it is. I would compare the Ford Focus, Nissan Sentra, and Subaru Impreza with this car and see if you will save enough to make it worth it to you.
Amount Paid (US$): 13,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001