Suzuki XL-7

[Bdiddy11]

Anyone here own a Grand Vitara XL-7? Opinions on them as an expo vehicle?

In my quest to find a better long term expedition type vehicle for my slowly growing family, I stumbled upon some lifted XL7 pics and placed it in the running for a future vehicle. At first, I wasn't a fan of the XL7, but seeing them lifted w/bumpers and meatier tires, it got the wheels turning. I currently have a Jeep Cherokee and its just my wife and 1 year old baby girl, but we plan on having more kids so the XJ wont be able to handle a larger family all that well.

The XL7 gets roughly the same mileage as my XJ, but was wondering if the XL7 could possibly still be a viable highway rig with a 1.9 VW TDI engine swap...Not sure how similar the XL7 engine is compared to the previous Zuks, like the Sammy and Kick that have 1.9 swap kids readily available.

I would be looking at the 7 passenger version, for future family members, and would most likely end up with a small utility trailer (M416 or custom) and possibly a roof rack. We don't really do hard core trails... more of the camping, site seeing, mountainish type terrain.

 

[Warn Industries]

Which year XL-7 are you thinking about? The 2007-2009s were essentially a Chevrolet Equinox.

- Andy

 

[Bdiddy11]

The older ones. Like 02-06 I believe? Could be wrong...

 

[Mrknowitall]

The GV XL-7 is pretty interesting- some of the drivetrain appears to interchangable with the earlier Tackers and Sidekicks. I was put off by the poor fuel-economy (for what it is) and the still high prices. 4cyl Gen3 4Runner seem to do better on fuel, but you better be willing to travel to get one. I'm not sure I would seek it out for future use of its 3rd row. Riding 3-up in the back seat of a normal rig sounds better than spending much time in the back of the XL-7. IMHO, you'd be better off with a Montero for a compromise of reasonable fuel economy and 3 rows of seats.

 

[Bdiddy11]

Ya we're leaning more towards Montero now, just wanting to get any feedback on the XL-7.

We need something big enough for a larger family that's not a van, Excursion or Suburban and still gets decent mileage. Just exploring all our options =)

 

[zukrider]

as a Zuki guy, and a montero owner, go montero!

 

[stevec]

We bought an '04 XL-7 brand new in Dec. '03, and put about 100K miles on it in the four years we owned it. Never had a single problem with it, and it was one of the favorite vehicles I've ever owned. Plenty of room, plenty of power, and it felt very well built. My only gripes were: push-button 4WD (the dealer had an '03 left which has a shifter, but didn't have the 3rd row seats), front headlight style (I preferred the earlier style), and the fuel economy (100K miles at ~21mpg meant $$$ for gas!)