Ask the Car People.SM


Suzuki Aerio Wagon Safety & Crash Test Results

21 messages,  Last post on Feb 25, 2008 at 9:01 PM

You are in the Suzuki Wagons Forum.

What is this discussion about? Suzuki Aerio, Car Safety, Wagon

Messages Page 3 of 3

#12 of 21 re: airbags by lngtonge18

Mar 16, 2005 (4:11 pm)

Again, my point is that Suzuki should have offered the dual chamber airbag to begin with. I'm not saying they need to retrofit the bag from the Forenza; rather, they should have designed a better airbag for the Aerio, especially once they knew the Forenza would have one. Offering a chest only airbag in 2005 is almost pointless unless they offered a head curtain to go along with it. Since they don't, it makes the Aerio's safety pale compared to the Forenza's. Why do something half-a**ed when they were starting from scratch?

#13 of 21 re: airbags [lngtonge18] by chrisducati

Mar 25, 2005 (6:17 pm)

Replying to: lngtonge18 (Mar 16, 2005 4:11 pm)
I am wondering if Suzuki even gets a heads up to what is coming with the Daewoo products. It buys them thru its connection with GM so has little say in production changes. Aside from sticking a plastic S on the front and the name on the back. Suzuki goes about business totally differently than GM does. The US market has always been low on their agenda until just recently. They sell tons of vehicles around the world. I think until just this last year they were number one seller of R class cars in Japan and had been for over a decade. Kind of like Ford with it's F-150 here in the States. Many of their sales go to countries that do not even mandate airbags at all. Basically They could leave the US market and never even notice the lose of sales. From the look of their expansion plan here in the states most of the products bound for our shores will not actually be Suzuki's They will be Daewoo products. Suzuki designed products are designed for the other 98% of the world. I doubt they well ever build a large sedan. The Aerio is the largest car they make.

#14 of 21 re: airbags [chrisducati] by frozentundra

Mar 27, 2005 (8:23 am)

Replying to: chrisducati (Mar 25, 2005 6:17 pm)
Actually, I believe Suzuki makes the Verona sedan which is a mid-size car. It is vastly underpowered, but it is an attractive looking car and is sold (at least in Canada) as the Chevy Epica.

#15 of 21 re: airbags [frozentundra] by chrisducati

Mar 30, 2005 (3:31 pm)

Replying to: frozentundra (Mar 27, 2005 8:23 am)
The Aerio is the largest car Suzuki manufactures. Please re-read my statement. I said Makes, not sells. Suzuki does not build the Verona, Forenza, Reno or Swift + which is sold in Canada. All of the above except the Aerio are built by GM/Daewoo of Korea. Suzuki had no production input on those vehicles. It markets those vehicles thru its connection with GM. GM owns 10% of Suzuki. Suzuki and GM have been long time partners in brand labeling. The Geo/Chevrolet metro, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo/Chevrolet Tracker were all built by Suzuki and badged for north American sale. They sold in other parts of the world as Suzuki's The Metro/Swift was also sold in Europe in four wheel drive form as a Subaru.

#16 of 21 Airbag as Standard Equipment by aeriohawaii

Mar 18, 2005 (7:47 pm)

It is Nice to see Suzuki make Side Airbags as Standard Equipment. It is the Only car in it class to offer them as Standard Equipment.

#17 of 21 aeriohawaii by lngtonge18

Mar 18, 2005 (10:27 pm)

Not true. The Elantra and Spectra both offer standard side airbags and these airbags protect the head, unlike the Aerio.

#18 of 21 Correction by aeriohawaii

Mar 19, 2005 (12:53 am)

I Forgot to mention that Hyundai and Kia had side air bags.

#19 of 21 Hope Suzuki reads this by bricknord

May 16, 2005 (8:26 pm)

Just sold my 1995 Sidekick 4-door. Great vehicle for all 125k miles. Sold on Suzuki reliability. The trucklet was getting old, though, and I was concerned for my wife to be driving it since due to it's age, I started to worry about safety. No airbags, no ABS, etc. Sort of tinny, and in this day and age where ABS and airbags are kind of no-brainers, I thought, hey, time to upgrade to something a little more modern and safe. I noticed after ruling out the Mitsu Lancer due to lack of ABS on the ES, that most Zooks had ABS optional. Great! I had owner loyalty from the Sidekick, and drove down to the Suzuki dealer ready to buy a car. I had a few basic non-neotiable requirements: stick, ABS, size of a Forenza or less roughly, less than 16 grand give or take a grand. Wife loved the look of the Aerio SX. The website sez ABS and stick available! Great! Upon arriving at the dealer, they do a search. No ABS Aerios with 5 speed anywhere. Like, in the USA! Ok, no problem, I'll settle for an LX sedan, and I'm not picky about color, just find me an ABS car. No dice, none available anywhere! What gives? Ok, I'll take a Reno then! I really want a Suzuki even if it really isn't a Zook! Umm, no ABS cars to be had anywhere either. Sheesh. I walk out totally disappointed. I'm not going to settle for a new car in 2005 without a basic safety feature such as ABS. So, to my great regret, I looked around. Hmm...you can get a Scion xA with ABS and side airbags for $14k or so! In a stick! Wow! Sold!
 
FWIW, Suzuki, would really have rather bought your car, and tried pretty hard to do so. You might want to give some thought to making an option that is shown to be available actually exist. You would have sold a car to me. Hoping to buy a car from you next time around. Thanks!
 
Hope someone at Suzuki reads these forums since I can't find a link on their site for feedback such as this. Good luck to all of you on the forum with your Aerios! I appreciate all the good info I read in many posts over time which led me to consider the car and try to buy one even though I was ultimately unsuccessful. Take care!

#20 of 21 Re: Hope Suzuki reads this [bricknord] by missweasel

Jun 03, 2005 (5:12 pm)

Replying to: bricknord (May 16, 2005 8:26 pm)
I had the same problem. And I even backed off on the 5sp requirement! I spoke to the manufacturer's rep at the Dallas car show last month and voiced my frustration about the ABS issue. After he finished with the same ol' tap dance that I get from every other salesperson confronted with my ABS hardline, he eventually told me that they have limited availability of Aerios because production was temporarily suspended while the plant where they are made is being re-tooled for the new Vitara. True? Who knows. BTW, I almost got the Scion xA as well, but the Aerio is just so much roomier and peppier. Hopefully Suzuki will get there act together for 06 and my 93 Geo hangs on until then.

#21 of 21 Re: offset results [lngtonge18] by lynnster2

Feb 25, 2008 (9:01 pm)

Replying to: lngtonge18 (Dec 10, 2002 9:46 am)
What is REALLY scary is that the 2005 AWD Aerio sedan crash results came out with a POOR rating! We bought this car! The driver in a side impact is toast! The only thing I cared about before we handed over the money was crash safety testing & the salesman assured me it got a good rating all the way which seems now to have been a lie. We bought our 2005 Aerio, new in 2006. The dealer has since gone under. Looks like we need to consider getting rid of this asap. The link provided above were results for a 2002 Aerio, but the link at the bottom took me to the results of a 2005. I wonder what happened between 02 and 05 that caused the crash tests to go from GOOD to POOR? Anyone? Or did I misread something.

Messages Page 3 of 3

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement