Since December last year Auto21 stopped producing any cars in Taiwan and so they have decided to drop the Solio and Swift form the ranks of Suzukis presently on sale. There is competition from the recent Taiwan-China developments which has drawn investment away from Taiwan only vehicles.
The Swift was chopped from the line-up because it was too similarly priced to the SX4 which has a slightly higher spec and more space inside. The Solio was dropped in favour of the Alto which favours even stricter budgets and can fit into more people’s garages and tiny pavement parking spaces.
I quite like the Swift, but MAN! That Solio is one FUGLY mofo! Good riddance to it, I say. You DO know, don’t you, that there’s an actual category known as Solio drivers. I think it was maoman who first referenced it. Something about being unable to park properly in the Ikea carpark
The Solio was the most practical of the small cars, full stop. Its interior space and completely flat folding seat arrangement made it the best car you could want to take to an Ikea car park.
I will not miss the Solio for sure - having gotten one sourced by AC / Sulavaca already
I noticed that back home the nickname for that car is “Elephants’ Rollerskate”. It’s not the ugliest I’ve ever seen, but then, it is one of the most practical for sure. I just tried sleeping in it this weekend (instead of camping), and with the totally flat folding seats it is comparable to sleeping in a tent. Very convenient! That, plus the great view all round, the huge space inside, the extremely comfortable and very upright seats, made me not regret buying it at all.
By the way I forgot to mention. All Suzukis presently on sale are now imported from Japan. This has put all prices up by quite a whack. On the plus side there is a new less useful saloon version of the SX4 available which is there just to show how much more useful the original five door version was and still is. I think they only bothered with it just to fill some showroom space to be honest. I have no idea why anyone would want one.
I find it rather funny that Suzuki sells the SX4 here with the worst possible powertrain available. no turbo diesel, no 4wd…it should be called the SX2. My buddy has an SX4 and it’s an underpowered and over-priced hunk of scrap. If it was 300k new, i’d understand…but a shade under 700k is nothing short of a robbery for what it is (and what you get).
I find it rather funny that Suzuki sells the SX4 here with the worst possible powertrain available. no turbo diesel, no 4wd…it should be called the SX2. My buddy has an SX4 and it’s an underpowered and over-priced hunk of scrap. If it was 300k new, I’d understand…but a shade under 700k is nothing short of a robbery for what it is (and what you get).[/quote]
I disagree. I would say that for an actual price of NT648,000 (up NT$28,000 from two years ago) it is only slightly more expensive than a Toyota Yaris, yet has a suspension which better copes with the rough Taiwan streets, being originally conceived to manage basic four wheel drive territory, helped with high profile tyres. The fact that it is underpowered doesn’t so much show a weakness for high speed, but a practicality for the average slow speeds of average driving paired with low running costs for its lower 1,600 cc engine. It comes as a Japanese built vehicle with six airbags and a four star Euro NCAP safety rating. As far as I know thats a much higher safety rating than any other vehicle in its price range here in Taiwan. I wouldn’t want a more powerful engine in this vehicle anyway as it isn’t a design suited for a more powerful engine. It has a higher roof-line to accommodate slightly taller drivers. The back seat arrangement also offers rear passengers a decent view out of the front of the vehicle.
There are drawbacks to the SX4. I would say the slightly higher road noise over some vehicles of its class, plus the roof-rails which aren’t often employed anyway and can catch the bottom of a rotisserie car park lift.
Overall its a car that I very much like and it still has that very nice Swift style interior. As I’ve stated many times before, I consider myself a practical kind of guy and I have considered the SX4 as a vehicle I would live with.
NT$300,000 Captain Stag? Can you show me a new car for sale for that price please?
It is indeed. The best fun for a budget on the market. BMW Minis are okay, but too many issues, and that price tag!! :ohreally: At least in Europe they’re only a little more than a Swift.
I should have written that I wouldn’t pay more than 300K for an SX4 based on what I’ve seen and experienced with it. The AT changes gears way too often. As soon as you put 4 adults in that car + AC ‘on’ (load), the TCU continually upshifts too early, which requires a bit more of a push on the accel pedal, which in turn commands the TCU to downshift into a lower gear (which is already up in the RPMs)…and the whole upshift to downshift parade continues. Put a full load of passengers and any hills (on a hot day) in front of it and it’ll do this a thousand times a minute. The non-vvt (from the ones imported 3 years ago) 1.6L engine puts out a weak 102ps. It would be ok with an MT, but from what I can see, the Taiwan market gets the worst possible powertrain for this car. 1.6L + 4-spd AT.
Why not the 1.6 TD or 1.9 TD or 2.0 TD (or the NA 2.0) ? Does the 2010 model being imported to Taiwan come with the CVT? To be fair, the one I have driven was from the first batch of imports 3 years (or so) ago. Maybe some tweaks have been done to the powertrain but I still don’t see how having all that cargo and space capacity can be useful when the powertrain is not up to the task.
[quote=“Captain Stag”]I should have written that I wouldn’t pay more than 300K for an SX4 based on what I’ve seen and experienced with it. The AT changes gears way too often. As soon as you put 4 adults in that car + AC ‘on’ (load), the TCU continually upshifts too early, which requires a bit more of a push on the accel pedal, which in turn commands the TCU to downshift into a lower gear (which is already up in the RPMs)…and the whole upshift to downshift parade continues. Put a full load of passengers and any hills (on a hot day) in front of it and it’ll do this a thousand times a minute. The non-vvt (from the ones imported 3 years ago) 1.6L engine puts out a weak 102ps. It would be ok with an MT, but from what I can see, the Taiwan market gets the worst possible powertrain for this car. 1.6L + 4-spd AT.
Why not the 1.6 TD or 1.9 TD or 2.0 TD (or the NA 2.0) ? Does the 2010 model being imported to Taiwan come with the CVT? To be fair, the one I have driven was from the first batch of imports 3 years (or so) ago. Maybe some tweaks have been done to the powertrain but I still don’t see how having all that cargo and space capacity can be useful when the powertrain is not up to the task.[/quote]
I think its a question of horses for courses really. I believe its quite possible you would have such an experience with a majority of cars around the same power output as the SX4. It may not be the best four seater mountain going car on the market, that’s true. For its price range I believe it to be a very good package vehicle, especially considering the average field of use it will receive.
I know that if they were to offer a greater power train then it would approach the cost of much larger vehicles, as well as vehicles in the Toyota mid range category. Suzuki obviously know their placement very well with this package and would probably do less well with a larger engine as standard.
Hi, I’m wondering how good the Suzuki Solio would be for a first family car, i.e. 2 adults and a baby? Space seems good, and I love the compactness. Wife doesn’t want a big car. Just 2 questions:
Can the Solio be driven with one rear seat down, and one up? This would obviously give alot more options.
Does this car come with ISOFIX in Taiwan? Seems like in some territories it does, and some it doesn’t.
Want to buy 2nd hand, wonder if a Solio or a Yaris would be a better option. (Solio mainly considered due to it being significantly cheaper)
Aphasiac, since the support for the Solio had effectively disappeared, the best car to go to in the Solio budget category is now the Hyundai Matrix. It has more space than the Solio and is way cheaper than the overpriced Yaris IMO. The Yaris has limited rear headroom and the Matrix is easily more comfortable and yet, still very compact. I actually just bought two of them in this month as they’re such a popular budget car with good reliability, reasonably priced components and have the benefit of that rear hatch.
The Solios, after a few years also showed some of their flaws, one of them being corrosion, especially at the firewall area. It’s hard to find a good solid one at this point.
So far no trouble finding parts/service for mine (Nangang Auto21/Suzuki off Jiuzong is decent). But yes, rust at the firewall. Had that reinforced/repainted last year after about 7 years of outdoor parking. Otherwise no big rust problems or drivetrain problems yet. Still if I could swap for a Matrix or other 1.8 I probably would as the 1.3 Solio is really underpowered imho and still in the same tax bracket.
[quote=“aphasiac”]
Can the Solio be driven with one rear seat down, and one up? This would obviously give alot more options.[/quote]
Yes, it can… it remains a convenient ride as far as parking goes and carry rather surprisingly large items. I wonder if it isn’t taller than a Matrix.
So far no trouble finding parts/service for mine (Nangang Auto21/Suzuki off Jiuzong is decent). But yes, rust at the firewall. Had that reinforced/repainted last year after about 7 years of outdoor parking. Otherwise no big rust problems or drivetrain problems yet.[/quote]
Yes, I have no trouble finding parts for the Solio now either. What I meant to say was that there was a period of time, when the former Suzuki distributor failed, and people couldn’t get original parts until Suzuki found a new Taiwan agent. During that time many owners effectively gave up on their cars and many of the Solios fell into disrepair. Hyundai hasn’t suffered any interuption and their cars, at this point have been taken care of much better.
I’ll always add that all small cars, from all manufacturers tend to have one thing in common, which can be their often poor level of ownership and low quality of maintenance. It is typical that owners with strict budgets often purchase the cheapest model of a manufacturer’s range, and that that model will often be the smallest car on offer. Those same, budget limited owners will often reflect their budget shortfalls when it comes to the maintenance of their vehicles. For this reason, small cars tend to be in a poorer condition than larger models. It often has little to do with the car’s design though, so they aren’t worth giving up on entirely. Good ones do exist, but of all car categories may often be the trickiest to source (as well as older “executive”, “luxury” cars).
I haven’t had any of those issues on the Matrix models. Certainly some Kia models use degradable paint on some interior surfaces, but the Matrix doesn’t suffer too many issues. No more than most Japanese cars anyway, which is basically next to none.
The main, single thing to be aware of on Hyundais of that generation is the Hazard warning switch. Leaving the hazards on, on any hyundai model for ten minutes or so can fry the switch and the wiring.
Also check that the timing belt has been replaced periodically and that it uses original exterior drive belts. The front dampers are a bit fiddly to replace on the Matrix too, so if they’re due for replacement on a used car, then they’ll cost around 10k to replace with quality components.
Whats your opinion on the Prius C ? Just leased one for two years. Thinking since it drives nice and is made in Japan , I may want to buy it after the two year lease runs out. Got 3000 off MSRP on the lease and the residual to buy after 2 years is 70pct of MSRP. IN other words just 70pct of 21,800 will buy the car after.
The bumper to bumper is 3 years or 36000 miles, there is another driver train warranty which is 5 years or 60,000 miles and the battery warranty is 8 years or 100,000 miles.
Never had a hybrid. Do those batteries typically last much more then 8 years and 100,000 miles? Because on the Prius C the battery is about 8000 dollars !!
I would buy the car after if I can drive the car for at least 12 years and say 200,000 miles, without seriously having to consider buying a new battery.
The long answer however isn’t really an answer. The C is built upon the Yaris platform and performs similarly. It’s fairly decent, but nothing to write home about. It’s certainly not bad though. Whether it suits your driving demands though only you can answer. A hybrid is only efficient if it is driven efficiently and there are a few other, very efficient options out there in different markets, some which strongly compete with the C on efficiency, yet which require much simpler engineering and lower cost components. Also there’s the cost factor. If wanting to be efficient is a running cost concern, then efficiency alone doesn’t cut it. This was my point to Toyota and their advertising exec when I was asked to offer consultancy for their 3rd Gen Prius release to Taiwan. I’d explained how the first gen didn’t sell well because they kept harping on about how it was Taiwan’s number 1, most efficient car. True, but it cost twice the purchase price of a Yaris which was only marginally less efficient. The majority of efficiency seakers out there care about running costs more than efficiency. The C should be as reliable as the hybrid generations before it, of that I have little doubt. Prius batteries last a ridiculous length of time. They are designed to last “the life of the vehicle”, however long that is. There are plenty of reports of people running 1st gen prius on their original batteries, even years down the line with no issues, so you should be safe there.
I would say that if your parts are easy to find, if you drive it conservatively and if the size suits your needs then go for it.
