Suzuki Grand Vitara Diesel Owners

[morgue]

The diesel 307 Pug we have, has gone passed its usefulness, so it needs to be upgraded.
 I have Kayleen to consider plus a new teenage driver, then there is the towing of the CT.
I am out voted when it comes to something that is big like a Nissan / Toyota / Mitsubishi dual cab diesl manual for the family rig, for the girls like a smaller vehicle they can park.
To to sweeten the deal the the females of the household we have all agreed to the SUV vehicle, the one vehicle that seems to be under serious consideration by the girls is the Suzuki Grand Vitara with diesel. I test drove one yesterday and was impressed.
The good thing for my part, is that the Grand Vitara has some off road cred, and over time, when the finances pick up, it can be lifted a little, the diesel can be chipped for a bit more poke, add a little snorkle, nice bar on the front, maybe a decent offroad tyre and on my side of the coin i have a little tonka toy, that Kayleen can drive.
Some questions for the owners of the Grand Vitara Diesel.
1/. I read , that when you connect a trailer, the rear swing out door will not open fully, for it will hit the hitch coupling.
  Is this true for all trailer hitches?
2/. The tow bar placement is a bit low on the Vitara and this can cause problems?
3/. What is the Vitara's max tow hitch down ball weight that it can have?

Any other details and overall views on the Grand Vitara will be appreciated, for this weekend, Kayleen goes for a spin in a demo...she holds the finance ministry in this household.

[davidy61]

Don't have a diesel, but height of tow-bar, max download and swing doors will not vary with a petrol model.

We have a Tregg Hitch and can open our door over the CT hitch but it stops at the stone guard.  Enough room to get into the rear and out fridge

We got a Hall Tow-bar Heavy Duty Hitch and the square socket is directly under the number plate.  I have seen others that appear lower.  We do not have a problem with it but have got a 2" lift kit.  Even before that it was okay.  Pic at the bottom may give you an idea.

Down weight has been a fiercely  debated topic on some of the Suzuki forums.  Initially we were told 85kg.  It is not stated in the owners manual at all.  If you look at the latest e-specs, it now quotes 150kgs with no change to model.

We love out GV, only reason we did not get a diesel is they only come in manual and with arthritis, no go for us.

Feel free to ask any other GV questions.

[way-t-go]

Morgue, I don't have a diesel either (budget didn't stretch that far) but it is on my wish list for my next GV. I have an OROC hitch on the CT and I am using a Hayman Reese Tow Bar with the adjustable height tongue, that raises up the coupling by about 200mm and my rear door opens up with no problems. I agree with Davidy61 that there is a lot of confusion out there in regards to to ball down load weight. I was told that mine was 85kg and have since been told that they are now 150kg. They are a great vehicle.

Gary

[morgue]

Kayleen is keen to give one a test drive, here on the Far North Coast of NSW, diesel model quotes are $39500, before trade in, whilst on the Gold Coast...drive away $35000, so its up to the Gold Coast / Brisbane areas to get a deal.

[JayD]

I picked up my Diesel GV the day they were released in Feb 2008.  It has today just clocked up 195,000km.  It is used for business and I do a lot of miles in it every day...and I love it.  I tow a Coromal Silhouette 390 with it, and it does it with ease.  The coromal is heavy in the drawbar, around 160kg, and although the zook sits a little low in the rear, there is really no problem.  When towing the camper, I remove the spare wheel cover, and have the option to shorten the tow tongue, which is very long as standard.  ( I just drilled an extra hole through the hitch.)  I needed to replace the shocks at around 100k, and they were absolutely shagged.  I don't know if that is normal, but apart from that, and a new set of glow plugs (expensive) I havent had any problems.  Would definately recommend the diesel GV.   Jay