Suzuki S-Cross SUV - Reliability & safety

This is an area in which Suzuki needs to perform if it wants any chance of disrupting the top models in this very competitive class. Nobody wants to be stuck at the side of the road thanks to an unreliable car and many of the rivals to the S-Cross have a five-star safety rating to their name, including the Hyundai Tucson, Mazda CX-30 and MG HS. There’s a lot of driver assistance technology on board, so we’d expect the S-Cross to post a good score when it gets tested.

Suzuki S-Cross reliability

As a brand-new car, it’s hard to judge the reliability of the S-Cross. But the signs are promising, as only around 10% of Suzuki owners reported a fault in our Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which is the lowest of all manufacturers. Suzuki finished a disappointing 21st in our rundown of the 29 best manufacturers, with build quality, value, infotainment and running costs all praised. The Suzuki Vitara finished in 52nd place out of the top 75 cars on sale, which is more promising given that the S-Cross shares its engine and parts with the Vitara.

Safety

Euro NCAP is yet to test the new Suzuki S-Cross, so a definitive safety score isn’t yet available. The S-Cross is off to a good start, with autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring and traffic sign recognition. There’s also a warning system that scans behind the car when you’re reversing and an alert that pops up if the car detects that you’re weaving around in your lane. The 360-degree camera fitted to Ultra models should spell the end of low-speed parking scrapes too.