Suzuki Vitara review - Reliability & safety
“Suzuki has the best reliability rating in our Driver Power survey, but its five-star safety rating it outdated”
The Vitara offers plenty of safety equipment as standard and Suzuki is well known for making fairly tough off-roaders.
Suzuki Vitara reliability
The Vitara feels built to last inside, despite the cheap-feeling plastics used in places. And Suzuki has a very good reputation for building SUVs that are both rugged and long-lasting.
The Vitara actually placed 21st out of 50 models in our latest 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which is rather impressive for a decade-old car. Owners love its low running costs, ride and handling, but were less thrilled with its safety features and dated infotainment. Suzuki as a brand is the most reliable in our Driver Power survey, with just 8.9% of owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year. General Suzuki brand satisfaction is middling, though, and it came in 19th place out of 32 manufacturers.
Safety
The Vitara was crash-tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP, coming away with a perfect five-star score, but that was way back in 2015 before more stringent testing was put in place, so it’s not comparable to more modern rivals. It was individually rated at 89% for adult occupant protection, 85% for child occupant protection and 76% for pedestrian protection. Safety assistance was scored at 75%.
Most of the Vitara's safety equipment comes as standard on all trim levels – and there's plenty of it. The list includes automatic braking if the car detects a potential collision ahead, cruise control, hill hold (to prevent the car rolling back on hills), seven airbags, ISOFIX child-seat mounting points and electronic stability control (to help prevent skids).
