Escudo vs Sidekick: FIGHT!
Yesterday we took the car in to get it checked. It's been making this awful high pitched squeal in first gear. Mostly during very humid and cold days. Mike and I both figured it was a built, but what I couldn't figure out is why our belts went bad so fast. I had just replaced them late '08. Turns out the belt wasn't bad, it was just loose. It only cost us 10$ to tighten it.
Phew.
Apparently the Escudo (known as the Sidekick in the US) is a very well known and reliable 4WD vehicle. Ours is a '93. And it did pretty well until it had to sit outside in the cold Misawa winters with nothing to protect it. I think if we'd had a garage--or even a carport--it would have been in better condition. But alas, the military didn't deem out cars worthy of having things like a carport or garage.
The closest thing Suzuki has now to the Sidekick is the SX4 Crossover. Which is around the same price range as the Sidekick and has similar gas mileage and size. The direct decedent to the Sidekick is the Grand Vitara, though it seems a bit more upscale and possibly larger than the Sidekick with poorer gas mileage. It does look more like the Sidekick than the Crossover though. (But I happen to like Crossover's look a bit better.)
Mike mentioned getting a Sidekick back in the States, but I'm still keen on getting a Honda Fit. Sidekicks were built in the 1990s and while they are great cars, I'm tired of owning cars that are 10+ years old. It's nothing personal, but I just want a car that I don't have to repair because something fell out of the bottom of it or something important broke. I'd also really like a warranty for once... so even if something bad does happen we don't have to pay 100s or 1000s of dollars to fix it.
That's all I have to say about that. :P
Phew.
Apparently the Escudo (known as the Sidekick in the US) is a very well known and reliable 4WD vehicle. Ours is a '93. And it did pretty well until it had to sit outside in the cold Misawa winters with nothing to protect it. I think if we'd had a garage--or even a carport--it would have been in better condition. But alas, the military didn't deem out cars worthy of having things like a carport or garage.
The closest thing Suzuki has now to the Sidekick is the SX4 Crossover. Which is around the same price range as the Sidekick and has similar gas mileage and size. The direct decedent to the Sidekick is the Grand Vitara, though it seems a bit more upscale and possibly larger than the Sidekick with poorer gas mileage. It does look more like the Sidekick than the Crossover though. (But I happen to like Crossover's look a bit better.)
Mike mentioned getting a Sidekick back in the States, but I'm still keen on getting a Honda Fit. Sidekicks were built in the 1990s and while they are great cars, I'm tired of owning cars that are 10+ years old. It's nothing personal, but I just want a car that I don't have to repair because something fell out of the bottom of it or something important broke. I'd also really like a warranty for once... so even if something bad does happen we don't have to pay 100s or 1000s of dollars to fix it.
That's all I have to say about that. :P