Suzuki Esteem Wagon [Merged]

[chuaed]

maawa ka naman kay Mommy... noon bata ka pa lahat binibigay sa iyo bago, tapos ngayon bibigyan mo lang sa kanya isang lumang kotse...

okay lang sana kung ikaw ang gagamit... pano kung magisa lang siya nag drive at nasiraan siya sa daan, laking abala rin iyan sa iyo at mapapamahal ka sa maintenance sa kalaunan...

malamang matakaw rin sa gasolina iyan...

bigay mo sa kanya ng honda jazz/city, or hyundai gets/matrix crdi...

iyan sigurado tipid sa gasoline...

[monlab]

I bought my Mom the same car kasi gusto nya ng station wagon. I do not have the cash to buy her the Optra wagon eh and the Opel Astra naman, mahirap ang parts. I got it from a friend so maayos pa sya when I got it. Since its an old car, I changed the shocks and have it serviced at the casa. I also have it detailed and "konting hilamos" para mag mukhang bago.

So far ok naman. Gas consumption is 6/7 km/liter. Aircon is good. The power windows sometimes get stuck in the rubber seals but just spray them with silicon. Next big ticket expense is the timing belt. I already inquired about it sa casa and it will cost me around Php6K.

[pitbullz]

monlab: thanks :D medyo matakaw sa gas din pala ano? hmmm...isip ako ng iba pang options ng pang negosyo nya

[Syuryuken]

kung pang negosyo ng mom mo mas ok na ang tamaraw FX mas maraming maikakarga.

[pitbullz]

uy! thanks for merging...

pwede din FX pero babae magmamaneho

[mazingerZ]

I bought my Mom the same car kasi gusto nya ng station wagon. I do not have the cash to buy her the Optra wagon eh and the Opel Astra naman, mahirap ang parts. I got it from a friend so maayos pa sya when I got it. Since its an old car, I changed the shocks and have it serviced at the casa. I also have it detailed and "konting hilamos" para mag mukhang bago.

So far ok naman. Gas consumption is 6/7 km/liter. Aircon is good. The power windows sometimes get stuck in the rubber seals but just spray them with silicon. Next big ticket expense is the timing belt. I already inquired about it sa casa and it will cost me around Php6K.

I just had my timing belt replaced, and it cost me only around P2,400.00 (belt - P1,700.00, labor yung natira). BTW I am a zuk vit owner. Both vehicles share the same timing belt (if i'm not mistaken).

[monlab]

Ang mura non ha. San ka nagpa service? Baka don ko na lang dalhin yung Esteem ng Mom ko.

[oceanrider88]

Hi! Esteem owner here. Actually, the Esteem is really one of those under appreciated cars in the market today. My concern before i bought it was the parts and so i scouted around and, surprisingly, found a number of shops selling parts (the esteem uses the same G16B vitara engine by the way). Here are a few:

Fernandos - 9124025 / 9124991
Zukiman - 09178077900
Pyeza - 8172206 / 8727063 / 873-4084 / 8734123
Olympia- 7165388
Links Motor Sales - 7114231 / 7113022
Philhino- 6343451 / 6315315
LVC Motors - 7129722
WFC - 4156129 / 7403137
Lourdes - 412-3789 / 4140213 / 7414933
Steel - 416-7952 / 740-7211
Oki - 7816637 / 7495028
Kenrick - 7421163 / 7421170 / 4152246
Banawe auto parts - 7121102 / 7117949 / 7113991
Djan - 4132500
regius - 4132498
lyjiecar - 7490627 / 7819716

I dismissed the idea of buying a suzuki at first because of the parts but when i talked to other suzuki owners and gone over a couple of suzuki forums, i found that there are a number of shops that carry suzuki parts. You can also have it repaired anywhere like any other car.

Orig parts are as expensive as oem parts of other manufacturers. As for surplus parts, meron sa banaue and evangelista. In fact, the first shop i inquired in evangelista had orig shock absorbers for P1.2k only. So far, i have found all the parts i need. I even found an auto supply in better living pque that sells some suzuki parts. In short, there are replacement parts available in auto supplies but it is not as available as toyota parts. Maybe 1 out of 10 shops you go to would have the parts you need. As for surplus, you can find them in banaue or evangelista. Here are a few ORIG surplus parts for trivia: headlights P1.5K, signal lights P900, tail lights P1.5K, hatch lights P1.5K, rear hatch P7K, shocks P1.2K, throttle servo assembly P4.5K (lancer daw is P7K), compressor P3K, grille P1K, power side mirrors P1K, laminated wind shield P8.5K, bnew ordinary windshield P4.7K - negotiable pa lahat nyan but i didnt bother to ask just wanted to let you guys know that there are surplus parts - subaru nga meron suzuki pa. Dami din surplus engine parts. Fernandos sells overhauling gaskets, piston rings etc at good prices - halos kumpleto sila sa engine parts. Di pa ako bumibili sa philhino - i can find the parts elsewhere naman. I haven't checked the pasay shops pero meron din daw dun.

By the way, the timing belt of the esteem is the same as the civic lxi and costs P1.5k for an orig honda timing belt. Orig suzuki timing belt is P1.8K while replacement is P900. Tensioner bearing is P700 i think. Tie rods, rack ends, stab links cost around P400+ for replacements. If you dont like replacements for suspension parts, try Cruven polyurethane injections - off road shops sell polyurethane bushings for their rigs for P6k - P18K so this material is quite sturdy. I have tried it on my 4x4 and it is ok. If you are concerned about parts, meron cheap replacement parts, cheap surplus and brand new OEM - dont worry.

My AC is cool. Not as cool as my nissans or our honda but good enough. It uses a seiko seki compressor but you can use sanden, denso or calsonic if the AC shop can fabricate brackets for you. Found a lot of surplus compressors for around P3k in evangelista and banawe. To make it cooler, i installed a taiwan aux fan (P700) which is turned on all the time at ignition and relay & wires (P150) plus labor (P300) to cool the condenser. If you want it cooler, i suggest you have the orig AC fan turned on all the time at ignition as well (which i did not do anymore) - just add a relay. You can also add a much bigger condenser around P2k i think. It runs much cooler now. The heavy tint helps a lot. Cool and comfortable during the day and super cold at night.

Here are user reviews of the esteem:

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/suzuki/esteem/

Here is a suzuki club:

http://s8.zetaboards.com/clubcarryph/index/

I find it to be a solidly built car. The esteems are a good buy as many people think that there are no parts available. I saw a few in the tsikot ads for P170k - not bad - all power, mid size, '97 up CKD vehicle, wagon pa, comfortable seats, stock roof rails, and very spacious. Di pa kalampagin. Looks like an Audi wagon or subaru legacy. I love that rolling trunk cover and hub caps - you can change hub caps every day easily if you have spares.
For fuel consumption, I do around 9 - 10 km/l in the city on a manual version - parang 98 honda vtec 1.6 lang diba? Not sure about the highway consumption as it's used mostly in the city.

Just remember, many people fear what they do not know or understand fully

[j-six]

up ko lang guys, CSP would be having its very 1st fundrive. all suzuki owners are invited.

here are the ff details:
when: march 21
time: for CSP NCR - after lunch, we will leave exactly at 2.30pm!
place of meet: petron gasvilla...not sure kung san part tayo magkikita dun pero dun tayo sa tapat ng convenience store ng petron
place of route: NLEX northbound then exit to Sta. Rita.
important: lahat na may SUN cell na line pakidala. this will be our "walkie-talkie" for the funrun to kevz309's
place.

my numbers: 09234721420 (sun) and 0915-9802730 (globe)...text text nalang bros.

[Macky]

After 3 long years of looking for a 2nd car, the wife and I decided to get a '97 Esteem with 84k kms on it. Tagal naming nag-decide ssince hinintay namin i10.... kaso the space that the Esteem offers won us over. Plus syempre our pleasant experience with our 2005 APV helped in our decision to pursue Suzuki cars.

* oceanrider88,
Any reliable suspension shop in the Las Pinas/Paranaque area? Yung nakuha kasi namin is lowered to the max with 17" rollers. Gusto ko sana ibalik yung original suspension nya or kahit siguro .5" to 1" drop lang. Tamang tama lang kasi sa family of 5 yung nakuha namin.... pag dinagdagan pa ng groceries, pulos sayad na inaabot ko.... putol springs kasi.

Yung last post mo helped me gain some peace of mind. Yung APV din kasi namin is casa maintained up to now due to my mentality na rin kasi of Suzuki having scarce parts plus ang tingin ko kasi since scarce nga ang Suzuki parts, limited din knowleadge nang mga mekaniko dito so I relied heavily sa casa eversince. Thanks a lot.