Veronas are nicely equipped, but they're plug-ordinary in performance, where their 6-cyl acts more like the 4-cyl engines of many rivals. Verona's lower resale values vs. more-established [...]
Suzuki's 2007 redesign improved on the trucky, previous-generation XL7, but it still trails the competition for value and overall refinement. XL7 shines only for acceleration and transmission [...]
Like the Nissan Frontier on which it's based, the Suzuki Equator is a credible compact-pickup contender with the option of a powerful V6 engine, middle-of-the-pack size, and new-vehicle options [...]
For the most part, Swifts have reminded us of Japanese subcompacts from the mid-1980s: noisy, cramped, basic--but stingy with fuel. As economical runabouts, they'll do--but just barely....
If low price is your top priority, a Swift (and its Metro counterpart) are worth considering. Even so, a larger, more substantial car could be a better bet in the end....
