Nice looking little car. Quite zippy on the highway and fun to shift 5-speed gears. All around fun car. Low maintenance and great gas mileage.

White knuckled when driving on a windy day via interstate. Not very well insulated. I feel very unsafe in this vehicule since it is almost aluminum foil like.

I would recommend this car for someone who is concerned about gas mileage, price and likes small cars. For someone who wants quality - don't buy it. This car loses it's value very fast and it is quite difficult when you want to trade into another vehicule since you end up so upside down in the value. If you are in it for the long run - it is okay, however, if you like to change cars every couple of years - not a good idea.

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Volkswagon Golf. Similarities -> cute, good gas mileage, zippy
All around -> Golf handled much better, felt safer in Golf, Golf quality was THERE

very peppy on freeway and fun to drive in especially in large metro areas like Las Vegas and Phoenix

none

Paid 13,500 and would recomment this car to anyone

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Saturn

This wagon handles like a sports car (not that I've ever driven a sports car, but it is fun to drive). The storage in the back is great. We got it for a family of four and find it more than adequate space-wise. The built-in roof rails help with toting vacation supplies. The stereo is fine, and not as hard to use as I had heard. The overdrive is is good for highway driving. It's fairly quiet, and the a/c works great, which is very important in this part of the country. It's comfortable on long trips and spacious up front.

The interior is not very refined. But I was willing to part with fancy stuff in order to get a great car at a great price. The drink holders are small and wobbly, and I wish there was more space to lay stuff up front.

I would definitely recommend this car. It is absolutely everything one should expect in a small wagon - peppy, comfortable, dependable, economical, spacious. Paid $12,422 for the stripped down basic model (w/ automatic).

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Saturn SW2. Much more comfortable and quieter than the Saturn.

Practical design; quite roomy for a mini-car (I'm 6'2"); good seats; handles well in tough conditions, once you put decent tires on it; really peppy.

Lousy heater; no tilt steering available (in Canada, at least); gas milage not as advertised; more squeaks and rattles than a Japanese car should have; limited dealer network; safety concerns.

I'd recommend it to anyone looking for sensible, affordable transportation, with three provisos. First, you should look at the poor crash-test scores the Esteem (aka Baleno) has got in Australia and Europe. That remains a niggling concern for me. Second, don't expect Honda- or Toyota-level quality: it just isn't there with Suzuki. One example: my car arrived with the carpet installed right on top of the floor-level heating ducts. And with the truly pathetic heater in the thing, that was serious! Third, the spotty dealer network can be a pain: if you value your time, you might want to consider a car that's more common.

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* 1997 Escort wagon (owned, briefly) -- Suzuki is way more comfy, and smoother driving, but Escort was more solid and safer-feeling on the highway.
* 1999 Subaru Legacy wagon (rented) -- Subaru better in most respects, but seemed gutless (no zip) after Esteem.
* 1991 Corolla wagon (owned) -- Corolla was a typical Toyota: reliable, bland, a bit pricy. Overall quality a lot better with Toyota.

The car is one tough car ,sometimes you virtually amazed with the handling;it makes you feel as if you are in a performance car.It is light,(manual) and responds quite well!

I sure as hell wish that it had more hp.Mine is a'97,and what prevents me from fully enjoying the rush is the lack of power!In St.Kitts,the car is called Suzuki Baleno(kinda cheesey name!),and the tires (and wheels)should have been larger.

In my currency ,I paid about XCD65,000.00,which I thought was a little high back in '97 since that would be about USD20,000.00 fully loaded.Iwould definitely recommend it.Right now, the car has been loaded with a Panasonic System with remote commander,door speakers of about 200w,rear speakers of about 500w,a 15in competition 400w sub-woofer,all being run by a JBL amp(two actually).Some other modifications have been done,and I was just about to add stabilizer bars and some alloys,but I may be going to school in the US soon,so I am trying to save some money!
Maybe I might some more work into my'98TrekSHX Limited Edition mountain bike!

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I once had a '92 Hyundai Excel...after some tweaks it ran very well,but had too much body roll and handling was quite poor!

Very useful vehicle, holds 2 adults and 3 kids easily, the wagon modle makes hauling "stuff" very easy. The car itself is very "peppy" and easy to drive. The mileage is very good, and the car is comfortable to ride in for quite a long time. The controls are easy to use, and the visibility is good. Get the 5 speed model: it is a lot more fun to drive!

My wife likes it so much that I rarely get a chance to drive it.

The Esteem Wagon is one of the best cars that we have ever owned. We were looking for a useful vehicle that was reasonably priced, but the Esteem has give us far more than we ever expected! It is far more practical, comfortable, and economical than an SUV. Anyone looking for a good car, as opposed to an ego trip, ought to check out the Esteem.

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Corolla Wagon: the Esteem is faster, smooother, more economical by far.
Escort Wagon: Esteem is MUCH more powerful,and a lot more fun to drive. More comfortable, too

Great value, lots of room, looks terrific, fun to drive, so far very little maintenance.The engine is very peppy and the 5 speed manual fun to drive.

Heating system not powerful enough for canadian winters. Very bad door seals.In winter you can feel the cold coming in from the bottom on doors. The rubber seal around the door frame is not adequate, I suspect that the cold temperatures stiffens the rubber compound and the result is a bad air-seal. I drive a 5 speed manual,the motor noise becomes annoying pass 110 Km/h, but then it sounds like a well tuned BMer. IT also, tends to over-steer in sharp curbs.

GLX model with c.d and tinted windows (unfortunately the abs was not available on the 1.8 L in june of 1999.) Paid 16,400.$Cnd. Great sport-wagon at a fraction of a Subaru Forester...never mind the all wheel drives I've been driving to my favourite ski hills in all kinds of weather for over thirty years and 2 wheel drives is quite acceptable> I see more 4X4 and all wheel drives in the ditches than front wheel drive vehicules.

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Ford, Hyundai...no way close, in terms of looks, interior quality,and road handling...I was driving a Jetta before and my Esteem doesn't make me wish for one.

Perfect Japanese quality. Fun to drive(engine isn't that powerful but very neat, 50 x 50 weight distribution). No maintenance at all except oil change.

For this price... - none. But... May be it could be less noisy.

Yes I can recommend this car.
Do not forget they have Esteem Wagon which is very
nice (looks like Audi A4 Avant).
My main point is you would get the same car from honda for
few more thousands just for the NAME.

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Neon, Corolla, Civic

Very reliable, 1.8L is very responsive, completely trouble
free so far!

The ride is a little rough. Very tight feel!

Overall! I love this car. I bought it brand new, I'm paying more than market value. I think it's worth it. I'll do it again and recommend this car (only the 1.8L) to all my friends.

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Dodge Neon. Junk!

The engine
Huge cargo bay
Can keep up with anybody on the freeway, where the ride is quite peaceful and serene.
Sleek, tasteful, distinctive styling.

Wouldn't mind stiffer struts up front.
Steering wheel is a little thin and slick. I put a leather wrap on it, and now it's fine.

I was shopping for an SUV when I saw this wagon and had a sudden attack of sanity. Half the price, half the fuel cost, more comfort, better performance and all the cargo space I need.When I test drove it, the ride comfort and handling impressed me, and the power blew me away. I tested a few more small cars for comparison, decided I couldn't do better, and got me a black Esteem. Since then, I've put about 4,000 miles on it. Here's what I found. Assembly quality (fit and finish, absence of rattles, squeaks and whistles): perfect. Interior materials: Darn good for the price. Seating comfort: Remarkable -- no numb-bum, even on a 600-mile day trip. Handling: Great around town, terrific for quick evasive manoevres at speed, leans a little in long, sweeping corners but sticks to the road just fine.Brakes: strong and easy to modulate. Engine: the best feature, free-revving and powerful, with a nice, raspy sports-car growl. Gas mileage: tremendous, right on the excellent government ratings on the highway, would be better around town if I could resist the joy of high revs and rapid acceleration (maybe when I grow up).

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Sentra (nice car, but no wagon or hatchback available), Focus (ugly and sluggish, but the steering wheel was nice), Golf (too little cargo space, bad shifter and clutch),Saturn (a bit too noisy and slow), and assorted others that were either way too expensive or way too not-very-good.