Suzuki is a safe and popular vehicle. It has relatively low crime rates, which makes the vehicle even more popular because it makes insurance premiums more affordable. However, no car is without its crime statistics, and those who are considering investing in a new – or secondhand – Suzuki should consider these in order to make an informed purchasing decision.
The Suzuki is known as a high-performing, low crime rate vehicle. In fact, the only things that go against it, on a statistical basis, are the Carry van and the Supercarry. Both of these are incredibly old models, and in 2005, the Carry van was even discontinued. However, this does mean some of those are still on the road, just like the Vitara and the Baleno, which means they are still of significant statistical importance. A second problem with looking into statistics for Suzuki cars is that their models are so incredibly varied, that it is difficult to create a proper picture.
Unfortunately, this skewed image makes it more difficult to accurately judge what insurance premiums will be. Insurance companies look mainly at make statistics in terms of accidents and crimes, and don’t have the time to delve deeper into models. This is problematic for the Suzuki, because it has older vehicles that don’t perform very well, but newer models, like the SX-4 and the Splash, that are doing incredibly well. Consider, for instance, that the Suzuki Carry van is regularly stolen, whereas the Suzuki Splash is in the top 10 least likely to be stolen reports!
There is some suggestion that there are also reporting issues, however. For instance, the Vitara is said to be quite likely to get stolen, increasing insurance premium rates. Research has shown, however, that the police does not record any differences between the Grand Vitara and the regular Vitara, which means the statistics are wrong, inflated unfairly against the Vitara and deflated unfairly against the Grand Vitara. Both, in other words, should be classed as unlikely to be stolen, but the Grand Vitara is highly unlikely, and the Vitara is likely, according to insurance carriers.
So what are the statistics relating to Suzuki? Per 10,000 registered vehicles:
- 93 were stolen.
- 54 experience criminal damage.
- 47 were broken into.
- Five were interfered with.
- Two had other crimes committed to them.
This means that a total of 195 crimes were reported by 10,000 Suzukis, which is 13.4% worse than the national average.
So what about looking at the offences for every 10,000 vehicles looking at specific ranges of Suzukis? This revealed that, in terms of:
- Criminal damage, 12 SX4, 20 Splash, 12 Grand Vitara, 19 Wagon-R+, 22 Jimny, 29 Liana, 43 Ignis, 56 Alto, 55 Swift, 61 Baleno, 82 Vitara, and 26 Carry models were involved.
- Interfering with, one SX4, one Grand Vitara, one Wagon-R+, two Jimmy, one Ignis, three Alto, two Swift, five Baleno, five Vitara, and 24 Carry models were involved.
- Theft from, 10 SX4, 10 Splash, 12 Grand Vitara, 11 Wagon-R+, 20 Jimny, 20 Liana, 32 Ignis, 42 Alto, 48 Swift, 61 Baleno, 97 Vitara, and 60 Carry models were involved.
- Theft of, four Grand Vitara, nine Jimny, four Liana, four Ingis, seven Alto, six Swift, 19 Baleno, 58 Vitara, and 330 Carry models were involved.
A Suzuki representative says: “What these statistics show is that it truly is impossible to say what the crime statistics for Suzuki as a whole are. The only thing we can say with any kind of certainty is that the Carry van scores very poorly on all the different levels of crime, although it scores lower than some other models in certain categories. It’s no wonder insurance companies are confused!”
