Junkyard Find: 2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross
The final Suzuki cars sold in the United States and Canada were 2013 Kizashis, SX4s and Grand Vitaras (sadly, the Equator got the axe a year earlier). That meant that we never had the opportunity to buy the SX4 S-Cross, which debuted as a 2014 model. But wait! The S-Cross was available in Mexico, and now one of these fine machines resides in a Colorado car graveyard.
I've been finding quite a few Mexican-market cars in Front Range Colorado junkyards in recent years, including a 2018 Chevrolet Beat (Daewoo Matiz), 2002 and 2009 Chevrolet Chevys (Opel Corsa), a 2017 Renault Duster (Dacia Duster), a 2009 Nissan Aprio (Dacia Logan), a Nissan Tsuru apparently wood-screwed together from the remains of a dozen Juarez taxis, a 2006 Peugeot 407 and a 2001 Dodge Ramcharger.
A car registered in Canada or Mexico is legal to operate in the United States for a year, after which it is supposed to go back across the border or get registration here.
Since it's bureaucratically impossible to get most less-than-25-year-old Mexican-market vehicles registered in an American state, some end up stuck in El Norte after their legal year is up. Colorado law enforcement agencies didn't make much effort to bust users of expired/missing/fake license plates for the first few years of the Covid-19 era, but those days are over now. An S-Cross with expired Mexican plates, a home-printed out-of-state paper temporary plate or even a Moorish Nobility plate won't last long on the street.
GM sold the remnants of its stake in Suzuki back in 2008, but the influence of the far-flung GM Empire meant that plenty of Suzuki-built vehicles were sold bearing the badges of GM brands after that. This car was sold as a Chevrolet in Ecuador, for example.
This S-Cross was built by the Magyar Suzuki Corporation in Esztergom, Hungary. Others of this generation (2014-2022) came off assembly lines in India (Maruti Suzuki) and China (Changan Suzuki).
The current generation of S-Cross is built only in Hungary. You can get a '25 S-Cross in Mexico for just MX$484,990 (about 26,018 US dollars at current exchange rates). In its Hungarian birthplace, it has an MSRP of Ft9,900,000 (about $28,996). In Israel, the cheapest new S-Cross lists at ₪182,384, which comes to a staggering $54,985.
I believe this is the 1.6-liter engine, rated at 134 horsepower and 115 pound-feet.
I can't find an MXDM brochure for the 2014 S-Cross online, but the 2018 version shows that the only transmission choices were a five-speed manual and a six-speed automatic. This car has an automatic, but it might be a CVT.
The audio system has AM, FM, CD, Bluetooth and USB as its sources.
The left rear shows signs of a scraping impact, but otherwise the body looks solid. The name of this color appears to be Bison Brown, known in the Spanish-speaking world as Marrón Bisonte.
The interior was in good shape at the end, but there isn't much here that will fit US-market vehicles.
Would this car have been successful in the United States, had Suzuki stuck around? Discuss.
In India, the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross was "the premium crossover," and it let you "go sky high while doin' a fly-by."
Down Under, you didn't pack a bag for an S-Cross trip. You packed an adventure. Is it just me, or does this commercial seem inspired by the Pontiac Aztek ads of 15 years earlier?
It was available in Europe, of course (this commercial is for the Irish market).
Indonesia, where Suzuki claims that the SX4 was the first crossover available in that country.
In Bolivia, the S-Cross made you feel comfortable on any terrain.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross in Colorado junkyard.
[Images: Author/YouTube Thumbnails]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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F ing shame Suzuki cars are not sold in USA. I ve had a Suzuki Snowmobile, motorcycle and outboard. They make great stuff.
That MY used a CVT. I think it would've succeeded if it was sold by another brand. Unfortunately Suzuki's dealer network was so limited even a decade before packing up that it wouldn't have made any difference even if the vehicle is good enough.