Junkyard Find: 2004 Suzuki Aerio

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

Not many cars appear and disappear while leaving as little trace as did the Suzuki Aerio, which was sold in the United States for the 2002-2007 model years. Normally, I ignore such new cars when I’m wandering around the wrecking yards of Denver, but I’ll break out the camera when I find something of historical significance— for example, an example of the final year of the GM J-body’s 24-year run— or when I see a car that doesn’t seem to exist on the street any more. This Aerio is such a car.

The car used for the first seven years of Top Gear UK’s “Star In a Reasonably Priced Car” series was a 2002 Suzuki Aerio (called the Liana, which was supposedly an acronym for “Life In A New Age,” in Europe). This is the only Aerio most of us have ever seen.

American car shoppers ran out of reasons to buy Suzuki cars, though Chinese buyers can still get a new Liana.

Will anyone pull any pieces off this car before it gets eaten by The Crusher? Probably not.








Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

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, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Racin_G73 Racin_G73 on Apr 23, 2013

    You know, I actually wanted to buy one of these back around 2003. But the purchase price plus not-so-good fuel economy was such that I never even took it for a test drive. The same thing happened in 2007 when I ended up buying a Scion xB. The Aerio was dead by then, but the fuel mileage on the rest of the Suzuki line-up was so terrible that it wasn't worth the cost of entry.

  • Stereorobb Stereorobb on Sep 19, 2013

    Man these sure didn't last very long did they?! I remember seeing the kinda cool commercials for these when they came out. Then I saw one in the wild and thought how ugly and terrible they looked. Almost born hoopties, my neighbor had a yellow one and it was already falling apart at a year old. Heh. These will be totally forgotten in a few years.

  • InCogKneeToe Wow, memories. My Parents have a Cabin on a Lake, I have a Plow Truck and Friends, access to Lumps (old tired autos). What happens? Ice Racing!. The only rules were 4 cylinder, RWD only. Many Chevettes were destroyed, My Minty 1975 Acadian Hatch Auto with 62,000kms, did also. Rad, Rad Housing etc. My answer, a 1974 Corolla Hatch 4 speed, the rest of the Vettes took offence and Trashed the Yota. It was so much quicker. So rebuttal, a 1975 Celica GT Notch, 2.2L 20R, 5 Speed. Needed a New Pressure ate but once that was in, I could Lap the Vettes, and they couldn't catch me to Tag me.
  • 28-Cars-Later I'm not sure when it was shot, but I noticed most shots featuring a Ford are pushing the BEV models which haven't sold well and financially kicked the wind out of them. is it possible they still don't get it in Dearborn, despite statements made about hybrids etc.?
  • ToolGuy I watched the video. Not sure those are real people.
  • ToolGuy "This car does mean a lot to me, so I care more about it going to a good home than I do about the final sale price."• This is exactly what my new vehicle dealership says.
  • Redapple2 4 Keys to a Safe, Modern, Prosperous Society1 Cheap Energy2 Meritocracy. The best person gets the job. Regardless.3 Free Speech. Fair and strong press.4 Law and Order. Do a crime. Get punished.One large group is damaging the above 4. The other party holds them as key. You are Iran or Zimbabwe without them.
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