Been thinking of posting this thread for sometime now, thought I should share my experience of Escudo with others, just in case if anyone would like to know more about this not so common (in Pakistan) SUV.
Anyways, in my case it was love at first sight was looking for a small SUV in early 2016 and that too within a limited budget. Was looking for a up to 2000cc, engine, four door vehicle, and model had to be above 2000.
Short listed were, Juke, Rush, and Rav4... learned that most of the Jukes imported in Pakistan are only FWD, so Juke was dropped from list. Rush turned out to be a little smaller from inside and again mostly were FWD but came across a few AWD but asking price was more than 2m. Rav4 turned out to be only option, but 2001-2005 models were too dull from inside... though I am old too, but the dashboard of Rav4 looked even much ancient than me
One fine day while looking for small SUV on Pakwheels, I came across a Suzuki Escudo...phir kaya laato hoo gaya It was in Karachi, called the owner (a great person)... done the deal on phone and got it to Islamabad on a car carrier.
Following is some information that I got from Wikipedia:
Third Generation of Suzuki Escudo
(2005-2014; same shape continued for a decade with some minor changes)
An all new redesigned Grand Vitara (called Escudo in some markets) was introduced for the 2005 model year. The third generation received significant changes over the outgoing model. The ladder-frame
construction was replaced with unibody construction which featured a unique built-in ladder frame to improve stiffness and ground clearance while also reducing the floor height.
The outgoing models front MacPherson strut suspension was retained while the rear solid axle was replaced with a fully independent multi-link suspension. Depending on the market, engine options included a 1.6L inline four (105hp), 2.0L inline four (126hp), 2.7L V6 (185hp) and a 1.9L Renault-sourced diesel engine (127hp).
The engine and transmission are longitudinally mounted unlike most front-wheel drive based compact SUV's in its class. Engines are available with either a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic transmission. The Grand Vitara is available in both rear-wheel drive only models or with a 4-mode all-wheel drive system.
The most widely available Escudo is the 5-door version, but a three-door version is also available in some markets. In some markets the three-door variant drops the "Grand" to be branded simply "Vitara". In some countries, including Chile the 5-door version is named "Grand Nomade".
A commonly held misconception is that the third generation Grand Vitara is related to the GM Theta platform. The two are completely unrelated and were developed separately by GM and Suzuki and share no components.