Suzuki Ciaz review: the sedan that wins on rear legroom and loses on brand pull
3.6/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The Ciaz is genuinely under-cross-shopped in Bahrain. Rear-seat space rivals cars a segment up, the boot is large, and the price is meaningfully below a Corolla or Civic of similar equipment. What it lacks is the resale strength and brand pull of the Japanese mainstream, so buy it for the years you will own it, not for what it will fetch when you sell it.
Pros
- Rear-seat legroom that rivals sedans a segment above
- 510-litre boot is genuinely family-trip sized
- Meaningfully cheaper than a similarly equipped Corolla or Civic
- Lower insurance premiums than mainstream Japanese rivals
Cons
- Weaker resale value than Toyota or Honda equivalents
- Four-speed automatic feels dated and works audibly hard on causeway inclines
- Suzuki's smaller dealer network in Bahrain than mainstream brands
- Styling and cabin design lag the segment's newer entrants
Open the rear door of a Ciaz next to a Corolla and the difference is immediate: Suzuki packaged the cabin around passenger space rather than styling, and the result is knee room that a segment-above sedan would be proud of. The 510-litre boot is similarly generous, genuinely useful for a family's luggage on a trip to the causeway or the airport.
How it drives
The 1.5-litre engine and four-speed automatic are unremarkable performers — adequate for Manama traffic, unhurried on the highway, and audibly working when climbing the causeway's inclines with a full load. This is not a car bought for driving enjoyment; it is bought for space and price, and it delivers on both without pretending to be anything sportier.
Ride quality favours comfort over control, which suits its target buyer well: a family covering the daily commute and occasional longer trip, not a driver chasing back-road entertainment.
The value case in Bahrain
The Ciaz's real argument is arithmetic: for the price of a well-equipped Corolla or City, a Ciaz buyer gets a similarly equipped car with more rear-seat room and a larger boot, plus lower insurance premiums. The trade-off is resale — Suzuki's brand pull in the used sedan market is weaker than Toyota's or Honda's, so depreciation as a percentage tends to be steeper. Buyers planning to keep the car for its full useful life, rather than trade it in after three years, are the ones who benefit most from that arithmetic.