Owners have filed 27 complaints on the Suzuki Samurai, covering 1986–1994. The system named most often is Seat Belts (11 reports). Worst years by volume: 1988, 1986, 1991; cleanest: 1990, 1992, 1987. 10 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Suzuki Samurai
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 27 Samurai complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Seat Belts 11 Read
During impact driver's side seat belt did not lock. Please describe
Passenger rear right lap belts inoperative, male won't go into female portion to lock
Received arecall notice for seat belt buckles. After recall work was done, seat belts now are worst. Child almost flew out of seat because of replacement buckles
Suspension 3 Read
Coming off ramp vehicle stated swirling and skidding when reaching bottom of remp, vehicle flipped over
Vehicle flipped over in accident due to poor stability
Upon impact, broadside rear driver's, 30mph spun around then rolled over. Tt
Tires 3 Read
Bridgestone, p205/70r15, DOT unknown, replacement tire, milage unknown on a 1988, suzuki, samurai. While driving 55 mph heard a noise. Then, vehicle started to fishtail, spun around 180 degrees and hit a tree. Damage to vehicle unknown. No injuries. Rear driver's side tire had tread separation, a 2 1/2 feet long piece…
The left rear tire delaminated and wrapped around the axel, causing the car to go out of control... Causing us to go out into the desert and roll over... I was injured, my husband only suffered a bruise, I received sever trauma to my head, causing me to need eye surgery within a year to regain vision. *ak( DOT number:…
While traveling 55mph heard a noise. Vehicle started to shimmy. Pulled vehicle over & checked on tires. Noticed left front tire, a spare, had lost its tread. Tire was still inflated suzuki samauri jeep firestone, sf405, p205/70r15, DOT elytckk508. *ak
Engine And Engine Cooling 3 Read
Engine caught on fire in the transmission area
While driving car was overheating so he pulled over checked the car and oil was coming out. Later he found out a bolt had come lose and one felt out
I wanted information on how easily the samurai tips over
Seats 2 Read
Drivers seat back collapsed and bent when rear ended. Please describe details. Tt
Was hit from rear and the two seats reclined driver was thrown into the back. Tt
Structure 2 Read
Truck flipped over going 35 mph and it also has spun around. Tt
Steering failure
Steering 1 Read
While driving south on freeway 101 there was a vehicle in front that was in the way. Consumer's vehicle made a slight turn to the right to avoid an accident, and all of sudden vehicle rolled over, hitting an embankment, then hit a wall, then vehicle stood up. *ak
Service Brakes 1 Read
When consumer applies brakes the pedal goes all the way to the floor
Samurai years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Seats | 2 | — | |
| 1992 | Structure | — | — | |
| 1991 | Seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1989 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 4 | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 25 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.0 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Samurai?
By complaint volume, 1988, 1986, 1991 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Samurai years are the cleanest?
1990, 1992, 1987 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Suzuki Samurai have?
27 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1986–1994. Of those, 10 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.