The first-generation Suzuki Baleno (type EG), also known as Cultus Crescent (Japan), Esteem (North America), or Maruti Baleno (India), is a compact car designed to offer a rational and economical alternative in the C-segment. Available as a 3-door, 4-door sedan, and estate (wagon), it stands out with a typical 90s Japanese mechanical design: extremely robust gasoline engines, contained weight, but imperfect sound insulation and a marked susceptibility to corrosion. A facelift occurred in 1999, modernizing the front end and slightly improving the interior finish. Although forgotten today, it remains a formidable utility choice for reliability if one avoids examples ravaged by rust.
The Suzuki Baleno I is the quintessential 90s Japanese car: mechanics that refuse to die in a disintegrating body. Buying a gasoline model (1.6 preferably, especially the estate) is an excellent choice for an ultra-low budget, on one absolute condition: that the chassis and engine subframe are free of perforating corrosion. If the gearbox doesn't whine and the body is sound, it's an indestructible utility vehicle. The diesel (1.9 TD) should be avoided today given the superiority of Suzuki's gasoline engines.