The Suzuki Liana arrived in Australia in 2001 as a small hatch and sedan, replacing the Baleno. Liana stood for ""Life In A New Age"" and it aimed to offer a practical, fuel-efficient city car at a sharp price. Its tall-boy design gave it standout cabin space for the class and a high driving position.

It used a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine paired with either a five-speed manual or four-speed auto. While the drive wasn’t sporty, it was easy and honest. Standard kit was decent for the time, with later models offering ABS and dual airbags. The Liana also found life internationally as the Aerio in North America and was even a Suzuki rally car.

Sales wrapped up in 2007 when the SX4 took over. By then the small car class had moved on. Still, the Liana was known for being cheap to run and hard to kill. It’s now a solid budget buy on the used market.

The line-up currently starts at $2,640 for the Liana (base) and ranges through to $4,950 for the range-topping Liana (base).