I recently had a chat with a friend of mine who was also interested in the Suzuki Every. He watches almost the same youtube channels I do, and he's done a test drive of an Every from a dealer in Cavite.
One of the biggest takeaways I got from him was that the ride was hot. I do know you're sitting on top of the engine, but from what he said I'm not so sure if it was a design issue or if the surplus seller didn't add insulation below the seat. I'm thinking it's the latter.
I was also watching a Youtube video of a DA64W Turbo on a road trip to Bicol and one of the comments in that page was someone mentioning that he was sitting for five hours stuck in traffic in a DA64W and it was hard to walk after. I'm not so sure if it was the quality of the seats or the seating position.
So my takeaways from these are that you need to insulate the engine bay and probably get good seats. That being said, if I actually gain the courage to buy a Japan surplus Suzuki Every I'm still sticking with a DA17V non-turbo AGS as the base model. It can even the the most entry-level variant, since that has manual side mirrors and windows. Then add modifications from the surplus seller like the following.
- Upgrade to DA17W front and rear seats. I've seen videos and the Every Wagon seats look like they have thicker cushions. The headrests are also separate for the front seats. The rear seats are split folding and they're also equipped with headrests. I'd also require seatbelts for the second row since the so-called "captain's seats" do have provisions for seat belts.
- 7-inch Android Auto ready head unit with back-up camera. This is also a very common (and useful) upgrade since it gives you another way to see the rear when you back up.
- Front fog lamps patterned after the DA17W look. I'm curious about additional bumpers and bumper mounted fog lamps but honestly I'm not too keen on adding bumpers since it would add weight. So just copy the DA17W look and add bumper mounted fog lamps.
- Top load carrier. Basically the roof rack. Just have it added and registered so that you can load stuff on the roof when absolutely necessary.
Additional mods I'd have done that won't be from the seller would be switching the signal and wiper stalks to left-hand drive orientation, better sound system (including better and additional speakers, improved head unit, maybe an amp), rear chase light bar to replace the third brake light, and maybe even some performance related mods.
There's this youtuber who lives in Japan who owns a DA64V turbo and his mods are making me a bit envious of the modifications he's done to his Every Van. Aside from rims, he's added a blow off valve, coilovers, and aftermarket exhaust.
Out.
