Rear Shock failure issue and TSB & Warranty Repair

[KuroNekko]

That's awesome that you got the faulty parts back. You can clearly see that the old bump stoppers don't have the grooves which are supposed to be the fix in addition to a change in inner diameter.

I didn't get them back, but told Steve I'd like to take some pictures of the damage, so he let me spend some time with them.

The bump stops are really simple to change. It took them 20 mins to hand me the parts. I'm sure a lot of that is experience, but it wouldn't take a whole day if you had to do them yourself.

No doubt that changing the rear shock wouldn't be too hard. You don't even have to worry about getting a spring compressor as it's not a coil-over like the front. However, getting your hands on the new bumper stopper would be a challenge unless you go through a dealership. It's hard enough getting shocks for this car and I've only been able to find KYB Excel-G's for it which I think are the OEM shocks.

[SamirD]

No doubt that changing the rear shock wouldn't be too hard. You don't even have to worry about getting a spring compressor as it's not a coil-over like the front. However, getting your hands on the new bumper stopper would be a challenge unless you go through a dealership. It's hard enough getting shocks for this car and I've only been able to find KYB Excel-G's for it which I think are the OEM shocks.

I think ordering the stops from a dealership would be fine, just take a while. I know the dealership even doing the warranty work had to wait a week for parts.

The whole idea behind changing the stops early would be to save the shocks from any damage. If the shocks are already gone, at least it would prevent any more damage.

[rtetrault]

Started to hear sweaking from the rear sometime last Fall. Brought the car to the dealer in late November to have it checked, dealer could find no issues. Drove the car all winter here in Vermont, and depending on the temperature it seemed like the shock would come up through the trunk. Sounded like a 10 year old car with 200k miles.
Finally got around to bringing it back to the dealer. I think I was in denial that a car with 23K miles would have that kind of issues (2012 Kizashi GTS).
So in the 27 months I have owned the car, new tires at 18K, shocked replaced at 23K and needed rear brakes at the same time as shocks......and I don't consider myself a driver that is tough on cars. So why would anyone want a car who's value has hit rock bottom? I tried to trade the car, and the dealer told me that he called 4 wholesalers and not one would touch it! That being said, I am glad I leased, as I can bring the car to the dealer in 10 months and say bye bye! The Lease end value if I wanted to purchase it would be 14K........hahahahaha good luck with that one.

[SamirD]

Started to hear sweaking from the rear sometime last Fall. Brought the car to the dealer in late November to have it checked, dealer could find no issues. Drove the car all winter here in Vermont, and depending on the temperature it seemed like the shock would come up through the trunk. Sounded like a 10 year old car with 200k miles.
Finally got around to bringing it back to the dealer. I think I was in denial that a car with 23K miles would have that kind of issues (2012 Kizashi GTS).
So in the 27 months I have owned the car, new tires at 18K, shocked replaced at 23K and needed rear brakes at the same time as shocks......and I don't consider myself a driver that is tough on cars. So why would anyone want a car who's value has hit rock bottom? I tried to trade the car, and the dealer told me that he called 4 wholesalers and not one would touch it! That being said, I am glad I leased, as I can bring the car to the dealer in 10 months and say bye bye! The Lease end value if I wanted to purchase it would be 14K........hahahahaha good luck with that one.

If tires, shocks, and rear brake pads (which they should have checked the caliper for proper operation as this isn't normal) is all that you have had to deal with, that's not too bad for any car if that's all you have to do. All three things are wear items, so it doesn't bode anything for the longevity of the car.

And let me know where you turn in that lease so I can pick it up for under $10k.

[KuroNekko]

Started to hear sweaking from the rear sometime last Fall. Brought the car to the dealer in late November to have it checked, dealer could find no issues. Drove the car all winter here in Vermont, and depending on the temperature it seemed like the shock would come up through the trunk. Sounded like a 10 year old car with 200k miles.
Finally got around to bringing it back to the dealer. I think I was in denial that a car with 23K miles would have that kind of issues (2012 Kizashi GTS).
So in the 27 months I have owned the car, new tires at 18K, shocked replaced at 23K and needed rear brakes at the same time as shocks......and I don't consider myself a driver that is tough on cars. So why would anyone want a car who's value has hit rock bottom? I tried to trade the car, and the dealer told me that he called 4 wholesalers and not one would touch it! That being said, I am glad I leased, as I can bring the car to the dealer in 10 months and say bye bye! The Lease end value if I wanted to purchase it would be 14K........hahahahaha good luck with that one.

No car is perfect, but these issues are relatively minor compared to the what other brands/cars are going through. All you have to do is follow the recalls of late. You know that GM has even recalled more cars this year than it sold in the US in the last 5 years?
Nissan just recalled their US-made Leafs for faulty welding. The entire car was recalled.
Remember the Toyota recalls a few years ago? It was recalled for safety issue yet their new models still get poor crash test ratings in new tests that the old-by-comparison Kizashi aces.
Even reliability stalwarts like Honda and Subaru have had their problems such as faulty automatic transmissions and head gasket issues, respectively.

In comparison, faulty rear shock bump stoppers and crappy tires (not even Suzuki's faulty, really) are really minor. The paint on the Kizashi also sucks, but I rather have craptastic paint than crappy electronics, powertrain, or safety issues. Let's also not forget tires and brake pads are wear items. They don't last forever.

In essence, the Kizashi is not a perfect car, but the rivals are not really much better. In fact, most are much worse in problems and recalls. Name a car and within 20 minutes, I can probably find a common issue with it that's the gripe of owners. It's also probably worse of a problem than you had with the Kizashi.

So yeah, the Kizashi is worthless now, but that's more on the part of Suzuki leaving the US and that it was never popular to begin with. I also find it odd that you leased a Suzuki. Well, you can now go for something else and hopefully have a better experience though I suggest you stay away from German cars. If you thought the Suzuki was unreliable, you have no idea what German cars are like, especially close to the end of their lease term. They aren't called "lease-mobiles" for no reason.

Other Japanese brands have high reliability but drive like appliances. Many rivals to the Kizashi actually ride quieter and more comfortably. You know why? The suspension was designed for that. However, you push the car on a twisty road and it will understeer and roll around. In comparison, the Kizashi hangs on to the road much better and is a far superior handling car to most in its class. Suzuki deliberately designed the Kizashi not to be another midsize appliance and it shows.
I rented a 2014 Ford Fusion and saw it for myself. It can't hold a candle to the Kizashi in handling.

I can't blame you for wanting to offload your Kizashi as a leaser with a less than stellar experience, but if you think your next car (or any other car) is going to be much better, you are most likely in for a rude awakening.

[murcod]

So in the 27 months I have owned the car, new tires at 18K, shocked replaced at 23K and needed rear brakes at the same time as shocks......and I don't consider myself a driver that is tough on cars. So why would anyone want a car who's value has hit rock bottom? I tried to trade the car, and the dealer told me that he called 4 wholesalers and not one would touch it! That being said, I am glad I leased, as I can bring the car to the dealer in 10 months and say bye bye! The Lease end value if I wanted to purchase it would be 14K........hahahahaha good luck with that one.

Your tyres lasted ~29000km and you're complaining? I'm happy to get over 25000km from a set of tyres. You might live somewhere with a lot of roundabouts or corners, the tyres might not have been rotated, the wheel alignment might have been out, the roads where you live might be hard on tyres? There are so many variables.

The shocks / bump stop were part of a TSB. Things like that happen with ALL manufacturers and it shouldn't have cost you anything to get it fixed.

As already mentioned, hopefully your dealer did more than just replace the rear brake (pads)? The hand brake may have been dragging.

[Woodie]

And let me know where you turn in that lease so I can pick it up for under $10k.

That's what I was thinking too, SamirD. If it's got a manual transmission, I'll buy it.

[SamirD]

And let me know where you turn in that lease so I can pick it up for under $10k.

That's what I was thinking too, SamirD. If it's got a manual transmission, I'll buy it.

If it has a manual, my wife has her own Kizashi.

But I would have to steal her front and rear bumpers first to fix mine.

[paininthenuts]

Started to hear sweaking from the rear sometime last Fall. Brought the car to the dealer in late November to have it checked, dealer could find no issues. Drove the car all winter here in Vermont, and depending on the temperature it seemed like the shock would come up through the trunk. Sounded like a 10 year old car with 200k miles.
Finally got around to bringing it back to the dealer. I think I was in denial that a car with 23K miles would have that kind of issues (2012 Kizashi GTS).
So in the 27 months I have owned the car, new tires at 18K, shocked replaced at 23K and needed rear brakes at the same time as shocks......and I don't consider myself a driver that is tough on cars. So why would anyone want a car who's value has hit rock bottom? I tried to trade the car, and the dealer told me that he called 4 wholesalers and not one would touch it! That being said, I am glad I leased, as I can bring the car to the dealer in 10 months and say bye bye! The Lease end value if I wanted to purchase it would be 14K........hahahahaha good luck with that one.

Like some others, I am a little confused. I admit that replacing rear shockers shouldn't have happened. In fact, in this day and age the replacement of shock absorbers is rare, and Suzuki should of had a recall for this. However, the replacement of the break pads and tires at the mileage you have stipulated is pretty normal.

[Ronzuki]

My mechanic stated to me as he was swapping the shock bushings and mounts that he didn't buy the bump stop was going to ultimately resolve the problem. He expects the cars that had the TSB fix performed to develop the same problem again. Time and miles will tell.