RPM Spiking

[KIZFAN2]

Such a shame! The Kizashi is a great car, I am at 80,000 km and I have had no mechanical issues. Although, I have had a few trim issues but that's another story.

I really hope they can fix your car so you can experience the pleasure of driving it with no problems.

[gentle_ben]

Such a shame! The Kizashi is a great car, I am at 80,000 km and I have had no mechanical issues. Although, I have had a few trim issues but that's another story.

I really hope they can fix your car so you can experience the pleasure of driving it with no problems.

I agree its a great car, we love it aside from this issue. I'll be honest, we've been car shopping while waiting to get this car back from Suzuki, and we haven't found anything else out there that we liked as much as the Kizashi. We chose it for a reason, and we still like it for the same reasons.

I am sure they are just as tired of seeing my car as I am of seeing the service desk. I've asked the question many times "At what point do you guys admit you can't fix our car?" and they keep saying they can't/won't answer that question. I asked Suzuki Canada and their reply was "We will cross that bridge when we get to it", which I interpreted as they plan on keeping this whole cycle going until my warranty runs out.

The guy at the rental car place knows me on a first name basis now after all the cars Suzuki has rented for us there. His advice to me after picking up our last rental car was to get a lawyer. He said he has seen it countless times where dealerships will just wear you down until you give up. Our car has 25 months of warranty left on the power train, and I am both patient and stubborn. I guess we will see who gives in first over that time. As I've said before though, I may just seek some legal counsel to see what my options are if Suzuki keeps giving me the runaround.

[coref1]

In Aus if the problem starts while under warranty I'm pretty sure they still have to fix it even if the warranty runs out. Australias consumer laws are pretty useless so I'd be surprised if you don't have the same protection in Canada. For sure you need to keep pushing until they fix the problem. I hope you see a positive resolution soon.

[KIZFAN2]

any update on the fix?

[gentle_ben]

Ok, so after capturing the event with their scanners, and spending the last week trying to blame it on an EMI (electromagnetic interference) issue, it sounds like they are putting yet another transmission in it. For those counting that will be transmission number 4.

60,000 km or 37,000 miles and 4 transmissions. We are either the unluckiest Kizashi owners on the planet or else these transmissions are junk.

They say our transmission oil pressure is spiking which is causing the RPM's to spike. They are also trying to tell me that the car does not change speed when this happens (which I know is wrong and have evidence to prove otherwise).

Once the new transmission is installed, we are going to meet with the manager of the dealership to try and work something out regarding compensation. Bottom line is we don't want this car anymore, and we are going to give them the opportunity to make it right with us before we escalate to legal action. If they don't give us a satisfactory response that is going to be our next step. 3 blown transmissions, and the 4th one is going to blow too since they haven't found whats really wrong with the car yet.

[Woodie]

Make them give you a sweet trade in on a Kizashi with a real transmission. The whole idea of a CVT sounds like voodoo and gives me the willies.

[KIZFAN2]

Hopefully you can get out of that car.

[KuroNekko]

Make them give you a sweet trade in on a Kizashi with a real transmission. The whole idea of a CVT sounds like voodoo and gives me the willies.

Amen.
I have never owned a CVT vehicle, but they simply don't appeal much to me. They were designed for improving fuel efficiency and offering a shiftless transmission, but reliability, longevity, and performance do not seem to be strong points of this design.

Conventional automatics are definitely favored for performance and some companies have avoided implementing CVTs altogether to maintain better driving dynamics for their cars. (Talking about you, Mazda.)

Performance car companies use autos with dual clutches for millisecond shifting and leave CVTs off of the considering table.

In contrast, a manual is archaic, but also really damn reliable. Unless you regularly rev the engine and then dump the clutch, the only part that wears out over time is the clutch and related parts which are intended to be serviceable, wear-items anyways. Even then, with regular proper driving, clutches last 100k to 150K.
Manuals are also far more fun to drive and offer better performance unless you have a dual clutch transmission (typically not even found in cars under $35K). Even then, these advanced autos were designed to offer faster track times and don't seem to add to the driving sensation or thrill like rowing your own gears does.

In the end, I feel that CVTs were invented and implemented for the car company's sake, not the consumer. CVTs allow for better fuel efficiency so it helped the maker meet stricter gov't fuel economy standards. The auto maker can also claim seamless shifting as a selling point, but it's not like conventional automatics were rough.
Given the problems that people have with CVTs across the board with ALL brands from Audi to Suzuki, I just can't come to think they are an ideal transmission, especially for car lovers.

In one of WESHOOT2's mileage posts, he wrote that the AWD CVT Kizashi was the "real driver's car". No offense, but I have an inkling that he has never driven the faster and lighter 6 speed manual variant.

[murcod]

It would appear that automated manuals (eg. VW/ Audi/ Skoda DSG gearboxes) should be avoided if reliability matters. As far as numbers go, I'd say the Suzuki CVT failures aren't even in the same league (actually the same galaxy!)

Volkswagen has declined to comment on evidence given in the Victorian coroner's court to the effect that the 2008 Golf GTI driven by the deceased had decelerated suddenly and without warning in the moments immediately prior to being struck by a heavy commercial vehicle. It refutes assertions that ‘deceleration’ was a factor in the Monash fatality.

More here: http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013/vo ... cars-37051 and here http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013/sm ... ints-36923

(Sure Ben's had a horror experience with his Kizashi, but there don't seem to be many other failures documented on the internet. Logic would also suggest that perhaps the CVT isn't his problem, but some other associated component eg. the ECU?)

[gentle_ben]

(Sure Ben's had a horror experience with his Kizashi, but there don't seem to be many other failures documented on the internet. Logic would also suggest that perhaps the CVT isn't his problem, but some other associated component eg. the ECU?)

They have replaced the TCM (the computer that controls the transmission, pricey little unit too). I have inquired about the ECU but Suzuki says it has no direct control over the transmission.

I want to put the blame on the AWD system, I think there is a mechanical issue with it causing an extra load on the CVT which in turn is causing it to prematurely wear. This issue only happens with the transmission is hot, you have to drive more than 30km if its a cold day to get it to happen. On a hot day it happens right away, or else if you have a heavy load in the car.

Suzuki's problem is the mechanics only follow orders from the engineers, there is no one actively trying to fix our car properly by using good ole detective work and mechanical know how. They are just relying on reports from computers.

I was nervous about this CVT transmission from the beginning, but we couldn't get a fully loaded car with the manual at that time, so it was our only choice. If I could do it all over again I would have definitely gotten a manual instead or else just bought something different.