Kizashi Paint Chip Problem !!!!

[ah_Perth]

Feel for those with a problem...... but no problems with my 2010 silver gLX

[coro71]

No issues for me at all, 2,000 miles / daily commute of 42 miles highway.

[Corridor 35]

After buying a $50 touch up kit and getting frustrated, I went ahead and got an invisible bra. Top of the line including lenses was $625 here in Austin. So far, so good.

[kegard]

I have had my repainted car back for 3 weeks now. Here are my thoughts:

1. I had prior experience with the body shop I used (Suzuki let me choose) and they did an excellent job matching paint.

2. Even more important, so far no chips anywhere.

3. Suzuki corporate has called me, as well as the dealer, to make sure I was satisfied with the paint job.

I am hoping this was a bad batch of paint and not a problem with the design of the car. My body shop seems to think that their paint, with 2 coats of clear, should make the car much more resistant to chips. Time will tell.

On a side note, I also had the shop repaint the grilles as both were also showing paint chips, especially the lower grill. The shop accidentally painted the "S" on the top grill (they offered to replace it) and I'm kinda digging the all-black look.

[tonyjstock]

Just curious how your protective clear film is holding up? Do you still recommend it cause I was looking into the hood deflector but still undecided. Thanks!

This is all making me happy I went with the protective film on the hood, bumper, and fenders. I did this after about 500 miles and only had 2-3 very tiny dots in front.

Some areas in the US still use very nasty road salt/gravel mix. I had a car get pretty beat up in the front from this in the Sierras in California in the winter - but that took years.

Thats how I got all chipped up on the front edge of my Hood..I picked up my Kizashi in Early Jan, and took the brunt of the Hard NJ Winter and all the Bullshit Rock Salt coming off the road

[tonyjstock]

I have had my repainted car back for 3 weeks now. Here are my thoughts:
Is your clearcoat still holding up? Debating how to protect the hood on my 2011 bought in April... any and all info is appreciated! Thanks.


1. I had prior experience with the body shop I used (Suzuki let me choose) and they did an excellent job matching paint.

2. Even more important, so far no chips anywhere.

3. Suzuki corporate has called me, as well as the dealer, to make sure I was satisfied with the paint job.

I am hoping this was a bad batch of paint and not a problem with the design of the car. My body shop seems to think that their paint, with 2 coats of clear, should make the car much more resistant to chips. Time will tell.

On a side note, I also had the shop repaint the grilles as both were also showing paint chips, especially the lower grill. The shop accidentally painted the "S" on the top grill (they offered to replace it) and I'm kinda digging the all-black look.

[kskizashi]

Bought my 2010 as a dealer stock left over in March 2011. I had read about the paint issues but still made the purschase. I had a 2006 Forenza and looked at the Kizashi when they came out in 2010 but bought a used 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited instead. Needless to say the gas mileage was killing me on the Jeep so 11 months later the Kizashi was marked down $4,800 so I bought the AWD version. Love the car but after 4,500 miles on it I had enough of what I was seeing as there were more and more chips on the hood, front fenders and even the truck deck. Called it in to Suzuki and had the area rep look at it last week. Long story short is my car will be going in to get the hood, front fenders, roof and trunk repainted under warranty.

[gmkizashi]

Update to this disturbing thread on my car.

Since all of this went down in mid March when my hood was painted, I had more chipping (including the re-painted hood) and a Suzuki-rep came and looked at it late June. They authorized a scrape down to metal and re-painting of all of the metal exterior surfaces (no bumpers or sideview mirrors). I got the car back last Friday after two weeks without it.

The dealer sent pics to Northeast Suzuki Rep and got an ok to paint just the hood. Got the car back yesterday and it looks good. They also touched up some light chipping which happened on leading edge of the front quarters and one lone chip on drivers door. I couldn't help notice that my loaner car, a 2007 Buick with 110,000 miles, had a very little road rash. Less than my Kizashi which I had for 3 weeks and 3,000 miles. I'm still concerned that even in these days of "weaker" paint, that the paint job on the Kizashi (at least mine) is not as durable as it should be under typical driving condtions.

Now I have to decide if I want to shell out 500-700 buck for a clear bra. Either way, I'm supposed to take a 1000 mile trip next week, but won't have enough time to get the stuff on prior to the trip. You have to wait 3-4 days if the car was painted in a baking booth (mine was) and several weeks if it is "air" dried. I'm horrified about what will happen on this trip, which is just up and down major highways, not gravel roads or anything.

Here is picture of mine. I have had car three weeks and have 3600 miles. It is a 2010 SLS Azure Gray. I live in MA. I have a case mumber from American Suzuki. The Suzuki customer service rep did not acknowledge any known issues when asked about chipping problems. My chips are primarily on the leading edge of hood, the bumper was relatively untouched as were the quarter panels, but there was a small chip on drivers door.They had me take car to dealer so they could forward pictures to regional rep. Dealer pointed out that there were small nicks all over the windshield implying that I came across some type of barrage of salt/rocks etcetera from a truck or something. I said, if that happened, wouldn't the bumper have nicks? They said the bumper was more "flexible" so it wouldn't be as prone to nick. I told them I don't agree with that and that I think the paint is sub-par. I also didn't drive through any such rock and/or salt storm.

I just traded in a car driven for 140,000 miles over 5 years which had less chipping/road rash than the Kizashi. I think the paint work is indeed not adequate for normal wear and tear. They walked me over to a light blue Kizashi with 8,000 miles on it which had no nicks on windshield, hood or bumper, as if to make a slight point that I must have been involved in something environmental, but had also indicated that that my situation doesn't seem quite normal either.

We will see what the regional rep comes back with.

chips-kizashi.jpg

[ninjarob]

I've had it with my Kizashi. I had chipping all over the car. Front, sides, rear trunk, roof. Suzuki agreed to repaint the entire car. They took it in over 2 months ago. The car is STILL NOT DONE!

I have been without my car for over 2 months. It's not even worth having anymore. I bought the car to use it. I'm making payments on it, and I can't even drive it. Now it won't even have factory paint on it. Suzuki will not return any phone calls to me. Their customer service line is a joke and VERY UNHELPFUL.

I'm sure the value of my car has declined enough that I will not be able to afford to trade it in, so I'll have to live with a brand new, repainted car if I ever get it back. I hate Suzuki at this point. I think they should buy the car back and let met move on.

[Lip]

Hi Guys,

My black kizashi is 3000kms old and has many scratches on it already (I've checked for paint chips and only have 1). Its a Dec 2010 AWD model. Does any one see this issue as well? Is the paint finish that bad? The car drives so well and looks a treat but paint issues are a real concern.