Still have the Kizashi on my list..

[Ehibb034]

Some things to consider with the honda accord.

- the new styling is slightly better than that of the old. With that being said, the accord is still a very vanilla car and I see 10-20 every day.

- The accord will get far better gas mileage than a kiz. I drive a manual sls kizashi, the one you are looking for and I can tell you that the car will get btwn 25-28 mpg at best, and slightly better if you want to destroy the joy of driving and be very anal. The kiz does not and clearly will never compete with any cars built in its time on mpg, so if that's important, then strongly consider this aspect of the car.

- Hondas have a great rep for reliability and resale. The kiz has no resale value.

- I have owned a 2011 honda crz and I can tell you that without a doubt, honda makes the best manual trans of any car I have ever driven. I exclusively drive manuals and I can attest that the manual honda is better than vw's, nissans, mazda, and fiat's.

- The kiz's manual is definitely the worst I have ever driven. The throws are long and vague and in the cold it takes a serious amount of effort to negotiate.


So here's my suggestion. A manual kiz sls is impossible to find most of the time. I got lucky on mine. You may want to consider another vehicle and one that comes to mind which I have owned is the VW CC. That had a great manual trans and goes head to head features wise with the kiz. The only thing it wont have is a sunroof if you get the sport model. The car is turbo charged and quite a bit faster than the kiz while getting the same mpg. It does run on premium though. The kizashi is unique there is no doubt. I have never seen one on the road before. The car is totally loaded with features in the sls trim, and you would be hard pressed to find those features in another car in your price range. The uniqueness comes with a price. The mpg, the bad manual trans, and its slow as balls. But for me the uniqueness and the loaded features won me over. I got my sls manual for 13,500 dollars with 31k miles. you'd save a good chunk of money over other options at this price. I plan on running into the ground because I know it wont be worth anything on a trade. I am happy with my car, but there are certainly sacrifices. Hondas are built with everyone in mind; which means less sacrifices.

[smsmart]

...and my last car (before the 02 Civic that I'm using in the meantime) was an 04 Mazda 6 that was starting to become a semi-reliable rattle trap before I sold it. In my experience (and stories from others) Mazda's don't age as well as some other makes.

My Kizashi hasn't aged well...cosmetically it looks great, but I get annoyed almost every time I drive it now. It has become a really nice rattle trap (door panel, dash, sunroof, armrest console, a large "thunk" under the dash, buzzing/creaks from the air vents, etc), the suspension is loud going over your average pothole, the steering has become funky ever since I did an alignment at the dealership (and no one seems to be able to or wants to diagnose why), and my rear shock is starting to creak. On top of that, I get an oscillating noise from the engine (especially when starting from cold) that started since the dealer replaced the alternator pulley, which they replaced in trying to fix a mysterious engine rattle that is audible in the cabin and which still occurs--and sometimes I get the "marbles in a can" sound when going up hills. This is all with 34,000 miles on the odo.

So in my opinion I would stay away from the Kizashi if I were you. Yeah, it's great to have a car that no one has and feel special in that regard. And the car design--exterior and interior--is great...but my personal experience with service and trying to fix the nagging issues mentioned above, plus the prospect of not being able to get further service and parts in the future, doesn't make me feel too jazzed about the ownership experience. The parts problem is really the thing that worries me the most.

I know you're not in the market for a new car, but personally if I were in the market again, I'd be looking at the new Mazda 6 or the Accord. Both look pretty slick and the parts/service proposition sounds a whole lot better than being on your own with the Kizashi.

Regardless, there are tens of thousands of Suzuki cars still on the road in the US so it's unlikely that internet parts sales will die off completely.

Yeah, but it's one thing to have parts for the Vitara, XL7, or the GM-based Suzuki's...and a whole other thing to have parts for the rare car that is the Kizashi.

[smsmart]

I got my sls manual for 13,500 dollars with 31k miles.

Yikes...this is the worst part of it all. I bought my 2011 SLS w/CVT new for $26k...and now it's worth half that. And pretty soon probably even less.

It looks great though.

[KuroNekko]

While the older Mazdas did not hold up as good as the other Japanese cars, the new ones are better. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they are independent and no longer sharing parts with Ford. My 2005 Mazda3's most problematic parts had 'FoMoCo' (Ford Motor Company) stamped on them.

Consumer Reports is showing that the newer Mazdas also have improved reliability. These are the models that were designed after the Ford-Mazda split. The new SkyActiv Mazdas have excellent reviews in reliability and fuel economy.
All-Mazda cars like the Mazda MX-5 Miata have always had excellent reliability and I believe this is because of the lack of Ford parts.

The RX series (rotary engine models) have apex seal issues, but that's more the fault of the Wankel engine design than Mazda's engineering. It's not surprising no one else tried to keep the Wankel going as long as Mazda. It's now officially dead, but there are rumors that Mazda's working on a new generation of rotary engines.

For these reasons, I'm a big fan of the newer Mazdas. Trust me, the new Mazda3 is the nicest car in its class and blows away rivals like new Corolla. All you have to do is sit in it to notice the difference and the driving dynamics couldn't set those cars further apart.

I really think the new Mazdas shouldn't be judged by the previous ones.

[KuroNekko]

Yeah, but it's one thing to have parts for the Vitara, XL7, or the GM-based Suzuki's...and a whole other thing to have parts for the rare car that is the Kizashi.

The Vitara and XL-7 aren't GM based. Only their V6 engines are GM-sourced. The 4 cylinder is from Suzuki and it's actually similar to the one in the Kizashi. They even have the same engine code (J24B) though the power output is different. The chassis and transmissions in these SUVs are Suzuki. SX4 had little to do with GM if anything. In fact, it was developed by Suzuki and FIAT.

[Ehibb034]

Yikes...this is the worst part of it all. I bought my 2011 SLS w/CVT new for $26k...and now it's worth half that. And pretty soon probably even less.

It looks great though.

That's what I bought it for, certainly not what the dealer paid for it.

[smsmart]

Yeah, but it's one thing to have parts for the Vitara, XL7, or the GM-based Suzuki's...and a whole other thing to have parts for the rare car that is the Kizashi.

The Vitara and XL-7 aren't GM based. Only their V6 engines are GM-sourced. The 4 cylinder is from Suzuki and it's actually similar to the one in the Kizashi. They even have the same engine code (J24B) though the power output is different. The chassis and transmissions in these SUVs are Suzuki. SX4 had little to do with GM if anything. In fact, it was developed by Suzuki and FIAT.

Sure, but what I'm getting at is that those cars are more common (relatively speaking) than the Kizashi. Maybe some of the engine/transmissions parts can be interchanged between them and the Kizashi, but some of the more specific parts to the Kiz such as body/interior panels, suspension parts, EPS unit, lighting and other electronics may not be as easy to get since there are fewer Kizashi's...and so parts suppliers may not feel the need to keep those parts in stock.

[KuroNekko]

Yeah, but it's one thing to have parts for the Vitara, XL7, or the GM-based Suzuki's...and a whole other thing to have parts for the rare car that is the Kizashi.

The Vitara and XL-7 aren't GM based. Only their V6 engines are GM-sourced. The 4 cylinder is from Suzuki and it's actually similar to the one in the Kizashi. They even have the same engine code (J24B) though the power output is different. The chassis and transmissions in these SUVs are Suzuki. SX4 had little to do with GM if anything. In fact, it was developed by Suzuki and FIAT.

Sure, but what I'm getting at is that those cars are more common (relatively speaking) than the Kizashi. Maybe some of the engine/transmissions parts can be interchanged between them and the Kizashi, but some of the more specific parts to the Kiz such as body/interior panels, suspension parts, EPS unit, lighting and other electronics may not be as easy to get since there are fewer Kizashi's...and so parts suppliers may not feel the need to keep those parts in stock.

I agree, but to tell you the truth, I'm more afraid that they will cancel the car entirely at the global scale. The Kizashi has not done well anywhere. It has either failed or sold poorly in every market it is in.
They are unpopular in Japan. They were cancelled in India. Suzuki left the US and Canada. European sales appear to be sluggish. Australian sales appear to be weak. The Chinese are not buying Japanese cars and of the ones they buy, Suzuki models aren't popular. The rest of the world is unlikely able to afford this premium Suzuki as it's too expensive.
Such poor global sales usually leads to a cancellation of a product.
For it to survive, it will need to be radically transformed to something other than a gasoline midsize as we know it.

[Pyramid1]

I hear what you guys are saying, and honestly if the dealership had come down a little below $20k (before TT&L) I'd be an owner of a 2013 Accord Sport right now.

I'm well aware of the risks of Kizashi ownership, but getting a good one anywhere from $5-8k less than a newer Accord could more than make up for the worse MPG's and even a little longer downtime if something does go wrong. I live about 5 miles from work and my wife drives a 2011 Chevy Equinox and could drop me off on the way to hers if need be. I know parts and service could be shaky going forward, but most maintenance items I can do myself (oil change, brakes, hoses, belts etc..)

That SLS 6MT in Jersey sounds exactly like what I'm looking for, but I've passed on such cars before because of distance and this time won't be any different. If it were within a 500 mile round trip I'd consider it though..

The problem I have is that I've never owned an automatic...I've driven plenty of them (rentals, wifes cars etc..) but never actually owned one. The hard part is there aren't a whole lot of mid-sized cars (don't want to go too small these days) that even offer a stick. Here's a list of cars I've owned spanning from High school to my current late 30's..

78 280Z (wrecked)
85 Toyota Corolla GTS (AE86)
92 Honda Prelude
93 Acura legend coupe
97 Accord coupe
04 Mazda 6
02 Honda Civic (bought cheap to get around until I find my real car)

I really don't know what to do with my left foot and right hand driving an auto, I have to restrain myself from messing with the shift lever of my wife's Equinox.

[KuroNekko]

Well, better get used to seeing manuals dwindle. Americans don't seem to like to row their own gears. Manuals are even getting entirely phased out from some models and are dwindling in the midsize and SUV segments. Over 90% of all the cars in America are automatics. Many young people don't even know how to drive one. I'm 30 and many of my peers don't know how including my own brother.

Pretty soon, you may only see them in sports sedans and sports cars, but 3 pedals even in those cars are threatened due to more advanced dual clutch transmissions that offer faster shift times and track speeds.

I personally prefer manual trans myself and would like to drive one until I leave internal combustion engine automobiles. By then, manuals won't matter as EVs don't even have transmissions as we know them.