114 days

[KuroNekko]

100,000 miles on the Kizashi. Wow, congrats.
I bet it's getting beautiful up there in Vermont too.

Also curious what plugs they are going to put in. I assume you go to a Suzuki dealer?
My guess is that they are Denso iridiums. I have yet to pull mine to find out. My car is a young pup compared to yours. Not even 20,000 miles yet.

[WESHOOT2]

'Fall' is already over; the leaves, those left from windy days, are losing their neon character and beginning to look a bit rusty.

I have my car serviced at our local Suzuki dealership (used to be Burlington Mitsubishi/Suzuki, now drop the Suzie), except I do tires and brakes here at the dealership (The Automaster of Shelburne) I work for.

I will get whatever plugs the dealer uses, and I assume they'll be offical Suzuki parts like everything else.

[WESHOOT2]

one more day 100,067 miles



So on the way home yesterday, after I passed the 100K mark, all I could imagine was some catastrophic failure of something now out of warranty.
But it didn't happen.

So I kept it under 105 this morning.......




Wings still attached.

[WESHOOT2]

Just ordered 4 TMPS 'Service Kits' from Rock Auto; $12.18 shipped!


My Suzuki service advisor (who used to work here) stopped by today, and mentioned the Suzuki parts were $150 per.
Hmmmm.....$600 vs $12; hmmmm.......

[Moto]

I'll give rockauto a shout out as well. I just order "new" front axels from them for about 400 less than I could get New font axles from anywhere else.

I plan to rebuild my old one and have some spares.

regardless I was impressed. The axles showed up like two days which is stupid fast considering where I live.

I also canceled and order from there on top hats for my struts which I found for about $100 less on amazon, but canceling was painless and all done online. I was refunded within three days. (It never left their warehouse.)

[Ronzuki]

Moto, would you mind elaborating on why you need top hats for struts and new axles please? I'm curious what the problems/symtoms are. How many mile on your car? Thanks.

[KuroNekko]

Interesting that rockauto came up in the thread. I just ordered parts a few hours ago from them. The parts are for the VW camper and I buy from them rather regularly. They always ship fast and they ship the right stuff. I've tried quite a few rivals, but rockauto is really the best. They also have wholesaler closeout sales on certain items and offer them for dirt cheap prices to liquidate them. For example, I just bought 4 Bosch platinum spark plugs for 80 cents each.
Now if only RRM could do the same for Kizashi parts...

[Moto]

Moto, would you mind elaborating on why you need top hats for struts and new axles please? I'm curious what the problems/symtoms are. How many mile on your car? Thanks.

I have about 120k. I may have been able to reuse the old top hats, but the rubber is cracked and not healthy looking. My front hats have bearings that the strut rides on I assume they are probably fubar since the rubber isn't holding up.
Struts
I get clunks from all four corners. If I am doing some spirited driving I get kind of an odd sudden shift mid corner. (dominantly on left turns)

If they get really bad your car will bounce around. My struts are visibly damaged from salt corrosion(on the sealing surface at the top of the strut). There is no way they are working the way they are supposed to. I will probably post some pictures when I pull them.

New top hats should help sound dampening and turnin. All the rubber components on my car are in bad shape from prolonged salt exposure. My car is also 5 years older than anything on this board. I would probably not do top hats on a kizashi as the rubber is probably still OK.

I didn't do them on my Mazda when I replaced the struts on that a few years ago.

For me it basically provides some confidence at speed and mid corner. It will help will predictability of the car. I know some cars eat tires if the struts are totally shot. If it starts to ride like a boat you need struts.

Axles have leaked most of the grease out of the boots. Mine are not cracked but they do not appear healthy. I don't think they will make the winter. Typically you would hear a popping sound in corners if your CV boots are bad.

The reason I'm starting these jobs preemptively is that I'm looking for work that would require quite a bit of driving on questionable roads. I don't want to have to replace this stuff in the winter. Realistically, the failure rate of struts an axles would probably allow me to wait until spring but then I would have to listen to clunks and popping all winter.

Admittedly I sort of drive like a moron on ice so I like to know where my car is going to slide. Sudden unexpected weight transfers are bad news.

[Ronzuki]

Thanks for the detailed response. 120k in the environment you live in is all you really had to say ...back to our regularly scheduled 114 days reports from WESHOOT...

[WESHOOT2]

a few more days 100,827 miles



-Every time I hit a harsh impact I laugh and say "on-the-fly alignment'.

-My eyeglasses rattle in their holder. So do my soda bottles in the doors.

-It still sucks in crosswinds.

-Overall, gas mileage exceeds 28 per.

-I'll be buying my sixth set of tires next week.

-I cannot believe I haven't blown any speakers.

-I'm convinced the windshield is ballistic-grade; convinced.

-NOTHING is wrong with my Kizashi; not one single defect or torn upholstery or broken piece or failed component or function. Everything works perfectly.

-I spent my birthday Tuesday (I turned 59) "touring" (defined as 'reckless driving that scares the locals') up-state New York's Adirondacks; Lake Placid, Whiteface Mtn, Mineville, Elizabethtown, etc. It was a glorious day, with no traffic, bright sunshine, golden fall colors, and no agenda.
And a heavy foot.....
I spotted a Black Kizashi pulled off, with a headlamp out. Anyone here?




Love still attached.