Kizashi Paint Chip Problem !!!!

[NJKizashi]

The front hood section of my SLS is chipping Badly due to road debris , looks like little specs of Dandruff..I may go for the leading edge cover and or drcolorchip.com, then transparent protective film.

Anyway, if you get a Kizashi, protect this area from chips as soon as it rolls out the dealer.


Hood Mask
MSRP $66.95*
SKU 990B0-31030Custom-fit Hood Mask helps protect your Suzuki's front end from damage caused by minor road debris. Made of durable vinyl with a soft fleece backing to help protect the paint's finish. Embossed with Suzuki logo.

kizashi.com

[Senegal]

is the chipping problem limited to the exact area that the bra would cover? it seems like it would cover such a small area.

what's your opinion on 3M films?

[Moto]

Bras work well as far as stopping chips, but they do have a few problems of their own.

I left mine on for three summers when I didn't have a garage, and I had ended up having to use buffing compound on my whole hood to even out the color again.

Really not a big deal...

If you get one make sure you periodically remove it, and clean under it. I have seen people induce rust spots by leaving them on in the winter. They can catch and hold salt against your car in the northern states.

[Senegal]

I have a spot by the edge of the door sill of rear passenger (driver's side) that has chipped on 3-4 spots as well, but down to the metal. I plan to primer the spots and cover up with touch up.

Overall, the quality of paint seems to be good, but I'm not sure if it's practical to cover so much of the car in clear 3M stuff or any other protective films. I use the touchless carwash a lot and i'm not sure how these films would hold up.

did you already fix the hood?

[aragon20]

What color is your paint? Mine is Azure Gray Metallic and it is chipping like CRAZY. Mine has 4 or 5 chips on the edge of the back door sill on both sides. There's a huge chip in the hood and has numberous little dings everywhere else. I haven't even had it a month or taken it out on a dirt road. We were also thinking about a clear bra but it does no good if the rest of the car chips too. I love the car but am regretting ever getting it because of this problem. It pisses me off I bought a new vehicle that has more chips in it than the car I had for 3 years before. I'm going to contact Suzuki but I was wondering if anyone else was having this problem? As much as I love everything else about this vehicle, I hope I can return it.

[Senegal]

Mine is black which is supposed to be both "pearl" and "metallic". I haven't really noticed problem areas anywhere else, and the car has about 1000 miles on it now.

Unfortunately, the warranty does not cover any environmental damages to the paint. I did get my dealer to order some touch up paint for me, since i just bought the car two weeks ago.

Ideally, they should warrant the paint job for the same duration as their rust warranty, but the rust warranty is "rust thru" warranty, so unless you have a hole in your metal (which is not likely to happen in 5 years) they will not cover that either.

[Senegal]

touch up paint for Kizashi, note that Suzuki does not offer any touch up, it's after market only

http://www.paintscratch.com

[aragon20]

Thank you very much Senegal for all the info. I will definitely order some touch up paint. I'm sure you know as well as I do, trying to find anything for a Kizashi is hard right now. Which really sucks because someone backed into mine last week and ran off. Now I need a new front bumper and the auto body shops had a rought time finding the bumper.

I talked to Suzuki today and the guy I talked to (Orlando) said the paint was covered under the 3 year warranty. I *hope* this is true but I'm thinking if they said no to you, once I really start pushing, they'll say it isn't covered.

The service guy at the dealership where I got my car said he called Suzuki and they had no known trouble with the paint but that Suzuki wants him to take pictures and send them in. The nearest Suzuki dealership is 2 1/2 hours away so I'm bringing the car down there tomorrow.

So far, everyone seems to be saying they'll fix it but we'll see...hopefully they really will.

[Senegal]

that sucks about your bumper, clue us in as far as how much the cost would be.

As far as the paint, refer to the "2010 New Vehicle Warranty Information" booklet, on page 6, "New Vehicle Limited Warranty-What is Not Covered", it reads under "Factors Beyond Suzuki's Control"

"-Stone chipping, chemical fallout, acid rain, tree sap, hail, flood, lightning, glass breakage."

Unless, you can prove that it is a paint quality issue, for example paint chipping inside your trunk (under mats/carpet), etc where there's typically no "wear and tear" issues....it would be very unlikely that they will do something.

I just hope they're not giving you the run around in the name of "oh, we care, we're listening to your problems"...if you know what I mean and then refuse to fix the car.

either way, let us know what happens.

As far as my car, I plan to get the touch up from that site, and then probably look into some sealants or something to create a harder coat on top of the paint.

Good luck

[aragon20]

The bumper is going to be about $1000 to replace. $500 for the actual bumper and $500 for the paint, labor, etc. At least that's what my small town auto body guy says, who knows how much less it would be in a bigger city.
Just got home from my 5 hour round-trip to my nearest Suzuki dealer. The service manager came out and was nice enough to take some pictures and email them to me as well as to Suzuki. He took pictures of the huge chip on the hood, some smaller chips on the hood, the chips around the back door sills, and a couple that were on the top of the car. I also talked to him about scratches that keep on appearing. I know I don't treat my vehicle's badly and there are all these scratches on both sides of the car. I think they're from rocks flying up and hitting the car too. The service manager said that they're not even going to consider scratches, which I understand, I was just pointing it out...along with all the other chips to show that there's something wrong with this paint. I've had the car for 3 weeks, this isn't just normal wear and tear, anything that touches the car seems to leave at least a scratch. He said he would send in the pictures and get back to me.
I don't know what I really expect. I don't think that they're going to repaint the whole car, but I'm afraid if they just give me touch-up paint the real problem won't be solved and I'll be back next month with a whole new batch of chip spots. I guess we'll see....

I tried to attach all the photos but I'm only smart enough to figure out one...dang