2600 miles... and here's the list.

[Cherish]

Audio system tantrums.

Driving along happily, get a call on the ol' iPhone, the blue tooth routes it through the car, and during the call, there are small high pitched tones that seem to correlate with the accelerator. As soon as the call ends, the phone hangs up, the car I dunno, disengages? but the speakers crackle and pop and buzz... Annoying.

Sometimes the high pitched tone shows up by itself, then goes away. Same with the crackling, buzzing and popping. And when it does, you can't get it to stop, and you can't turn it down, indeed, you have NO control over the stereo.

On friday, I was sitting in the car, listening to the radio, the iPhone was no where near the car... and the speakers started doing it again... sounding like rubbing a microphone on fabric... so I turned the car off... and it continued, while the car was off for a good 20 minutes.

Now, lovely as it is... the car speakers pop when you turn the car on, and off...

We've had our Kizashi in the shop TWICE over this, the first time there we couldn't reproduce the problem, the second time we were there, the popping on and off could be heard and nothing else. They want us to bring it in AGAIN and leave it for a whole day, with our iPhone. Talk about inconvenient, eh?


Paint Chip...yep...us too.

We've been watching the forum and holding our breath, as we hadn't experienced any issues. But today, 2600 miles in, the husb just called it in. There's one on the hood. Great. We'll be getting a good look at it this evening... All I know is, I've been driving my RAV4 since 2003, it has 75000 miles on it, and only ONE door ding.

Hold Hill Error...

Got it once, haven't seen it again. Probably not a big deal.


Engine floods

Sometimes the push button start doesn't work... you put your foot on the brake, you push the button, and it just grinds. Has happened 3 times for me, twice for my hubby. We've figured it was just something with us though. It's a little embarrassing when you talk the car up, and it just shits on you in the driveway in front of your neighbor.

[stapletondoc]

The audio problem may be due to the TSB issued for the subwoofer, etc. Ask the dealership if they are aware of the Technical Service Bulletin issued by Suzuki for audio problems.

[Senegal]

i'm at 4700 miles and I haven't had any of these problems yet, except the paint chips....knock on wood..

you're making me nervous

[Cherish]

Part of why we've been so quiet, is because of our schedule... the other part is, because we started experiencing weirdness... and we didn't want to make anyone nervous until we were sure the problems weren't one offs.

We undertand that part of being an owner of a brand new car is experiencing some bugs... but Suzuki also needs to understand that part of selling a new car, is supporting their new customers in order to correct these issues.

After reading some of the other paint issue posts saying Suzuki wasn't going to support it, we've been very nervous. We will definitely report our customer service experience.

We were their first Kizashi customers and so far our dealership has been interested in working us. Of course we approached them as customers who understand that these things are going to happen and that we trust them to hold up their end.

Out of all of the issues we're having, the paint issue is the most disappointing. Technical issues with the audio system, are issues with the audio system... but we didn't trade in an otherwise great truck, that was 3 years old and still getting compliments in December on a car that's going to look like it went through a wind tunnel that blew 3000 dollars worth of pennies over the car after a year. Our final opinion and feelings about all of this will all depend on how well Suzuki supports their product, and us.

[sloopercat]

Which dealer are you working with? I just got mine at Northtowne. The $900 7 year 100K factory warranty extension may have been a wise purchase. I truly hope I never need it and the niggly stuff is addressed or non-existent on my car. I am extremely impressed with all the numerous details they did right. 200 mile so far and no defects. The car drives as well as any 4 door sedan I hav had, .90G is damn good for any stock car. All cars can have issues, as you say how they are addressed is the determiner. I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the Northtowne Mazda guys.

Thinking about the clear bra, but is not truly invisible either. Anybody got a cost estimate. Mine mostly sits in the garage as I fly everwhere I go these days and a service picks me up cheaper than I can park.

Maybe we can do a Kizashi meet some time. I can host a small meetiing in the Northland and go for a cruise somewhere.

[lookin]

if you know bluetooth at all you should know that its noisy with occassional weird noises that i do know however i havent heard what you are hearing but if its the same its pretty normal with bluetooth

[Cherish]

Which dealer are you working with? I just got mine at Northtowne. The $900 7 year 100K factory warranty extension may have been a wise purchase. I truly hope I never need it and the niggly stuff is addressed or non-existent on my car. I am extremely impressed with all the numerous details they did right. 200 mile so far and no defects. The car drives as well as any 4 door sedan I hav had, .90G is damn good for any stock car. All cars can have issues, as you say how they are addressed is the determiner. I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the Northtowne Mazda guys.

Thinking about the clear bra, but is not truly invisible either. Anybody got a cost estimate. Mine mostly sits in the garage as I fly everwhere I go these days and a service picks me up cheaper than I can park.

Maybe we can do a Kizashi meet some time. I can host a small meetiing in the Northland and go for a cruise somewhere.

A Kizashi meet would be wicked fun! We're in South Kansas City, got our babe in Olathe. A bra might be a good idea. No idea on the cost, though I am certain the dealer can tell us. Although, I am not sure how a bra will help if the doors start chipping like in the other posts.

if you know bluetooth at all you should know that its noisy with occassional weird noises that i do know however i havent heard what you are hearing but if its the same its pretty normal with bluetooth

No, this is not normal bluetooth noise. These range from the somewhat quiet omnidirectional tone to the very loud, percussive and abrasive square waves being pushed through the system whether the bluetooth is being used or not and also whether the car is on or not and then a very harsh pop when the car is turned on and off.

When we get the car back in, we'll be asking about the TSB as Stapleton suggested. We're also printing out and showing them some of the posts and photos from this forum regarding similar issues. Hope nobody minds.

[Cherish]

Audio system tantrums.

Driving along happily, get a call on the ol' iPhone, the blue tooth routes it through the car, and during the call, there are small high pitched tones that seem to correlate with the accelerator. As soon as the call ends, the phone hangs up, the car I dunno, disengages? but the speakers crackle and pop and buzz... Annoying.
<snip>
the car speakers pop when you turn the car on, and off...
<snip>
We've had our Kizashi in the shop TWICE over this, the first time there we couldn't reproduce the problem, the second time we were there, the popping on and off could be heard and nothing else. They want us to bring it in AGAIN and leave it for a whole day, with our iPhone. Talk about inconvenient, eh?

~TENTATIVELY RESOLVED~

Took our babe into the dealer to have it all checked out, they ordered a new amp, and installed it a week later. This seems to have resolved all of the issues with the audio. Caveat: The issues had a way of going away for extended periods of time before rearing their ugly little gremlin heads, so as it has only been a week without any issues...

The dealer was VERY supportive on this problem.


Paint Chip...yep...us too.

We've been watching the forum and holding our breath, as we hadn't experienced any issues. But today, 2600 miles in, the husb just called it in. There's one on the hood. Great. We'll be getting a good look at it this evening... All I know is, I've been driving my RAV4 since 2003, it has 75000 miles on it, and only ONE door ding.

~DOCUMENTED BY DEALER~

They sent a rep in who photographed and measured every single chip on the car and sent this documentation into Suzuki. They were adamant about this being "impact damage", going as far as to blame it on construction debris from roads we never drive on... I personally refuse to be shut down by this "defensive corporate protectionist language" because, lets be honest here... that's what it is and would do an about face and walk out of the room in the middle of any sentence that began with. "It is normal impact damage and thus is not covered by the warranty" Because... the car barely has 3200 miles on it, and the only time it is on a highway doing 65+ miles per hour is when it is being driven to the dealer. The rest of the time, it is lucky to hit 40 on College Blvd. So... You know... I'm calling BS. HOWEVER, WE WERE TOLD A NUMBER OF INTERESTING THINGS REGARDING AUTOMOTIVE PAINT & DESIGN AND IMPACT DAMAGE:

1. CARS ARE PAINTED WITH WATERBASED ENAMELS NOW (Environmental standards)

2. THE BUMPERS ARE PAINTED WITH A SOFTER PAINT THAN THE REST OF THE CAR
BECAUSE IT IS MEANT TO BE FLEXIBLE (and so far, there are no chips on the bumper)

3. CARS WITH THIS PARTICULAR NOSE SHAPE ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO IMPACT DAMAGE

4. WHILE "IT IS CONSIDERED IMPACT DAMAGE, IT SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING
THIS EASILY" (a direct result of me refusing to be told this is normal impact damage )

5. IF THE DAMAGE IS SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE IN A YEAR OR SO, THEY WOULD PROBABLY
WORK WITH US TO REPAINT THE CAR TO TAKE CARE OF IT.

So... it seems to me that there are reasons and there aren't reasons as to why the paint should and should not be chipping... according to the dealer. So if we are being completely honest here... then spades are spades and that was just classic cover your ass ambiguity intended to "protect the mothership first" and "appease the unhappy consumer second" without conceding anything. Which... is just how it works when dealing with anything corporate.

The dealer is minimally and reluctantly supportive on this "problem" (which... is to be expected) and has deferred it to mother Suzuki Corp. Still waiting on word as to how supportive the mothership will be.

We did pick up the $70 hood mask that just covers the leading edge of the hood to help mitigate further damage... if you ask us, this should be "thrown in" with every sale... because if it prevents ANY damage at all, it's worth more to Suzuki than the multiple times someone in their dealership will be looking at it to document it.

[volunteer]

Audio system tantrums.

Driving along happily, get a call on the ol' iPhone, the blue tooth routes it through the car, and during the call, there are small high pitched tones that seem to correlate with the accelerator. As soon as the call ends, the phone hangs up, the car I dunno, disengages? but the speakers crackle and pop and buzz... Annoying.
<snip>
the car speakers pop when you turn the car on, and off...
<snip>
We've had our Kizashi in the shop TWICE over this, the first time there we couldn't reproduce the problem, the second time we were there, the popping on and off could be heard and nothing else. They want us to bring it in AGAIN and leave it for a whole day, with our iPhone. Talk about inconvenient, eh?

~TENTATIVELY RESOLVED~

Took our babe into the dealer to have it all checked out, they ordered a new amp, and installed it a week later. This seems to have resolved all of the issues with the audio. Caveat: The issues had a way of going away for extended periods of time before rearing their ugly little gremlin heads, so as it has only been a week without any issues...

The dealer was VERY supportive on this problem.


Paint Chip...yep...us too.

We've been watching the forum and holding our breath, as we hadn't experienced any issues. But today, 2600 miles in, the husb just called it in. There's one on the hood. Great. We'll be getting a good look at it this evening... All I know is, I've been driving my RAV4 since 2003, it has 75000 miles on it, and only ONE door ding.

~DOCUMENTED BY DEALER~

They sent a rep in who photographed and measured every single chip on the car and sent this documentation into Suzuki. They were adamant about this being "impact damage", going as far as to blame it on construction debris from roads we never drive on... I personally refuse to be shut down by this "defensive corporate protectionist language" because, lets be honest here... that's what it is and would do an about face and walk out of the room in the middle of any sentence that began with. "It is normal impact damage and thus is not covered by the warranty" Because... the car barely has 3200 miles on it, and the only time it is on a highway doing 65+ miles per hour is when it is being driven to the dealer. The rest of the time, it is lucky to hit 40 on College Blvd. So... You know... I'm calling BS. HOWEVER, WE WERE TOLD A NUMBER OF INTERESTING THINGS REGARDING AUTOMOTIVE PAINT & DESIGN AND IMPACT DAMAGE:

1. CARS ARE PAINTED WITH WATERBASED ENAMELS NOW (Environmental standards)

2. THE BUMPERS ARE PAINTED WITH A SOFTER PAINT THAN THE REST OF THE CAR
BECAUSE IT IS MEANT TO BE FLEXIBLE (and so far, there are no chips on the bumper)

3. CARS WITH THIS PARTICULAR NOSE SHAPE ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO IMPACT DAMAGE

4. WHILE "IT IS CONSIDERED IMPACT DAMAGE, IT SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING
THIS EASILY" (a direct result of me refusing to be told this is normal impact damage )

5. IF THE DAMAGE IS SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE IN A YEAR OR SO, THEY WOULD PROBABLY
WORK WITH US TO REPAINT THE CAR TO TAKE CARE OF IT.

So... it seems to me that there are reasons and there aren't reasons as to why the paint should and should not be chipping... according to the dealer. So if we are being completely honest here... then spades are spades and that was just classic cover your ass ambiguity intended to "protect the mothership first" and "appease the unhappy consumer second" without conceding anything. Which... is just how it works when dealing with anything corporate.

The dealer is minimally and reluctantly supportive on this "problem" (which... is to be expected) and has deferred it to mother Suzuki Corp. Still waiting on word as to how supportive the mothership will be.

We did pick up the $70 hood mask that just covers the leading edge of the hood to help mitigate further damage... if you ask us, this should be "thrown in" with every sale... because if it prevents ANY damage at all, it's worth more to Suzuki than the multiple times someone in their dealership will be looking at it to document it.

While it's fairly obvious some of the early build cars had paint issues, that doesn't mean some of the issues you have are NOT impact related. Speed of your vehicle has nothing to do with it. In 2003 I was driving my new Audi home from the dealership the day I bought it and got hit by something that put a gash in the front bumper. I was going about 20 mph. I've had my windshield cracked sitting at a red light from something that came off of another vehicle crossing an intersection. Not saying you may NOT have paint issues, but just because you rarely hit 40mph doesn't mean a chip can't be legitimately impact damage. You have to remember, if Suzuki just agreed that EVERY chip on every car was a "paint defect", they would be out of business in a matter of months. And believe it or not, there are perhaps one or two owners that are more determined to cover their ass and blame someone else than most corporations are to cover theirs. In a over litigious society like the US, they have no choice. And yes, what they told you about using water bourne paints now is absolutely true. They have been extensively tested though and shouldn't chip as easily as some cars appear to on this forum. Teething issues with a new system on the early build cars most likely. I drive interstate about 95% of the time, rarely below 75mph. No chips in 1,500 miles (knock on wood).

[Cherish]

While it's fairly obvious some of the early build cars had paint issues, that doesn't mean some of the issues you have are NOT impact related. Speed of your vehicle has nothing to do with it. In 2003 I was driving my new Audi home from the dealership the day I bought it and got hit by something that put a gash in the front bumper. I was going about 20 mph. I've had my windshield cracked sitting at a red light from something that came off of another vehicle crossing an intersection. Not saying you may NOT have paint issues, but just because you rarely hit 40mph doesn't mean a chip can't be legitimately impact damage. You have to remember, if Suzuki just agreed that EVERY chip on every car was a "paint defect", they would be out of business in a matter of months. And believe it or not, there are perhaps one or two owners that are more determined to cover their ass and blame someone else than most corporations are to cover theirs. In a over litigious society like the US, they have no choice. And yes, what they told you about using water bourne paints now is absolutely true. They have been extensively tested though and shouldn't chip as easily as some cars appear to on this forum. Teething issues with a new system on the early build cars most likely. I drive interstate about 95% of the time, rarely below 75mph. No chips in 1,500 miles (knock on wood).

Firstly... We didn't have any chips until 2500~2600 miles either. So let me urge caution on your part when dismissing people who are reporting this issue. You aren't there yet. Just sayin'.

For your info, we have been babying the car... it is never in a situation where it's being pommelled by rocks... Even the day we took it out in the snow we were a little pussy with it... So... you know, it's a shame that the car might look like it's been abused in off-road conditions before it turns two years old when really it's just a "to work and back" car.

Secondly... and this is important for you to be told, since you seem to have lumped us all into this category... My husband and I are not litigious people. However, we do hold businesses to high expectations when it comes to their word and supporting their product. We won't appreciate it when we are told we are abusive to our cars, when we are not, no matter if it's Mark Hurd the Turd himself, or sweet, old, 90 year old Granny Jackson down the street... so I will thank you now for taking us out of that lump.

Having been burned TWICE by mega CORPORATIONS in the last 5 years... I don't need a lecture on Corporate business practices and legal gymnastics... so you will have to pardon my general distrust of the kinds of language used by corporations in general. The recent Bp vs Congress showdown comes to mind... Of course it wasn't more than 1000 er 5000 er 10000 barrels a day.

Is it fair to view all corporations with a dubious eye? Probably not. But here's the deal... Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... er.. uh... ya can't get fooled again.

Look, we were sold a number of things on this car... the quality of paint was absolutely one thing we did not think we needed to consider... why? Because car manufacturers have had over 100 years to get this one right... and also... we are not first time car owners... In our experience, we did not need to consider this. Indeed, in 1993, I bought a used 1988 Corsica with 64K miles on it (it was replacing a 1982 Oldsmobile Firenza that I sold to my sister for 600 bucks)... at the time, I lived in Rural Illinois, where maintenance on the roads generally entailed tar and gravel. Despite numerous scuffs and "dull spots" the first actual paint chip it got was in 1996...at 85K miles...In my youth, and stupidity, I was trying to wash off some stuck on bird shit with a high pressure washer and accidentally peeled back the paint to the grey primer. Whoops, lesson learned there, yeah? After a string of Saturns(that never had any paint issues), I bought my 2003 Toyota Rav4. It currently has 75K miles on it... It has the same number of chips on it that my Kizashi has... In fact, the 2007 Nissan Frontier with 18000~ miles on it that we traded in for the Kizashi that drives the same route... No chips that we were aware of and if there were, it wasn't in the same quantity category.

I think I read somewhere that GM has been using water-based enamels for over a decade... I don't see a lot of Primer colored GMs on the road.

So, it's not like we have nothing to compare it too... Cars probably should not be chipping up like this under the conditions mine is being driven... We don't live in the sticks and we don't tailgate gravel trucks and the car only has a 10 mile round trip circuit to do through suburban Johnson County, Kansas. The worst thing that happens to it, really, is that it bakes in a parking lot for 8 hours a day.

But don't you worry none... I will remember your dismissive and condescending remarks when you come back to complain about the chips that appear on your car.

Now if you will excuse me, I hear chainsaws... I think I have to go supervise KCPL who a few weeks ago hung a bunch of yellow stars on a bunch of trees in my backyard.