Paint Chip Repairs

[ragmopp]

You know this paint chipping issue isn't something exclusive to Suzuki. I have a Toyota Tacoma and that vehicle has had many, many complaints of paint chipping (specifically on the 2005). Although there have been many instances of paint chipping reported on the Toyota forums (one has a petition, and at last count 568 people have complained) Toyota's response, at best, has been spotty. I'll bet that there are many other instances of vehicles with this problem and it is up to the owner to complain or just deal with it.

You really have to feel for owners that have this problem. They spend thousands of their hard earned $$$ and then have to deal with something that just sticks in your craw every time you walk by the front of the car.

I had the 3M film put on my Honda CRV (which I HOPE can be replaced with a 6 speed manual Kisachi) when it was brand new, and at almost 8 years the front still looks good. I therefor had put the film on my Taco at the outset and it has zero dings. As I was starting to get them on the side of the rocker panels I then put nerf bars on the truck. That pretty much resolved the problem, although I really don't think nerf bars would look too good on a Kisachi...

As others have suggested the 3M film is probably the best way to protect the front end of the vehicle, and I can attest to that. And if, when my Kisachi shows up it will go straight from the dealers lot to have the 3M film installed.

[pdaddy1967]

Moving my post over here on my Tar problem, I'm picking it up today and the dealer told me they painted The Hood, Roof, And Trunk. I will be keeping a close eye on the car to see if the paint start chipping else where.

[TheHolyGhost]

Good luck, I hope they did a better job that Suzuki did that first time.

[Cherish]

An estimate? Are you paying for it out of pocket?

ACK! Sorry it took so long to respond. We've had really a busy few months.

In answer to your question; No, we didn't pay anything out of pocket for the paint job (except for the rental car ). Our dealership, I guess, uses a couple of shops and they had to take it to both to get the estimate to send to Suzuki before repainting it.


Anyway, the paint job went great, we went ahead and bought the hood and bumper bra/mask in black. Got the car home, and let it sit in the driveway naked for about a week before we dared take it out on the road with it's "leathers" on. We've been chip free ever since.

Now we can be extra excited when we talk about our car with all of the admiring strangers we meet at the gas station. One enthusiastic young lady told us it looked like a BMW to her. She was shocked, SHOCKED, to hear it was a Suzuki. LOL!

[Shaneous]

.. I have just staretd noticing (after 4 months) a coupel of small areas where paint has come off. Not sure if stone chips or not (they are not really in high risk / prone stone chip areas!)

Anyone in Australia had any issues with paintwork? if so, how have Australian dealers handled it?

[LarryM]

What would you say is the best thing to do with a new Kizashi, get the full bra or the film. And if the film how much does that cost?

[ragmopp]

If you go with the bra, you will need to remember to only use it like, say, on a trip and then remove it. The reason? If you leave that on all the time dirt/dust will get under it and the bra will rub the paint right off the hood.

The film is expensive (I did a writeup on it under the technical section, front hood clear protector). The hood and bumper install will run around $600, unless you purchase the plastic yourself and install. Others have done this and naturally it would be considerably cheaper. This stuff works.

[Jafo64]

Has anyone found a correlation between the paint chip problem and manufacture date? My GTS is an Azure Grey with a build date of Feb 2010, so far with over 7000 miles on it I havent found any chips in the paint, just a minor door ding on the left rear wheel lip GGGRRRRRRRRR!!!