2010 Vivid Red Kizashi - new owner

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speedsterz
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:58 pm
Location: Miami

I'm the fortunate new owner of a vivid red Kizashi GTS. I was hoping to get a manual but there were none left in the south florida area so I went for the CVT. Payments are 350/month with GAP and extended warranty up to 100,000 miles. I have to say that the car breaks necks as other drivers stare to see our very rare and bold sedan. Stepping up from a 2009 Mitsu Lancer GTS it really is leaps and bounds in terms of build quality and feel.

Unfortunately my happiness was cut short this morning being the next day after taking delivery of the vehicle. I took delivery last night around 7pm and it was a bit dark. This morning and even more so this afternoon I noticed swril marks/spider webbing/halos around the entire car. It's pretty apparent they must've buffed the car with a rough compound or it might have been an inexperienced operator handling the buffer. I'm in direct contact with the general manager and they are swearing up and down that they can detail all of the swirls and the car will be spotless. I hope this is not the beginning of a bad run with such a great looking car.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS - Platinum Silver
Location: SFL

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."
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TheHolyGhost
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:59 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Hi Speedsterz,

Welcome to our site! It's great to have another proud new owner joining the site. Hopefully you can get everything details and cleaned up so you can start showing off the car.
2010 Kizashi GTS
6 speed
Platinum Silver Metallic (Battle wounded)

2014 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback

Past Cars:
2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i
1998 Audi A4 1.8TQM
1998 Dodge Avenger ES
volunteer
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue May 11, 2010 1:56 am

speedsterz wrote:I'm the fortunate new owner of a vivid red Kizashi GTS. I was hoping to get a manual but there were none left in the south florida area so I went for the CVT. Payments are 350/month with GAP and extended warranty up to 100,000 miles. I have to say that the car breaks necks as other drivers stare to see our very rare and bold sedan. Stepping up from a 2009 Mitsu Lancer GTS it really is leaps and bounds in terms of build quality and feel.

Unfortunately my happiness was cut short this morning being the next day after taking delivery of the vehicle. I took delivery last night around 7pm and it was a bit dark. This morning and even more so this afternoon I noticed swril marks/spider webbing/halos around the entire car. It's pretty apparent they must've buffed the car with a rough compound or it might have been an inexperienced operator handling the buffer. I'm in direct contact with the general manager and they are swearing up and down that they can detail all of the swirls and the car will be spotless. I hope this is not the beginning of a bad run with such a great looking car.
It doesn't take much to put swirls in clearcoat, but it also doesn't take much to get them back out.
User avatar
Zeid
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:27 pm
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

I know exactly what you're going through. My buddy bought his Vivid Red a month ago, and when we went to go pick it up from the dealer, in bright sunlight, it looked HORRIBLE. It was so bad he asked for the other vivid red GTS awd on the lot. Turns out the "prep guys" were using basic soap and a rags to clean the cars.

The flat red color will show EVERYTHING in the clearcoat. The dealer was awesome and apologized, taking the car back for a whole day to have his body shop redo the whole car with special compounds that cost $$$. It looks absolutely STUNNING now.

I'd work with the dealer and have them fix it.
Suzuki Kizashi GTS AWD-Platinum Silver-Since 5/28/10
Mechanical Engineer
Owner of http://www.theCollegeDriver.com
User avatar
TheHolyGhost
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:59 pm
Location: Philadelphia

You have a friend with one too? Awesome, I've yet to see another one let alone meet someone who owns one.
2010 Kizashi GTS
6 speed
Platinum Silver Metallic (Battle wounded)

2014 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback

Past Cars:
2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i
1998 Audi A4 1.8TQM
1998 Dodge Avenger ES
User avatar
speedsterz
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:58 pm
Location: Miami

the latest update....had the dealer's detailer take a crack at the swirls. According to the detailer in order to get the swirls out he would have to use a micro polishing compound that would diminish some of the clear coat and decrease the life of the car's paint, he did not recommend that.

Once the detailer did his best to polish the paint (which looked a lot better) I noticed that the freshly polished paint revealed about 20 dents on the hood that were hidden by the swirls. Turns out the car had been in a small accident and they had the hood repainted about three months ago. I was mad as hell but here in south Florida there is no buyer's remorse or cooling off period when you buy a vehicle on the dealer's lot. I also learned that if there is any damage on a new vehicle and as long as it does not exceed 2% of the vehicle's price then it does not have to be reported to the customer and can be sold as "new."

After some heated arguments the general manager put me into a Platinum Silver GTS, CVT, with only 4 miles. He also threw in the aluminum door sills, 4free oil changes with synthetic oil & filter, and 2 free rotations/balancing.

I demanded that no one touch my vehicle before I take delivery tomorrow afternoon.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS - Platinum Silver
Location: SFL

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."
User avatar
TheHolyGhost
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:59 pm
Location: Philadelphia

That's outrageous! I'm sorry about your bad sales experience. I hope that once you get in a Kizashi that you're happy with you can really just enojoy the great car that it is.
2010 Kizashi GTS
6 speed
Platinum Silver Metallic (Battle wounded)

2014 Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback

Past Cars:
2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i
1998 Audi A4 1.8TQM
1998 Dodge Avenger ES
User avatar
Zeid
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:27 pm
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

Yeah it's a shame you had to go through all of that. The dealers don't seem prepared for such a "luxurious" vehicle. I don't know how I can wash a car better than a "detailer" using products from Wal-Mart.
Suzuki Kizashi GTS AWD-Platinum Silver-Since 5/28/10
Mechanical Engineer
Owner of http://www.theCollegeDriver.com
User avatar
uforaverwill
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:08 pm

speedsterz wrote:the latest update....had the dealer's detailer take a crack at the swirls. According to the detailer in order to get the swirls out he would have to use a micro polishing compound that would diminish some of the clear coat and decrease the life of the car's paint, he did not recommend that.

Once the detailer did his best to polish the paint (which looked a lot better) I noticed that the freshly polished paint revealed about 20 dents on the hood that were hidden by the swirls. Turns out the car had been in a small accident and they had the hood repainted about three months ago. I was mad as hell but here in south Florida there is no buyer's remorse or cooling off period when you buy a vehicle on the dealer's lot. I also learned that if there is any damage on a new vehicle and as long as it does not exceed 2% of the vehicle's price then it does not have to be reported to the customer and can be sold as "new."

After some heated arguments the general manager put me into a Platinum Silver GTS, CVT, with only 4 miles. He also threw in the aluminum door sills, 4free oil changes with synthetic oil & filter, and 2 free rotations/balancing.

I demanded that no one touch my vehicle before I take delivery tomorrow afternoon.


Sorry to hear the bad news but I hope you have luck with this Kizashi.
2010 Kizashi SE
Platinum Silver
User avatar
speedsterz
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:58 pm
Location: Miami

Just wanted to put the finishing touch to my initial post.......picked up the Platinum Silver, I waxed & detailed the car myself, no swirl marks....only a beautiful metallic platinum silver shine.

I did have to go into the dealer this weekend for the driver's side tweeter that kept shorting out and making static noises but no big deal, they ordered a new tweeter and I should be good to go once that's installed.

I'd like to thank the members that took the time to welcome me to the site, I've been a part of other forums and I'm glad to say this one seems to be filled with mature and knowledgeable members.

On a side note, a BMW 3 series owner parked next to me asked me what Audi series my car was....I grinned and told him it was a Suzuki not an Audi.....his face was priceless.

I'll be ordering the RRM front strut bar and short air intake shortly and will post results once thats done.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS - Platinum Silver
Location: SFL

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."
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