Returning a leased Suzuki in the U.S. – my story

[Firefly]

My Kizashi lease expired on June 27.
I had been receiving the appropriate notifications, and my 'Lease Return Kit' from Suzuki, made sure the car was up to standard, and a couple of weeks before it was due, called them to arrange a pre-inspection. With no Suzuki dealerships left open, I was told to arrange the return with any G.M. dealership.

This is where it gets frustrating.

Keep in mind lease returns are handled by "Sales."
I called four of the closest G.M. dealers to home. Initially none of them seemed to know that they were supposed to accept Suzuki returns. I educated them on the situation.
Dealer One, closest to my home, "We don't have any room right now on the lot, try another dealer."
Dealer Two, "We are doing construction and are low on space, try another dealer.
Dealer Three did not return my call after leaving three voicemails.
Dealer Four, "We don't do those, your best bet is call another dealer..."

The service manager at the Mazda dealership I was getting my 6 from had previously worked at Dealer Four, and was kind enough to reach out to a sales guy who would talk to me (I will call him "Bob"). Bob said he'd take the car as long as I left it at their storage lot, a few miles from the dealership, and brought him the keys. In our initial meeting Bob's welcoming statement to me: "Let me clarify, I do not have the space, the manpower nor the motivation to take another brand of car. I only do this as a favor for a former co-worker." Now, in the interest of unloading the Suzuki as cleanly as possible, humored him, kept composure when he said "Suzuki - I remember those, those were horrible cars." I looked around at the showroom, empty of customers, full of Chevys, and held in any reply to the effect of, "oh yes, unlike these solid, safe General Motors cars!" I took my copy of the Odometer slip and walked through the lot to where my wife waited to pick me up in our other car. I looked back at the quiet Chevy lot. Somewhere a cricket chirped.

I did not want to discuss this until after the car was inspected and picked up (all done by Ally, no problem) and closed out, security deposit returned.

But if you are leasing in the U.S. just take this as a preview of what might lie ahead.

[KuroNekko]

A GM salesman calling Suzuki "horrible" is quite ironic especially given the situation with GM right now. They have a recall just about every month and have recalled more cars this year than they sold in the last 5 years. It's in the millions and for death-related safety defects.
Even Cadillac is doing so poorly in sales that they hired a new CEO; the guy who was previously running Infiniti and before that, Audi.

GM is so up shit creek, they make Chrysler look good.

Thanks for letting us know how your lease return went. Sounds like it was an awkward experience.
Best of luck with the Mazda6. I think that's a great car and personally find it the most appealing midsize available now.

[murcod]

That sucks.

You should have called the Suzuki USA call line back and let them know that no GM dealers would take it back. I'd imagine- as far as they know- you returned it with no problems so they'll keep telling other owners the same thing.

PS: Perhaps stopping the payments and letting them know where to pick it up would have been smoother? You could have had a starring role on "Operation Repo"

[Firefly]

Had I not connected with the the dealer, my plan was to leave the Kizashi in the driveway and tell Suzuki to come get it.

I had this feeling for a while that if the car were suddenly stolen Suzuki and GM would both be happy.

[Speed_Racer]

The irony is that those years when Suzuki was "horrible" were when Suzuki was rebadging and importing, you guessed it...Korean General Motor [Daewoo] vehicles.

Even today GM is hardly competitive in the market as far as quality products go. Every time I get stuck with one as a rental I thank my lucky stars I get to return it at the end of a week.

[redmed]

Even today GM is hardly competitive in the market as far as quality products go. Every time I get stuck with one as a rental I thank my lucky stars I get to return it at the end of a week.

Just curious, since I haven't rented a car in years, what domestic car (or make) makes a good impression?

[KuroNekko]

Even today GM is hardly competitive in the market as far as quality products go. Every time I get stuck with one as a rental I thank my lucky stars I get to return it at the end of a week.

Just curious, since I haven't rented a car in years, what domestic car (or make) makes a good impression?

I liked the Ford Fusion. Here's my take on it vs. the Kizashi if you're interested:
http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... f=8&t=2697

I'd also like to rent the new Chrysler 200, Dodge Charger, and Chevy Impala to see how they drive. Not interested in the Malibu. Reviewers have stated that even with the redesign, it's still lame.

[Firefly]

I have leased and rented a few Fords over the past ten years and none gave me a bad impression. The Fusion was my choice to succeed the Kizashi before I tried the Mazda.

[Speed_Racer]

Even today GM is hardly competitive in the market as far as quality products go. Every time I get stuck with one as a rental I thank my lucky stars I get to return it at the end of a week.

Just curious, since I haven't rented a car in years, what domestic car (or make) makes a good impression?

I'm impressed by Ford. The Fusion looks great inside and out. And the Focus was on the list w/ the Kizashi when I was shopping.

Dodge/Chrysler I tend to dislike their interiors - hard plastics and harsh surfaces. But the new 200 looks like a huge step forward so I'd like to check one out up close.

[sx4rocious]

I have to say, the new 200 is selling very strong in my area already. I've seen several on the road in the past few weeks and that says a lot in the Impala\Malibu\Fusion\Taurus heartland...