Traded in the Kizashi
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 4:24 pm
After 7 years of trouble-free ownership, I finally traded in our 2013 Kizashi SLS awd. It was mainly my wife's car, but we both really liked it. In all that time and 100k miles, the only repair I had to make was when the rear shock leaked around the 80k mile mark. Considering the mileage, I just replaced everything with new KYB shocks, shock mounts, and KYB struts. Other than that, it was just regular oil changes, a few brake jobs, a set of rotors, and a few sets of tires. Possibly the most reliable car we've owned to date. The 100k mile drivetrain warranty expired in March of this year, and I started worrying about the inevitable CVT failure that was surely going to happen if I kept it long enough. I didn't want to go through that headache, so I decided to let it go. The next hard decision was trying to figure out what is on the market today that compares to the Kizashi? In the past 7 years, the little crossover suv's have really taken off, and it seems awd sports sedans aren't as popular or common as they once were. My daily driver is an 03 4 door Tracker (aka Grand Vitara), so we weren't interested in another suv. We looked at the Subaru WRX, and I wanted to like it, but it's just not that attractive to me as it lacked some of the class the Kizzy offered. Plus we're in our mid-forties, not mid-twenties. We looked at Acura TLX a-apec, but it was a bit too big and not really that nice inside for the price point. I researched Audi A3 RS, but was afraid of sketchy German reliability.
I ended up wanting a Lexus IS-F. The IS line checked all the boxes for us. Sporty, classy, awd, reliable, and it is within an inch in overall length compared to the Kizashi. The next hard part was locating one in my price range in the middle of a pandemic. So the F-Sport option gives you 2 different interior options....Roja Red, (which I think is kinda cool, but my wife hates) or black. In my searching, it seemed like only roughly 30% of the IS 300/350's on the market had the F-Sport package (which was a requirement of mine.) Of that 30%, over half had the roja red interior. Doing a 250 mile radius search would show me maybe 4 cars worth looking at. All of them were 3-4 hours away. (And we're still in a pandemic.) I reached out to some dealerships and had them send me some high res pics and a video walkaround of the cars. Just about all of them were beat. I'm talking low mileage cars in the 2017-2019 model year range with bad paint damage, and stained/ripped interiors going for over 30k. Who's buying that crap?
A few months ago, we went to our time share in VA Beach. A week before we left, I searched cars.com for Lexus IS 300/350 F-Sports in the VA Beach area. There were only 2, but one of them was the one. A 2017 IS350 F-Sport awd that just came off of a 3 yr lease with 26k miles for $30k. So when we headed south to VA Beach, I made sure to throw the Kizashi title in the glove box. (just in case.) It would end up being a one-way trip for the Kizashi as we bought the ISF and drove it back home to PA.
Here are some comparisons between a 2013 Kizashi SLS awd, and a 2017 IS350 F-Sport awd:
Obviously the IS is newer, so it has some new tech that the Kiz never had, lIke the self adaptive cruise control, and the lane departure warning system. I like to think if Suzuki were still around, a new Kizashi could be had with some of those features as well.
The first con I noticed was when we were leaving the hotel. All of the luggage that came down in the Kizashi's trunk would not fit in the Lexus's trunk.
The next con is gas milage, but this was expected considering the bigger engine. I got 30 mpg driving down in the Kizashi, and barely hit 25 going home in the Lexus. This is partly because the Lexus is full time awd, unlike the Kizashi which has the ability to just run as a fwd. It's also a little heavier, and that 306hp 3.5 V6 is no J24. Oh, it also requires high octane, so no more fill ups with 87.
No memory seats? I still don't understand this one, but apparently Lexus didn't offer memory seats with the F-Sport package. Kizashi has 3 memory settings.
No rain sensing wipers. I never really loved that feature though as I prefer regular old fashioned delay settings. I guess Lexus agrees.
Very little interior storage. My wife constantly reminds me of this one. The little drop-down sunglasses holder in the Kizashi is very much missed in the Lexus as there is also no cubby storage under the radio above the center console. Just a small storage space under the arm rest, and that's it.
Performance? That's not entirely fair to the Kizzy since the Lexus makes almost double the HP, and having a actual 6-speed transmission is heavenly compared to the Jatco CVT. I will say the Lexus doesn't feel as light on it's feet as the Kizashi did in the handling department. It feels like a sporty luxury car, where the Kizashi felt like a luxurious sports sedan.
For Lexus pros: The LED headlights are awesome.
That engine is magnificent. (Although a bit too quiet for my taste.)
Modern styling and cool gadgets. Lots of LFA has been incorporated into the ISF.
The seats are supportive enough to head straight to the track with. High bolsters make it bit difficult to get in and out of, but once you're in...oh man.
Overall fit and finish for exterior and interior quality is the best I've seen. This is what Lexus/Toyota does best. Sitting in this car makes you feel more special than you really are.
So overall, what this experience has taught me is how far ahead of its time the Kizashi really was. If Suzuki were still around, I would've just went to my local dealership and traded up for a new 2020 Kizashi. I'm not sad about my new purchase, but I am sad there is no more Kizashi.
I ended up wanting a Lexus IS-F. The IS line checked all the boxes for us. Sporty, classy, awd, reliable, and it is within an inch in overall length compared to the Kizashi. The next hard part was locating one in my price range in the middle of a pandemic. So the F-Sport option gives you 2 different interior options....Roja Red, (which I think is kinda cool, but my wife hates) or black. In my searching, it seemed like only roughly 30% of the IS 300/350's on the market had the F-Sport package (which was a requirement of mine.) Of that 30%, over half had the roja red interior. Doing a 250 mile radius search would show me maybe 4 cars worth looking at. All of them were 3-4 hours away. (And we're still in a pandemic.) I reached out to some dealerships and had them send me some high res pics and a video walkaround of the cars. Just about all of them were beat. I'm talking low mileage cars in the 2017-2019 model year range with bad paint damage, and stained/ripped interiors going for over 30k. Who's buying that crap?
A few months ago, we went to our time share in VA Beach. A week before we left, I searched cars.com for Lexus IS 300/350 F-Sports in the VA Beach area. There were only 2, but one of them was the one. A 2017 IS350 F-Sport awd that just came off of a 3 yr lease with 26k miles for $30k. So when we headed south to VA Beach, I made sure to throw the Kizashi title in the glove box. (just in case.) It would end up being a one-way trip for the Kizashi as we bought the ISF and drove it back home to PA.
Here are some comparisons between a 2013 Kizashi SLS awd, and a 2017 IS350 F-Sport awd:
Obviously the IS is newer, so it has some new tech that the Kiz never had, lIke the self adaptive cruise control, and the lane departure warning system. I like to think if Suzuki were still around, a new Kizashi could be had with some of those features as well.
The first con I noticed was when we were leaving the hotel. All of the luggage that came down in the Kizashi's trunk would not fit in the Lexus's trunk.
The next con is gas milage, but this was expected considering the bigger engine. I got 30 mpg driving down in the Kizashi, and barely hit 25 going home in the Lexus. This is partly because the Lexus is full time awd, unlike the Kizashi which has the ability to just run as a fwd. It's also a little heavier, and that 306hp 3.5 V6 is no J24. Oh, it also requires high octane, so no more fill ups with 87.
No memory seats? I still don't understand this one, but apparently Lexus didn't offer memory seats with the F-Sport package. Kizashi has 3 memory settings.
No rain sensing wipers. I never really loved that feature though as I prefer regular old fashioned delay settings. I guess Lexus agrees.
Very little interior storage. My wife constantly reminds me of this one. The little drop-down sunglasses holder in the Kizashi is very much missed in the Lexus as there is also no cubby storage under the radio above the center console. Just a small storage space under the arm rest, and that's it.
Performance? That's not entirely fair to the Kizzy since the Lexus makes almost double the HP, and having a actual 6-speed transmission is heavenly compared to the Jatco CVT. I will say the Lexus doesn't feel as light on it's feet as the Kizashi did in the handling department. It feels like a sporty luxury car, where the Kizashi felt like a luxurious sports sedan.
For Lexus pros: The LED headlights are awesome.
That engine is magnificent. (Although a bit too quiet for my taste.)
Modern styling and cool gadgets. Lots of LFA has been incorporated into the ISF.
The seats are supportive enough to head straight to the track with. High bolsters make it bit difficult to get in and out of, but once you're in...oh man.
Overall fit and finish for exterior and interior quality is the best I've seen. This is what Lexus/Toyota does best. Sitting in this car makes you feel more special than you really are.
So overall, what this experience has taught me is how far ahead of its time the Kizashi really was. If Suzuki were still around, I would've just went to my local dealership and traded up for a new 2020 Kizashi. I'm not sad about my new purchase, but I am sad there is no more Kizashi.