Advice for My First Car

Nazuto · Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:39 am

Hello, I'm looking for my first car and possess no mechanical skills.
I saw a 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS Sedan 4D for $3000 after negotiating at almost 110k miles.
No problems, safety and registration are up to date. I researched a lot about it and it is discontinued here in Hawaii, in the US.
I'm really interested at this car and wanted to get the advice of people here who possess way more experience than me.
Please let me know, thank you!

Obama_is_hot6 · Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:09 am

Nazuto wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:39 am Hello, I'm looking for my first car and possess no mechanical skills.
I saw a 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS Sedan 4D for $3000 after negotiating at almost 110k miles.
No problems, safety and registration are up to date. I researched a lot about it and it is discontinued here in Hawaii, in the US.
I'm really interested at this car and wanted to get the advice of people here who possess way more experience than me.
Please let me know, thank you!

3k is pretty low, idk what its like in hawaii, but here in duluth if i bought a kizashi for 3k that means its got some problems. not tryna sounds like a dick im just being honest. i bought mine for 9k with 120k miles from a dealership and even STILL its had many issues like transmition issues. funny enough i bought a second one recently and its also making bad tranny sounds lol. id be prepared to spend a couple grand on maintenance things if i were you. but yeah the kizashi is an amazing car no matter how expensive they get ill always drive one

and luckily since you joined this website you can learn, theres lots of helpful info on here

old tech · Sun Mar 10, 2024 12:53 pm

The Kizashi is a high quality car with the exception of the infamous Cvt built by Jatco/Nissan. These usually fail around 125,000 miles. it’s kind of sad to think about it. These could have been strengthened from the factory for probably only two dollars more per unit and would have lengthened the life expectancy beyond 200,000 miles. There are some that are lucky to get over 200,000 miles in stock form but that’s not the norm. Most places, this transmission is quite expensive to deal with. However, if you know someone that can do it, Kizashi could be a bargain of a lifetime.The Kizashi after transmission has broken, I find them for around a thousand dollars and then my charge of overhauling the transmission from start to finish is $1900 or hand you an overhauled unit $850 +core . This is the way I like people to find them, but I highly doubt you can find someone on your island that can be that reasonable. There is a small chance that this car you’re looking at has already had a transmission under warranty. You could turn the wheel all the way to the right and at the transmission where the left axle enters there’s a Vin tag right there.(only on 10 and 11 yr models) If the Vin matches the car it’s the original transmission. If there is no vin tag on a 2011 and that means the transmission has been replaced. Without someone in your corner, my advice has to be , pass on this and buy a Civic or Corolla for a bit more.

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Mon Mar 11, 2024 5:43 pm

Unfortunately, it's risky at this point for the reasons Old Tech mentioned. If it's an automatic, it has a transmission called a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that is prone to issues at high mileage due to a design flaw and ill-advised service intervals. While pros like Old Tech can fix the issue, resources might be very hard to come by in Hawaii. Unfortunately, some have bought these as used cars with failed transmissions and experienced major headaches. Even with a manual transmission model like I have, finding a replacement clutch is a concern. As a first car, one will go through a clutch much faster than someone with MT experience on any car.

Given you live in Hawaii, I would have to agree with Old Tech that the smarter choice is to buy a more popular car like a Corolla or Civic that has far more support there. Having lived in Oahu before and visited the state since, I know Toyota is the favored brand there. The Corolla and Civic are also more fuel efficient than the Kizashi and I know Hawaii has high gas prices.

While it was not true several years ago, I no longer recommend the Kizashi as a daily driver vehicle for most people. With known transmission issues among the automatics at its age and mileage, plus the lack of OE parts available, it's sadly a car that is rather high on risk factors. It's a great car that is satisfying to drive but the world has just moved on for this forgotten vehicle.

Nazuto · Thu Mar 14, 2024 11:35 am

Thank you everyone for your advice! I completely agree with you all. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass on this beautiful creation, but once I get more experience behind the wheel and mechanically, my goal is to get a 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS. I will forever be a part of this club as it has become my dream car, I look forward to coming back in the future and owning one, fully customizing it to my ideal car. Thanks again everyone!

Obama_is_hot6 · Thu Mar 14, 2024 9:09 pm

Nazuto wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 11:35 am Thank you everyone for your advice! I completely agree with you all. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass on this beautiful creation, but once I get more experience behind the wheel and mechanically, my goal is to get a 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS. I will forever be a part of this club as it has become my dream car, I look forward to coming back in the future and owning one, fully customizing it to my ideal car. Thanks again everyone!

yeah their definitely special cars thats for sure, i mean if you have alot of money it would change on wether you should buy it or not. like if you make decent money :shrug: