Kizashi Club

I'm picking up my new 2011 Black SX AWD Kizashi tomorrow and could not be more excited. I text drove a few vehicles but ultimately felt like the Kizashi was the only car that really got me excited.

I read about all the paint problems but it didn't deter me. I accept the fact I may have problems but I also was wondering if there are also lots of people that haven't had any paint problems and are enjoying their Kizashi. Please share your positive experiences!

I'm going to feel pretty stupid if no one replies. lol

Personally, I haven't had any paint issues w/ my Kizashi.....yet, but I had mentioned we have tons of chipping on our pearl black '08 SX4 in another thread. Hopefully I don't experience any abnormal chipping on the Kiz.

No paint chips problems yet, but the attention to it on the forum has me looking at the car nearly every day. I've got one of the colors (grey) and manufacture dates that are suspected. On the whole car, I have only the tiniest single chip (less than 1 tenth of a millimeter, I imagine) on the hood. I wouldn't have noticed it except for all of the messages here getting me looking very closely. I can't say that it is caused by any defect.

Overall, car is great. Really enjoy driving it. Favorite feature is the backup sensor as I have a driveway which goes up a hill and it is hard to see anything behind the car. My second favorite feature is Rockford-Fosgate system. Love the sound. Also love the USB input and the repeat buttons. I listen to podcasts to learn foreign languages and they come across beautifully. Love the steering wheel controls for the RF.

I enjoy the smoothness of the CVT, the quiet growl, and the handling. The little lag on acceleration is very much like a turbo lag and, to me, is not at all problematic.

I also hope this car does not become a best-seller. Suzuki has a great vehicle, and if the price is right I'll be buying a second one next year -- and I really want the price to be right.

Thanks for the comments so far. Chazyouwin - funny you comment on the quiet growl because I read all sorts of reviews talkign abotu the noisy CVT and I actually thought it was a nice little growl. I'm pretty sure I"ll be checking for chips every day for a while due to everything I've read.

I have over 20,000 on my GTS, and no paint chip issues. Protected front end with film, but many posters are pointing at side and wheel well areas - none on mine. Lucky I guess.

You gotta remember that independent paid reviewers are paid to intellectualize and must show a certain objectivity. They need to show that they don't like some things. Kizashi, aspiring to be a real luxury car, can be compared to some very quiet vehicles. This makes the growl, which is definitely there and yet I suspect is intended, a potential target. And, some people may not actually like it.

The only reviews that bother me are those that suggest the reviewer has not driven the car. The Consumer Reports reviews of the XL-7, for example, would every year say that the suspension was "rubbery." This continued to happen for, like, seven years, despite reengineering and entirely new designs. One year the "rubbery" epithet did not appear, and I said to myself, oh they actually drove it, but then the next year it reappeared. What did I care, I stopped my CR subscription long before that anyway. And, rubbery could be a positive.

Similarly, there is one review out there that gives a positive review of the Kizashi but says now Suzuki has a car which is equal to the [drum roll] Toyota Corolla!! You know that reviewer never drove the Kizashi. Ah well.

I've got a white one, built in March 2010, bought in May 2010 (15,000 km to date). The only Canadian version at the time, the AWD one.

No film or other attempts at protecting the paint, other than not driving too close to construction trucks on the road. The only thing I've noticed recently, during a milder weather stretch (after it's been covered in salt and dirt for most of the winter), is a small chip on the passenger side rear wheel well (the area indicated by other posters with more serious problems).

Given the amount of sand, salt and dirt the car's been driven through all this winter, I'd say the paint is in excellent condition.

bought the car at the end of the Jan this year and right now it's sitting at around 1700km. I have at least 15 rock chips on one side of the car. it all happened at the corner between the rear tire and rear door edge. it's driving me NUTS!! see for yourself