Kizashi Club

Hi everybody, I'm bwob, certified car nut living in California.

Though not totally abandoning the two-seater lifestyle, I’m adding a 2012 Kizashi to my current single car ‘fleet’ of a 1990 Mazda Miata, a.k.a. MX-5. Found an exceptionally tidy SLS (as it’s known in North America) with roughly 106,000 (170,060km) on the clock and for better or worse I pick it up next week.

It drives quite nicely and short of some fog to the headlamp lenses – pretty common in our high UV-zone for a car this age and some refinishing needed for the wheels, it looks almost like just it rolled off the showroom floor. Inasmuch as the Kizashi was listed as one of the ‘D’ segment cars on the competitor’s list for the car company I was working for at the time, I was more than a little aware of it. In fact, I had one as my company car for six months which is where I learned to respect and appreciate the Kizashi.

What I am completely in the dark about is the Kizashi in service for more than that six months and how they age. Particularly to – and beyond – 106K miles. So I am hoping I can get some guidance and suggestions on how to keep it going and enjoyable.

That’s all, thanks in advance for any and all advice you can share.

bwob
(Bob Hall)

Welcome Bob, love your signature line.

Everything Kizashi ages well except the paint on the wheels, a couple of specific paint colors that are prone to chipping, and the CVT transmission.

Welcome bwob.
Where in CA are you located? Odd eclipse of coincidence: I'm also in CA (OC) and own a Kizashi and now a Mazda that I bought last week. However, the Kizashi will likely be going to my nephew very soon who wants a manual transmission vehicle. In preparation for selling, I'll be polishing the headlights to remove the UV haze to get it back to clarity. It's definitely an annual thing with an older car here in California.

Is your SLS a manual transmission or CVT? They offered the 6 speed manual in those for a short while but they are very very rare. Most SLS have the CVT with AWD.

As for the mechanicals, at 100K+ mileage, I'd be sure to replace the radiator cap if original and replace the serpentine belt tensioner with a new one. There are write-ups with details on these topics on this forum.

The Kizashi is overall an excellent and rewarding car to drive and own. I've thoroughly enjoyed mine for the last 12.5 years but it's time now for me to let it go. As my chapter with a Kizashi closes, I'm glad yours is beginning. Enjoy!

Welcome, bwob. If you’re in SoCal, I think you may have gotten your Kizashi from the same used car dealer I got mine at years ago. They had a white SLS with about 106k miles for sale recently. The owner of the dealership loves the Kizashi, and always gets them at auto auctions when he can. It was also the only Kizashi on sale in California, last I checked.

One other caveat about the Kizashi is that it can go through headlight bulbs pretty quickly, like ~2 ish years, and the usual replacement process can be a little tedious. And the service center for recall work is in Santa Ana (OC), for what it’s worth.

I hope the pickup process goes well, and congrats!

Woodie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 08, 2025 11:57 am Welcome Bob, love your signature line.

Everything Kizashi ages well except the paint on the wheels, a couple of specific paint colors that are prone to chipping, and the CVT transmission.

Thanks for the heads-up about the wheel finish, it explains why the wheels on the SLS I am considering look, um, a bit elderly. It's got a CVT, so that's a point of concern for me. With my limited knowledge, I am not certain there are any preventative measures to extend its lifespan.

Still considering it though and will update any additional info here.

Thanks again for your help!

bwob
(Bob Hall)

KuroNekko wrote: ↑Tue Apr 08, 2025 6:21 pm Welcome bwob.
Where in CA are you located? Odd eclipse of coincidence: I'm also in CA (OC) and own a Kizashi and now a Mazda that I bought last week. However, the Kizashi will likely be going to my nephew very soon who wants a manual transmission vehicle. In preparation for selling, I'll be polishing the headlights to remove the UV haze to get it back to clarity. It's definitely an annual thing with an older car here in California.

Is your SLS a manual transmission or CVT? They offered the 6 speed manual in those for a short while but they are very very rare. Most SLS have the CVT with AWD.

As for the mechanicals, at 100K+ mileage, I'd be sure to replace the radiator cap if original and replace the serpentine belt tensioner with a new one. There are write-ups with details on these topics on this forum.

The Kizashi is overall an excellent and rewarding car to drive and own. I've thoroughly enjoyed mine for the last 12.5 years but it's time now for me to let it go. As my chapter with a Kizashi closes, I'm glad yours is beginning. Enjoy!

I'm in the Los Angeles metro area and congrats on the Mazda purchase — I used to work at Mazda long ago.

The SLS I am considering is a CVT and I have heard the transmission can be a point of concern. I guess with 106k on the I will need to hope for the best while I am expecting the worse. Well, to a point.

I've added your comments on the radiator cap and the belt tensioner on my 'to-do' list. I hope the latter is a readily available piece and I will be trolling through the additional info here in the forum in the days ahead.

Glad to get the info and background on your car and I hope the 13 year-old example I'm looking at has another dozen years to offer.

Thanks so much for the background and sharing your own Kizashi-flavored experiences.

bwob
(Bob Hall)

KlutzNinja wrote: ↑Tue Apr 08, 2025 8:00 pm Welcome, bwob. If you’re in SoCal, I think you may have gotten your Kizashi from the same used car dealer I got mine at years ago. They had a white SLS with about 106k miles for sale recently. The owner of the dealership loves the Kizashi, and always gets them at auto auctions when he can. It was also the only Kizashi on sale in California, last I checked.

One other caveat about the Kizashi is that it can go through headlight bulbs pretty quickly, like ~2-ish years, and the usual replacement process can be a little tedious. And the service center for recall work is in Santa Ana (OC), for what it’s worth.

I hope the pickup process goes well, and congrats!

Yup, I am here in the Los Angeles area and I have a reasonable degree of certainty we are talking about the same dealer. I mean how many white SLSes with 106,000 miles can be in this end of the state...or the whole damned state for that matter.

Methinks just one.

I have heard about the fact that the car eats headlamp bulbs. I am assuming the OEM ones are halogen and was thinking about swapping them out when I get the car (after the ultimate joy of a bumper removal) with LED replacements, since the swap to LED lamps on my Miata's been a big win/win for me as regards extending bulb life. Do you know anybody who's tried that?

I am mildly stunned that there's still a place doing recall work for the car, but that's another one going in my 'help' file. If I end up buying the car — and that is looking pretty positive at the moment — I may annoy you about the location of the shop.

I greatly appreciate sharing your knowledge of 'life with Kizashi' (sounds like a Japanese sitcom) and hope I am not coming off like an annoyance to you and all the others in the Forum who've stepped in with info. Especially since I am likely to become Mr. Questions here in the future.

Thanks to you all!

bwob
(Bob Hall)

No worries. The forum is all about discussions on the Kizashi.

As for the CVT, at least it's relatively low mileage at just over 100K. I'd still be very keen on any issues, whining noises, and check the condition of the fluid. There is a member here, Old Tech, who is a pro mechanic who works on Kizashis and CVT repairs are his specialty. He states that the Kizashi's CVT has a design flaw that compromises longevity but he has a modification for the issue. The bad thing is that he's located in Pennsylvania. There are plenty of discussions on this forum about the CVT issues, symptoms, and solutions.

As for the So Cal recall location, it's actually very close to where I live. In fact, I pass by it every single day to work on my 3 mile commute. It's Tom's Truck Center in Santa Ana, CA. It used to be a Suzuki dealer but now a commercial truck dealer. They still do recall work and in my experience, do it well. I had both my gas tank replaced and my front passenger seat cushion replaced in two separate recalls there. No issues. It's located right off the 5 Fwy in Santa Ana.

USELESS INFORMATION UPDATE

Looks like I will be snagging the 2012 SLS, with a pick up on the 21st or 22nd. I'll share photos sometime afterwards and will certainly be perusing the forum even more than I have regarding mechanical, maintenance and preventative measures. Please be prepared for a surfeit of stoopid™ questions.

bwob
(Bob Hall)

Congrats. Look forward to seeing it.