2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport MT

Post videos and photos of your Kizashi.
User avatar
SAEED_KIZZY
Posts: 507
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:31 pm

I think it's better to first take care of that rust. looks like it's coming from the inside of the hood maybe it's been damaged before and did some bad paint job maybe?!
I usually use touch-up paint every time see chips on the hood it prevents rusting.
NickL
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:46 pm

Yeah, the rust must definitely be professionaly treated.

I doubt that the car participated in accident, cause when I bought it, it already had some chips on the hood from small pieces of rocks, same thing with the grill on the front bumper. If it was in any accident, some of the things that the previous owner had to do is to do the paint job, which is obviously not done.

Anyway, the hood will most likely remain original. I do trust the guys in Paint shop becaused they did some of cosmectic repairs on one of my previous cars and I was always satisfied. The only problem is that this job has to wait around 10 weeks. I hope that the rust won't spread significaly in the mean time...
"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing". H. Ford
User avatar
KuroNekko
Posts: 5170
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Rust needs to be properly treated or it will continue to worsen and spread. If you live in a humid region, this is definitely the case. It could be that some minor damage penetrated the paint and exposed the bare steel from then it began to oxidize. A proper treatment will include sanding the rust off the bare metal and then putting on primer and paint to seal it back up to prevent rust from reappearing. As for preventing the spread before the repair, carefully spray some WD-40 on it. WD-40 is often used as a lubricant but the WD actually stands for Water Displacement and was formulated as a rust inhibitor. Hopefully this can retard the rust before the proper repair.

As for a smoke hood deflector, I have one. It's rather hard to tell because I own a black Kizashi but it's a low profile plastic deflector that goes over the very front of the hood. I got one of these rather early on and consider it a highly advisable accessory for the Kizashi due to the weak paint of this vehicle. It has seriously helped keep rock chips lower and likely protects the windshield a bit too with aerodynamics. Look carefully and you can see it in the picture below. It even says Suzuki on the front right.

Image
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
NickL
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:46 pm

Thanks for the picture, even though as you said, it is very hard to notice this deflector on a black hood. I seriously have to buy it as I do plan to keep this car for next minimum 3 to 4 years, maybe even longer.

The guy who is going to do the paint job has worked many years in official Porshe Paint Shop, and then decided to run his own garage. He is really good in what he does, and I do thrust him that he is going to do good job.

Japanese cars, at least the normal ones which are not considered to be premium segment (such as Acura, Lexus, Infinity) really have crap quality of the Paint. They are very sensitive to chips and rocks from the road, which can cause the car to prematurely rust if not treated on time. In comparison with German, or even French and Italian cars, the paint quality is not so good. But from the other side, the mechanical and electronical parts are usualy much more reliable than the competition. Same thing is with women. You can't find absolutely perfect one. The question is if you can accept compromises and if she is perfect for you. :)



Where should I be looking for Wind deflectors and is there any other name for it? I allready tried on ebay, but it is not so easy to find this part for such a rare car...
"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing". H. Ford
KlutzNinja
Posts: 286
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:58 am

Or if you want a picture where you can see the deflector clearly against non-black paint, you can see the image I posted on the previous page
-_-
Current: Blue 2018 Mazda 3 GT 5-Door
Previous: Blue 2010 Ford Focus SES,
Black 2013 Kizashi Sport GTS-L (CVT; FWD)(RIP)
User avatar
KuroNekko
Posts: 5170
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

KlutzNinja wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 11:04 pm Or if you want a picture where you can see the deflector clearly against non-black paint, you can see the image I posted on the previous page
-_-
That image does not work for me.
NickL wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 10:09 pm Thanks for the picture, even though as you said, it is very hard to notice this deflector on a black hood. I seriously have to buy it as I do plan to keep this car for next minimum 3 to 4 years, maybe even longer.

The guy who is going to do the paint job has worked many years in official Porshe Paint Shop, and then decided to run his own garage. He is really good in what he does, and I do thrust him that he is going to do good job.

Japanese cars, at least the normal ones which are not considered to be premium segment (such as Acura, Lexus, Infinity) really have crap quality of the Paint. They are very sensitive to chips and rocks from the road, which can cause the car to prematurely rust if not treated on time. In comparison with German, or even French and Italian cars, the paint quality is not so good. But from the other side, the mechanical and electronical parts are usualy much more reliable than the competition. Same thing is with women. You can't find absolutely perfect one. The question is if you can accept compromises and if she is perfect for you. :)



Where should I be looking for Wind deflectors and is there any other name for it? I allready tried on ebay, but it is not so easy to find this part for such a rare car...
I've owned mostly Japanese cars and can't agree with your opinions on paint. I think the Kizashi has exceptionally poor paint that even differs from other Suzukis. My first car was a 1998 Suzuki Sidekick and that vehicle had excellent paint that did not chip even when I offroaded it often. My prior Subarus and Mazda also did not have paint issues like the Kizashi. If anything I notice about Japanese cars vs others is that their sheet metal appears thinner and more prone to door dings.

As for the hood deflector, I found mine many years ago on a Suzuki parts site. About two or so years ago, I found a brand new one listed locally on Offer Up. I didn't buy it because I already had one but it was a good deal at about $25. These were made in Australia and I've seen that over there, you can even get clear hood deflectors. If you cannot find one in your home country, I suggest trying to source it from Australia where they were actually manufactured for the OE accessory.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
KlutzNinja
Posts: 286
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:58 am

Hm, the image posted through Imgur, which works for me on my iPhone using the Safari browser. I copied the image and pasted it, which was a first for me. Normally I use the attachment feature to share images, and is what I’m doing right now to share it again. I think the real reason no one saw my post is because old tech posted right after and started a new page :lol:

Like I said, I found the image from a thread here. All anyone has to do is Google “Kizashi hood deflector” and several results pop up for threads on this forum.

The Kizashi was expensive for a brand like Suzuki to make (as we’ve discussed at length, Kuro); had to cut costs somewhere. The Kizashi’s paint looks nice when clean and new, which is what matters on the showroom floor. A Car & Driver writer even compared it to a Mercedes they were also testing, in one of their long-term test entries. So it sucks for us that we have to deal with the paint quality problems, but I get why it’s probably there. Suzuki may have cut corners elsewhere if not the paint. I wonder how much money per vehicle they saved in the long run. For example, (per Savagegeese) something like using a torsion beam suspension vs an independent rear suspension saves like $300 per car, depending on the car (e.g. a compact sedan). Multiply that by tens or hundreds of thousands and it’s suddenly a huge number.

I’ve noticed car doors on Japanese cars, at least for non-premium brands, tend to sound lighter, or less solid, than some other brands (e.g. the Germans with their “solid as a bank vault”-sounding doors). Maybe this contributes to the ding-ability of the sheet metal. The Kizashi’s front doors sound nice enough when closing them, but the rear doors sound like they wouldn’t hold up well in a side-impact crash. Then again that’s probably a quirk with a lot of cars.
Attachments
2724CE52-3C88-4116-A100-968D92E9DF29.jpeg
2724CE52-3C88-4116-A100-968D92E9DF29.jpeg (90.41 KiB) Viewed 4029 times
Current: Blue 2018 Mazda 3 GT 5-Door
Previous: Blue 2010 Ford Focus SES,
Black 2013 Kizashi Sport GTS-L (CVT; FWD)(RIP)
User avatar
Woodie
Posts: 1167
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2013 10:09 am
Location: Laurel, MD

KuroNekko wrote: Wed Feb 02, 2022 6:36 pm
I've owned mostly Japanese cars and can't agree with your opinions on paint. I think the Kizashi has exceptionally poor paint that even differs from other Suzukis. My first car was a 1998 Suzuki Sidekick and that vehicle had excellent paint that did not chip even when I offroaded it often. My prior Subarus and Mazda also did not have paint issues like the Kizashi. If anything I notice about Japanese cars vs others is that their sheet metal appears thinner and more prone to door dings.
Agreed, my Kizashi is my ninth Suzuki, many of which were driven to exhaustion, and I've never had any paint problems. Well, the paint was pretty f-ed up on the two that I totalled. :lol:

For that matter, it varies drastically among Kizashis. Mine is Platinum Silver Metallic and doesn't have a single chip, some of the other colors chip if you hit a bug.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Should be a convenience store, not a government agency
User avatar
KuroNekko
Posts: 5170
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Woodie wrote: Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:49 pm
KuroNekko wrote: Wed Feb 02, 2022 6:36 pm
I've owned mostly Japanese cars and can't agree with your opinions on paint. I think the Kizashi has exceptionally poor paint that even differs from other Suzukis. My first car was a 1998 Suzuki Sidekick and that vehicle had excellent paint that did not chip even when I offroaded it often. My prior Subarus and Mazda also did not have paint issues like the Kizashi. If anything I notice about Japanese cars vs others is that their sheet metal appears thinner and more prone to door dings.
Agreed, my Kizashi is my ninth Suzuki, many of which were driven to exhaustion, and I've never had any paint problems. Well, the paint was pretty f-ed up on the two that I totalled. :lol:

For that matter, it varies drastically among Kizashis. Mine is Platinum Silver Metallic and doesn't have a single chip, some of the other colors chip if you hit a bug.
Yeah, it's been documented here that the poor paint issue among the Kizashis is really seen with the darker colors like black, blue, and red and the lighter colors seem to do a lot better. Nonetheless, the wheels also chip and flake very easily and I also noticed that the engine cover paint over "Suzuki" did not even last a few years on my car before flaking off. I really think Suzuki went cheap on the paint with the Kizashi.

KlutzNinja wrote: Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:31 am Hm, the image posted through Imgur, which works for me on my iPhone using the Safari browser. I copied the image and pasted it, which was a first for me. Normally I use the attachment feature to share images, and is what I’m doing right now to share it again. I think the real reason no one saw my post is because old tech posted right after and started a new page :lol:

Like I said, I found the image from a thread here. All anyone has to do is Google “Kizashi hood deflector” and several results pop up for threads on this forum.

The Kizashi was expensive for a brand like Suzuki to make (as we’ve discussed at length, Kuro); had to cut costs somewhere. The Kizashi’s paint looks nice when clean and new, which is what matters on the showroom floor. A Car & Driver writer even compared it to a Mercedes they were also testing, in one of their long-term test entries. So it sucks for us that we have to deal with the paint quality problems, but I get why it’s probably there. Suzuki may have cut corners elsewhere if not the paint. I wonder how much money per vehicle they saved in the long run. For example, (per Savagegeese) something like using a torsion beam suspension vs an independent rear suspension saves like $300 per car, depending on the car (e.g. a compact sedan). Multiply that by tens or hundreds of thousands and it’s suddenly a huge number.

I’ve noticed car doors on Japanese cars, at least for non-premium brands, tend to sound lighter, or less solid, than some other brands (e.g. the Germans with their “solid as a bank vault”-sounding doors). Maybe this contributes to the ding-ability of the sheet metal. The Kizashi’s front doors sound nice enough when closing them, but the rear doors sound like they wouldn’t hold up well in a side-impact crash. Then again that’s probably a quirk with a lot of cars.
Your prior image link was actually broken but with your last post, I can see the image. For me, I copy the image link address from the source and then insert it into the message as an image. I believe my images are quite reliably posted this way. Uploading images works a bit differently.

Yeah, the Kizashi's doors are quite solid compared to many other small Japanese cars. My Mazda3 had some very chintzy doors thus the Kizashi was an upgrade in refinement over that car. I agree that German cars feel a lot more solid. My dad's Mk IV Jetta feels very sturdy in terms of the doors and sheet metal but has horrid quality of plastics both in the interior and in the engine bay. You can literally scratch the plastic well with your fingernail because it's so soft.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
NickL
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:46 pm

Doors are solid on Japanese cars, but to be honest I previously owned two Civics, one was 2009 and the orher one was 2012. To tell you the truth, I was not happy at all with the factory paint and as I moved to Kizashi, I had the impression that the paint job was done much better especially looking at the Pearl white shiny Paint that my Kizashi has. However the paint is not so durable as I thought. Anyway, having the manual transmission instead of CVT, the paint quality is the only major concern that I can think of when thinking about Kizashi. I can definitely live with it with here and there, few paint repairs.
"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing". H. Ford
Post Reply