Several Questions about the Kizashi

redmed · Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:19 pm

I can not find any place that has ball joints for the Kizashi. This has me worried.

Woodie · Sun Jul 12, 2015 11:07 am

Most Japanese cars have the ball joints welded to the lower control arm, have to do the whole arm.

redmed · Sun Jul 12, 2015 7:45 pm

The Kizashi ball joint is not welded.
From the service manual.

chazyouwin · Sun Jul 12, 2015 8:57 pm

I have an 18-yo son and would love to sit him in another Kizashi, but what I worry about for a beginning driver is the degree of view being blocked by the thick A-pllars. I have lost pedestrians and cars behind the posts.
Beyond that, I can't recommend Kizashi and Suzuki highly enough. We have three Suzukis - two 2002 XL-7s and a 2010 Kizashi. They have all been great. I'd buy again in a heartbeat.
One other thing to consider - the Suzuki was/is not an aspirational nameplate here or anywhere else really. The Kizashi as other Suzukis is just a great rock solid dependable car with excellent features and I think long-term value. That's why they're retaining value.
Some people have a need to impress others with nameplates. If you don't mind having working class foreigners (say, from Brazil, Mexico, Barbados, India, etc.) constantly telling you how smart you are for having purchased a Suzuki, then you won't mind. Others might find that strangely offensive. If you're independent minded and assured, then go ahead and drive it and see if you like it.

paininthenuts · Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:21 am

chazyouwin wrote:I have an 18-yo son and would love to sit him in another Kizashi, but what I worry about for a beginning driver is the degree of view being blocked by the thick A-pllars. I have lost pedestrians and cars behind the posts.
Beyond that, I can't recommend Kizashi and Suzuki highly enough. We have three Suzukis - two 2002 XL-7s and a 2010 Kizashi. They have all been great. I'd buy again in a heartbeat.
One other thing to consider - the Suzuki was/is not an aspirational nameplate here or anywhere else really. The Kizashi as other Suzukis is just a great rock solid dependable car with excellent features and I think long-term value. That's why they're retaining value.
Some people have a need to impress others with nameplates. If you don't mind having working class foreigners (say, from Brazil, Mexico, Barbados, India, etc.) constantly telling you how smart you are for having purchased a Suzuki, then you won't mind. Others might find that strangely offensive. If you're independent minded and assured, then go ahead and drive it and see if you like it.

LOL. To get insurance for an 18 year old to drive a 2.4 in the UK, would mean you would have to sell your house to buy a years insurance. Even a 1 ltr car with 60 bhp would cost an 18 year old about £2000/$3000

Woodie · Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:45 am

redmed wrote:The Kizashi ball joint is not welded.
From the service manual.

I can't seem to open that attachment, but when I looked in the service manual, here's what I found:

redmed · Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:05 pm

Check out page 2354. Tie rod-ball joint inspection
Tie-rod end lock nut: 55 N.m (5.6 kg-m, 40.5 lbf-ft)

Woodie · Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:22 am

Ahhh, that explains it. That is more commonly called an Outer Tie Rod End. The Ball Joint is at the outside end of the lower control arm and connects to the hub or upright. They are both ball joints, so I guess that's a correct term, but it's not usually referred to as such. Part #11 in this diagram for an obscene amount of money: http://suzukicarparts.com/parts/2010/Su ... am=1470250

Tue Jul 14, 2015 12:17 pm

While $80 for a TRE is def. expensive, consider how often you 'may' have to replace one on a Suzuki. What's more obscene, that or the price of taking a bath in getting rid of a perfectly good car and being raked over the coals on the cost of a new 'something' that we're all pretty certain isn't going to hold a candle to the Kiz for a lot more coin? I've never replaced one in all my years on any of my zuks, ever.(several in GMs over the years, yes) Matter-o-fact, the TREs on my rock pounded '91 Samurai are still original. The tie rod's been bent, straightened and reinforced a couple of times now, but the non-greasable TREs are still tight. Nothing's going to be harder on an OE joint than what happens to them with massively over-size wheels and tires (compared to stock design) jammed in the rocks and power steering, that Samurais didn't come equipped with, forcing those ends to move the wheels that don't want to move.

You're worrying about nothing, really.

redmed · Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:20 pm

I hope I'm worrying about nothing but it does feel better knowing that ball joints are available. Maybe OEM parts on a Suzuki are solid as you have experienced. I have replaced quite a few ball joints and water pumps in the past. I have been expecting the water pump to go on my Toyota with almost 200K on it but so far not a hint of it failing. This is my first Suzuki and one of the reasons I got it was how impressed I was of my son's Sidekick. He would leap his vehicles off the hills behind our house and get all four wheels off the ground. His brand new F150's suspension was a wobbly mess within a year. His Sidekick's suspension was still tight after almost two years of beating it up.