2010 Kizashi Lifespan Questions

[sjoweniv]

I have a 2010 Kizashi SE. I bought it new, last car the Suzuki dealership had prior to closing. It's never been wrecked, and has 210,000 miles on it, it's also probably idled another 60,000 miles. Suzuki replaced the transmission under warranty at 99,700 miles. I replaced the timing chain at 160,000 miles. Other than new struts the car is original. It has been the best car I've ever owned.

My questions are regarding how much life I can expect, is the engine worth doing other work. The transmission is an obvious concern, the first one died at 100k, should i expect this one to die any minute? How many miles are people getting out of these engines? Mine still runs perfect, doesn't even burn oil.

Any input is appreciated!!

[old tech]

These engines are fantastic if oil is kept clean and never overheated. Im thinking a 350,000 mi plus unit. That Nissan/Jatco trans .... nowhere close. Even with the best of care , in stock form the average tranny will be lucky to even reach 200k. I do think at the miles you are at right now , you could modify that primary (ball to long pin) put in new flow control while apart and for $20 in parts easily double trans life expectancy.

[Woodie]

Welcome sjoweniv !

210K miles is pretty good life out of a car, don't think it owes you anything at this point. The transmission is the weak point. One of our members here, Old Tech, works on A LOT of Kizashi's. I'm pretty sure he said 130K is what you should expect out of one of these rubber band transmissions. He has a reliability fix for the weakest part of the transmission, but the whole idea of a CVT is sketchy in my opinion, stupid of the manufacturers to put them in.

If you're anywhere near Western Pennsylvania take your car to Old Tech and have him look at the transmission. Other than that, change the tranny fluid every 30K miles and when it starts wining, look for a new car.

EDIT: Wow, speak of the devil.

[sjoweniv]

Thanks guys, kinda what i was afraid of with the tranny. Unfortunately Suzuki told me the tranny was a sealed unit, with no maintenance requirements, so it's at 110k with nothing done to it. These are not rebuildable units, is that correct?

This is such a great car, it's a shame Suzuki dropped the ball on the tranny.

[old tech]

These are rebuildable but should be approached a little differently. Changing fluid and cleaning pick up screen every 30k mile or more often and checking pan debris will help but the 6 balls in primary eventually will end up peeling and then breaking in half. At this point the primary is destroyed along with the belt and sometimes even the secondary. If driven until you notice some trouble, this is it most likely. If tackled when the balls start to peel or before, the balls can be traded out for long pins pretty easily. If a trans that had no symptoms and just the tranny was brought to me , I could do the conversion for like $150 but after it fails it would add $600 or more . A complete rebuild isnt needed unless it has over 180K or torn up.

[KuroNekko]

I think you have your answer by now but to reiterate: The Kizashi's J24B engine is a very reliable unit with no vulnerabilities. It's an older but more reliable type of engine because it's a normally-aspirated, multiport injection design with a metal timing chain. These are among the most reliable modern engine designs. The Kizashi's engine seems to just keep running on normal maintenance.

The CVT is the weak part of the Kizashi. While some of us have manual transmissions that will certainly outlast a CVT, another concern is the availability of specific parts, especially down the road. Suzuki left the US and Canada around 2012. Also consider that the Kizashi was a very unpopular car globally and ended production in its one and only plant about 5 years ago after just one model generation. While I have no doubt my manual trans Kizashi will run into very high mileage on maintenance, I worry about the availability of vehicle-specific parts in the event of damage.

[LeoFromDE]

While I have no doubt my manual trans Kizashi will run into very high mileage on maintenance, I worry about the availability of vehicle-specific parts in the event of damage.

Well the good thing is that the Grand Vitara has the same engine and at least where I come from there are a lot more of those than Kizashis so I think there'll be enough parts for the engine at least

[KuroNekko]

While I have no doubt my manual trans Kizashi will run into very high mileage on maintenance, I worry about the availability of vehicle-specific parts in the event of damage.

Well the good thing is that the Grand Vitara has the same engine and at least where I come from there are a lot more of those than Kizashis so I think there'll be enough parts for the engine at least

Yeah, some late model Grand Vitaras had the Suzuki J24B but were tuned differently. Despite the same 2.4 liter engine, the Kizashi had about 20 more horsepower.

[NickL]

Wow! Over 200 000 miles is not a joke for any car and I am amazed that this Kizashi still runs good end not burns oil.

Here in Europe it is rare to see a car with petrol engine that has so many kilometers in only 10 or less year. Usually car with biggest mileage here have diesel engines as these engines are more efficient and usually buy them people who intend to drive a lot on freeway.

My Kizashi has arround 70 000 miles and I am so happy to hear that it can run easily 3 times more without any problem and further beyond.

Is it a good idea to keep Kizashi with so many miles? Well I think yes. This car allready proved that it is a capable workhorse that runs almost forever, and if owner decides to sell a car with so many miles, most probably won't get a good price. That's why I think it is better to keep it until the point when somethings goes wrong and then won't be a good idea to invest a lot money in it.

It really sucks that there is no more Suzuki in US. From other side, even though it is a rare car, you guys in the US can find much more used body parts for Kizashi than us here in Europe, where we still have Suzuki in many countries but are struggling with body parts...

[KlutzNinja]

There’s a Polish website someone linked in one of these threads that had almost every known Kizashi part for sale at decent prices. If anyone here knows which one I’m referring to, please link lol. If I find it again I’ll do it. This site had so much it’s like the Kizashi shortage everywhere was due to them buying every Kizashi up to sell for parts.