Hello - new Kizashi owner

[papauluspaolo]

Hi all,
My dad, at age 91, has decided to give up driving & I'm buying his Kizashi off him. It's a 2013 model with very low miles for its age (approx 32,000m/51,500km) & I was just wondering what I can expect from the car. It will be used mainly for commuting (approx a 20mile round trip) & for some longer journeys as well. My car before the Kizashi was a 2007 Suzuki Swift Sport (great fun but not refined at all) so the Kizashi is something of a change for me being a 4 door saloon & very refined (it's like a Maybach compared to the Swift). I also own a classic sports car so can get my basic rear wheel drive car thrills from that. I'm 57 by the way & do most/all of my own maintenance, but, hopefully, there won't be anything much to do on the Kizashi beyond regular servicing.
Are there any weaknesses I should look out for or known mechanical issues?
I don't anticipate modifying the car (I save all that for my classic which is quite heavily modified) but just look forward to using it as Suzuki intended. As most Kizashi's seem to be it's a 2.4 petrol, intelligent 4wd with CVT gearbox.
Many thanks

[Woodie]

Welcome to the fun papauluspaolo !

The only weak point is the CVT transmission, a horrible idea at best , and a little undersized for this engine. Get the fluid changed right now.

[old tech]

I would just be echoing what Woodie has stated and to be more detailed, The fluid needs serviced every 30k miles and I suggest the pan be lowered each time to check contents on pan floor and in filter screen. Also, since you obviously have an interest in things mechanical, you would probably enjoy seeing how to easily save this cvt from its way to common death. ( using search here , look up" cheap fix 10 trans save") This is a procedure that I have developed and would cost less than $50 doing it yourself. Keep in mind it must be done before the balls snap in half . Usually, by the time you start to feel somthing isnt quite right, its already to late. This is why I suggest pulling pan during service.

[KuroNekko]

You're very lucky as a used Kizashi owner because you personally know the prior owner and the car has very low miles. As the others stated, the CVT is the only true vulnerable point of the car but regular fluid changes should put off major issues for a while. The main problem was that Suzuki treated the CVT as "maintenance-free" with no service intervals and at about 100K miles, many just broke from the lack of service combined with some design vulnerabilities. You certainly have an advantage by getting a low mileage Kizashi so you can preemptively address this issue.
Other problems with the Kizashi include poor quality paint that chips easily (especially darker colors) and halogen low beam bulbs that blow out prematurely (a major pain as bulb replacement requires the bumper to come off). The Kizashi also had a poorly designed rear shock bump stopper that promoted corrosion of the rear shock. These were replaced with newer versions but often after the rear shocks failed.
Otherwise, the Kizashi is a fairly reliable sedan that offers a lot of value.
Where are you located?

[papauluspaolo]

Hi again & thanks for all the replies.

I must admit the CVT gearbox has me concerned a bit especially as I've seen numerous Kizashi's up for sale with broken gearboxes which seem prohibitively expensive to fix.

Thanks for the heads up about getting the CVT oil changed asap. As suggested I've looked up the "cheap fix 10 trans save" & it looks an involved job (Understatement!) & despite me being mechanically minded it's probably beyond my abilities, tools, facilities or available space!

Anyway I have some questions:
1.) Is it possible to change the CVT oil without removing the gearbox/transmission?
2.) Is there a source for the teflon seals mentioned in the write up? If I'm to attempt this at some stage then I'd like to have the parts in stock so that I'm not waiting for them to arrive with the car in bits!
3.) What sort of oil is needed - is it conventional automatic transmission fluid or something else?
4.) Is there a workshop manual for the car?

I haven't got the car yet as I have to sell my car first & then sort out the insurance. I have test driven it though & it's a world away from the Swift in terms of ride & quietness. The Swift is raucous & has a hard ride (which helps with the fantastic handling). The Kizashi on the other hand is quiet & relaxing & I can see the car being extremely comfortable on long journeys - as I say it's a world away from the Swift. The car drove perfectly well with good steering, no nasty knocks/clunks from the suspension, braked in a straight line, no jerkiness when setting off. When cruising along the transmission was quiet but when I kicked down there was a bit of a whine which disappeared once the car was up to speed (70mph at 2,000rpm). At this speed the Swift is doing 4000rpm & isn't a quiet or relaxing place to be - one of the trade offs for it being fantastically good fun to drive I suppose.

I meant to ask in my first post if anyone knows if there's a workshop manual for the car?
I downloaded the official Suzuki manual for the Swift & got it printed out at work. I've found this to be very useful so if there was something similar for the Kizashi that would be great. Does anyone have a link?

As you may have gathered I live in England - Leeds, West Yorkshire to be exact - & in all my travels within the UK I have only seen one other Kizashi on the road. I see this as both a positive & a negative: a positive in that it's nice to drive something unusual/different & that many people won't have even heard of, never mind seen or driven, the car but it's also a negative in that any major parts that may be required will probably have to come from Suzuki (no doubt at great expense) or from abroad where the car was more popular & sold better. Service items (brake discs, brake pads, air filter, spark plugs etc) shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Thanks again for the warm welcome & advice/help - it's very much appreciated

[KuroNekko]

The factory service manual is on this site in multiple links. Search for it and you should come across it.
I don't have a CVT model so I can't comment on the process of changing the fluid very much but again, details are in other posts in the forum. Search for them and you should find threads and posts by Old Tech and Ronzuki that should answer all your questions about servicing the CVT.

[Tom Kizzie]

Welcome!!
Funny. Me myself came from a swift sport 2007 too. You could probably find a few parts in nearby countries. Germany has about 750 driving around. (Netherlands 175)

[LPSISRL]

Try this. It's been around for awhile and whoever did it had no sense of order. But it's pretty much all we got. This is from my Google Drive so copy it off as it may not be available forever. You could also probably find the transmission service manual on the web too. I found it awhile back but really had no use for it.

[papauluspaolo]

That's brilliant thanks for the link to the workshop manual

[LPSISRL]

That's brilliant thanks for the link to the workshop manual

Most welcome. May your ride be long and trouble free!