Kizashi Paint Chip Problem !!!!

[tigerbangs54]

I wonder if Toddashi has his car at Harte Nissan-Suzuki in Hartford, where I bought my car. The Suzuki factory rep is going to take a look at my car in June 10th to have the front-end paint chips repaired. The situation has gotten a lot worse in the past few weeks, and the front-end is ready for a re-paint. So far, the dealer has been co-operative.

[Northernstar]

got my car back from the body shop a few days ago. paid them $90 to put on 3M film around the corners of rear doors so rock chips wont happen again. The only problem is the coloar difference is worse than ever =_=

[tigerbangs54]

Thanks for the info: I registered my issue with Suzuki America on the phone about a month ago, and they were very pleasant. When I showed the damage to the service manager at Harte, he agreed that there was a problem, and took pictures of the damage. At that time, I requested a loaner for when the work would be performed, and he told me that should be expected. I would guess that the Suzuki factory rep wants to see the damage for himself, but I expect that they will take care of the issue under a customer satisfaction premise without admitting any actual defect, which would open them up to all kinds of legal actions and recalls. I don't really care how it's done, as long as the issue is taken care of.

[kizashi10]

I have a 2010 gts with 10,000 miles, it was bought in late Nov 2010. I could not take seeing new paint chips everytime I wash the car so last week I called the Suzuki of America hotline and filed my complaint. They gave me a case number and told me to take it to the dealership for inspection. I took it in today for the dealer to inspect the numerous chips, mainly on the hood, front bumper, and fenders. After they spoke with the regional rep they stated it was caused by road debris and not a paint defect. It is the customers responsibilty for any repairs. I am very angry about this whole situation. They obviously know that there is a problem. This is the second Sukzuki automoible that I have bought within the last three years, and probably my last. I see that others on the forum are getting the damaged areas repaired with out any hassle. Do I have any options left?

[kegard]

Call Suzuki corporate back and complain. If the person you talk to doesn't give you a satisfactory answer, then talk to that person's boss.

Basically complain, complain, complain until someone up the chain does something about it.

I have a feeling this is going to turn into a lawsuit at some point. I am getting my car repainted soon, but I can't help but feel the problem with the rest of the paint will start to show up.

[~tc~]

Being that it's not safety related, I doubt it will ever turn into a lawsuit.... and if it did, you would have to prove the paint was chipping without anything impacting it - which would be about impossible.

I have one little chip, and I'm going to press for them to at least do the touchup (if not paint the whole hood) when I take it in for the "free" initial service here in a couple weeks.

[northcountry]

We're thinking about connecting the dots.....bet it will say Don't Buy A Suzuki! After 35,000 miles it's way past the time of trying to protect it, time for a new paint job. Hundreds of chips all over the hood and anywhere else a stone manages to land.
We have both owned other vehicles in the past. Many with over 100,000 miles and nothing ever came close to the paint failure we are experinceing with our Kizashi. If we keep this one that long the only red paint remaining on the car might only be on the trunk lid.

[JDLR46]

First off, thanks to everyone who posted in here about this issue, I had no idea there was a problem.

I was a little leery to try a Suzuki as I don't know anyone that has one, and the closest dealer isn't exactly right down the street. I was considering a 2011 Kizashi Sport GTS AWD in Vivid Red as the vehicle seems to fit everything I wanted and has 0% financing right now.

Honestly, thanks to this particular posting in this forum I have chosen to not purchase the Kizashi. I wish you all luck in getting some sort of satisfaction from Suzuki or the local dealer.

Suzuki, you better wake up and take care of this issue. Word of mouth and forums like this just cost you this sale, and most likely countless others.

[chazyouwin]

If you really like the car, ask the dealer about including installation of the 3M film gratis. I doubt anyone reporting chip problems here had the 3M film installed, although I could be wrong. It was priced about $300-$350 to us. I did not purchase it, but I probably would have done so had I read these reports. Incidentally, we have not had any problems (1-2 pinhead chips altogether) despite having color (Azure Grey) and date of manufacture (early 2010) suspected problematic. 6000 miles, mostly urban commuter driving.

[Firefly]

No problems so far on my 2011, Platinum Silver. 3,000 miles.