Paint Chip Repairs

[wickensboy]

Hi I am a new member to this form and would like to talk about this paint chip issue. I purchased a New Black 2011 Kizashi SX AWD on Aug 18th, 2011. I took this car home on Aug. 18th after going over it with a very careful eye for about 20 mins. looking for any visible defects. I did not see any chips or scratches however the special coating they had applied did leave some marks ( looked like water marks but would not buff off ). Sales manager told me that the coating takes a few days to sink in. Anyway, I drove the car home that night ( aprox. 4 km ) and while admiring it in my driveway I noticed 4 very small paint chips ( White spots ) on my passenger door. I could not undersatnd how this occured in such a short time. The next day I took the car into work ( aprox. 70 km in and back ). That night I reinspected the car a found 2 new chips on the driver door. What is with the paint on these cars? I did contact Suzuki by e-mail and was told to go see the service guy at my dealership. Not sure how this will end but after years of buying 7 cars from GM I have never seen a paint issue like this. Any advice from fellow Kizashi owners would be great.

I really like this car but really the paint is a big issue!

[wickensboy]

My Kizashi was manufactured in Apr. 2010 I will find out tonight what Suzuki thinks about the paint chips.

Sorry about the double post. I'm a newbie!

[wickensboy]

The car was inspected by Suzuki Canada last night and the result was not really what I wanted to hear. The rep from Suzuki Canada told me that paint chips are part of life and are not covered by the warenty. He also stated that Suzuki was not aware of any paint issues with the Kizashi, even though it seems to be well documented on the internet. Suzuki will let me know in aprox 2 weeks what if anything they are willing to do for me. As a former owner of 9 GM vehicals I have never seen paint this weak. The only positive out come was the Service Manager offered to re-detail the car next week for me, but I'm not sure what that is going to do as far as the paint chips go.

Oh ya, Suzuki rep. told me I should 3M film my car. I wish they told me that before I bought it.

[TheHolyGhost]

Sorry wickens, that's definitely not the best outcome. You should print this thread out and take it in. Maybe they can get in touch with SoA and see if they're heard something different. I know it probably won't matter, but we have at least one documented case of a car getting repainted.

[wickensboy]

Sorry wickens, that's definitely not the best outcome. You should print this thread out and take it in. Maybe they can get in touch with SoA and see if they're heard something different. I know it probably won't matter, but we have at least one documented case of a car getting repainted.

Thanks, I went over the car last night and I'm up to 10 paint chips now at 1 week or 450 Km. At this rate the car will have hundereds of chips by the first oil change, But that's just normal wear and bad luck to Suzuki.

Did I mension that this car has never been driven on anything but nicely paved roads at a average speed of 60 km/h. I'm actually afraid to take in on the Hwy.

[Schuzuki]

FWIW, its not only the Kizashi that suffers from fragile paint. We got a brand new SX4 off the truck this morning. When our detail shop was doing the PDI, they found 3 rock chips in the hood, plus what looked to be a droplet from the painting (small round spot thicker than the surrounding paint).

The Suzuki rep has been working closely with us at White Bear Suzuki to resolve customer issues. The results seem to be very good. I would suggest that if you have a pristine hood and bumper, get the 3M Clear film applied. If not, get it fixed, and apply the film.

[autopiolet]

My zashi was born in December 2009. I have the clear film on it and no chip issues. Glad it was already on the car when I got it, especially after reading all of the chip issues.

[babacu]

Thanks, I went over the car last night and I'm up to 10 paint chips now at 1 week or 450 Km. At this rate the car will have hundereds of chips by the first oil change, But that's just normal wear and bad luck to Suzuki.

Did I mension that this car has never been driven on anything but nicely paved roads at a average speed of 60 km/h. I'm actually afraid to take in on the Hwy.

I have a white pearl one, built in March 2010. I'm at about 6000 km and no visible paint chips (hand washed it on Wed and haven't noticed anything). I have a small paint scratch on the hood (right side), but that's obviously caused by a small rock. I don't have any kind of film on it, and so far the paint seems to not be prone to this problem, but who knows...

The only "positive" aspect I can think about is that your case should be easier to prove if you have lots of chips popping up, especially if they're not on the front side. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[wickensboy]

Sorry wickens, that's definitely not the best outcome. You should print this thread out and take it in. Maybe they can get in touch with SoA and see if they're heard something different. I know it probably won't matter, but we have at least one documented case of a car getting repainted.

Thanks, I went over the car last night and I'm up to 10 paint chips now at 1 week or 450 Km. At this rate the car will have hundereds of chips by the first oil change, But that's just normal wear and bad luck to Suzuki.

Did I mension that this car has never been driven on anything but nicely paved roads at a average speed of 60 km/h. I'm actually afraid to take in on the Hwy.

Well I was finally contacted by Suzuki Canada today and as I thought they are denying any knowledge of a paint issue with the Kizashi. Again their position was that paint chips are not covered by warrenty. It is interesting however that they did offer me 4 mud flaps to prevent the wheels from kicking up any more stones at my doors. The fact that they think the wheels kick up stones at the doors sounds like a design issue to me. Anyway, I am not going to give up that easy. If Suzuki thinks this will just go away they are very wrong. Thank You for all your comments on this forum and I will keep you posted as I spread the word about this problem by every means available.

[TheHolyGhost]

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck and keep us posted!