Suzuki Grand Vitara Tire and Light Problems

kara0611

I am so disappointed in my 2008 Grand Vitara. Love the car...hate the problems. Have had it for 6 months and had it in for the lights (interior and exterior) 3 times now. All the interior lights have burned out....I've never experienced this before. I had a Chevy Blazer that was 10 years old and never replaced an interior light. First one went out after I had the vehicle 2 months....it was bought brand new. Worse than that...at 18000 miles my tires are completely bald. Suzuki won't do a thing even though I have a 100,000 mile warranty (I know the warranty doesn't cover the tires) but I feel as though this is so excessive they should do something. Obviously the tires aren't covered because they are junk. If anyone has dealt with these problems and can give me some advice I would appreciate it. I'm a single mom and can't afford to put $600 in tires on this vehicle every 6 months. And does the light issue fall under the lemon law? Any advice would be great as Suzuki is willing to do nothing to help.

tidester

I don't think either of those issues qualifies for lemon law treatment. I think that if you replace the tires with quality products they will last far longer than 18,000 miles. As to the lights, they shouldn't be burning out so soon. That may be simply a statistical aberration or it may be indicative of a more serious electrical problem which I doubt since you didn't mention any fuses being blown.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

bm000092

The EOM Yoko that come with the GV have a pretty low treadwear rating on them (don't remember the number but it is low). So I think that 18 000 miles is normal. But make sure you get an alignment when installing the new ones.
I don't know why, but especially in the US, it looks like a lot of new GV were out of specs regarding the alignment.

For the lights, I cannot add more than what tidester wrote.

xostnot

Kara0611, At 32,000km (~18,000mi), our oem tires are less than half worn out. This is not uncommon. You don't sound like you drive like a maniac, so I suspect your GV is out of alignment. I've posted over and over about this. Not only will this kill the tires, it's a safety hazard. Rapid tire wear means the vehicle is always skidding a bit, which means early loss of control in marginal situations. And lousy traction on snow/ice. It also means lower mileage and extra wear and tear on the driveline. Suzuki knows how to fix this, and on another forum a Suzuki mechanic has described fixing this problem. The unacceptably frequent failures to fix it does not mean it can't be fixed.

The light bulb problem is just unacceptable. It's not like it could be caused by abuse.

If the dealership won't fix the alignment and the electrical problem, send a letter by REGISTERED mail to Suzuki America or Suzuki Canada. Include proof that your dealership has failed to fix the problems. Point out that part of what you paid for is the warranty, and Suzuki is not upholding their part of the sale

boydp

We have a 2007 Grand Vitara with 64,000 miles on it and we're on our fourth set of tires on the rear of the vehicle. We took it to the dealer who insisted "over inflation" was the problem and that the alignment was "dead on. It came from Suzuki with Yokohama tires, they wore out on the rear after 26,000 miles. We put Bridgestone Turanza tires on the front and moved the original Yokohama’s (which were still in great shape) from the front to the rear. At 47,000 miles the Yokohama’s were bald. We put new Bridgestone Turanzas on the rear at that time and had the alignment checked, it was perfect. At 64,000 miles the Bridgestone’s on the rear were bald and needed to be replaced. Meanwhile the Bridgestone’s on the front are still in great shape after 38,000 miles. The tires wear out in the center . Excessive wear starts showing after only a few thousand miles and by 15,000 to 20,000 miles safety becomes an issue due to extreme wear in the center of the tire tread. The vehicle also feels very unstable at the rear end, on wet /icy/snowy roads at nearly any speed during the entire life of the tires. With safety in mind, not to mention the cost of replacing these tires so frequently, we are trying to raise awareness to this problem by getting enough Grand Vitara owners together to potentially/hopefully get some kind of recall for this problem with Suzuki Corporation. We have set up a facebook account for grandvitaratires and have also opened a gmail/email account - grandvitaratires@gmail.com. If you are interested in helping to expose this problem, please respond to either place. If anyone is aware of other established sites for this complaint, please respond with that information.

doogie48

I have a 2011 Grand Vitara works very well except the rear tires only last 18,000km before they have to be replaced This excessive wear as explained by Suzuki was rough roads and potholes throwing out the 4 wheel alignment. I say BS as the front tires have been on since I bought it and show normal wear and the rear tires are bald now. the front tires have 75,000KM on them, the rear tires have been replaced four times in the same period I think the rear suspension is not adequate enough for the work I do. After reading the articles here I am no longer sure what the problem is I am going to try after market suspension systems on mine. doogie48

capriracer

First, I am of the opinion that the vast majority of published alignment specs are too generous. That is the tolerance is too wide by half and in order to insure good tire wear, the vehicle needs to be within the inner half of the tolerance.

Second, too much camber tends to generate irregular wear. My experience is that anything over a degree is an issue. I note that the alignment specs I have for a 2008 Grand Vitara specify a degree and a quarter for camber on the rear. The fronts show a target of zero. I'm guessing the specs for a 2011 are the same.