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Comments
-front sway bar bushings fell out 4 times before finally getting a permanent fix.
-styrofoam on rear bumper (under outer plastic) fell off and was never repaired properly.
-Viscous coupling for AWD was defective and had to be repaired.
-Lower control arm bolts came loose and almost fell out...that had to be fixed by myself because of the dealerships refusal to acknowledge the clunking noise in the front end.
-power door lock failed and took 4 mths to get the part.
-had 8 tires destroyed after 3 alignments at 2 different places
-It rattled and shook from the day I drove it off the lot.
My disgust in the incompetence of Suzuki Canada's morons lead me to persue CAMVAP...(Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Process). Little did I know it is funded by the manufactures who participate in it, as a result it is a useless "fast, friendly and free" process designed to strip you of you rights too go to court (were you are likely to win) After repairing the piece of crap several times after I lost arbitration....(Suzuki convinced the arbitrator, that all the defects were inherent to the design of the car and didn't qualify for a buy-back!?!... in otherwords all Aerios are crap)....I got rid of the piece of junk :lemon:
BUY HONDA OR TOYOTA
I would never recommend Suzuki to anyone due to poor customer care. More difficult is that we live in CT & car is in FL with 23 yr old daughter. The dealers treat her like crap due to her age. THis is one of those things that requires a strong, mature person to handle, not a young adult. Basically, anything wrong is blamed on a young person. (Miami dealer actually told the dealer who sold us the car in CT that her car was dirty! She had just driven 10 hrs to her internship in Miami, got the flat & ended up at his dealership. What did this have to do with anything?) So we now have new tires but no fix for problem, and our recent college grad has new job with NO time to drive an hour or more to another dealer, as we can't go back to the idiot dealer in Miami. So she will now lose her car for days with no loaner (she lives too far) and no way to get to work! I think we are stuck until we find time to go down and either drive the car back to CT to fix or sell, or find yet another FL dealer. This car was a deal at $17K with AWD , coming from an Audi w/ quattro. I wish Honda, Toyota and Nissan would make an AWD sedan. Bottom line - you get what you pay for and AWD for under $20K, while being sold by Suzuki, is a joke.
By the way, the Quattro has one of the worst repair and reliability records on planet Earth. It's a fun car to drive fast on bad pavement or dirt, but it's almost useless for anything else.
Also, if you have noted in the conversation, some companies make alignment tabs to make these cars stay in alignment. Find some, and send your daughter to a professional alignment shop that can install the tabs and properly align the car. There is also a supplemental stabilizer bar that will keep things set in place a little better.
Suzuki is not always the easiest to deal with, but they are no worse than most manufacturers. On the other hand, if the owner does not do anything to check and/or maintain the car, neither Suzuki nor any other manufacturer is going to solve their problems.
We would welcome any suggestions that we could pass onto the dealer to fix this permanently!! This is our second Suzuki, first was no problems in 110.000 miles but this one has been frustrating, you certainly learn how the dealer can change up when they have a Lemon compared to a complaint free car! I think LEMON may be the appropriate term for our Aerio!! After reading comments from Aerio owners on other sites and comments here we are not alone with this Suzuki Aerios mechanical problem. We don't want to trade at this point because we would take a beating price wise since Suzukis seem to depreciate so much.
Second I plan to rotate the tires on my 06 Aerio SX AWD at 7500 miles just to be sure that Suzuki cannot find that as a
reason if and when excessive tire wear becomes an issue.
IMHO that "failure to rotate" excuse is just a line shops give you as a lame excuse to evade the real problem......don't give them that out...rotate and see what they come up with next.
Most people think 32 pounds in appropriate, HOWEVER, Suzuki recommends 30 pounds. Get yourself a good digital tire pressure gauge.
I have only 4500 miles on mine but the treadwear looks even and tread depth is good.
Good luck and again, I'm shocked that the 2006 AWD Aerio is also having this problem! What can we do, as SUzuki paying for replacement tires is NOT the answer, just a bandaid to a serious problem!
No, you don't have to be a nervous Nelly about maintenance, but you better do some, or your car will be an early casualty. Front tires do receive different forces than rear tires, especially on an AWD car, so rotate the darn things at least every 5,000 miles. The only company that has AWD for passenger cars really figured out for full-time use is Subaru, so next time, get a Forester if you just have to get AWD. The FWD Suzuki is just fine, get's better gas mileage, is easier on tires, costs less in repairs, and is better in almost every respect than an AWD version.
Anybody who has to drive through snow on roads knows that FWD works better than AWD, even with all the slip sensors. Snow piles up and strongly impedes the front wheels. Any push at all from the rear will bring the rear around. The very best handling vehicles were the early Subarus and Toyotas that could be shifted on the fly into 4WD for start ups and slow downs, and run in FWD along the road.
Rotating tires is basic "car 101". Rotate em every time you change oil (between 3 & 5 thousand miles) and your tires will typically go twice the advertised mileage. This, ofcourse, based on proper inflation, balance and alignment.
I have had my 2006 Aerio premium (2WD) since July and have already put 20,000 miles on her. By the way, the tires still look new. She is comfortable, quick, responsive, sure footed, quite and has a great radio. My only complaint is I can't buy anything to boost performance from Suzuki or the aftermarket.
Regularly rotate your tires and regularly take a bath. You will be happier.
And, to say that FWD is better than AWD in the snow is not our experience at all. Owned 3 FWD's (Olds 98's)previously, and NONE of them came close to the way our Audi A6 quattro AWD handles in the snow. Your comments puzzle me...
Has anyone had such a problem? Did a fix involve simply oiling something, or replacing entire power lock units?
-d
Again, if you let tires go completely bald before you catch them, there is little that anybody is going to be able to do for you. I can't afford to neglect my cars in that manner, and my girls know that if they were to let that happen to their cars, they wouldn't get much sympathy from me. Sounds to me like you have too much money and too little sense. You expect to buy a car costing less than a half of either of the other cars you name, and have it perform exactly like them. Reminds me of an oft quoted definition of insanity...doing the same thing repeatedly, and expecting something different to happen.
If you really want to do something useful, you could work for laws that require manufacturers to publish technical bulletins at no cost to the consumer. Suzuki gives very poor access to their technical bulletins, and the only meaningful way in which you can search such bulletins is if you pay Suzuki way too much money for the privilege. I am no fan of most manufacturers or dealers, but I do know that I have to do my part for any car to last in the way that I would like it. If I do my part, and the car does not last, then I will have legitimate cause for complaint.
Thanks.
-d
Gave up on the piece of junk as nobody was able to fix the tire problem....... The 1986 Toyota Corolla I bought to replace it, has already given me more trouble free miles than that 2005 AWD Aerio every did
no adjustment in the control arms in the rear, the camber is not adjustable and the tires will wear out excessively..
the fix? got the car in the air, removed the control arm rods
CUT THEM, made them adjustment links (looks somewhat like a turnbuckle) and replaced the rods.. ok 20K miles later and the tires still have the "nubbies" on them and should last 50K miles maybe more! my other 03 had the same problem, and the his first fix was to heat the rods, and bend them up at the center about 1 inch while on the alignment rack. this car has 75k miles and second set of tires (first set lasted 15k miles)
and now thes have 50k and are still in great shape...
my question to suzuki, if you guys are so friggin smart, why cant you build parts tha are adjustable and right the first time??? you can learn a lot from an older person
I have an '03 Aerio sedan and up until recently, the car has been FANTASTIC. Now...not so much.
Basically, anytime I turn my headlights on, the indicator lights inside the car either turn off or flash, and the gas pedal stops responding. Then I turn the lights off, and everything is fine, unless of course I try to drive in the dark, haha. As long as the lights are off, the car runs great and I have no problems.
I was hoping someone would have an idea as to what's wrong, and could maybe give me an estimate on cost to fix it. I am a sophomore in college, and BEYOND poor at this point...definitely can't afford for the car to break on me.
Has anyone ever heard of problems like this?
May be that the battery needs replaced, or else the alternator.
Have the charging system checked.
Many auto parts stores will do this for free....especially the larger ones like Advance.
Also, it's pretty common belief/knowledge that the Yokohama Geolandars that came standard on our Aerios are not so great. I had to replace them at 26,000 miles. However, I guess the Geolandars actually have NO treadlife warranty. Ironically, I replaced mine with 80,000 mile warranty Yokohama Avid Touring tires. After 26,000 they are almost worn out, too! That's only 1/3 of the supposed treadlife! I'm getting new tires tomorrow, and I hope that Yokohama will honor the tire warranty so that I can get a new set of tires at a major discount.
One other issue I've had is when my air conditioning is in use and I turn right, I hear squealing that sounds like a belt. I actually had a Suzuki dealer look into it back when my car was under still under warranty, but of course they didn't hear it despite the fact that it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME. :P
Can't help you on the tire issue...only have 4600 miles on mine, but I did notice a hard thumping when starting out in the cold until they warm up...very strange to me.
The noise is most likely P/S belt needs adjusted/replaced...you can try spraying some belt lube on it.
YES, I am finding out the hard way that the infamous Suzuki
warranty is not worth crap.
I replaced the batteries in both remotes and even reprogrammed
the transmitters as outlined in the owners manual but the
keys still wont open the door. can anybody help me with this?
thanks
even if you dont honor it! all this in 10k miles of ownership!! wow what a deal! im lucky if i can unload this heap for 1/3 what I have in it.. comments? email me directly please,, lostinspce2@yahoo
was defective a "maufacturing defect" and said a new shortblock was on the way and would be fixed free.. as for the car being drivin hard or abused, not likely, first its a black sx with absolutely no dents dings scrapes marks, or even swirls in the paint, a nearly perfect car inside and out cosmetically, and the prvious owner had a complete record of all the service work and warranty work (he was 60 yrs old also) not likely the car was ever abused , and as for me a 50 yr old with a family I have better things to do than wreck something I am paying for.. also i bought the car from a suzuki dealer ..
The choices online seem to be limited to K & N, if a choice exists at all. It appears that absolutely none of the major auto part makers that I've heard of (including AC/Delco) carry what I need.
-d
Champion Labs has the filter.
I do not know if you can buy it direct,but surely they can tell you which of their dealers has it.
Customer: Oh, so that's why it looks so good, but is slightly sagging on the springs and shocks.
You get the idea. I assume you did a check on the actual car history. Much of what you say indicates to me that the car was possibly partially submerged at some point. That might explain the like-new interior. Wheel bearings and disks just do not go out like that without some contributing factor. Now, the synchro problem is well documented, and should be repaired on every 2003 Aerio. Actually, the problem is not with the synchros, but with the 5th gear train. I had the synchros replaced, with zero effect on the problem. The second time, the entire 5th gear assembly was replaced, along with most of the synchros, and the problem has not recurred. The same was done on my daughter's 2003 Aerio Sedan. Suzuki has spent almost zero dollars since 2003 to revamp it's line, doing most of it's work in integrating the Korean manufacturer that it bought. Suzuki's reputation for safety, well earned in the 2000-2003 time frame is now entirely outdated. No Suzuki even scores in the first group on any safety test, and most are well below average.
If I were going to do anything, it would to check on my dealer and the history of the car on something like CarFax. The alignment and transmission problems are well documented and have known solutions, even if Suzuki normally ducks on the alignment issues, but most of the rest of the problems, to include things like the automatic doorlocks, appear to be more industry-wide type things. That doesn't mean that Suzuki should not repair them, but then so should the rest of the industry, and they resist also.
I would not buy another Suzuki at this point, because they just are not keeping up with the industry, especially on safety, and not very much on gas mileage. There are many better bargains out there for the dollar at this moment in time. In 2003 and 2004, the Suzuki Aerio and SX, many times selling for around $12k dollars was about the best bang for the buck on the market. Time and tide wait for no manufacturer. Maybe they will leapfrog on out there, but at the current moment, all I see them doing is filling up the really cheap...not inexpensive...slot in the market.
Day one of ownership the dealer was so desperate for a sale that the salesman allowed me to take the car without signing the final contracts (financing was finalized but not signed) and we agreed I would return the next day to sign them. That night, it rained and somehow water leaked in from the front passenger side windshield. Initially the dealer wanted to try to repair the problem, but when reminded that the deal wasn't actually final, they gave me another SX that has had no leaks.
The same tire issues others here have noted have plagued me as well. My tire specialist did say that the tires that Suzuki includes on the car are unsuitable. Replacing the tires did wonders for the AWD, but since the replacement I've heard an odd popping noise when I make tight turns (yes it has been an issue for years).
My brakes grind and are horribly sluggish. The pads and rotators have been changed more times than I can remember to try and rectify this, but since reading a previous post I'll now try non-Suzuki parts.
My electrical problems include replacing wires when the electrical system died and the clock light continually shorts in and out. Also, the cd player doesn't work when the car gets cold (bizarre but true).
And, finally, at 73k the engine needs to be replaced (I've had a car that had no problems until well over 100k so this was a shock to me). The dealer/service department has been great, but I did call Suzuki's customer service department to complain about the amount of time they have taken to approve the repair and send parts. They told me two different things about the approval process (in one version the dealer requires it and in another the district office does) so I definitely now feel like they are lying, to those of us who've purchased the 2003 Aerio SX, about the problems we've all had.
You do get what you pay for so this will certainly be the last Suzuki I own.
The other issue I have is no a/c. When i turn it on it blows but not cold and makes a kind of clicking sound.
The clock light does not come on any more and the radio will come on and then it pops off.
Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know how to fix it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. :lemon:
A/C: The service manual lists 14 possible causes for your situation. Typing all the info would be kinda tedious, so I'll list the items that don't require tearing down components in the engine bay or passenger compartment:
-Refrigerant under- or overcharged.
-Compressor drive belt loose or broken.
Otherwise if you have a huge chunk of free time, some tools (some simple, some specialized), good mechanically-inclined friends, some tunes, and an uncluttered area where you can work (or just a good A/C shop), it is possible to attack the problem.
Other components that might be involved in the trouble: the HVAC temp. control cable, heating element, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve (connected to the evaporator, I believe), the compressor and/or clutch, any of the sensors in between, and/or (throat-clenching horror!) a leak somewhere in the system.
Clock light, radio: check fuse 15 first. If it is ok:
-If you can see the info in the LCD display, the lights are simply burned out. Find several time/temp units in a junk yard, install each one until you find a working unit.
-Same for the radio (other places to find a cheap/free basic radio are flea markets, yard sales, and vehicle upgrade shops). If no radio works, either all of the radios you got were bad, or the wiring to the radio is bad.
Good luck!
-d
Has anyone experienced this or have an idea of what the cause may be I would greatly appreciate your help.
In the interim check the fuel pump fuse;and the wires going to the pump as one may be shorting out to ground along the frame.
I have also had a real problem getting parts for my 2003 Aerio SX. I have had to over pay at the dealer several times.
With less than 20K miles the radiator sprung a big leak. it left us stranded. Inconvenient but the 7 year / 100k mile warranty will cover it it. Wrong! I had it towed to my local earlier. They refused to cover it and said that it must have been a rock or something. They wanted $650 to fix it. I said that was a lot for a radiator and they told me the part alone was $500 and the dealer was the only place to get one. Fortunately, they were wrong and I found it online for under $200 sipped next day. I replaced it in their parking lot.
When 36k miles were up I took it in for exhaust rattles, a/c did not seem cold and a few body clips. They said that they fixed the rattles and all of the little stuff, nothing wrong with the A/C. The exhaust still rattled and some of the clips were still gone. Back again they said it was fixed. Still not fixed. I finally gave up.
A few months latter I started having a problem with the heating system. It would blow hot air on the driver's side and cold air on the passenger side. The colder it was outside the colder it would be on the passenger side. The hot side could not keep up. The dealer wanted $400 to fix it. They claimed it was a mouse nest. I did not think that was the cause but I thought they would fix the problem while they were working on it. The had my car for 10 working days (no loaner for me)and did not fix the problem. They needed it back when a few parts came in. When I got it back It still had the same problem and now I could not select a temperature or shift from defroster to heat. Eventually the parts came in. I took the car back and they charged me for the parts and labor. Of course they did not tell me that it still did not work. On a cold day the right side would blow 30°F colder than the left. Several mot trips and back and forth they never got it fixed and I never got my money back. Summer came and I let it go.
I should have sold the car but I did not.
The car started revving fast at idle. Since I did not have confidence in the local dealer I took it to the next closed dealer on 80 miles. I new that it was some thing to do with the IAC but since it was still under the 7 year / 100k mile warranty let them take care of it. turned out not to be covered because the IAC was fine but the ground wire was burnt. They took pity on me and only charged $100 to splice in a little piece of wire. I still can't figure out what a ground could short to to cause the problem. It does not run with any other wires.
One night driving home the car started to make a noise coming from the final drive on the front (seemed to be at the wheel speed). I cold not see anything wrong I drove it hoping the car would die so I would know what needed to be fixed. After a few days (probably related) I would start to get the check engine light and the transmission would go int a limp home mode. 2500 RPM in second gear. A key restart would usually fix it for a while. The code said that it was a transmission feed back sensor error. After a test drive I the dealer said they would replace the transmission and it would take care of the noise and the error code. 3 weeks latter when the part came in i took it back and asked them to look at the heat while they had it for the transmission. When I got the car back the noise was still there, the error code still comes up periodically, an the heat still does not work. That was $300.
I called the Suzuki NA line for help again. I did not want to bring that up before because this is long enough as is. The were insulting and no help yet again. The regional representative is the all mighty power and no one else at Suzuki can help.
An A/C line in the engine compartment blew and now I don't have any heat / cooling / transmission part of the time.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.