Suzuki Aerio Wagon

wehele

Just purchased the Aerio SX, and have a couple of days to decide on the extended warranty. Did you folks get it? What term? I heard that Suzukis are supposed to be reliable, but of course the guy was trying to scare us into buying it. What do you think?

Wehele

aveman

Doesn't Suzuki already have one of the best warranties in the bussines.you should probably be okay without the extended warranty. Also when dealers sell extended warranties, sometimes it gets messy.Many warranties are wrttien thru some third party.If there is a dispute you take it up with them not the dealer.You can rest assured that the language in the warranty does not favor you.I admit I am a sceptic. My vote would be no. your standard warrenty is fine.

jontyrees

Right around the time your initial bumper to bumper part of your warranty is about to expire, (3yr, 36,000), you will be getting all kinds of offers in the mail for extended coverage packages from 3rd party vendors. They are the same ones that dealerships often sell when you purchase the car, and they will sell it to you without the mark-up the dealer adds. Most repair shops are used to dealing with the aftermarket warranty suppliers, and I have had no problems using them in the past. Also, you get to avoid paying for it until you want to add it. The drawback is that you can't roll it into your car payment unless you do it up front.

I'm going with the very good standard warranty. These aren't particularly complicated or expensive cars, so I'm not too concerned about non-drivetrain parts going south on me in 3-7 years time.

frenchcar

The 7 year and 100,000 mile drive train Warranty didnt start until last July or August and unfortunately we purchased our SX last April and have 11,000 miles on it. I wrote to Suzuki and suggested they come out with a more impressive warranty and a few months later they did but it does not include mine. I dont plan on buying one (warranty) either unless it is really cheap. We plan to put 150,000 miles or more on it and have had 3 Suzuki models in the past and my son has one. They are very relible (knock on wood) and simple in design. The cost of the warranty plus a couple deductibles is often more than the needed repair and so many of them are only good for 5 years or less and perhaps 70 or 80,000 miles max. I dont think any company will write a 150,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty unless they could charge $3,000 for it and I would pass it up at that price and take my chances. With proper maintenance and a keen eye and ear I think I will be ok and I often replace parts before they fail such as belts, hoses, tires brakes, etc. I know many people who never replace anything until it does fail but I hate breakdowns. How about you?

frenchcar

What gas mileage results are you getting on your Aerio SX? We are getting a strange result with dramatic improvements around town but no improvement on the highway. At first we got 22 to 23 to 24 mpg around town and when it was broken in it went to 25 mpg and ours ia an automatic transmission. We put more air in the tires (for a variety of reasons), changed to Shell gas, switched to Mobil One synthetic oil and put in a K & N air filter and our city/urban driving went up to 27 and that was with the A/C on all the time here in Arizona. Now that winter is here and the A/C is off it is consistently in the 28.2 to 29.5 range. HOWEVER, on the highway at 75 mph it has never gone over 31.2 with the A/C off or 29.5 with it on. The changes we made improved it dramatically around town but not on the highway and that puzzles me. Must be that the height of the vehicle creates air drag. Im sure the 5 speed owners are doing better than that on the highway. __Im curious what the rest of you are experiencing? We have 11,000 miles now and still no problems and love it more each day. We do have some wind noise at high speeds and my hearing aid makes it worse.

lngtonge18

I have a 5 speed SX with 7400 miles. I get 27 mpg in city driving, which is what most of my miles are. The few times I have taken the car on the highway for long distance trips, the mileage topped out at 29mpg. I was quite disappointed given the good city mileage. This car must have some serious drag issues (i'm dying to know the drag coefficient). I'm still hoping the mileage will improve since my 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer with automatic gets 26-27 in the city and 31 on the highway at 80 mph even though it is only rated for 24/30.

guickg

My left passenger door was recently scratched by someone (there are 4 scratches, each about 1-2 inches long, and they go down to the metal). And there is also a 2-inch in diameter dent. I took the car to a body repair shop, and they said that they would have to repaint the whole door, costing at least $300. A detail shop did not want to deal with it because they said the scratches went down to the metal. My insurance has a $500 deductable. Would anyone have any insights as to what I should do? Does anyone know if those TV kits to pull out dents and cover up scratches work?

guickg

I have another question if anyone knows. Is it possible to change the Aerio SX OE tires (195/55R15) to a HIGHER profile tire on the same wheel size (for example, 185/65R15 or 190/60R15)? It seems to me that they would provide a softer, more comfortable ride for everyday driving. After all, the Aerio is not a sports car, or at least I don;t use it as such. Thanks for any thoughts.

lngtonge18

You could get higher profile tires, just know that your speedometer will be affected. Higher profile tires will cause the speedometer to show a slower speed than what you are actually going. Example: the speedometer may say you are going 70, when in fact you are going 74. Adjust your speed accordingly to keep from getting speeding tickets.

frenchcar

See if you have a NOVUS glass repair shop in your area. They are a franchaise set up and some of them do dent repair and paint blending and sometimes use the dent puller you mention. I have seen some awesome work by them. Our Aerio received about 80 hail dents last summer and NOVUS in Tucson did a beautiful job on the hood, top and one door for $1100 (I had $100 deductible). The dealer wanted $1400. The dent pullers that you glue on do work and are common in Europe and some detail shops have paint touch up experts without having to paint the entire door. Keep searching and good luck.

frenchcar

Lew, you can go to a higher profile tire with probably only a 3 % error rate built in. A tire dealer can tell you exactly and so will the TIRE RACK web site as they show each tires dimensions and you can compare the tread widths and the circumferences and revolutions per mile to compare. You will get a softer ride but the handling will change for sure and it wont be as stable in the wind. Your tires now have a V speed rating which is very stiff. I kept the same size tires but went to an H speed rating and they do ride softer but then I was warned to carry more air because of the softer sidewall. There is no easy answer. Find a tire dealer who can suggest a compromise to you and let you get new tires with the understanding you can try them for a few hours and bring them back if not satisified. Some will actually do that. You can usually tell in just a few miles and a few turns. I dont know why they put a V rated tire on these cars in the first place. Personally I like a firm ride and the handling that goes with them but years ago I preferred the baby buggy ride that most American cars had and believe me they used to be mushy like worn out shocks.

artdecho

A 175/60-15 is virtually the same diameter as the 195/55-15 and won't effect your gearing/speedometer readings at all. A tire that narrow may make the Aerio look even more undertired that it already does, though. I'd really like to see Suzuki go with a 16" wheel and tire combo....they can keep the 55 series profile if they like, but lose the "V" speed rating...V's
on this car are ridiculous.

guickg

Thanks for everybody's input about the tires. I've only been able to find one other 2003 car with the same size tires as the Aerio (195/55R15) - Mazda Protege. It appears to be a very unusual tire size. Most retailers only have one or two makes of these tires at most (Tirerack is an exception). 16" wheels do make a lot more sense. Similar cars like Matrix, Vibe, Protege5 and Focus 5-door hatch all have 16" wheels. I think that the 55 aspect ratio is more suited to a larger wheel. A more reasonable size for a 15" wheel would be 195/60 which is the size many other cars have (including Elantra GT hatch and possibly VW Golf). It would not compomise much performance for a more comfortable ride suited for this type of a car.

lngtonge18

Nice to finally see Suzuki making an effort to advertise the Aerio SX. I saw two commercials highlighting the Aerio SX on FX tonight. This is only the second commercial I have ever seen for the Aerio since it came out, and the first specifically showing the SX.

lngtonge18

On another note, my Aerio acted up again a little this morning. It stuttered a little while accelerating and the clutch was grabby (it's giving the same symptoms that a cracked distributor cap would), but not near as bad as it did 3 weeks ago. I have discovered that both times it has happened was after being subjected to a lot of moisture and sitting undriven for a few days. Something in my ignition system isn't water proof, but it's not bad enough to set off the check engine light. In other words, there is no hope of getting it fixed unless something acts up bad enough to store a fault code. These constant little issues with my car is driving me nuts!! My Lancer has almost 20k trouble free miles with absolutely no annoyances. My Aerio, on the other hand, keeps leaving a sour taste in my mouth. My feelings are so torn with this car. There are times I really like it and other times it makes me wish I had the money to trade it in.

hpulley4

Have you contacted your dealer about it? If yours is not the only car exhibiting these symptoms, perhaps there is a TSB out on the subject which would mean no "sorry, don't know what's wrong" responses. You could search the NTSB/NHTSA web sites for TSBs yourself too -- searching the titles and abstracts is free but the full bulletin is usually mailed to you at cost for some strange reason. Just the number is usually enough to show a dealer though. Good luck with your problems -- electrical gremlins suck (drove some 80's Volvos with lots of problems).

frenchcar

Sorry to hear of your stutter problem. I knock on wood but we have had no problem in 11,000 miles. Of course there is no distributor cap on this direct ignition car but it is fired by 4 minature coils. SAAB first used this set up on turbo cars about 20 years ago. Several brands have gone to this in just the past 3 years or so and some have had coil recalls. In fact either BMW or Nissan just agreed to replace them on about 100,000 cars. I wonder if there is a common supplier? If one goes bad you can still drive the car but its rough. You might check the wires coming off each coil and any connectors. Waterproof ignition spray might help. The 4 cylinder Suzuki Vitara also uses this engine so either the dealer or American Suzuki in California should be able to help. How long does it last? A few minutes until warmed up ? or all day? Water in the fuel system? Try some dry gas additive. If it was Emmissions related or oxygen sensor the check engine light would come on and I think a malfunctioning coil would do the same. Bad gas or water in the gas probably wouldnt trigger the light. A defective clutch part?? This is a mystery but Im sure many of us would like to know what you discover. Let us know but this doesnt sound common. Do you do a lot of short distance driving.? That can agravate many things. It could even be an injector problem. Good luck.

lngtonge18

I drive about 12 miles 1 way and this commute takes 40 minutes so the engine has plenty of time to warm up. Both times it occured was in the morning on the way to work after sitting for a few days in wet weather. The stuttering lasted about 25 minutes and could only be felt when accelerating in 1st and 2nd gear (the 1st time, the stutter was felt in all gears), although the engine felt like it lost power in all gears. The problem is gone by the time I get to work and it drives completely fine on the way home. It isn't a harsh shake whole car type of stuttering. It just feels like a light misfire which causes the engine to noticeably lose power, shake just a little bit (felt through gas pedal and steering wheel), and causes the clutch to engage abruptly no matter how hard I try to engage it smoothly, which makes starting off jerky as if I just learned how to drive a stick. I'm not sure what to make of it. The dealer looked at me stupid and couldn't find anything wrong during a test drive (it had stopped doing it by the time I got there). There are no TSBs, recalls, or client complaints on NHTSA database for either the 02 or 03 Aerio (quite an accomplishment, though with so few owners not too odd). I changed gas stations and the grade of gas, so I don't think the gas is to blame. It has to be something in the ignition system (the coils or the wires) but unless the dealer can reproduce the problem or the check engine light is set off, I can't get it fixed. And since it doesn't do it every day, I'm pretty much out of luck.

I forgot to mention another thing. A rock chipped the front edge of my hood all the way down to the metal. This nick has already rusted! I had all sorts of rock nicks on my Hyundai but after 2 years and 24k miles none had rusted. Since the black isn't a true black, I guess I will have to buy Suzuki touch up paint and hope the rust doesn't try and spread.

hpulley4

I don't think it was BMW. Could have been Nissan but I think it was VW/Audi.

sgralla

I bought an aerio sx at end of February. Really love this car. Think it is a great value. Have owned mercedes for the past 20 years. Bought this as a runabout vehicle, and like it so much will probably us it much more than I anticipated. Dealer was very professional also. As I said, it is a very good value for the money. Could buy three of these for what I paid for my SLK 230.

revka

and congrats on your new Aerio SX! ;-)

Revka
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csandste

Aerio probably better than present day Rio (although MT comparo didn't think so), but next gen. Rio (I especially like Rio5) looks way better.

Reno/Verona (have driven only Verona wagon) ahead of last gen. Spectra but not since new platform debuted.

Present Optima is essentially present Sonata--with much worse resale. Would personally prefer to Verona. Have only seen disguised new gen. Optima but if next gen. Sonata (which I personally think is too generic-Japanese looking) is any indicator it should be well beyond the Verona.

I personally like the Aerio SX better than any of the Korean cars. But just the '05's. Earlier dash too strange for me. Advertising for Daewoos has pretty much stopped Aerio sales-- way down. Too bad.

frenchcar

I just picked up the annual Consumer Reports Auto Issue and again they do Suzuki an injustice on the Aerio. They give the Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe their best buy ratings even though they admit they have some flaws. Then they say the Aerio is slow, rides too hard, is not economical, they dont like the speedometer and they never mention that it has a BEST PICK in the safety rating dept. by the National Insurance Crash Test organization. Frankly I think they are dead wrong and we should write to them. I have been studying their auto issue since about 1960 and they have always played favorites, given out bad impressions of many makes, evem when not warranted and often recommend best buys on trucks with bad repair records. I personally checked out the Matrix, Vibe, VW Golf and 2 other makes and found them lacking in many ways. Our Aerio is fast, economical at 27 to 31 mpg., rides pretty decent, has a very safe easy to read speedometer and is $2000 cheaper and has great load space. They are trying to compare the Aerio sedan to the Matrix wagon. I have talked to a couple of Matrix/Vibe owners and they admit to having problems. Neither of them was aware of the Aerio and one sat in ours and admitted it was laid out better. Nothing is perfect but it is disgusting when publications are biased, uninformed and misleading even if unintentional. I hope Suzuki or someone straightens them out. ???

artdecho

Yeah, I'd agree with you, frenchcar....despite what they claim,Consumer Reports is not always as unbiased as they claim to be. We love our Aerio, and while we don't by any means think it's perfect (ride is a bit jiggly, fuel economy, while good, is not up there with Civic, Corolla &
Echo, for example), the space, comfort and driveablility, not to mention value, are far better than it's competition.

chocoxtaco

I picked the Black Onyx SX with a manual transmission over the PT Cruiser, Protege5, and Matrix (not Vibe) for reasons of (in order): gas mileage; insurance cost; price.
I've enjoyed my first weekend with the car. Its first big trial of the FWD (vs. my Legacy LS's AWD) came in its first few hours of being mine - I had to go up and down a 1/4 mile MUDDY driveway 3 times. It did it without complaint. I hit a good car wash asap.

Are there any suggestions for adding a cassette deck to the stereo setup. Should I think about an aftermarket job or seek a Clarion/Suzuki replacement?

frenchcar

Have any of you driven both a 2002 and a 2003 Aerio?? Mine is a 2002 and I just discovered that the 2003 models have a different exhaust manifold heat shield and a black engine cover over the original aluminum valve cover. Looks sharp but I assume it was added to dampen engine noise during acceleration. Does it make any difference??

lngtonge18

I have driven both years. I didn't notice a difference. I'm pretty sure the engine cover is simply cosmetic.

jzarli

Chocoxtaco, why don't you just buy a CD burner for the PC you used to post here. Copy those old cassettes. Far less expensive than a new head unit.

Consumer Reports. I just don't get it. I've never been able to pick & buy a vehicle they like. Their report on the Aerio was just disgraceful. Most of the other reporters are just as bad. Why do Focus articles always blur the RACETRACK only performance of the $$SVT$$ with the mediocre performance of the other models? It's kind of an old trick by now. Put out a special edition vehicle to give the car writers someting to swoon about.

 Like a previous post, I also own a vehicle that costs 3 times what my Aerio SX costs, & I prefer the Aerio.

This may not the time of year to mention this to many of you, but the Aerio has by far the coldest & fastest starting A/C I have experienced since the demise of R12.

I'm delighted with my new Aerio! Underneath that foil exhaust cover are stainless steel headers! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Superb urban/suburban handling. I don't drive on racetracks!

Lets put that fuel economy in perspective: $20 bucks fills the tank & gets you over 300 miles. How many vehicles REALLY do that?

chocoxtaco

I use the computers at the local library to do my posting. What I have as a home computer has no burning capabilities whatsoever. I would like to hold on to my cherished compilation tapes and also have an input for my md walkman.

I drove my SX off the lot a week ago. It's been nice to call up previous car purchases. I do believe I paid the same price for this car as I did for my '91 Escort Wagon. Both cars came with base equipment. Age and better research were big factors.

A pal with an Accord wagon saw the SX and was into it for its looks and its price. There might be two of these things running around our town of 1000 people soon.

Lastly, what's your usual oil change schedule? I'm doing stop/start commutes with the weekend highway runs. Do y'all just go the traditional 3000 miles?

frenchcar

Check the back portion of your owners manual and you will find that Suzuki provides 2 separate maintenance schedules. One is for 7,000 mile oil change intervals which is under ideal or perfect conditions and Im sure only a few people can use that one. The other is for 3,000 mile oil change intervals for severe duty such as stop and go city driving, dusty climates, towing, long idling, short trips in cold weather, etc. Naturally that is the one dealers all prefer. I personally use 5000 mile intervals since ours is on the highway part of each day and we use synthetic oil. I suspect it boils down to common sense. We did however do our first oil change at 1700 miles when the car felt broken in and was not using oil and we switched to Mobil One at that time. Good Luck.

lngtonge18

I went to the Atlanta auto show this weekend. They had a tricked out Aerio SX as a show car. It had subwoofers in the trunk, nice looking 17" wheels, and a super low ground effects package. It looked very aggressive and sporty. Kids were flockin to it. Surprisingly, I didn't see too many afordable cars that would make me want to get rid of the Aerio. I LOVED the interior of a Corolla LE. The interior is beautifully done and lexus like in quality. The Mini Cooper was better than I expected room wise and is definitely on my list for my next car. However, I found myself, oddly enough, drawn to the Suzuki Vitara convertible. The car just seems so fun! I'm really thinking about getting one of these if I can part with the extra refinement, power, and room of the Aerio.

On a side note, I saw a lot of Aerios in Atlanta so the car looks like it is catching on. I also finally hit 30mpg on the 4.5 hour trip.

chocoxtaco

Have you ever heard a little grind when you start the car after a few hours of rest? It almost sounds like the starter, but it doesn't make the noise with a warm engine.

lngtonge18

Has anyone ever had problems with their engine making a pinging noise when accelerating under heavy load conditions (like going up an incline at highway speeds and trying to speed up)? The noise sounds similar to something sizzling or gurgling and a slight loss of power accompanies the noise. It's not real loud but is noticeable with the radio off. At first, I thought it was caused by low grade gas, but I have been using 89 octane and it still pings. This strikes me as odd since the car is supposed to be able to run on 87 and I would think the knock sensor would keep the pinging from occuring. Anyone have any suggestions on how to lessen the noise besides moving up to 92 octane?

frenchcar

This is our 4th Suzuki and everyone of them has made that same tinny grinding noise the first time you start it each day. Try just barely turning the key just enough to turn the engine over and let go of the key as soon as posible. Many many years ago Chrysler products did the same thing. It is something about the starter design. I have never had to replace one. Anyone else had experience with these or any failures??

frenchcar

Sounds like a timing or knock sensor problem. I bet it will do the same thing even on 92 Octane gas. We always use Regular 87 Octane and it never pings under even heavy load and of course it shouldnt. Make your dealer check the timing and show him how it pings. Does the check engine light come on? Let us all know what you find out.

We just had one of our Remote entry controls go bad and it was not the battery. They replaced the entire unit and gave us 2 new controls but said in the future they would be able to just replace the one Remote. A new design I guess.

revka

To lngtonge18 - Please read my email. Thanks!

Revka
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Hankr

I am attracted to the Aerio SX for similar reasons given by others. But Suzuki's very low 36 Month rust-through warranty concerns me. Most competitors offer at least 5 years, and VW offers 12 years on the Golf.

I live in New Hampshire with lots of road salt 5 months of the year. Rust is generally not the problem it was 20 years ago, but only 3 years??

Does anyone have any insight on this... why I should or should not be concerned?

Thanks

lngtonge18

I wouldn't be concerned with it at all. Almost no manufacturers actually pay out any money on those warranties. They are there to make the car look good but otherwise are useless. They only cover rust from the inside out. That type of rust generally doesn't show up until the car is over 10 years old, which is far past when most cars are covered. Taking that into consideration, the low warranty on the Suzuki doesn't put it at a disadvantage. The lower warranty doesn't mean the car is any more susceptible to rusting out either. It just means Suzuki didn't feel it was a big enough selling point.

hpulley4

If you get any outside chip then they won't pay. If you can't prove it started from the inside, too bad. Then they ask if you had rust proofing done (even if they did it for you) which voids the warranty. Even some automated car washes void the warranties if you read the fine print.

jontyrees

I've been told that is the timing chain tensioner at work. I thought the starter was not disengaging, but apparently that's not it. Don't know for sure if it's correct, but I'm not losing sleep.

frenchcar

I have had the typical Suzuki start-up tinny grinding noise on all 4 Suzuki models we have owned and they all did it but 2 had timing belts and 2 had timing chains. I still think it is in the starter as the belt set up is supposed to be silent. Just a thought.

njsoc

I just picked up my new FWD/auto SX yesterday. It was a second choice because Ford stopped making my beloved Escort wagon and the Focus was so uncomfortable I couldn't wait for the test drive to be over.

After one day, I'm sold. The SX handles better and is much quieter inside than the Escort. Outside of the wimpy roofrack, I can't think of anything that isn't nicer than the Escort.

I've been paying close attention for the last month and as yet have not seen a single SX on the road anywhere. Is this car a secret or something?

revka

and congrats on your new Suzuki Aerio! Please keep us posted on your ownership experience. Happy motoring!

Revka
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ramblin_mo

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/wagon/112_0303_hosu/index.htm- l

frenchcar

The May issue of Import Tuner Magazine goes into detail of how they installed a turbo, fuel pump and pressure regulator, etc. and they have tested it at over 200 horsepower and a future issue will give test results. So far they are impressed. The recent article in Motor Trend was a lousy one on the Aerio and I let them know it. They are almost as prejudiced as Consumer Reports.

mic5000

The article had positive things to say about our precious aerio...but when you read the Honda portion...it's definately a 1 sided article. "Buttery smooth" & "Elegant Dash" & "satisfying manual shifters, brilliant engines, and fun-to-drive chassis dynamics."

I think all of those compliments could be applied to our Aerio!

They left out the fact that the 4 doors are not independantly functional. Left out that the gas mileage is not as great as our Aerio. Left out the fact that the driver feels dwarfed when driving this car. They go into detail about interior space and stash space, but didn't highlight the cool storage the Aerio has to offer.

They harped on the 4wd / auto version of the aerio but not the Element.

Someday the Aerio will get the review it deserves!

chocoxtaco

I didn't bother with the Element portion at all. Its gas mileage was an instant turnoff even though I was attracted to its roominess. Factor in the current lack of a manual tranny and I lost interest in any of Honda's new swollen design vehicles.

The hot new wagon trend is all bunk. I've been enchanted with them since I picked up my '80 Civic wagon in '88. The worst of 'em was an '89 Colt Vista with an '89 Corolla All-Trac #2 (in both senses of the term).

I'll have to learn to ignore the cold start-up grind since I've become key shy and don't let it crank over enough sometimes.

Mileage has been 32 mpg the last few tanks in mixed driving. The engine should be broken in by now. Oil change coming up in a month.

ramblin_mo

Automatic 03 pearl white, no AWD,no ABS.

Driving 85% highway and 15% city. 2,400 miles so far and averaged 26 mpg, best was 28 MPG 300 mile trip.

My 02 Odyssey, LX gets 23 average / 26 Highway plus it weighs about 1,500 lbs more than the Aerio.

Hankr

and in my common-man's perspective, they all handle and ride about the same... they're small cars with "busy" rides relative to a Camry. I chose Aerio for features & value, and I can overlook the steep depreciation on Suzukis in the U.S. cuz I'll keep it for 6 or 7 years.

I live in New Hampshire, and believe AWD is way overblown. People buy it as though they got stuck 4 times the prior year in FWD. I've never been stuck in my life with FWD so why add the cost and weight of AWD?

If a 5-Spd is your preference, then Subaru is your only option. I don't think AWD is available with a 5-Spd in Aerio, Matrix or Vibe. (All of these cars, with their smaller engines, are better-suited to 5-Spds).

All are good cars... you won't go wrong with any one of them.

chocoxtaco

I have a 5-speed and am not a speed demon.