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I have 58,800miles on my 2004 Suzuki Forenza S.. i put 30,000 on it last year alone
Stock tires were crap and started cracking at the sidewalls at 20,000miles. Im now on my 3rd set of tires on this car. After 30,000miles i seam to put as much money into it every year as much as i Owe on it. Issues i have had are below..
First I also have a squeaky steering wheel it seams to have started around 45,000miles not sure what it is but frankly least of my worries.
I had the gas cap check engine lite issue everyone seams to have but my fix was a little different. Tightening the cap didn't work, for kicks i put a tank of Premium in it to flush the system and kicked off the light seams the car is more particular about bad gas because i have seen this issue about once a year and this fix seams to clear it.
This car burns tires but could be my lead foot. First set lasted 20,000 mostly because my dad drove the car the first 2 years. Since then I am on my second set of V-Rated Tires this car does some reason seam to burn them fast.
Struts are a piece of crap on this car.. After 45,000 all 4 struts gave out
The front bearings were replaced same time as struts as the mechanic found them to be so warn they were almost non-existent.
now since about 55,000 the car seams to have issues starting randomly but in a different way the car seams to drop hard on the front when it fails to turn over. finally i took it in after couple 100miles (this is like 2-3weeks for me) come to find out 2 of the 3 motor mounts are completely worn out so my little "starting issues" was actually due to the motor jumping under the hood. This is going to cost me around 500$ to fix.
Oil changes are interesting on this car.. I can feel the need for an oil change around 100miles before its read for one because the whole car feels different.
Now as the car is about 5years old, its worth close to nothing and even less due to the excessive miles on it. Taking it down to the Honda/Toyota/Kia dealers no one will give me anything for the car. I owe about 1500$ on the car and they tell me they will write-off the remaining balance and thats it. So now im in the need for a new car and thanks to the economy cant afford the down payment on one and was hoping the car would be usable as a triad in. The down fall of this.. is im putting 300-500$ in repairs to this car every 2-6months. So saying keeping it is cheaper than buying a new one is kind of far fetched.
Dont buy Suzuki, they are a joy to drive (I *Loved* mine) but after 30,000miles they fall apart.
I put an Intrax sport suspension on the car with 18 inch rims with Pirelli tires. I also sport tuned the engine and put a wide body kit by A-toy on it, I keep the engine and undercarriage in immaculate condition. I have had zero problems with this car. To say it is a Suzuki product is wrong. It is badged Suzuki here in the states in Asia it is a Chevrolet Optra and Australia it is the Holden Viva. Of course it is made by Daewoo and is still the Daewoo Lacetti in Korea. Suzuki and GM went in during the Asian economic crisis and bought out Daewoo. Put the blame on GM since they own the majority share in the company. Research your car history before you buy I would suggest.
There are no real American cars anymore just look at the parts made in Mexico and Canada.
Despite the complaints I have heard I must reiterate I have not had any problems with my forenza, but then again how you take care of your car in the maintainence will relate to how any car performs.
To date I have put well over $6,500 in service's into this stupid car in the last 2 years alone. I still owe $1,500 on it today.. and I have $1,500-2,000 in services to still preform within the next 1-3months
All parts for this dang car have to be specially ordered.. and because now all the Suzuki dealers in the area have gone out of business it takes 1 week minimum to get any part.
kapriako1, maybe you got lucky.. but frankly I have loved my Forenza to 30,000 now at 58,800+.. its a lemon i can nether afford to keep driving nor replace. Its broken the bank and I cant afford the down payment for a new car because every time i get some money set aside i have to fix this dang car or i cant get to work next week. :lemon: :lemon: :sick:
That is too bad that you are having the problems with the car. I understand it is a high maintainence car but I bought it as a street racer and expected to put the money into it. I actually own the Chevrolet Optra Version in the Philippines and the Suzuki Forenza one here in the states. I have had extensive modifications done on both with the suspension and the engines. That may be the difference between the Our cars. I agree the 405 and I-5 are hard on the cars. I used to live in SD and Fresno. I guess you have no intentions of keeping the car. I was just trying to make the point I have not had the same experience with either one of the cars. I found them to be reliable and even though parts are a problem(I have mine sent from Asia or Europe) I have enjoyed these cars.
I am surprised though that people do not do the research into who manufactures what these days. The labels inside the doors clearly state manufactured in Korea and by GM Daewoo. Not Suzuki. Suzuki and GM bought out Daewoo in the 80's. Daewoo was not known for building cars to last, only for affordabilty over a 3-5 year period and most American Car companies agree with that philosophy since most Americans change cars every 3-5 years. The most reliable Cars for long term usage would be Honda or Toyotas.
Of course there is the old adage, You get what you pay for. I only paid 7500 for mine new. so that I could use any extra money on the upgrades in Performance. I hope you are able to get what you are looking for and I wish you luck. Take care.
P.S. Never had the Dealer Service anything only a High Performance shop or Myself. I don't trust Dealers.
But the reason for my anger was I bought this off my dad (didn't know better at the time) but he paid 13,000 for it new back in late 2004.. I can see if i expected this to be a 7500 car.. but as i paid more for mine.. Im a little more ticked off..
And yea I get all work done to my car by a personal mechanic and friend who is good enough to let me know what needs done before its needed and doesn't bother trying to screw me with the prices because i know alot of people that uses his shop, but he specializes in High Performance rebuilds and Classic's
But Yea I drive from Bakersfield to Huntington Beach 2-6times a month. Forenza was trusty up until this last year.. now.. :lemon:
Now the mechanic is telling me he went to Al Packer (Suzuki authorized Mechanics) told him that the problem is common with Daewoo engines Forenzas.
I am still without a car and still have to send a payment every month...
do anyone have a solution to a car that will not crank?
At the moment, I will be working on a letter of complaint which I will address to the Suzuki corporate organization, the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General. I will be looking to either have them simply manufacture the part and/or give me a replacement vehicle until the car is fixed. I may also be consulting with an attorney. Worst case scenario, I may have to sue considering they are not complying within the terms of the 7 year warranty in fixing the car.
Anybody else running into a similar situation?
Fed up. I bought my teenager what I thought was a reliable car with a good warranty "America"s #1 Warranty" that bull. She is now 21 pregnant and without a car in another state. Her husband serves our country while we are getting ripped.
Tena Bailey
Lynn
My car has a problem with starting, but doesn't sound like the same problem. It is like the battery is dead, almost, except when I put the key in the ignition it makes a dinging noise and there will be lights, but when I turn the key there will be no noise indicating the car is even trying to turn over. I then have to jump my car and it'll start right up with the jump box attached. I just bought it about a month and half ago, and have had it in the shop twice and had to buy a new battery (when I thought it was the battery, although it keeps doing it with the new battery so I wasted over a hundred bucks on a new battery). It's a 2006 Forenza station wagon.
The car does have weird stuff happen with the transmission from time to time. It's like a vibration or something. And the check engine light comes on sometimes. And when it fails to start, sometimes there's a weird hold light on.
I'm going to try and sell or trade it in before it dies. I paid nearly $10k for it. I feel so sick about it. I miss my escort. I regret I'd ever got this car or traded my old one in.
7 yr/ 70,000 miles drivetrain
8 yr/80000 Federal emissions warranty*
*major emissions systems, of which there are 3 -- the catalytic, the ECU and the OBD-II diagnostic system.
But unfortunately the TPS is not covered under any of these.
then see what you feel or do :mad:
I bought my 2005 suzuki forenza brand new from quality cars in san antonio, and had taken my car to chacon also. Chacon Suzuki is the worst dealership ever man! I have taken my vehicle there at least four times for the same problem, engine vibration. The vibration is so bad that steering wheel shakes, and if you lean your head on the headrest, you can feel your eyes bounce around in your eye sockets. The second time I took the car to them, I told them that I had a mechanic look at my forenza and he told me that the left motor mount was broken. They replaced it after verifying this. The vibration was almost gone, but a year later it started again. They said that they could not find anything wrong with it.My fourth time there, they just charged me the diagnostic fee of $80. I guess that is what they are doing now to keep people from taking their cars there.
Anyone that reads this message and lives in the New Braunfels- San Antonio area, your probably better off taking your car to any other Suzuki dealership to get worked on. Chacon Suzuki's technicians are worhtless, and so are their whole entire staff!!!
Closest Suzuki dealer is 60-100miles away and they are retards (actually messed up my car more last time they touched it.)
few things to Note about this *Lemon*
I have replaced the Headlights (both of them) professionaly once and 2twice on my own (even used premium bulbs) in the last 10,000miles Last bulb replaced lasted less then 3,000miles before going out..
I threw my Timing Belt around 65,000miles and i was no where near a suzuki shop so i had to get it replaced by some local mechanic..(i was about 1,000miles or so from home) This actually fixed a issue that the Suzuki dealer had caused with my car.. I took it in because it was shifting hard on me around 60,000miles and they desided it was because the computer needed updated.. They updated the computer and my mpgs (no joke) on freeway droped to around 10-15mpgs.. took it back and they reflashed it and fixed the issue but the car droped in preformance (ALOT) very little reponse even with the gass floored.. Took it back again, and they reflashed it yet again and got some of the preformance back but only felt like it was only running at about 80-85% of the power it had before i brought it in the very first time.. Even did test drive with the OWNER of the dealership and he said it was fine.. I told him to kiss my A** and left.. Filed a complaint with Suzuki America in LA aginst the dealership ( nothing ever happend because of it, as if i really expected them to care anyhow)..
Was driving to LA about 2 weeks ago stoped half way at the top of the grapevine got gas backed up the the building ran inside for a pitstop.. come out.. My break lights were on.. spent 30min trying to figure out why they wouldnt turn off (even with the key no where near the car).. Damn brake light switch went out.. Drove the rest of the way to my destination (about 70-80miles) at night with my breaklights stuck *ON* so no one knew if i was breaking or not. Took it to a local dealer next day.. Told me that part was recalled but the recall service had been done to the car a few years ago and wouldnt re-warrent the recall.. Told me I was going to have to pay them $80 to diagnose the problem and then pay them to fix it as well.. I told him he could kiss my a** took my keys out of his hand and left some black marks on his white parking lot.. Did some research on the problem found the part information called a parts warehouse.. part cost me $13.00 after tax and took me 20seconds to replace (i dont know much about cars, so that says ALOT) $80.00+ to fix a known issue with the car? thats got to be illegal..
I know im not the kindest or politest person in the world and im sure many of you will comment my actions.. But i have been to 5 diffrent Suzuki dealerships and everyone of them i have been met by A******** that told me the car was fine when it clearly wasnt, or told me my warrenty is expired and or didnt cover what was wrong with it..
I been needing to buy a new car for awhile now.. But I cant offord it because i have had to continusly get this lemon serviced atlest once a month so i can get to work the next morning.. So i have no money and maxed out 2 Creditcards fixing this stupid thing.. Now thanks to the great economy i have been Laid-off so now i have even less money and i still have to fix the stupid thing cus i cant replace it..
Btw I took my car in to a dealer for that Cash for Clunkers thing that was going on few months ago.. Told them all the issues i had with the car.. they felt sorry for me.. Told me my car didnt qualify because it was too new and got too good of MPG's.. Is that not warped or what..
Suzuki Forenza 2004 - :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:
We don't have the records because the dealer that we went to went out of business because the goverment was after him and he would not transfer the records over.
How did yours turn out?
If the radio is on and I turn on the defroster the radio turns to static. They figured it would be on the back window where both the defroster and antenna are.. But I can't afford to spend the money to pay Labor that could take hours to days to even just locate the problem.
Has anyone else had this problem and figured it out so I can just tell them how to fix it. There was no warranty and calling the dealership is useless, wasn't their car. Calling Suzuki got me nowhere either, save for a beating in how I'm not a mechanic and cannot prove the problem to them. Funny right? Anyway, anyone have some suggestions?
So I have a good friend who's a mechanic. And of course after an act of congress to find and then take off the plug (having to literally grind his own tool), there was plenty of fluid in there, but it STANK! Hopefully it just needs flushed out and replace. Manual says every 30,000 miles?? Hope that's it.