Kizashi Paint Chip Problem !!!!

[aragon20]

I have already went to my Suzuki dealship and the service department manager took all these photos (some of them that I have posted online were from him). He said he forwarded it on to Suzuki and that guy (whoever it was) said it wasn't an issue and not a known problem. I asked the dealership service manager if there was a reference number or anything and he said to just use my vin. I would LOVE for you to help me but all I have gotten back so far is that you will give me some touch up paint. So would it REALLY help if I called you? I thought that the service manager and the Suzuki rep would document this stuff. I'm not trying to be rude or anything but I am so pissed off by the situation that if I call you and you tell me the exact same thing, I may go crazy. I love everything else about my car but the paint chipping everywhere makes me feel like I got stuck with a lemon. Every time I look at it now, I cringe. Thank you for getting on this forum though, it's good to know at least someone at Suzuki is communicating with us about our concerns with the car.

[avmustang]

So I go to the Suzuki Auto facebook page today and see that my posts about the paint issue have been deleted by Suzuki Auto. I feel horrible for those who are having this problem and not getting anywhere with Suzuki yet. I am relentless and have even tried politely contacting a couple of important people (at American Suzuki) by finding their personal facebook pages. We'll see if I get a response. I don't think it is right to say who they are on this forum, but I do have every right to attempt to contact them. If I were top person at Suzuki, I would surely want to know about this issue.

[avmustang]

I should mention that I received an email response a while ago from a PR person at American Suzuki. This person was really nice and honest when I asked him a couple questions about incentives (before I discovered the paint issue). Anyhow, I will be contacting this person again but right now he is on vacation (got the vacation automated email response). I know for a fact he knows a top person at American Suzuki. I am hoping he will take me seriously and pass my message along to that person concerning the paint problems people are having.

[Senegal]

bad press gets around one way or another....you can delete the posts on the Facebook page, but how are you going to prevent people from posting on Edmunds, this site or others?

It seems like a weak strategy.

I love my car, well engineered and well thought out, but the paint issue is just simply irritating.

These issues remind me of Toyota's mishap, wrong strategy employed by their American executives has caused the company so much.

[Cherish]

bad press gets around one way or another....you can delete the posts on the Facebook page, but how are you going to prevent people from posting on Edmunds, this site or others?

It seems like a weak strategy.

I love my car, well engineered and well thought out, but the paint issue is just simply irritating.

These issues remind me of Toyota's mishap, wrong strategy employed by their American executives has caused the company so much.

This is pretty much how I feel. I love my car too, and out of the few issues it's having, the paint issue is causing the most worry.

I would rather work with Suzuki than against them, so I am giving plenty of opportunity for Suzuki to make things right... I really would prefer to avoid a Toyota-esque debacle, and I am sure the feeling is mutual.

And you're right, in today's day and age, word of mouth is no longer limited to a 50 mile radius... Toyota learned that lesson the hard way.

[sloopercat]

I have 250 miles on mine. Just hand washed it, and yes two chips in the paint already. Much worse than any other car I have had. Being a paint chemist, it appears that the adhesion between the E-coat primer and the color coat is very poor, could be from several causes. This kind of chip resistance would not withstand the "normal" kind of testing that most auto makers require, leading me to speculate that there was a problem in the painting process. If that is the case, it may be why they are not forthcoming.

How much are folks paying for the clear bra?

[Kenneth254]

Does anyone have a red Kizashi and if so, any paint problems?

[sloopercat]

Mine is red.

[havinfun]

I asked about the paint chipping problem with a Kizashi sales manager at the Wichita, Kansas Suzuki dealership. He wrote back that the paint problems were with grey and red Kizashi's built before March, 2010. He claims that the problem has been fixed for cars built after that date. I would love to know if those here on the forum agree with his claim.

In his defense, I was at a Dallas, Texas dealership a few weeks back. They only had 2010 Kizashi's in stock (5) and they had all been driven by sales managers. The two dark blue cars and one white one looked in perfect condition paintwise, but both red cars had many chips. The worst of these had 750 miles on it.

[Riddler]

When I looked at Kizashi's after Christmas, I talked to two dealers about the paint chip problem too. One told me that they have not had that issue with any car at their dealership. The other dealership told me that the paint chip problem was only with the red cars because of the metallic nature of the paint. He said there was no paint chipping issue with any other color. However, his answer made no sense given that the silver and most of the other colors are also "metallic".