Picked up a Kizashi this morning & absolutely love it!
Seen one parked often at a local supermarket & it had me curious so started to look them up!
Been keeping an eye on Autotrader etc seeing as they are rare in the UK, all the ones for sale were too far for me to go test & see what they were actually like until a few days ago. One popped up 60 miles from me. Next day I was off for a test & they day after that I was back again buying it!
Really surprised by these cars! Hoping for a long & happy future with it!
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Welcome and congrats.
From what I know about them in the UK, they are better equipped but only available in AWD models. Is yours that way?
Yours likely has features like factory HID headlights, headlight washers, folding mirrors, and rear fog lights all of which were never offered in North America.
Hello and welcome. I notice your side mirror is folded in. Along with the features Kuro mentioned I was wondering if automatic side mirrors were available in Europe as well or you simply folded it in? Azure gray...that's the color I desired when I purchased mine but ended up w/ a Platinum Silver left-over. Congrats on your purchase.
Welcome to the forum! Your Kiz looks in very good condition...it basically looks new! Congrats. I had 2 Audi A4 and a TSX AWD before my Kizashi which ended up being the best car of the bunch. Enjoy.
2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport iAWD CVT ''Kaijū'' (Black pearl metallic)
Priors:
2004 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T 6MT ''Audini'' (Black)
1999 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8 AT (Dark green)
1984 Chevrolet Malibu 3MT with a 327 engine lol (Blue)
1996 Acura Integra 5MT (Black)
Cheers for the welcome!
As far as I am aware it has all the features mentioned including the automatic folding mirrors, it is a 2013 model, newest I've ever seen. Only 16,000 miles on the clock when I bought it, so was very chuffed to have one which had rarely been used.
I was surprised to see it had a sunroof too, not sure if those sold in other countries had that too or not.
AWD was all they offered in the UK sadly, so that's what I've got. Read up on them a bit before buying & apparently the gearbox isn't the greatest fit for the engine & to be honest I can see what people mean. When you put the foot down it basically revs until the redline & stays there, nothing a wee shift with the paddles won't sort though.
I do love the colour though, will look mean with some Black Alloys.
Only others for sale at the time were black, didn't really want a black car. There was a another for sale, different shade/type of Grey, looked lovely but it was over 300miles away, not a trip I was willing to make for a car I'd never seen or heard of before.
Yeah, my understanding is that only top-spec Kizashis with AWD were sold in the UK. AWD means you had to have the CVT. I have an old Top Gear magazine from 2010 or 2011 in which they test drove a tester FWD Kizashi with a manual transmission. They actually praised it. However, they noted the very odd decision by Suzuki to only offer the loaded AWD model for sale in the UK predicted that with only a petrol engine and CVT, it would be a low volume seller.
As for the moonroof, that was offered elsewhere too but only in the higher trim models. For example mine is a 2011 with a 6 speed manual but it has the moonroof. However, the other features like HIDs, headlight washers, folding mirrors, and rear fog lights were never offered in the US, even for the highest trim models. In fact, things like headlight washers and rear fog lights are pretty much only features seen on European luxury cars here in the US.
I think I read that review online somewhere, the CVT hasn't had any praise anywhere by the looks of it.
It does seem like an odd choice by Suzuki. From my short time with this car & what I've read I feel it would have sold well if they offered not only a Manual but Diesel option too.
Interesting to hear what you are saying about the higher trim model only being offered here. It's strange that, you'd think they'd be offered on all models world wide.
The Kizashi was spec'ed rather oddly for certain markets, but they were limited with the engines. Suzuki didn't build anything but 3 and 4 cylinder gasoline engines for their cars by the late 2000's so they sourced V6s and diesels from others like GM and FIAT. When the Kizashi debuted, Suzuki was tied to VW and was hoping to source some engines from them. However, it never happened and the Kizashi was stuck with the base engine of the Suzuki J24B. As for the CVT, it's from JATCO which is the biggest name in CVTs, it seems. It's mostly owned by Nissan but Suzuki does have a minor stake in the company so it's just a given they'd source transmissions from them. While I do think the Kizashi would have been better with a conventional automatic, I think they wanted the vehicle to be more fuel efficient.
A diesel engine never happened due to a lack of a partnership with a company that makes them to supply them for the Kizashi. However, despite the Kizashi being a global car, it was largely intended for North America therefore a diesel wasn't a priority. Diesel engines in passenger cars are very rare in the United States. Just when they were getting a little bit more popular here is when VW's Dieselgate scandal occurred. Personally, I think these will be the first ICE to get phased out in passenger vehicles as electrified powertrains get more popular.
As for higher trims, the US got them, but we simply didn't get all the features like folding mirrors, HIDs, etc. My guess is that they reserved those for Europe and other markets where the Suzuki brand had a better image and could command a higher price. In the US, Suzuki was a budget brand so they needed to be more price-conscious. That's my guess as to why we didn't get those premium luxury features, even in our top-spec models.
It's interesting the way Suzuki spec'ed the cars for various markets. The UK seems to only have got top-level AWD models. Japan only got CVT models in 3 colors on an order-basis and most Kizashis are fleet cars there. Yet China got Kizashis with manual transmissions perhaps with CVT versions too. The US, Canada, and Australia got both AWD and 6 speed manual versions though the features were mutually exclusive. The Kizashi was sold in many more countries and though this owner's forum is international, English-speaking nations are largely represented there. I know Russia, China, the Middle East, India, and South America among others were all markets for the Kizashi and there are owners there too.
The knowledge you have about Kizashi's & just Suzuki in general is phenomenal, most posts I see on here is just knowledge upon knowledge.
I find it incredible, fair play!
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