Also this has a base model front bumper on it! I presume the owner had to replace the original,, but the Sport bumpers it came with do look tons better. I love these cars
@@akshaypersadI had to replace the front bumper, I hit a deer unfortunately and pieced the front end back together with junkyard parts. I'll have the correct bumper one day when finances allow
Americans would rather buy piles of dogshit, such as the Malibu which detonate engines left and right in addition to fusions which have transmission problems. or the dodge avenger which isn't good at literally anything.
I had the AWD CVT version. It drove great (despite the CVT), got good fuel economy, and was a tank in the snow. I used the car for my hour long commute and didn't find the seats uncomfortable. The CVT started acting wonky at about 120,000 mi, but hung on until the car was totaled in an accident with 175,000 mi. I would have gone for the manual if I could have gotten it with the AWD. Overall, it was a great car. Too bad Suzuki couldn't figure out how to market their cars in the US.
I heard that the CVT was a JATCO (Nissan) unit. Early JATCO CVTs were quite problematic, even with regular maintenance. Nissan updated the CVT quite a number of times over the years to make it more reliable. Then again, there was the whole "lifetime fluid" BS that also caused many transmission failures.
I remember this car getting a lot of praise by car magazines when it came out. I remember several reviewers saying that it was supposed to compete with the MkV Jetta, hence the front end styling.
they compared it because of outsize styling and size (kizashi slightly bigger). For all other things its comared to higher priced cars from mercedes audi bmw
I still see these rarely, just about the only Suzukis I still see on the road. The styling's a bit odd but Suzuki made the Kizashi good where it counted. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late to save their bargain-basement reputation. It's surprising Suzuki hasn't tried to make a comeback with the Jimny. It probably doesn't meet US crash safety standards or emissions regulations.
I’ve had several Suzuki automobiles over the years I’m 68 so I was buying them back in the 80’s and they were awesome. Loved my 1988 Samurai. Suzuki got burned by crappy General Motors like so many other makers that ever hooked up with them to make small cars for them.. Suzuki made some awesome cars and and awesome four-wheel-drive vehicles. And really affordable and now look what General Motors is putting out..
The sizing of this car is interesting. It's classed as mid-size but sits about midway between the Civic and the Accord. It's the same length as a modern Lexus IS.
One of these came to my shop on a tow truck with an All Keys Lost situation. That was the only time I got to sit in one. I had a heck of a time programming the fob. I tried 4 different programmers and watched videos for 2 days. I got it working on the third day. My supplier sent a faulty fob so the new one worked.
i absolutely love your channel and seeing it grow. i remember when it was well under 50k subs. happy to see how your channel breaks away from typical boring car reviewing channels. keep it up!
used to see few of them when I was in Brunei back in 2011-2012 and I thought what a beautiful and huge car from Suzuki considering Suzuki don't really make big cars
Wow, that had push-to-start and center info screen and phone buttons on the steering wheel in the dash in 2011. The Corolla didn't have that until 2014
I own vin low 40s of 2013 sls every option . Really a great vehicle, high quality. Mine is the cvt AWD, plenty quick for my needs. I will probably keep it for 20 years don't drive it much. Couple of things mine has, pass through to trunk, lit doors for entry on the ground. The awd is push button as well so you can manually engage and disengage it.
It's honestly just Suzuki US being severely mismanaged, Suzuki Canada almost had enough money to buy back the factory to continue production. If your Canadian equivalent is pulling better profits than you as a US company, you might as well say it straight up that you're incompetent. Suzuki Canada also fulfilled all Canadian warranties despite Suzuki US' bankruptcy without any issues and still exists today, even if they no longer sell cars.
This was the first vehicle I bought after getting out of the military... Of course my ex wife had to wreck it, as she did with every vehicle I let her drive... Vehicles last so much longer, without horrible things in your life. I'm glad you were a fan of this vehicle... I highly agree.
We got these in Australia back in the day. Never sold terribly well even though it undercut nearly everything else in its segment - Accord Euro, Camry, Mazda 6. As Zack pointed out it’s also a works burger with the lot feature wise. Suzuki has a long and very loyal fan base down under but it’s mainly centered around their excellent 4WDs. Jimny Sierra and Grand Vitara. The company went out on a limb with the Kizashi and the public didn’t quite know what to make of it in my view. Subsequently it was approached with caution.
Before I bought my 2014 Mazda 3 S GT, I wanted to buy this car. It was slightly roomier than the 3 and and a little quieter. I would've chosen the 6MT, but I particularly loved the 10-speakers Rockford Fosgate sound system.
It's meant to be a mid-sized car and was priced like one. I think that was much of the Kizashi's problem. For a mid-sized car, it's quite small, it doesn't look or feel like a mid-sized car!
One of my favorite cars from the Suzuki brand. I thought it would've saved the company from leaving the U.S. market. Just imagine what a Jimny would've been like here.
I have a 2012 GTS version, also a 6sp like Zach's. I'm wondering if the cloth seats are a bit more comfortable because I haven't had any discomfort on longer trips (6-7 hour drives). These also came with a Rockford Fosgate stereo option from factory that sounds great. Very reliable car, no issues at all. Have just had regular maintenance performed (and a couple recall work orders done). Very nice review, glad someone has done a recent check-in on them!
I Have one of the last one sold brand new on my country (2016). Currently only have 43.000km cause I only use it on weekends , I really love the car, it onle needs fuel and regular oil changes and nothin more. In my case is a 2wd 6spd manual gearbox which in my opinion is far better than de cvt one in terms of performance and reliability. Its a good well balanced saloon to enjoy driving every day. . Thanks for the video!. (the front bumper on the car that you are doing this video is not the one that comes with the sls model, the sls model comes with chrome foglight trim and a bit agresive shape.)
I own this car for rhe last 3 and half years. In Europe there is only one trim, the fully loaded. Mine is manual transmission and it has bin very reliable, comfortable, and fun car to drive. Unfortunately I will eventually have to sell it cause I am concerned about the availability of spare parts in the future...
I'm so happy to know this does come with a manual gearbox... in the UK these were very very rare and only auto/cvt which was such a waste for such an appealing car
Owner of a 2012 Sport model here, with the CVT transmission. There is not a car in the price range I would swap it for. I prefer my Kizzy to the E46 BMW my wife used to have; the Suzuki is heavier and not as quick but more solid and much nicer to drive
4:25 the Camry always had a manual transmission until the end of the 6th generation in 2011. It's just that the automatics were much more common. Finding a Camry with a manual transmission is almost impossible. Also, 7:48 that's maybe because you drove the manual transmission. It might have gotten the automatic lock feature on the automatics, either when you shift into reverse (Toyota) or at 8-10 MPH (Volkswagen).
In 2011 the big thing that was coming was the earthquake and tsunami (that lead to the Fokoshima nuclear disaster) ... The Kizashi is a very cool car, didn't have an ootion for HID headlamps ? 🙄🤔
Suzuki in the united states is seen as a VERY cheap brand, lowering their prices to stay in the us market. They failed and pulled out of it. So their cars are rare and undesirable at the same time
Suzuki was like Mitsubishi, sending cheap crappy cars to the US so for a US Suzuki to have those nice features was rare. Suzuki stopped selling cars in the US in 2013 because no one was buying them when they could buy a nicer car instead.
A friend of mine traded in his 95 Suzuki Swift for one of these in like 2013 and he loved it but his other Suzuki (I think a Forenza) was an absolute pile of💩 but he still has his Kizashi to this day
I thought these cars looked great, and the model looked (in my eyes) very similar to the '08 Regal. Heluva bargain for the car, but only appealing with the manual. If it had a normal automatic...maybe. CVTs can just go to h_ll.
Unfortunately these were a flop coming from somebody in Australia who drives a Suzuki Baleno and likes it the main reason they were to expensive a rare car in Australia and l know if a Kazachi for sale in a car yard in my local area and infact we almost bought one but to unforeseen we didn't get it bought another Baleno instead they were back in 2011 aud$40000 to $50000
for some reason here in Pittsburgh they are everywhere. When I first moved here one of the first things I thought was "why are there so many Suzuki's around here??"
I luv this car, but I think what brought it down was the price.. it’s got luxury car features because it was priced like one.. this was a little bit too much for any American to consider when suzuki never had a luxury entry before this car. So there wasn’t a precedent before this to judge if they had a reliable entry into the luxury car market
Looks-wise, I can't. 2010's-onwards, all cars do the flat flare thing and it always bugs me because every single fucking car adopted that style. They're all the same. Now, if the IONIQ5 wasn't a dumpster fire waiting to happen I'd commend them for at least taking the time to add style to their fender flares so it would actually sell. The shutter lens retro futurism and faulty rear LED lights look nice but don't age well.
@Jonathan-mp32x I don’t know why you’re not understanding what I said! The Suzuki Kizashi is a family sedan sized between compact and mid-size models! It's a Compact but also a Midsize!
This car is much closer in size to a Corolla or Golf than it is a Camry or Passat . And nowhere near the size of a true midsize car like a Lacrosse, Chrysler 200 or Taurus etc. It goes by internal volume and this is on the large side of compact but clearly still a compact car.
Bruh….They got hit w a tsunami. I love your content and this video, but Do your research why they left before making fun of their great escape. Their factories making kizashis were flooded for 8 months. And took months to rebuild. I bought the car in 2010 and didn’t get delivery because they couldn’t make any. That’s why it failed. That’s why suzuki stopped trying. It was recuperating and sticking to markets who accepted them. By the time they could come back to capture the market, all others cars had launched a next generation version of their cars and kizashi never got any clout.
Also, kizashi was launched in 2010 and was the car of the year in America. And thats why its a respected rare car, as it signifies them making a factory again to sell their greatest car they ever made. Suzuki is a giant in other countries with Toyota and honda struggling to keep up with suzukis innovations always. It’s basically a trend setter for other vehicles in markets and America ends up getting basic versions of each car whereas the world gets even econo cars with much more premium features and all. That’s why kizashi as it was launched globally as is , had better features than competitors which copied its suit and put those features in their next generations.
