Suzuki Auto don't honor warrantee even when the dealer realizes it should be under warranty Internet

Thanks, Thomas, for two good ideas. I'll see if I can find power steering anti-leak fluid at a car supply shop and I'll check out the cartalk website. I don't want to deal with Suzuki anymore. And yes my idea did mean something that K-Y jelly would be useful for. :)

Jo

My husband and I purchased a 2005 Suzuki Forenza last year when I returned from a deployment overseas. I loved that car as it was the first brand spanking new vehicle I had ever owned. We also went ahead and purchased the extended warranty which took our warranty out to 10 years or 100,000 miles whichever happened first. About a month or two after we purchased the car, the air bag light came on.

My husband took the car in and the mechanics at the dealership replaced a sensor and sent him on his way. Everything was fine until my husband drove 1800 miles to bring the car to me in Delaware where I was temporarily stationed while recupperating from an injury. We took the car to the dealership there and they replaced the wires. And the next time the wiring harness and then another sensor and by this time we had had the car for 5 months and we had had it in the shop 6 times and I was beginning to get livid. Long story short, by Christmas we had had to take the car in another 3 times and everything had been replaced in the air bag system at least once.

I had called the Suzuki Customer Care department a few times and gone off on them and told them to replace my car but that didn't work. So another month went by before the light came on again and I took it in and spoke with the Service Manager at my dealership and I took it in again and he told me about how eSuzuki had just learned that there was a potential problem with the air bag system where the wires were becoming disconnected and that they needed to put this electrical compound on the connection so that even if it became disconnected the electrical current would still be flowing.

Well this worked for another two months and low and behold that darn light came on again. My husband called everyone and their brother to get this rectified and finally he was able to have a meeting with our District Manager for Suzuki and the company bought back our car, gave us the trade-in value and gave us a great deal on a 2006 Grand Vitara. Try talking to the Service Manager, the Sales Manager and see if they can get you a meeting with the District Manager. I hope this helps.

involve several cases of KY Jelly?

1/2 can of PS fluid per year is not worth getting steamed about.

A can of PS flid antileak might help. Check with the cartalk guys, click & clack (Tom & Ray). They have a website called cartalk and a radio program of the same name on NPR.

Hey Jo, I don't work for Suzuki but have about 24 years in the car business for both dealerships and manufacturers.

Do you have documentation (repair orders) from a Suzuki dealership showing your concern with the power steering? If so, you have a leg to stand on. If not, you're out of luck.

Also, you did not answer my questions (with regards to the in service date) in the original post. If you provide an answer I'll be in a better position to offer assistance.

The leak is a very slow leak. In one year I have not used even half a can of power steering fluid to keep it filled up. So that would make two years at least that it took to even realize there was a problem. Those two years when the problem existed but we didn't know about it would put the Suzuki within the timeframe covered by the warranty. As I said previously, everyone who has looked at this power steering rack has felt that the company should have made good on it, including the Suzuki service place that I took it. Everyone seems to agree that the problem had to have occurred during the warranty period.

Do you work for Suzuki? That's the impression I got from your response. Suzuki just doesn't want to take responsibility for putting out a reliable, decent product in my opinion. I think this was a rip-off and I would never buy a Suzuki product again. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of having an artist friend paint lemons on the sides and back of the SUV so that everyone in my area sees how I feel. In fact I told Suzuki that I was going to do that.

They don't care. I live in an affluent area and most people drive fancier cars. I live in this area by buying serious fixer-upper houses and doing a lot of the renovation myself. I use the SUV for carrying supplies such as wood, paint, windows, etc. But I drive to building suppliers in less affluent areas and that's why I'd like to paint lemons on the SUV. That's where Suzuki's market is around here. And I still think they ripped me off.
Jo

When was the vehicle originally titled and when did you take it to the dealership?
The warranty is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. If the car is in excess of either, there is no obligation to cover it under warranty as the warranty is expired.
Please explain how you are being "ripped off" if you car is out of warranty?

Kevin