Even though everything in the General Motors universe looked pretty shaky in 2009 and GM-affiliated Suzuki gave up on its attempts to sell Suzuki-badged cars in America in 2013, somehow an interesting new Suzuki midsize sedan managed to appear on our shores for the 2010 model year: The Kizashi. Just under 23,000 Kizashis were sold in the United States and Canada during the car’s 2010-2013 sales run, and I’ve found this clean ’11 in a yard just south of Denver, Colorado.
The Kizashi offered car buyers a lot for their money, with the price tag on this SE AWD version starting at $23,399 (about $30,548 in 2022 dollars).
Unfortunately for Kizashi sales, North American car buyers never really got used to four-wheeled Suzukis that didn’t have Geo or Chevrolet badges (except for this kind of four-wheeled Suzuki). During the 2000s, Suzuki car offerings included a rebadged and Giugiaro-styled Daewoo Leganza, a rebadged Daewoo Nubira, the Reasonably Priced Aerio, and the equally Reasonably Priced Suzuki-badged Daewoo Lacetti, plus the long-forgotten Esteem and a few SUV-ish vehicles you’ll find today rolling with long-expired temporary tags and at least one space-saver spare apiece. Suzuki name recognition on our shores beat Daihatsu but didn’t quite reach Isuzu levels.
That said, the Kizashi would have seemed like a screaming deal with Nissan or even Mitsubishi badges. The interior materials were nice, the AWD system was affordable, and you got all sorts of standard features that the competition sold as options (including keyless ignition, Bluetooth, a seven-speaker sound system, and so on).
Having rented a lot of cars of this era, I can tell you that anything beyond just a single-disc CD player and four speakers was unusual in low-trim-level midsize cars at the time. I used to travel to 24 Hours of Lemons races with a few audio CDs, just so I wouldn’t have to listen to middle-of-nowhere radio stations.
This 2.4-liter straight-four engine made 180 horsepower (you got five more with the manual transmission), 11 more than the base engine in the Camry that year.
This car has the CVT; I’ve never driven a Kizashi, but I assume the CVT made it Not Much Fun™.
This one goes to its grave with a clean interior and a straight body. We can assume that some expensive powertrain component failed. My money is on the CVT and/or the head gasket.
The original owner documentation was still in the glovebox. Perhaps this car had but one owner during its career.
Parts must be hard to find for Kizashis these days, though I was able to locate one as a side-marker-light donor for my Junkyard Jack-O-Lantern a while back.
[Images by the author]
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She was a genuinely attractive car.
THIS. Love the body, too bad it didn’t have Toyota mechanicals underneath.
Sure but those hideous projector eyeballs in a pool of wavy chrome is a horrible look, all too common in the era and just waiting to turn yellow and brown. I can’t believe there were designers that considered them a good look.
Projectors look great.
Lemme gues- you prefer the atrociously outdated, sealed beam lights of the 1980’s, right?
I was absolutely in love with Kizashi! I drove over an hour to my nearest Suzuki dealer to test drive one when they first hit the market. I recommended them to lots of people but warned servicing them would be tricky.
The one I drove was this spec, and I thought the push button AWD system was a great feature. I didn’t go on the longest test drive but I wasn’t bothered by the CVT I drove. Manuals were hard to find.
The interior quality was just so good and it had a very up market feel.
Calling these mid-sized is a bit misleading. I guess technically they could be called that, but they were much more similar in size to a Jetta than a Camry. In fact, I recall a lot of talk about them either bench marking Jettas or being related in chassis to the Jetta. It’s been a while so I might be totally misremembering.
I still get really excited when I see one today – a rare occasion.
Knowing that it was based on Opel Vectra I would rather compare it to European Passat that Jetta. Passat is much better car of course.
No, it isn’t. Provide source and references of proof.
The Kizashi is all Japanese.
You’re thinking of the XL7 based on the GM THETA or all the re-badged Daewoos, of this is not.
No, it isn’t. Provide source and references of proof.
The Kizashi is all Japanese.
You’re thinking of the XL7 based on the GM THETA or all the re-badged Daewoos, of this is not.
Where’s the hood scoop and deck spoiler?
Curb weight 3,483 pounds.
(We can save this vehicle if everyone does their part. That engine cover will clean up nicely – I’ll have it back to you tomorrow. Whoever is ordering new headlamps from rockauto, you better hurry – limited stock for some reason.)
I have a 2011 Kizashi SE AWD that I bought new. This is the only CVT that I’ve experienced and while I would prefer actual gears, the car is still entertaining to drive and the built quality is excellent. Luckily I haven’t had any major mechanical issues to date, but I have purchased some minor parts that needed to be shipped from either Japan or the Middle East, and any complex system is going to cost a small fortune based on what I’ve seen, and that’s if it can even be found to begin with. I sadly expect that my Kizashi will end up like this one either after I trade it(if I can bring myself to do it) or because some major mechanical failure. My car is a 2011 built in late 2010, so at the current age and years of trouble free operation, it doesn’t really owe me anything at this point.
The Esteem is hardly “long-forgotten” to viewers/admirers of *Better Call Saul*.
I shed a tear when the yellow goblin met it’s demise in season 5. Such a great show
Rumor Control, from an owner (same spec)
Car is fun, even with CVT, its programmed better and it actually shifts on demand with the paddles. (on top trim)
Very comfortable interior
Very well equipped
Steering is very good for this class
It wasnt cheap when new, mine when new, was stickered at $32K in 2011 (!), so not a cheap car when top of the line
4WD is fun sometimes
The bad:
The 2.4L is THIRSTY – and with the extra weight of the AWD, I was getting barely 24MPG on a regular basis, maybe 27MPG at highway
Electronics are a joke, dashboard and nav (stereo is actually good)
Need to remove front bumper for changing headlight bulbs
There are 2-3 funky recalls but only 2 dozen places in the US to do them
Parts are hard to find. A small crash will total the car easily.
“Need to remove front bumper for changing headlight bulbs”
What kind of genius in the automotive industry thought this would be a good idea? I was appalled when I came to find out that in order to replace one tiny little burned out parking light bulb it would be necessary to remove the whole entire fascia of the 2008 ML550 my wife used to own, and since then I have come to find out it’s Standard Operating Procedure on other brands as well. Absurd!!
There’s a black Kizashi parked in front of my building that’s in fine shape. The local Suzuki dealer in its day to have a few in stock along with the more popular SX4.
The size of these was kind of in between a large compact Jetta and a mid sized Camry/Accord.
We’ve had a couple of them show up semi-regularly at the local Cars & Coffee.
One of those cars that should have succeeded. Unfortunately, besides the dearth of Suzuki dealers in many areas, it also suffered from the fact that Mencken understood the American public perfectly.
Suzuki could have branded themselves in an economy entry level niche just below Subaru. All wheel drive at a reasonable price with small crossovers like the SX4.
Fun fact: The SX4 was sold as the Fiat Sedici in a number of markets.
7 year 100,000 mile zero deductible powertrain warranty if purchased new. I considered the Kizashi and did a test drive. Peformance of the CVT did not bother me. On principal I refused to own a CVT. Ended up purchasing a Jetta TDI manual.
Locally LKQ doubled in size and trucks are lined up outside 5 days a week. They seem to be in a buying frenzy. Is auto recycling booming?
“They seem to be in a buying frenzy. Is auto recycling booming?”
This is the first I have heard but it would line up with all of the other events happening now.
Yep parts are tough to impossible to find. Even for Accords and such. Driving a Saab or something? I pity the fools. My windshield connection has Silverados and other common stuff, driving in from 2 states over. He’s been in the auto glass business for 35 years so has “pull” most can only dream of.
@DenverMike–True the same thing is happening in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area as well. There is a severe shortage of all parts especially on new vehicles and many auto body shops and repair shops have been buying parts from salvage yards. Even replacement windshields are being bought at salvage yards. Salvage yards are doing a booming business. One of the most stolen vehicles where I live are late 90s Accords and Civic for their parts.
That powertrain warranty was no joke. My old boss’s Kizashi at 6 years, 11 months in smoked the CVT. It got replaced with about a week of warranty left, gratis. Lucky break!
2011 model? Geez, I’m driving a 2014 and I’m thinking it’s about at the midpoint of its life at age 8 and 100K miles.
I never realized these were actually rare, less than 20,000 units in USDM.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Kizashi
I always thought the Kizashi was what a Chrysler Sebring would’ve looked and performed like if Daimler had cared in the least about Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep quality. The Kizashi even shared the Sebring’s fundamental problem of being a tweener: too big and expensive for a compact and too small to be a true mid-size not to mention the slow declines in both the Suzuki brand and sedans in general.
Thank you. Chrysler was on a roll and Daimler raped and killed them.
I can’t fathom why Daimler did Chrysler so dirty except that they felt threatened by what a healthy, free-running Chrysler could do to THEM.
I really liked this (also the post-2010 SX4). I don’t hate CVTs, I’ve even owned a half decent one. The best CVTs are mostly defined by their engines; something with decent low and mid-range torque won’t need to rev itself to death. My old CVT car you could waft up to highway speed at 1500rpm, get there a little quicker at 2000, or if you played the throttle just right you’d keep it in peak torque at 2800rpm, get there speedily, but without roaring and burning too much fuel. Anyway, I digress:
– It should have been sold against the Impreza and other compacts, it was small and should have been priced as such
– Interior quality was good
– Ride was fantastic
– AWD was great, but not available with a manual, and the manual wasn’t detuned. Being both lighter and more powerful the manual was great fun, think 2.4 accord coupe, but with four doors.
– In 2010 Suzuki looked like it may survive, they had refreshed the SX4, this was on its way, but within a year it was clear the brand had become Mitsubishi – 72 months at 0% if you could risk the depreciation and risk of the OEM leaving the country.
It’s a shame, I drove a 2010 SX-4 manual – the six speed, combined with 150bhp, lightish car, relatively stiff structure, but well resolved chassis tuning and some absorbent sidewalls – it drove really well. They deserved to sell better than they did. Better cars than the Trax, despite being many years before them.
Someone should import Suzukis and rebrand them. The new Vitara is a great little SUV. I guess that would be Toyota though, as Suzuki is rebranding Toyota hybrids as theirs.
The model name was awful. Kizashi would have been OK for a motorcycle, not a car. Should have had a better model name.
It’s got a JATCO sourced CVT, this explains why it’s here
I was driving across Connecticut when the word came across that radio that Suzuki was closing shop. The announcer stated that Suzuki would honor remaining warrenty work, but forgot which network would provide the support.
I knew a girl who was in the same position with a Daewoo when they closed shop. Because the car came from a multi brand dealer, he would call when warranty money became available during the bankruptcy. After a while, he stopped calling.
Wildly overrated car by the automotive press. It was effectively a Ford Contour with a CVT. By 2011, the US market showed it didn’t want that kind of vehicle.