2006 Suzuki Forenza

[krismoriah72]

A friend of mine sent me a msg last nite and asked if i wanted to buy a 2006 Suzuki Forenza for $300. He has been driving it back and forth to work 800 miles a week so i know at least it did run. I asked what was wrong with it... nothing at all except it wont shift into overdrive. New tires/battery/tuneup/alternator/state inspection. 91000 miles 2.0L automatic.

I knew if i didnt buy it someone would.. so i told him if it made it to my house i would buy it.. done deal.

I know very little about these cars, never worked on one and i rarely see them at all. From Google i am seeing its a GM Daewoo mess.

I did some browsing on RockAuto and parts are cheap and plentiful.


So question is... i have a friend that drives an 87 cougar to work 5 days a week with 260K miles... its not going to last much longer plus its a gas hog.

Do i fix all thats wrong and sell it to them with good conscience... or do i just flip it on the open market as is.?

I would sell to my friend for what i have in it.. so probably less than $800 if i have to do timing belt or fix the overdrive.

What would you do?

 

[joekingcorvette]

I had a Suzuki Forenza and from what I was told it is part Kia and Hyundai and has a lot of Korean parts on it. You obtained it for a good price and hopefully the transmission won't cost to much to fix/replace. If you put in a used tranny there is really no guarantee it's going to be good therefore a rebuild might be the best way to go or resell it as is. Good luck!

 

[CharBaby]

I don't know jack about trannys but, could it just be an OD shift solenoid? Is there such a thing?

 

[csandste]

Always thought these Daewoo's that GM foisted off on Suzuki was responsible for the demise of the brand, and I like Korean cars-- guess I even had a Daewoo if you count my '14 Buick Encore. At any rate, if it can be flipped without putting much money in it----

I would think that even with a new timing belt and functional o.d. it might not be worth more than $5-600.

 

[krismoriah72]

Originally Posted by Char Baby
I don't know jack about trannys but, could it just be an OD shift solenoid? Is there such a thing?


I checked the codes and.
From what i gather there is a Transmission Control Module that is very common issue on these..it has all the signs... I looked up the part its about $25 on RockAuto and about $15 on ebay.. looks pretty straight forward.

 

[gregk24]

My family had a 2006 Forenza with the 5 speed manual at one point. It never gave US any issues, however these are cheap cars and if you read some reviews you will see why they sell at such a low price point. Two major things to look for are when the timing belt was last replaced, these have to be replaced every 60K and are known to snap early, and transmission issues. You would have to research the transmission issues, I just remember the auto's had an issue that resulted in the transmission slipping. I THINK it was a sensor that goes bad, that you have to crack the trans open to replace. Don't quote me on that, but I know that it is a common issue with the autos. These also have a "hard start" problem, where at times it takes multiple attempts to start, not sure what causes that, but it is a widespread issue.

But hey, if your getting it for $300 you don't have much to loose. I would probably buy it and use it for an around town beater.

 

[csandste]

There you go. Hold parts to $15 plus a new timing belt and you should be able to clear a hundred or so, not counting your time.

 

[joekingcorvette]

My Suzuki would actually kind of go from second gear and kind of slip and bang into first gear. Needless to say I kept that car about 2 months and it was ADIOS Charlie before the trunion blew sky high.

 

[krismoriah72]

Originally Posted by gregk24
My family had a 2006 Forenza with the 5 speed manual at one point. It never gave US any issues, however these are cheap cars and if you read some reviews you will see why they sell at such a low price point. Two major things to look for are when the timing belt was last replaced, these have to be replaced every 60K and are known to snap early, and transmission issues. You would have to research the transmission issues, I just remember the auto's had an issue that resulted in the transmission slipping. I THINK it was a sensor that goes bad, that you have to crack the trans open to replace. Don't quote me on that, but I know that it is a common issue with the autos. These also have a "hard start" problem, where at times it takes multiple attempts to start, not sure what causes that, but it is a widespread issue.

But hey, if your getting it for $300 you don't have much to loose. I would probably buy it and use it for an around town beater.


At 90K miles i can see no evidence of timing belt being done, it is also still on its OEM serpentine. There is a sensor for the trans issue but it is hooked to the shift linkage, its probably going to take an hr or less to change and the part is around $20.

Car starts fine right now, engine sounds good.. looks like its about 13K into this oil change..oil looks bad. Also i think the air filter is OEM.. its filthy top and bottom and has a GM part number.

I dont think anything has ever been done to it except gas and maybe a few oil changes.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted by krismoriah72
Originally Posted by gregk24
My family had a 2006 Forenza with the 5 speed manual at one point. It never gave US any issues, however these are cheap cars and if you read some reviews you will see why they sell at such a low price point. Two major things to look for are when the timing belt was last replaced, these have to be replaced every 60K and are known to snap early, and transmission issues. You would have to research the transmission issues, I just remember the auto's had an issue that resulted in the transmission slipping. I THINK it was a sensor that goes bad, that you have to crack the trans open to replace. Don't quote me on that, but I know that it is a common issue with the autos. These also have a "hard start" problem, where at times it takes multiple attempts to start, not sure what causes that, but it is a widespread issue.

But hey, if your getting it for $300 you don't have much to loose. I would probably buy it and use it for an around town beater.


At 90K miles i can see no evidence of timing belt being done, it is also still on its OEM serpentine. There is a sensor for the trans issue but it is hooked to the shift linkage, its probably going to take an hr or less to change and the part is around $20.

Car starts fine right now, engine sounds good.. looks like its about 13K into this oil change..oil looks bad. Also i think the air filter is OEM.. its filthy top and bottom and has a GM part number.

I dont think anything has ever been done to it except gas and maybe a few oil changes.










Hey, if its currently running fine and you can swap out that part in the trans for $20 bucks, I think it would make a nice beater.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted by krismoriah72
Originally Posted by Char Baby
I don't know jack about trannys but, could it just be an OD shift solenoid? Is there such a thing?


I checked the codes and.
From what i gather there is a Transmission Control Module that is very common issue on these..it has all the signs... I looked up the part its about $25 on RockAuto and about $15 on ebay.. looks pretty straight forward.


I will be curious to see what you find. Keep up posted.

 

[kkreit01]

Back in 2005, I actually liked these, and thought of buying one. I bought a Neon instead. Let us know how it goes. They had a wagon as well.

 

[lawrencerd]

My girlfriend actually just had one of these fail her at 196,000mi. It honestly isn't a bad car. It was a sort of in-between sizes car for 2006, with a large back seat for a compact of that vintage. Best we can tell she may have had a fault in one of the timing components or installation thereof because it lost timing with only 7,000mi on that belt. I believe it's a ZF 4-speed trans and the engine is a GM family II with the original development work being done by Opel. It's a true hodgepodge car. I would drive it. The trans fluid required is the same spec that BMW used to take on their zf trans, I think it's covered by Maxlife if you end up changing it. Check the intake air tube coming off the filter, hers was cracked and it looked like a common problem.

PS
The car was designed by Pininfarina of Italy ...honestly not the worst aged 2006 compact. Good luck