Suzuki Rant

[BigAl]

Hello again everybody. I need to vent. My '05 Suzuki Forenza wagon is just under 3 years old, and just under 50k miles. It's been a great car and the local dealer's service department has been very helpful . . . until now.

On Monday I noticed some bearing noise coming from the power steering pump. I stopped at the dealer and they confirmed the problem. They told me that the pump was a dealer-only item and they would order me one . . . at a cost of $500!!!!! $500 for a power steering pump? That's extortion! It's a simple vane pump. The last one I bought (a Saginaw)for an American car was about $30. To top it off, the dealership said that as of January 1, they were dropping Suzuki and that I'd need to travel about 50 miles for parts and service from now on. Fecal matter!!!!

I did find and order a pump on Rock Auto for about $140. I told the dealer to forget it and I'm trying to be fair with them about paying some sort of restocking charge in case they can't cancel their order in time.

That's it. No more oddball cars for me! I'm a Chevy guy from now on . . .

 

[Mr Nice]

Did you try your local 'U Pick Auto Part' type salavage yard ??

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Aren't they just rebadged Daewoos?

 

[XS650]

Rock auto rocks.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Aren't they just rebadged Daewoos?


That's what I was thinking. It would probably be hard to find out which parts cross over though and Daewoo parts are probably harder to find in the US than Suzuki parts.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/suzuki/forenza/2007

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

If the component is made by Daewoo then maybe you can also look for the parts in a Nubira. The rebadged Daewoos certainly look decent but they don't seem up to par with other cars in their class. I saw EPA estimates for the 2L engine used in the Nubira and Reno and they're worse than my mom's Camry which is a mid-size car.

 

[BigAl]

The Forenza is made by GM at the former Daewoo plant in South Korea. It is pretty much what the third generation Nubira would have been if they hadn't had financial trouble and sold to GM. The earlier Daewoo part is very similar, but the one in my Suzuki has an additional valve on it to reduce assist at higher speeds.

Fuel economy from the Australian GM/Holden engine is so-so, but it runs great and the car is quite nice for small wagon, comfortable and very practical. The same car is sold all over the world as a Chevy, but not in the US. Here it's a Suzuki and dealers are scarce . . .

Rock Auto does indeed rock.

 

[paulo57509]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Rock auto rocks.

+1

 

[JTK]

I traded off our 2002 Isuzu Rodeo 4x4 for the same reason. No dealer network! If you had a nagging issue that you or your corner mechanic couldn't figure out, you were screwed. I won't do an 'off brand' again either.

Joel

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

When I was back in Vietnam they were badged as Daewoos and a lot of them were used as taxis.

 

[BigAl]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
When I was back in Vietnam they were badged as Daewoos and a lot of them were used as taxis.


Yep, in some limited areas in Asia, they still carry the Daweoo name. However, when Daewoo (and most of Korea in general) was going through their financial crisis a few years back, the brand really suffered . . . parts got scarce, warranties were not being covered, etc. From what I can gather, the cars were actually pretty darned good, but the parent company went down the tubes after the CEO ran off with all the money. GM bought the auto division pretty cheap in 2002. From what I've read, GM is sticking a boatload of money into it and sales are way up.

In most parts of the world the Daewoo name was so badly tarnished that GM decided to drop it. It's badged as the Suzuki Forenza, Chevrolet Optra, Chevrolet Lacetti, Holden Viva, Buick Excelle, and Daewoo Nibira/Lacetti depending on where it's sold. GM sells a LOT of these things on the world market, but not too many in the USA.

The Opel based engine made by Holden in Australia is anvil tough. It will run forever if you change the timing belt often enough. It's used for taxi service in a lot of places.

 

[DmanWho]

Sorry to hear about your Zuki. Just discovered this place tonight, Hawk Suzuki maybe they would have the part. I'll be checking this place out, for interchangeable parts for our SX4. They're about 10 miles from where we live.

 

[BigAl]

Thanks for the lead. Has anybody used http://www.parts.com? They seem to have all the OEM parts at decent prices.

Well, the pump from Rock Auto is in and running very quietly. I don't remember the car being this quiet for a looooong time, maybe ever. There isn't much room around the engine, so I left quite a bit of my DNA in various places under the hood. The standard Saginaw-type pulley puller didn't work either, so I band-sawed the end of the old pump right off and then pressed the stub of the shaft out of the pulley with a hydraulic press. There goes my $12 core refund. Anyway, at least I'm back on the road.

 

[Al]

My daughter had a 2000 Daewoo Leganza. The thing was built pretty well. I t managed to get 65Kmiles on it when she sold it a few months ago. The engine/tranny were bulletproof. the 2.0 engine got around 28 mpg in suburban driving and 32 mpg on the highway.