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Suzuki Grand Vitara 2006 through 2008

1006 messages,  Last post on Oct 11, 2009 at 9:29 PM

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#976 of 1006 by xostnot Dec 21, 2008 (10:01 pm)
If your GV has enough mileage on it to have burned off the protective oil coatings on the underbody, then there's a couple of things to suspect causing a burning smell.   One is a loose transmission oil hose connector. Because it will drip onto the exhaust, and then a belly pan, all you'll get is smoke and the burning smell. You won't find oil dripping onto the ground underneath, and you can't see the connectors.   The other problem is overheating/frying materials under the carpet in the drivers floorwell. This is caused by heat from the exhaust and catalytic converter under the floor (with the 2.7). It will happen in higher ambient temperatures, and when you're using a lot of throttle for a prolonged time. Such as climbing long mountain grades in high temperatures. Apparently it can also be caused by the engine running rich, causing the cat converter to be burning off lots of fuel.   The person who first reported this problem earlier in this topic was towing a trailer up long grades, running at 5000rpm for quite a while. He melted all the stuff on the floor, and even his shoe's heel! Suzuki replaced the flooring materials, eventually.   I've checked under the carpet on our GV, and it has blackened and melted materials in the same place. We have never towed with it, and have never run it at 5000rpm for very long. If at all. But we have climbed some 10km grades in 40C temperatures at over 100kph.   We have put this on record with Suzuki, but they have not declared it to be a problem yet. Maybe they'll wait until someone's GV catches fire. I'm willing to bet that if GV owners checked under the carpets in the drivers floorwell, many of them would find this damage.   Failing to resolve the alignment problem is completely unacceptable. Suzuki has been well aware of this problem for years. It is a safety hazard because it means the vehicle is in an incipient skid all the time. This is even worse in the winter. By comparison, the horrendous tire wear and extra wear and tear on the driveline start to seem like minor concerns. Luckily ours does not have this problem, and the oem tires have more than half their tread depth, with 32,000km on them.   The first step is to inform your dealer about the ridiculous tire wear, which you have done. Make sure the matter is printed on an invoice or two. If the dealer fails to fix the problem, as is dismayingly typical, send a registered letter to the Suzuki headquarters in your country. Describe the history of the problem. Tell them you're aware this is not news to Suzuki. Include some phrases about putting the matter on the record in case legal recourse becomes necessary.   If that fails, and you're in the US, put an entry in the NHTSA safercar.org website. If you're in Canada, file a claim with CAMVAP. Or the US equivalent. Check out LemonAid and Edmunds. If all that fails, take them to small claims court. Court is not cheap, but it's cheaper than owning an unsafe and improperly built car. Far cheaper than an accident from misalignment combined with worn tires.   Maybe some day if enough people apply enough pressure, Suzuki will smarten up, recall the defective vehicles, and deserve some customer loyalty. Hopefully that happens before someone gets hurt (other than financially).
#977 of 1006 buring smell by shiloh4 Dec 22, 2008 (5:27 am)
it is 0 degrees here and we are smelling that buring smell go figure
#978 of 1006 by xostnot Dec 22, 2008 (8:36 pm)
Then I would suspect the loose transmission oil hose.
#979 of 1006 Get out of lease by jdaley Dec 23, 2008 (3:50 pm)
Since I've had my Suk I can't get help for my alingment problems and my cost of more that 900.00 in tires in less than two years from my dealer or Suzuki Canada,I was wondering if anyone got out of a lease early with out much of a penalty I have to get out of this I can't afford tires. If there is someone who has done this please share you knowledge.
#980 of 1006 by xostnot Dec 24, 2008 (9:15 pm)
Your real problem is that the car is seriously out of alignment. This is a well known problem with quite a few '06 Grand Vitaras. This is not just costly in terms of tires. It's hard on the drivetrain, and it's a safety issue because the car's always in a slight skid. If I had this problem, I'd minimize driving the thing, and ramp up the efforts to get Suzuki to fix it, or buyback the GV.   Send a registered letter to Suzuki Canada. If that doesn't work out, open a file with CAMVAP. If that doesn't work, go to Small Claims Court.   Have you followed the rotation schedule for the wheels? Our '06 GV has 33,000km on it, and the original tires still have 7/32" tread left.
#981 of 1006 Re: Tire wear [denverleigh] by budman3 Dec 30, 2008 (5:17 am)
Replying to: denverleigh (Dec 21, 2008 7:24 am) Acura MDX - great vehicle. My buddy has one, and I've enoyed taking it out for a ride. Perhaps something to graduate to, but I must say, it's in a totally different league than the GV.   Exactly. You can't compare the 2 vehicles side by side. I know that most people wouldn't pay MSRP on a vehicle but if you try and equip a 2009 GV like the MDX, you come up with a price of about $28,000. We bought a new 2008 MDX for $32,000. Not much of a price differance for a whole lot more vehicle. It may be a year older than the GV but resale value will surpass the GV in the long run.
#982 of 1006 Re: Suzuki warranties [norwoodsmn] by wisegirl65 Jan 02, 2009 (12:34 pm)
Replying to: norwoodsmn (Dec 15, 2008 1:17 pm) I have had several warranty issues with Suzuki. I have a 2007 Grand Vitara and have had mulitple issues with the AC stinking so bad, TSP Light on and Airbag light on, I have gone through 2 sets of tires now at 28000 miles, my gear shift sticks and I cant get it to move sometimes. I have a Lemon and I am NOW suing Suzuki! I was getting no where with the Service and them taking care of my problems. Alls I would get is that they could not DUPLICATE PROBLEMS.   I finally got so frustrated that I hired a Lemon Law Lawyer. Any one else who is interested in Suing let me know and I will give you my attornies name and number.... Replies to this message: norwoodsmn (Jan 06, 2009 1:04 pm) revjim64 (Jan 06, 2009 1:48 pm) xostnot (Jan 06, 2009 10:08 pm) bm000092 (Feb 16, 2009 4:58 am)
#983 of 1006 Re: Suzuki warranties [wisegirl65] by norwoodsmn Jan 06, 2009 (1:04 pm)
Replying to: wisegirl65 (Jan 02, 2009 12:34 pm) Very sorry to hear all that... As I'm still considering an '09, I downloaded the warranty booklet for a look see as yet another part of my ongoing in depth research. I noted in the back of same, Suzuki [even] states how as a last resort if you are unsatisfied with warranty service, (prior to the steps you are now initiating), how they suggest [you] use the arbitration process to try to resolve things. A predicate to following this course of action would be your having been convinced your best interests as an owner were well served at each stage when you experienced these difficulties. Specifically, yes, I'm talking about the dealership service department, first and foremost. If they didn't have their stuff together, (and not all of 'em do, but that probably goes for a lot of car mfgr's dealerships too), and [they] failed to solve yr. issues, and instead through ineptitude, couldn't diagnose/fix things, then on further down the line if there was an unsympathetic district service representative thrown into the mix too, (they have been know to exist), well then I could see, hey, why bother to look into that arbitration stuff, just sue 'em! But hey, none of us can walk in your shoes, and you gotta do what you gotta do...   Most stories have more than one side though, which is why I think the arbitration process might be worth a shot for others, (first), before unleashing the heavy artillery. Let us know how it goes...
#984 of 1006 Re: Suzuki warranties [wisegirl65] by revjim64 Jan 06, 2009 (1:48 pm)
Replying to: wisegirl65 (Jan 02, 2009 12:34 pm) And I purchased a 2007 Suzuki GV because my 2002 Chevy Impala was a Lemon!!   My GV only has 16k on it. So far I haven't had any problems,other than lousy gas mileage. I am getting about 17mpg city.    I am concerned about the tire wear problems that everyone seems to be having.   I hope I can get at least another 16K on the tires before I have to change them!! They tread seems to be wearing evenly. They are Yokohama Geolanders. Replies to this message: xostnot (Jan 06, 2009 10:08 pm) bm000092 (Feb 16, 2009 4:58 am)
#985 of 1006 Re: Suzuki warranties [revjim64] by xostnot Jan 06, 2009 (10:08 pm)
Replying to: revjim64 (Jan 06, 2009 1:48 pm) Sounds like you have the original tires. If you're in the US, 17mpg city is within the typical range. That would be low for the Cdn gallon.   Wheel misalignment will cost mileage due to the energy wasted wearing away the tires. Presumably it will also prematurely wear the drivetrain.   The wheels should be rotated regularly. Unfortunately this will mask an abnormal rear tire wear problem. If you have 16K (miles) on the tires and they're half worn, you're doing ok. The even tire wear is a good sign. We have 32K (km) on ours and they have about half the tread depth left.   Only Suzuki knows for sure, but I'd estimate that about 10% of the '06's have the abnormal tire wear problem, plus maybe a very very few '07's. Replies to this message: bm000092 (Feb 16, 2009 4:58 am)

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