Junkyard Gem: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi

American Suzuki Motor Company submitted for bankruptcy in 2012, and new Suzuki-badged cars stopped remaining sold below the pursuing year (meanwhile, Suzuki went on to generate a single of the greatest-promoting cars in its household market). Although a lot of of the United States-market Suzukis of the preceding decade had been Daewoos beneath the emblems, the Kizashi sedan was built and produced fully by Suzuki. There had been large hopes – at 1st – that it would revive the brand’s American fortunes. This is a 1st-model-year instance, discovered in a San Francsico Bay Region self-service lawn a few months back.

The word Kizashi suggests “a thing good is coming” in Japanese, but the Fantastic Economic downturn and the decreasing attractiveness of non-truck-formed new vehicles in the United States stored income of these cars lower (even as Monster Tajima broke the 10-minute barrier in a Suzuki at Pikes Peak). You could purchase a new Kizashi below right up until American Suzuki folded its tent and left in 2013, leaving just two-wheeled Suzukis offered below for highway use.

That was unfortunate mainly because the Kizashi presented a whole lot of worth for the price. This Kizashi SE had an MSRP starting at $21,499 (about $27,085 in 2021 dollars), and it had a pleasant inside and a bunch of unanticipated normal attributes.

You obtained keyless ignition, energy seats with memory, 17″ alloy wheels and a fairly first rate seven-speaker audio program with USB and Bluetooth inputs (both of which had been nevertheless uncommon in lower-priced cars at the time). If you upgraded to the GTS or SLS trim levels ($22,499 and $24,399, respectively), you obtained goodies which includes a thumping ten-speaker Rockford Fosgate audio program, a energy sunroof and eighteen-inch wheels.

But unless of course you had been promoting Hayabusas or KingQuads, 2010 was not a good time to have a Suzuki signal in front of your American showroom. The days of Geo- and Chevrolet-badged Suzukis roaming each and every American street ended with the Metro and Tracker by the end, only the Kizashi, SX4 and Grand Vitara remained below.

It appears that a Ford dealership in Pennsylvania sold this motor vehicle at some position prior to its migration west.

The 2.four-liter 4-cylinder built 185 horsepower, greater than its 4-cylinder Mazda6 and Altima rivals. Smaller sized-displacement variations of the J24B engine went into the Aerio, Esteem, Sidekick, Tracker, and Vitara the Grand Vitara obtained the 2.four.

A 6-speed manual transmission was offered in the Kizashi’s other trim levels, but SE purchasers had to acquire the CVT.

Those Suzuki sellers – at minimum, the types in Siberia or perhaps Nunavut – had been having something as a Kizashi trade-in for 2012. Certainly, there was an all-wheel-generate alternative offered.

In a a lot warmer market, Maruti Suzuki presented the Kizashi for a few years.