NHTSA Complaint #10629422 — 2005 SUZUKI VERONA

IMMEDIATELY AFTER PURCHASING THE 2005 VERONA IN APRIL 2012, FROM A LOCAL USED CAR DEALERSHIP, WE STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WITHIN A DAY OR TWO, THE AIRBAG AND TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHTS ALSO CAME ON. THE DEALER KEPT TELLING US THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG TO CAUSE THE ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON. ONE MECHANIC FINALLY SAID IT WAS JUST THE GAS CAP NOT BEING TIGHT ENOUGH. THIS DEALER SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE WHY THE AIRBAG AND TIRE PRESSURE LIGHTS WERE ON. THE CAR BEGAN HESITATING WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE AND WOULD ALMOST STALL. THIS WOULD HAPPEN WITHOUT WARNING. AT TIMES, IT WOULD NOT EVEN START. AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF THIS, I TOOK IT TO A SUZUKI DEALER WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS A DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP. THE CAR DIDN'T EVEN HAVE 50,000 MILES ON IT YET. AT 75,000 MILES I TOOK IT BACK TO THE SUZUKI DEALER FOR SERVICE TO SEE IF THEY COULD DIAGNOSE THE REASON FOR THE WARNING LIGHTS. THEY SAID THE SENSORS WERE BAD AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THERE WAS ALSO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION STARTING TO GO BAD AND THE REAR BRAKES WERE MALFUNCTIONING. THE SERVICE ADVISOR SAID THAT IT WOULD REQUIRE $8400 IN PARTS ALONE TO TRY TO REPAIR THE CAR. HE SAID THE CAR WAS NOT WORTH IT AND TOLD ME IT WOULD BE BETTER TO SPEND THE MONEY ON ANOTHER CAR. HE SAID THAT THIS MODEL IS KNOWN FOR ALL KINDS OF MECHANICAL PROBLEMS AND THEY ARE NOT USUALLY WORTH FIXING. I BELIEVE THAT THE SUZUKI VERONA IS AN UNSAFE VEHICLE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED BY THE FACTORY WHEN THESE TYPES OF PROBLEMS STARTED TO APPEAR. I HAVE GONE ON-LINE AND READ NUMEROUS SIMILAR ACCOUNTS FROM OTHER OWNERS. THEY ARE AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR, AS AM I, NOT KNOWING WHEN IT WILL STALL AGAIN OR BREAK DOWN WITHOUT WARNING. THIS MODEL IS DEFECTIVE AND NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. *TR