2004 Suzuki Verona S from North America - Comments

A Check Engine light due to a faulty sensor did not keep me from using the car during the 2 weeks it took to get the part in.

Recent excessive white smoke occasionally during initial start-up.

I bought my 2004 Verona from Driving 2000 in Huntsville, AL as well and it was a fantastic experience with them and the car. They even delivered the car to me in Atlanta.

The CHECK ENGINE light came on at 1200 miles, but it was a mere sensor and did not affect the driveability. The dealer ordered the part and was able to fix it within a couple of weeks. I drove the car during the wait with no problems.

Recently I have noticed excessive white smoke when I first start it, but this doesn't happen all the time.

It's quick, and smooth. The transmission is unique and though it seems to operate differently than other cars, it performs exactly the way it is designed to.

I had worse luck with my $40K Mercedes a few years back so buying a name doesn't always mean buying quality.

Compare the Verona to others in its class (Maxima, Camry, etc.) and you'll find the Verona 6 cylinder is not an option, but standard and runs about $8K less than its competitors equipped with like options. I even compared it to the Sonata and Optima and believe I got a better buy.

Once upon a time this would have been called a mid-size, but these days it's a full size and considering the 6 banger under the hood, the size/weight of the car and the thrust that it offers, I am not at all disappointed with its mileage. After all, it's not a commuter econo-box.

If the Verona is now considered a "full-size" car, God help us all...

My wife has one of these darn cars. Week one, 2 of the switch buttons on the steering wheel broke. Had the check engine light problem like you about the same time and again, and again.

It's doing the stall thing where the tranny doesn't kick in right away occasionally. But you have white smoke when starting the engine. I saw alabama as a location so it isn't cold air condensation. My guess is your head gasket is bad or the head itself is not seated properly. I would get that engine compression checked while cold to make sure.

Hope these things have a long warranty period.

My Jeep saw the dealership once in 7 years for a window motor. My Camaro never had a major problem in 16 years. I'm not used to all of this dealer special service attention.

I have seen Suzuki Verona's, and they are definetly not a full-size car. Just compare it to an Impala or a LeSabre, those are full size cars. Very few cars that have a 2.5 liter engine are considered "full-size", and the Verona certianly isn't.

I purchased a new 2005 Suzuki Verona in Huntsville, AL. The first thing to replace was the Engine Control Module which caused the transmission to shift weird or slip. Next the stereo had to be replaced because some of the lights didn't work at night. Then the speedometer head messed up so some of the digits that display the mileage quit working. Their fix: Replace the speedometer head; so now the mileage displayed is not the actual mileage of the vehicle. I had a Suzuki Reno before this Verona. How I wish I had the Reno back. The quality is definitely not in a Suzuki Verona.

The Verona is sold through Suzuki dealerships, but it's not made by Suzuki. It's a GM owned Daewoo Korean car.

You want a genuine Suzuki car you would be looking at a Aerio, New Vitara, New SX-4. There is also the XL-7 which is a joint venture vehicle. The Suzuki version of that car which is the XL-7 had gotten good reviews over all. And it's engine which is a GM design is actualy MADE by Suzuki, not GM, which allowed them to pump out more horsepower and refinement than the same engine that is built by GM itself LOL!

Soon Suzuki will stop selling all the Daewoo's which GM pawned off on them. Suzuki hasn't been too happy with the problems of these korean Daewoo's either. They're already working on actual Suzuki MADE replacements for the Daewoo's, to start being phased out starting in 2008.

Best advice if you're considering buying a Suzuki, is buy one that is actually made my Suzuki, not a Korean re-badge. Even the XL-7 which is made at the CAMI Joint-Venture plane is still more Suzuki that any of the Korean re-badges!

I bought a 2005 Suzuki Verona S at Carmax in Wichita Kansas in February of 2006. It had 9000 miles. It was about $4000 below NADA.

I liked the styling, features and had previously owned 2 Suzuki made Geo Metros that I loved.

I didn't check the online comments of the car like I should have and found after about 5000 miles it was doing everything I have read about the "check engine" light and the stalling and spitting and engine rev-ups.

I took the car 1 hour from my home to Salina Kansas Suzuki dealer and they were very nice, but they "cleaned" some kind of sensor and got the dash light to go out and the car ran for about a day or so and went right back to the problem.

I went a second time and they "replaced" some kind of sensor and it lasted about a week.

I went to the Wichita dealer with much the same results.

I hated this car and was very frustrated.

I hesitantly took it on vacation to Nashville, TN and it caused intermitent problems all the way.

In Nashville I went to the Suzuki dealer and had it checked and the same treatment done. THEN... the little mechanic took me aside and told me that this car had problems from the very beginning. It is the finicky engine that is the problem. They no longer make it for that reason.

He showed me on the "computer" that all the readings were normal, yet the problem persisted. He said that if I would go to the nearest quik shop and fill up on premium high octane fuel and drive it ONLY on hi octane, even putting octane booster into the first tank along with injector cleaners, I would "solve" the problem completely. He said he was not supposed to tell me that.

I did as he said and the car has run perfectly since. Engine light stays off, car runs great, no stalls, no dying, no 1000 rpm variations. Nothing.

If you have one of these cars you NEED to run premium gas.

I would not have recommended these to anyone before. If you can stand the extra cost of the high octane, you will have a good running car. I now have 30,000 on it.

The only problem I have now is a tire shop broke one of the valve stem pressure sensors and I need another. They cost $170.

I bought my 2004 Verona in October 2005 from a local car rental company in Seattle. It had 20,000 miles on it. It now has 38,000 and so far, so good.

Recently the odometer part of the dash lighting has gone out, but that's it. After reading the preceding comments, however, I'm holding my breath. There seems to be a difference between the 2004 and the 2005 - the 2005 having more problems.

I like the smooth and responsive power train. We live in a fairly hilly area and I never have to shift manually; the transmission seems to anticipate just the right gear need. (I've never used premium gas, by the way.) The cruise control is also very smooth.

The only dissatisfaction so far is with the climate control system. When the system senses that the digitally set temperature has been reached, it begins blowing cool to luke warm air. I don't know if that's normal for climate control systems in general, since this is the first car I've ever owned with one, but I find it a bit annoying.

In the mean time I'll just knock on my simulated wood dash and see how far this car takes me.

We bought a Suzuki - Forenza, model 2005. I love this car despite what people say about the take off. Yes, It can be slow to take off (Focus - Ford, or Golf - VW, are much better in this point). However the car is very spacious, trunk is unbelievably big with a hide away compartment, and the roof of the car can also accommodate more luggage as we added a rack for this purpose. THE ONLY thing that is ANNOYING to me the ENGINE LIGHT. The last couple months (6), it has been turning on and off. I brought the car to the dealer the first time it came on and they told me that it was inaccurate information, the computer did not detect any problem. They rebooted the computer and everything was fine for a couple more weeks. Then it came on again, and this time it was time for a 30K mile checkup; they fixed it again. One month late, the light is ON again. I brought the car yesterday (august 24) to the dealer and this is what they told me: There is a problem in the software of the computer, the technician from my dealership service center called the HOT LINE from Suzuki, and they informed them that Suzuki is working on the software to correct this glitch in the software. It will take a couple more weeks until it will become available for Suzuki owners. Meanwhile, I should run my car as usual, and not to worry about it. I questioned back: "what if there is a problem and I will not know because the car has the light on all the time". The technician told me that I will noticed a malfunction in the car despite the light. I AM NOT SATISFIED with this situation and I am sure that other people would not be either. It makes me wonder if it was a good deal having switched from VW to Suzuki.

To the original poster, this car is not a smooth drive. In fact, considering it's a straight 6, when you want to accelerate, it will jump way up to 4000 RPM depending on how fast you are currently going. This car has worse acceleration than my old Saturn SL1. The V-6 may be the only option, but it is a tiny 2.5L V-6. You might as well save on gas and get a 4-cylinder Sonata. Hyundai has been making fairly decent cars for the money the past few years and their warranty is better.

Also, the cruise control isn't the greatest. Once you hit set, it will take about 2-3 seconds before it catches. This is fun if you are on the freeway as you will slow down by about 5 MPH before it catches and re-accelerates to your set speed. The rest of the car is about what you would expect to pay for the money. Not bad. Depreciates faster than you can catch up with on a 5-year loan.

I bought an 05 Verona in February of 2005. It ran great for the first few months then the Check engine light came on. I went back to the dealer and they said it was probably due to the gas cap not being positioned correctly. They cleared the codes and the light went out. A few months later the light came back on again and I went back to the dealer, was told it was a sensor which they changed--light went out.

I had new tires and rims put on the car--came outside the next morning and had two flat tires. The tire pressure valves were leaking. Took the car to the dealer--they did not want to fix the valves because they said the rims were aftermarket. After badgering them--they finally changed them out for me--I paid the labor no parts.

Awhile later I was accelerating getting ready to get on the highway and the check engine came back on--was told it was a sensor. Had another one changed.

The car is now two years old--the check engine light comes on every once in a while and the airbag light does too. Turns out that the pressure switch located under the front passenger's seat is sensitive to movement. My daughter shifted in the seat and the airbag light on the driver's dashboard came on and stayed on. I went to another dealership and they tried to say that I had stuff under the seat that moved the cable. They cleared the light. A few months later the light came back on again--same scenario my daughter shifted the seat. I had her move the seat around and found that the light finally reset itself.

Every time I get any work done on tires, i.e. rotated or replace one--I usually end up with a slow leak from a tire pressure valve. I have taken to keeping an air compressor in my car--just in case I get a flat. Right now I have no leaks, but the tire pressure light has been on for a couple of months--I removed the fused for the light so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

The check engine light came on about two weeks ago--the car is running just fine. I went to the dealership, but was told they couldn't get me in due to the holiday. The light ended up going out on its own for a few days and then just came back on two days ago--car running just fine.

I am a single parent and when I bought this car new--I thought I was getting a good deal with the warranty and all, but the car is extremely annoying. Every time I turn on my car I never know what lights will be on or not. The dashboard clock works intermittently as well.

I suggest to anyone that they do NOT buy a Suzuki--run from this car and this auto maker unless you have a lot of time to spend in the service department's waiting room.

UPDATE:

2005 Verona.

I went to a tire dealer and asked them if there was a fix for the tempermental tire pressure sensors and they suggested that I replace the valve stems with regular ones. I did it and have not had one problem with any tire leaks. The car was out of warranty for the tires so it was not a big deal.

The check engine light has been on and off again. Took it back to the dealer and they tried to say it was the 02 sensor again or maybe the gas cap again. I think you get the picture. They have NO clue. The car is running fine though.. maybe the light just wants company.