2004 Suzuki Verona EX from North America - Comments

Well guys I am back again. I posted on Aug 8th that my car still was in the shop, and guess what, here it is 3 and a half MONTHS later, I am now driving a rental again and have not seen my car in this time. Well the fun part; I actually am in the process of finally getting rid of the piece of crap car. Suzuki actually has agreed to purchase the vehicle back from me YHEAAAA. At first they tried giving me an 06 Verona and I was like are you crazy? Pay off my loan and go to hell, so I am now just waiting to get my money, and that alone has taken about a month to do so. We will see how that goes. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU; these cars are CRAP. Can't imagine why they no longer make them huh!!?

My engine in my 2004 verona was replaced at 13000 miles. Since then, I've had no problems. I currently have 35000 miles on it. I get great gas mileage. On trips, I have got 30-31 miles to a gallon and average 26 around town.

I purchased my new 2004 Suzuki Verona in September 2004. I was quite pleased with my purchase until March 2006 when I was pulling into a parking space, at walking speed, when the car surged without warning before dying. I attempted to brake, but no matter how hard I pressed on the brake the car kept rolling because with the engine off the power brakes were useless, and the car ran right into a retaining wall.

I had the car towed to the dealership. After six days the dealership said it could not find anything wrong. However, during that six day span, I had conducted some research over the Internet, and discovered there was a software upgrade for the faulty ECU, which was the reason for an initial recall on the vehicle that had been performed by the factory in August 2004 before it was sold. The initial recall stated if the problem were not corrected, it could cause the vehicle to stall, resulting "in a crash." Apparently the initial recall had not solved the problem.

The dealership discovered it did not have this latest software upgrade on hand, and I as the owner was never notified there was a software upgrade. If Suzuki had informed me there was a software upgrade for the vehicle's computer, I would have made an appointment to have it installed, and the subsequent failure of the vehicle's computer system would have been avoided.

The dealership finally had the software upgrade sent electronically via the Internet, and only then was the latest software installed into the vehicle.

The crash into the retaining wall caused $6500 in damage to the front end(of the vehicle) and personal injury to myself.

I retained a lawyer on the matter, but to date Suzuki have failed to admit any wrongdoing. My lawyer says he did receive a snotty voice mail message from an Attorney with Suzuki's Gardena, California headquarters saying there was no merit whatsoever to my case. That is still in dispute.

My question is this; If Suzuki has issued a software upgrade for the faulty ECU, beyond the initial factory recall for a similar problem, why hasn't the company informed all 16,000+ owners of 2004 Veronas that there is a software upgrade available?

How many more of these vehicles are also at risk of stalling and crashing? Thank God I was pulling into a parking space with a retaining wall in front of me, and not at a school crossing with a group of children walking in front.

If you have experienced similar problems as outlined above I'd appreciate hearing back, for the next time this happens it may be your child walking in front of your vehicle's cross-hairs.

Wayne F.

I bought a used 2004 Suzuki Verona in April 2007 (on my 23rd Birthday). It was the first car I have ever owned that had less than 50,000 miles on it and cost more than $10,000.

I was very excited until the check engine light came on within the first month. I had my regular mechanic check into it because I had purchased the car outside of the warranty and at a Hyundai dealership. They reset the computer and cleaned the coil pack, and the check engine light went out for about 1 week.

Since that time, I have had to just endure the irritation of the warning light and the rev-ups because I am on a very tight budget. I also had been awaiting word from an acquaintance who was having the same problem on his 2005 model (which was under warranty).

This acquaintance had been dealing with Suzuki and his dealer for months on rectifying the situation, and finally rec1eived a settlement that entitled him to a refund of all money spent on repair/rental cars and his car was serviced 1 final time. The most recent service included a fuel injection cleaning/treatment and 'spark plug work' according to the work order. The 2005 has had no problems to speak of in the past month since the service.

At this time, I have scheduled to have my mechanic look at the car again. With the information I have found on carsurvey from all of these other owners, my acquaintance's experience, and the fact that simply changing to premium gasoline over the last six weeks has decreased the frequency of the warning light... I hope to be able to find some kind of peace of mind. There is nothing worse than having no other option but to continue driving a vehicle that is most likely going to cost thousands in repairs over the next few years, or in a worst case scenario, all at once if I stall at the wrong time.

Is there any specific information I should bring to my mechanic? Does anyone know a way I can crawl out of this awful predicament? I wish that the previous owner would have acted on Lemon Laws for a buy back instead of trading it in for a Hyundai.

My husband and I purchased a 2006 Verona and the problems we have with it seem very similar to what I have been reading here. I drive to work 45 miles from my home on which I travel the open highway for the majority of my trip. On numerous occasions I have been driving a normal highway speed with no one in front of me to cause my driving to vary in speed, when for no reason that I can determine, my car will begin to lose power and begin to jerk. I pull to the shoulder of the highway in order to avoid being run over by large trucks, or any other vehicle. Sometimes it takes a long time to get the car to proceed where I can enter the roadway and return to highway speeds. The other problem is, and it happens on an average of once to twice a week, I will start my engine, sit there for a reasonable length of time before shifting into reverse to back out of my driveway, and when shifting, the car jerks and the engine light comes on. I will brake and shift into drive and it will jerk again, but will not have any power to go forward. I will brake, place the car in "park" and on the way up to park, it will jerk a couple of times. I turn the car off and start it again. I never shift out of park immediately, but when I do shift out of park, it will again jerk and is void of power to propel it forward. This morning was one such morning and I have to negotiate a circle in the road (a round about) where you must enter with definite speed in order to avoid another car hitting you as they take an exit. I had no power in order to do just that this morning, but I was very fortunate that a large truck was to my left and I used it as a shield when he pulled into the circle. Unfortunately, that won't always be the case. We have taken it to the Suzuki dealership and by the time they get to the car, the light is off and they cannot test it. It cost us nearly $300 in a rental car due to the length of time they had it. I am really at my wit's end. It appears that the Verona was not offered in 2007. I just want my car fixed or replaced. I truly fear for my life, my husband's life and the lives of my grandchildren, or anyone else who is an occupant in my car. I don't know if this is reviewed by Suzuki or not, but if anyone knows an address or email where your voice can be heard by Suzuki, please let me know.

My husband and I bought a 2004 Verona in March 2004. We were so torn between the XL7 (which I can't tell you how many times I regret not going with instead of the Verona) and the Verona. The pretty blue color, because as you know if you bought one, it was an attractive car, seemed well made and when you test drove it, it was smooth as silk. Well... within a month we had it in the shop... I was going 75 at the top of a major bridge when the engine light comes on and it is suddenly telling me I am out of gas, (which I wasn't). They fixed that and over the course of the next year there were other little things. Then a year and half into owning it, it begins stalling. Anytime the car sat for a minute too long at a light or in traffic, it would idle down, rumble a little bit and then die. Incredibly scary. For 6 months we took it to the Suzuki dealership in town and they said they could never recreate the problem. The service manager called me one time and left a crappy message where he basically laughed and said into my voicemail "I've had this thing running for an hour and it's about out of gas and it hasn't stalled once". Because the problem was intermittent, I understood the first couple times, but it became so frustrating since if they can't recreate the problem, no rental for me. It's not like my husband and I could afford another car and my husband has a work truck so I had to drive this stupid car. I HATED IT. Finally another dealership recreated the problem and said they fixed it. When I got it back it did seem better and was more drivable for about 2 months and then suddenly it started going down hill again and then one day I was driving home and I was 7 blocks from home, had just made a left turn and stepped on the gas and after that, the car died. I was literally rolling along without power and thankfully I live near a overpass and was able to coast off the road to the safety under the overpass. Had it been anywhere else, it could have been pretty ugly. Seems like I'm not the only here who had a close call like that, and it wasn't the first time. Right before my two year timeframe I did call a lawyer and it was too late for lemon law, but I could sue under the Magnusson Warranty act. I had plenty of service sheets to prove the problem (and all the one's that said there wasn't one until they finally said it did indeed stall). So we did finally collect from the Magnusson Warranty act suit we put against Suzuki. We got a whopping $1,500.00. After a year and a half of suing them, it wasn't nearly worth it. I feel so sorry for everyone that bought a Suzuki Verona. It is truly an awful car and Suzuki should have treated their customers better...it's not our fault they sold a subpar, faulty product and in the end we're all paying the price for it, paying dearly.

Brought a new Verona Ex love it at first than less than 2.000 miles on it check engine light came on. Went to dealership reset computer. Problem started all over again and then notice blue smoke coming from exhaust. Dealership did not know what was wrong with it for a couple of weeks. Suzuki brought back the car. I had Ask what happen Suzuki put in a new engine in the vehicle. Purchased a new Forenza did not have any problems with that vehicle.

Oh my goodness - I feel for each and every one that has commented here!!! I too have a 2004 Suzuki Verona and as said in another comment, it's the "biggest piece of crap I have ever owned!" It has been in the shop more times than I can count with this part and that part being replaced and now I can't get gas to pump in to the gas tank without it gurgling out all over the ground or my shoes and with gas being almost $4 per gallon who can afford that??? I've had the ABS sensor, hub and bearing on the driver's side replaced three (yes that's right) three times, the ECM module had to be replaced and I certainly can't forget to tell you about the cruise control sticking on it - talk about scary! Does anybody know what we can do as far as the Lemon Law? Any info would be greatly appreciated. As soon as I get this piece of *# ($ paid off it's back to Chevy for me!

I posted yesterday about my 2004 Suzuki Verona and I forgot to add a couple things. I have also had the seat belts in the back seat replaced because they locked up to where you couldn't pull them out and they worked for about two weeks before locking up again! I also had the brushes in the a/c unit replaced due to the fact that it started making this horrendous noise while using the a/c and then the blower just quit working all together and I'm currently having trouble with the heater... seems like it doesn't blow out warm air unless you are moving. So, forget about going out a bit early before leaving for work to start your car to get it warm and cozy and the windows defrosted before you take off! Just sitting here typing this and thinking about all the crap that I've had done to this car since I've owned it puts me in a crappy mood!

To the poster of 12 May - you may be "glad" to learn that the Verona is sold as a Chevy in some markets. It goes as the Chevy Epica.

Regardless of what it's called, this rolling POS is built in Korea by what was once Daewoo Motors, now under GM ownership and management.

Thanks for the heads up! I will just avoid anything that looks remotely close to the Verona :) Rolling POS - I like that.

I purchased a 2004 Suzuki Forenza back in 2004 for my daughter. She complained while it was under warranty that it would stall on her several times a week. I took it in under warranty and they reset the computer values. It is now 2008 and the computer values have been reset many times and now after reading the comments on this site and other sites I see why. It appears that the 2004 Suzuki models are defective and unrepairable. This last time the vehicle was in the shop for almost two weeks and two days later it stalled on a sloping driveway and rolled backwards causing a vehicle to swerve to miss hitting my daughter. The dealership is frustrated and told me that Suzuki has been buying back these vehicles. I just called Suzuki to inform them that this vehicle is a dangerous liability and they have started a case number and will have the regional manager look at the vehicle once again. I informed them to repair it once and for all or buy it back. We will see. I will hire an attorney if they do not make this right. I pray that no one has or will be injured by these faulty vehicles. Sam Landers, Lafayette, LA.

I almost don't even want to wast my time but for someone that has "Been there, done that" could they tell me what I need to do: I have had the car for close to 4 years and have about 48K on it. The car is def. without a shadow of a doubt a piece of SHEET!!! What do I do and how many times do I take it in before I can legally do something? It almost seems like a lost cause and to difficult to do something... Can they just trade vehicles with me?? please e-mail me at bjp2119@yahoo.com.

I have had all the similar problems stated by every one else. Can't we all sign up to do a class action suit? Surely the guy who is already paying the lawyer and has a website would be happy to let his lawyer take over. Maybe this can get him paid after all.