Most common 2010 Suzuki Kizashi problems
Share of the 23 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Suzuki Kizashi complaints by model year
Best Kizashi years: 2013. Compare all years →
2010 Suzuki Kizashi recalls (6)
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling 2010-2013 Kizashi vehicles. The front passenger seat Occupant Classification System (OCS) may misclassify an adult occupant as child and deactivate the front air bag.
Remedy: Suzuki will notify owners, and service providers will replace the front passenger seat cushion, which includes a new OCS mat assembly, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed on October 29, 2021.
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling certain 2010-2013 Kizashi and 2006-2013 Grand Vitara vehicles. The front passenger leather seat may shrink due to high humidity and high temperature.
Remedy: Suzuki will notify owners, and dealers will replace the seat bottom cushion, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on May 3, 2019.
Fuel system, gasoline
Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling certain 2010-2013 Suzuki Kizashi vehicles. Dust can enter the vent line that provides fresh air to the carbon canister, restricting its air flow and possibly creating excessive negative pressure in the fuel tank which may result in the fuel tank cracking.
Remedy: Suzuki has sent owners an initial notification to inform them of the recall. When parts are available, a second notice will be mailed and dealers will install a cover over the opening near the suction pipe inlet, and…
Power train › Automatic transmission › Gear position indication (PRNDL)
Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 SX4 vehicles manufactured July 16, 2009, to November 1, 2012, and 2010-2013 Kizashi vehicles manufactured October 13, 2009, to October 31, 2012. The shift selector can be moved out of the "Park" position without depressing the brake pedal.
Remedy: Suzuki will notify owners, and dealers will replace the shift selector assembly and inspect, and if necessary, replace the shift knob, free of charge. The recall began January 16, 2015.
Fuel system, gasoline
Suzuki Motor Of America, Inc. (Suzuki) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Kizashi vehicles manufactured October 2009 through July 2012. In the affected vehicles, spiders may weave a web in the evaporative canister vent hose, blocking it and causing the fuel tank to have an excessive amount of negative pressure.
Remedy: Suzuki is in the process of notifying owners, and dealers will replace the evaporative canister vent line on the affected vehicles with a vent line that has a filter on the end.
Structure › Body › Door › Hinge and attachments
Suzuki is recalling certain model year 2010 kizashi passenger vehicles manufactured from October 13, 2009 through May 31, 2010. The hinged door of the center lower box located in the front dashboard area fails to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no.
Remedy: Suzuki will notify owners and dealers will replace the instrument panel center lower box of the affected vehicles with a new part free of charge. The safety recall began on July 13, 2010.
What 2010 Suzuki Kizashi owners say
Transmission & drivetrain
The vehicle goes in the limp mode while accelerating uphill. At one occasion it went into the limp mode and stalled, very unsafe for highway. Turing it off and restarting needed. The transmission has issues that hasn't been addressed by the manufacturer.
Transmission control module (TCM) for the CVT, the TCM May detect an abnormality in the CVT pulley ratio under as a result of the unusual movement of the stepper motor. The malfunction indicator light (MIL) May illuminate and the CVT could go into a fail safe mode resulting in the vehicle losing acceleration. Contacted the Suzuki corporation and they state my VIN is not showing this recall however, the vehicle is doing the exact same thing. Recall notice has been out for this exact year, make and model of this vehicle, but denies that it's for this vehicle. While driving on the highway this vehicle went into like a safety type mode and would not accelerate, and the vehicle will not exit the fail safe mode and needs dealership attention. I almost died on the highway from this issue.
Electrical system
The car has low mileage. First the air conditioning system went out. We called Suzuki to see if there was a recall, they said no. We had to search for a part and finally had it replaced at great cost. Now a few months latter this happens. The passanger air bag light has been on for about 2 weeks. Called Toyota dealer. He said it is probably just a bad msg, happens in hawaii all the time, so we continued driving it. While driving the car on jan 6, on the other side of the island of hawaii, as we turned left onto the main highway hear oceanview, all the dash lights came on. The car lost power steering but we were able to get it to a safe place. We could not shut the engine off until about 30 minutes later. We had the car towed to the dealer. While they were testing the car, it stopped in the middle of testing and they couldn't restart it. It had 12 - 15 codes that they had to clear. …
The car has on numerous occasions while traveling at highway cruising speed on a sunny day will go into a failsafe mode, and no error is detected by the car, loses the ability to downshift, and loses acceleration. Has become a reoccurring issue on all long trips as the car must be on the road over an hour before the instance will occur. Almost always when in the middle of nowhere which causes driver to have to pull over and wait for the car to cool before the car will allow itself or the driver to downshift even in automatic or manu-matic configuration. Please issue the same recall for the 2010 that you did for the 2013. I have a video of the instance occurring if needed.
Engine & cooling
Transmission control module (TCM) for the CVT, the TCM May detect an abnormality in the CVT pulley ratio under as a result of the unusual movement of the stepper motor. The malfunction indicator light (MIL) May illuminate and the CVT could go into a fail safe mode resulting in the vehicle losing acceleration. Contacted the Suzuki corporation and they state my VIN is not showing this recall however, the vehicle is doing the exact same thing. Recall notice has been out for this exact year, make and model of this vehicle, but denies that it's for this vehicle. While driving on the highway this vehicle went into like a safety type mode and would not accelerate, and the vehicle will not exit the fail safe mode and needs dealership attention. I almost died on the highway from this issue.
The car has on numerous occasions while traveling at highway cruising speed on a sunny day will go into a failsafe mode, and no error is detected by the car, loses the ability to downshift, and loses acceleration. Has become a reoccurring issue on all long trips as the car must be on the road over an hour before the instance will occur. Almost always when in the middle of nowhere which causes driver to have to pull over and wait for the car to cool before the car will allow itself or the driver to downshift even in automatic or manu-matic configuration. Please issue the same recall for the 2010 that you did for the 2013. I have a video of the instance occurring if needed.
2010 Suzuki Kizashi engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4L 4-cyl | CVT | FWD | 23 / 31 / 26 |
| 2.4L 4-cyl | 6-speed manual | FWD | 21 / 31 / 25 |
| 2.4L 4-cyl | CVT | AWD | 23 / 30 / 25 |
EPA ratings. Class: Compact car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi a good car?
Based on 23 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2010 Kizashi rates average: about as many complaints as a typical year of the Kizashi at the same age. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi?
The transmission & drivetrain — 6 complaints, 26% of all complaints for this model year. Next are the electrical system (5) and engine & cooling (5).
How many recalls does the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi have?
There are 6 recalls for the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi, the most recent from May 2, 2019 (inflator module). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Suzuki Kizashi?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2013. See the full Suzuki Kizashi years comparison.
At what mileage do 2010 Suzuki Kizashi problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 68,000 miles; 44% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.