2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS: SmartPass is standard on all of them

It's nice to see manufacturers starting to make more convienence features standard on their models. Nissan has had a similar system, the Intelligent Key, standard on the Altima since MY2007.

Hopefully more manufacturers will start making features like this standard on their vehicles.

BMW would make an having an engine an extra cost option if they could.

I drive a 135 without "comfort access" and it's ridiculous not to have the technology built in (yes, yes, I know BMW wants me to pay for it, but I bought my car pre-owned, so not an option). Especially annoying because my previous Infiniti G had it standard.

Love my car but hate BMW's greedy a la carte pricing.

Frankly, I'd rather spend on money on little extras than teeth whitening.

I'm actually not surprised that Suzuki offered this as standard. It is vastly less expensive for car makers to make a feature standard across the board because that makes manufacturing them simpler. This is a feature that people have come to expect in this class and it costs Suzuki less in the long run (after the initial investment) to do it this way, plus they get some good press in the process. I'm just impressed that they gave that much thought to their business strategy, the same can't be said for all car makers.

bkochuk +1
BMW, MB, Audi, dizzying options and pricing configuration is annoying, confusing and greedy. Leather is an option on a 50k Benz E350. WTF man?

IF you haven't figured out by now that most BMW's are big piles of excrement if you do any money factoring/resale value/reliability, you're beyond hope.

BMW owners (rather lessees as 80% have now become) truly get off on mentioning all the option packages they get (have to pay for) with their cars.

A friend recently picked up new F01 750il European delivery. He simply had to mention that he was getting the "BMW Individual Option" which is a specific color trim combination that adds $4000 to the price.

Seriously his 750il which based at $87,000 had reached $115,000!!

I would be ashamed to say that BMW stroked my ego by removing an additional $25,000 (enough money to buy a VW GTI for cash) from my bank account.

It's nice to make a name for yourself so people will bend over and take it, just to be able to "join the club" so to speak. Toyota seems to have screwed up and got complacent too soon. Toyota probably needed at least another generation of Toyota lovers before it's established enough to do whatever it wants.

Suzuki is finally learning to do what Honda and Hyundai did -- start with loading up your cars with standard equipment, then find your foothold in the market. If they succeed, then they will jack up their prices and build cars that lose more of their character with each new generation.

As was stated in tjpark's post BMW does indeed nickle and dime purchasers when they buy one of their cars.

Leather-optional, fold down rear seat-optional, real wood trim-optional, metallic paint-optional, and my favorite...................................several hundred dollars for a iPod adaptor and cable.

and yet, adaptive HID lighting came standard on my 135. go figure...

Despite the childish BMW-bashing in the comments, I will say that I agree BMW should fit as standard Comfort Access on the 7-Series and probably the 5-Series, similar to how Mercedes should fit Keyless Go as standard on the S and E-Class.

That said, for those of you that have ever studied economics, you surely understand that cost-plus pricing is only practiced in fully or partially commoditized markets. No car is really in this realm, and optional extras most certainly aren't. For a luxury good like a BMW or any other, pricing is determined by how the market values it. People are willing to pay big premiums for BMWs and other luxury makes, so why on earth wouldn't they charge what they can? If you make $60K/year and buy a $19K Kizashi, a $450 iPod adapter will certainly seem ridiculous. If you make $300K a year and buy an $80K 7-Series, that $450 may not seem so stupid. You can't expect the $60K earner to see the pricing in the same light as the $300K earner.

The Kiizashi is very impressive indeed!
That being said, I prefer to option my car a la carte. Many options such as upgraded stereo or iPod connection are simply useless to me, as I never listen to music while driving. The last thing I want is to pay for a ton of standard features (see Acura) that I have no need for.

Options that are a must for me:
Folddown rear seats and trunk passthru
SatNav
Auto dimming mirrors
Adaptive damping (if they work)

Options that I MAY get depending on pricing
Leather seats (I do quite like fake leather, 100% maintenance-free!)
Upgraded wheel package
Comfort access/keyless start

Options that I will never pay for:
Anything audio related
Backup cameras (on compact or midsize sedans)

As long as pricing structures are clear for all to see, I don't see anything wrong with the a la carte pricing.

ff1825,

FYI, real wood or aluminum trim is standard on every US model BMW.

If you don't like BMW pricing, don't buy one. Problem solved. BMW couldn't charge these prices if there weren't consumers willing to pay them. Value is a relative, not absolute term; it means different things to different people.

or you could whine about it with no purpose (unless you think BMW executives base their pricing policies on anonymous internet message boards).

Yes, BMW should make it standard, but I don't think it should be standard in the Kizashi's class. I understand Suzuki's wanting to make this car seem premium, but I think we can now see why a lot of Camry drivers, among others in this class, would be better off with something more familiar.

@ tjpark01,

I'm in agreement with you, but I think it's important to note that the leather you get on MB's and BMW's is of an entirely different caliber than that on a Camry or Fusion, etc. The optional leather from the Germans is hand-treated, super soft, and real through and through. The "leather" on mainstream cars is more vinyl than actual leather. I agree it should still be standard for $50K, but it isn't an apples to apples comparison.

Shame on bmw, but I guess you can can fit there porsche and mercedes as well.

Comfort access/keyless entry/smartstart is way overrated. As for BMW's, if you haven't driven one, you just don't get it.

You can hardly blame ze Germans for their pricing strategy. BMW has enough brand cachet that it could sell optional mustard stains on the seats for three easy payments of $4200.

I mean it's despicable, but it's also sound business thinking.

I think the argument many posters are making is that paying extra for the brand name is dumb no matter how rich you are. I have no respect for people that spend loads of money just because they can. It shows no taste, and indeed, most BMW/MB/Audi owners are tasteless.

To illuminate, a story problem:

There's a lawyer that lives next door. He has a brand spankin new F01 750.
There's a dude in your stats class. He has an E38 with 180k on the odo.

Who's cooler?

The answer: The first dude's a wanker who bought the car to impress his mistress, the second dude just digs BMWs.

Appreciating your car and appreciating your car as a status symbol are not the same.

"most BMW/MB/Audi owners are tasteless."

Isn't that a rather insulting, broad stereotype? What does that say about you making that kind of judgment of people simply because of the brand of car they choose to drive?

I also don't see why someone that owns an old BMW is automatically "cooler" and/or somehow better than the guy that has a new one.

"I agree it should still be standard for $50K, but it isn't an apples to apples comparison. "

Most people can barely tell the difference. We really dont know how much real leather is in most cars these days. I find most cars that cost $30k or more have decent leather quality. It may not be as sumptuous as BMW leather but I personally wouldnt pay $10k more for a car to get softer leather.

"BMW couldn't charge these prices if there weren't consumers willing to pay them. Value is a relative, not absolute term; it means different things to different people."

First of all, few BMWs are actually loaded. Secondly, about half of BMWs are leased which suggests people cant actually afford to buy overpriced BMWs. You say they wouldnt charge it if people wouldn't pay but most BMWs arent equipped with all the goodies we read about in road tests. There is a sizable portion of the BMW owning populace who will drive the cheapest BMW than can get into just to have the badge. We all know that.

"As for BMW's, if you haven't driven one, you just don't get it."

typical BMW kool aid drinker there. I think everyone "gets it"- German cars offer the worst value on the market. There is nothing wrong with BMWs but their lack of standard equipment on "luxury" vehicles is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with BMW using better equipment or superior engineering, its a function of their inefficient production methods (relative to US/Japanese automakers), high labor costs and currency issues. If costs BMW more to make its cars and thus they have to charge more to make decent profits. The BMW faithful delude themselves into thinking they arent getting ripped off by talking about the rarely defined superior engineering that goes into a BMW model. BMW makes nice vehicles that happen to be overpriced for what they deliver.

It's amazing how bitter so many of you are toward BMW.
Unless you've been forced to purchase one against your will, get over it. And if you're convinced all auto journalists are biased toward BMW, why are you reading their work?

this was supposed to be a post about the Suzuki. apologies to all for getting this thing waaaay off track...

"And if you're convinced all auto journalists are biased toward BMW, why are you reading their work?"

Oh, good one! If its free I will read it- pretty simple. Auto scribes are biased towards BMWs in the sense that they take the high price tags for granted. Most of these folks dont own a BMW (and definitely not a new one) but they dismiss the price tags as if they are nominal. C&D is famous for this attitude- they often say "its pricey and offers the worst value but its easily worth it in our opinion"- this from the keyboards of guys wo get paid to drive $50k cars for free.

I like keyless entry of course, but I personally am not a fan of keyless access. First reason being, I happen to like the feeling of sticking the key in the ignition and cranking the engine - it just feels more bonding to me than pushing a dinky button. Secondly, I think of it as just as another thing to go wrong with the car - the less unnecessary features on the car, the better!

first off, 1487's posts have consistently shown him to NOT be a driving enthusiast. so, yeah, i can understand why he doesn't think the bmw driving experience to be as special as it is.

he is about numbers and (false) "logic". enthuasists are more about emotion and feel and less about numbers, although that is important.

i have a lot of "car guys" who let their cars sit in the garage. sure, they quote all the statistics but they refuse to take them to a road course and actually enjoy DRIVING the car.

car and driver just ranked the 328i convertible tops in a comparo and ended it thus: Although the BMW faced a tougher set of opponents in this test, it graded out just as it did in 2007. A logbook comment summed it up: “There’s just something about the way the 3-series goes over the road that’s so magical, so connected, so involving.”

1487 will never understand that because it's all numbers to thim.

here is an example of jumping to conclusions: "Secondly, about half of BMWs are leased which suggests people cant actually afford to buy overpriced BMWs."

there is not basis for this statement. my suggestion is that bmw owners love new cars and they like getting a new car every 3 years. it makes no sense that they would buy the car outright and take a hit on depreciation when they can lease and pay less. it does not mean or imply that they can't afford to buy it. how many bmw leasees trade in their car and buy another bmw? i would bet the vast majority of them. in that sense, it indicates they have a large disposable income because they have the ability to constantly live with lease payments.

people who might lease a nicer GM car and those who lease expensive imports are two very different people.

sure, there are always examples of someone who takes advantage of the cost-effectiveness of leasing a bmw, but i think those consumers are a very small minority.

New stat:

This article goes from "Hey cool keyless entry and start on this Suzuji", to "BMW sucks" in 7.32 seconds.

-um, that would be "Suzuki"
Crap, joke ruined.

@s197gt,

"sure, there are always examples of someone who takes advantage of the cost-effectiveness of leasing a bmw, but i think those consumers are a very small minority."

A lot of people lease BMWs because compared to M-B and Audi, BMW often has very aggressive leasing programs. Low money factors and high residual values mean if you're only keeping the car for a few years and don't drive a ton of miles, leasing can actually make more financial sense than buying and keeping the car for the same time period. BMW also lets you put down multiple security deposits to lower the MF, which is unusual. 1487 makes lots of broad assumptions, but I'm guessing he's never actually run the numbers to see why leasing a BMW is so popular. It's easier to say it's because of the badge whores/poseurs.

stovt001 says: 12:06 PM, 03/18/10 "BMW would make an having an engine an extra cost option if they could."

Yeah. Talk about A'la carte!