2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS: Ruh-Roh

Yikes! I have never had this happen. Needless to say, I would imagine you will not be going to that dealer again.

Wow, thankfully you found this out before something catastrophic happened. With such a limited dealer network and your less than stellar experience during this checkup, I would imagine Suzuki is going to take an image hit at very least in you local area. I don't see that helping sales any. Suzuki USA needs to address this directly if they really want to grow and flourish in today's competitive market place. Unfortunate turn for such a promising product.

Got a car back from its service appointment with a finger-tightened oil drainplug once. My bro-in-law got one back with a loose oil filter. We were both lucky enough to see leaks before we lost oil pressure.

studs and bolts are overrated...

That is just unacceptable and shows how the maintenance department feels about their work. I'd like to second throwback's comment, how did the dealer respond?

Twice, after getting a tire rotation, I had the lug nuts on a wheel only tightened down finger tight. The first time i caught it less than a mile after leaving the business due to some unusual vibrations through the steering wheel. After that, I made it a habit of checking before i drive off. The second time i caught it at the establishment. Both places offered nothing more than apology. Who knew tire rotations were so complicated?

Chris, you story is way more unacceptable though. My mechanic inexcusably forgot. Your mechanic blatantly knew there were only 4 lug nuts on when he was torquing them down. Ridiculous!

Were the other lug nuts properly torqued, or were they all about to fall off?

Had that happen to my mothers car after having some type of service done at NTB, I believe. I only noticed it when I started working on the family cars and noticed a missing lug nut while rotating the tires.

I usually don't get serious here--it's all in fun, usually--but if there's one thing I can't stand, it's lazy, half-assed/shoddy work. I mean, that turd got paid for his "work". It pisses me off to think that, with all the hard-workers currently unemployed, some slack-ass yokel like this has a job. It's an all too common problem her in the States: lazy, unmotivated jerks get a job and then do just enough to keep it and nothing more. What makes it worse is that this time the half-assedness could caused property damage or even injury. You all need to report this and do your damndedest to get the prick responsible fired. Maybe that opportunity will go to someone who needs it and really deserves it.

Monk hits the nail... could not have said it better. Perhaps this dealer needs to spend their training dollars on simple "check your work" basics instead of trying to screw their customers with bogus "recommended" service procedures. With their already spotty reputation, Suzuki needs quality dealer experiences as well as quality products (which they seem to have) if they want to survive, let alone grow in the hyper-competitive US market. Hyundai, Mitsubishi, VW, etc; many brands have struggled or are struggling and crappy dealers are part of the equation. Look at how Lexus took decent, but not exceptional product, coupled it with a knock-out customer service philosophy and parlayed that into meteoric success. No one expects that level from Suzuki, but somewhere between this example and Lexus lies an opportunity.

You think these guys are torquing the lugnuts down? Kidding right?

95% of ALL shops tighten lugnuts with an impact gun.

One of the coolest things I've witnessed is how my old mechanic would wrap one arm AROUND THE TIRE, IN THE AIR, and torque the wheel to 90 lb/ft IN THE AIR.

No parking brake on, shifter in neutral.

i tried it and could barely squeeze out 30 lb/ft :)

In the past 10 years most shops I've been to either use a torque wrench or a torque stick on an impact, though I still hear stories from time to time about over-torqued lugnuts. I also hear stories about broken lug studs which is much worse than this. I do my own work and use a torque wrench on my lugnuts.

That's why I do my own oil changes and tire rotations.

wjtinatl says:
12:58 PM, 02/16/11
"Monk hits the nail... could not have said it better."

Well... you definitely could have without all the typos/omitted words. :) I don't know what happened--maybe a "neurological episode" like that LA reporter at the Grammys"--but it's like I skipped every other word in a couple of sentences!

Thank you, felonious.

I saw a Lexus IS loaner car like that once...but never saw the "renter" so couldn't inform them

You sure no-one was trying to steal the wheels?

at first glance I figured it was just missing one of those Audi like plastic covers, but yikes...

how can this happen? shouldn't a mechanic have to demonstrate he/she can count to five prior to gaining employment?

one positive - won't take as long to get it out on the test track

This happened to a friend of mine with his Mazda 6. Took it into the dealer for a standard oil change. Picked it up, drove home, and later realized that the right rear wheel had only 2 nuts where there used to be 5. Now THAT was dangerous.

90 ft-lbs? My car calls for 77.

"In the past 10 years most shops I've been to either use a torque wrench or a torque stick on an impact, though I still hear stories from time to time about over-torqued lugnuts. I also hear stories about broken lug studs which is much worse than this."

I've had this happen. Most shops in my experience overtighten with an impact gun. The sheared lug stud was definitely a bit of an inconvenience. I was not impressed.

All of my cars have called for 100 lb-ft. Isn't that a pretty standard/safe figure? I mean if I didn't know any better I'd rather over-tighten by 10lb-ft than under-tighten by that amount, any day of the week.

87 lb-ft is what mine calls for. More is not necessarily better. Overtorquing can cause the threads to strip, the lug bolt to come apart, damage to the wheel, or the rotors to warp.

How did the dealer respond? And to those who recommend not going there anymore, is that enough? The dealership wouldn't even notice one less customer!

banhugh says:
08:27 AM, 02/17/11
"How did the dealer respond? And to those who recommend not going there anymore, is that enough? The dealership wouldn't even notice one less customer!"

Not that I advocate never patronizing that dealership again, but have you ever heard of the old adage, "A satisfied customer will tell one person, but a dissatisfied customer will tell six."? "One less customer" will turn into many more lost customers before they know it. That's especially bad news for an already struggling company.

I personally think Edmunds should use it's considerable pull to force that dealership into making changes. I think the "technician" responsible needs to be fired. I mean, this is a safety issue. That jerk's ineptitude and/or laziness could've killed someone. That needs to be addressed and pronto.

OK, somebody give felonious_monk the "voice of common sense" trophy!