Owners have filed 698 complaints on the Suzuki Forenza, covering 2004–2008. The system named most often is Power Train (224 reports). Worst years by volume: 2006, 2007, 2005; cleanest: 2004, 2008, 2005. 50 reports describe a crash, 45 a fire. On average the car was 4.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Suzuki Forenza
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 698 Forenza complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 224 Read
Transmission range sensor failed causing vehicle to jump gear and rearend another vehicle causing 1800 dollars in damage to personal vehicle and unknown amount to vehicle that was hit. This sensor had previously been replaced by dealer 3 times prior to vehicle reaching 36,000 miles. After alot of research myself there…
I purchased this car new in 2/ 2009. I have had to have it into the shop for repairs of check engine light and transmission, ultimately leading to a transmission replacement on 7/17/12. It has been in the shop 14 times from 7/24/10 until the present most of which included the check engine light/and or the transmission…
The contact owns a 2007 suzuki forenza purchased brand new june 2007. The transmission improperly shift gears. The vehicle would display 1st gear or neutral on the indicator panel while in the drive mode. The dealer replaced the transmission range sensor. After the repair the vehicle would not accelerate past 15 mph.…
Air Bags 117 Read
The contact owns a 2006 suzuki forenza. While driving at approximately 45 mph, the vehicle was involved in crash with another vehicle and the air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The driver was reported injured and was transported to the hospital via ambulance. There was smoke seen coming from under the…
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. While driving approximately 35 mph, the contact rear ended another vehicle. The vehicle was completely destroyed and none of the air bags deployed. The contact was moderately injured due to impacting the steering column. A police report was filed. The contact has pictures of the…
I was in an accident in which my car rear ended another vehicle that was broken down at night and I did not see. The car made impact on the front driver's side and according to the collision center, sustained 70% worth of damage. I was traveling approximately 35 mph when the accident occurred. The impact was enough so…
Electrical System 100 Read
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that the headlights and hazard lights failed. The contact also stated that there was a burning odor being emitted. The failure recurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated that the…
The car daytime running light module(drl module) burned and melted, lights were not working properly, the emergency brake light remained on, the dashboard, car had a burned smell so strong that I had to detail it and it did not go(the strong burning odor) away after 2 weeks. I took my car to the shop and repaired the…
I was driving home from work and smoke starting to come inside the car from the driver side vents. I pulled over and let the smoke air out as I called a tow truck. On the tow truck at the pooler parkway exit off of I-16, the car alarm was going off, the lights were flashing, and the car was completely filled with…
Exterior Lighting 49 Read
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while parked, the daytime running lights would not turn off and caused the battery to drain. In addition, the vehicle caught on fire. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V262000 (steering) but did not confirm if the vehicle was included. The…
I had received a safety recall on a fire hazard with the lightening after I kept smelling plastic burning every time it rained...I then noticed it was because I had the lights on all the time. I have called suzuki to no avail to have a local procured to do recall repair due to the closet approved vendor being 2 hours…
The contact owns a 2006 suzuki forenza. The contact stated while driving, both of the head lights failed to function. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic who stated the wires were burned and he needed to take the vehicle to the dealer to be repaired. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for inspection and…
Engine And Engine Cooling 49 Read
I bought a 2007 suzuki forenza 4 door sedan new in 2007 but now the drive lights would not turn off did this once before about three months ago but turned off after about 47 minutes after I took the battery cable a lose. It started again on may 24, 2011 when my wife took our kids to basketball practice she smelt…
The contact owns a 2007 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that the vehicle began to lose radiator fluid sporadically. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic, who was unable to locate a leak of any sort. No repairs were made to the vehicle and the vehicle continued to lose fluid. Several weeks later…
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that when shifting into drive with the brakes depressed, the engine would shift abnormally, causing the check engine warning light to illuminate. Neither the dealer nor manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who…
Vehicle Speed Control 24 Read
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle was then shifted into park in order to stop it and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an…
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into a bench followed by a garage wall. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The failure was recurring. However, the vehicle was taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed. The…
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while driving at 10 mph and approaching a stop sign, the vehicle accelerated independently causing the contact to loose control and crash into a wall. It was unknown if injuries were sustained or if a police report was filed. In addition, the brake pedal…
Steering 18 Read
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while parked, smoke started to emit inside of the vehicle and flames emerged from under the left side of the steering column. The flames spread through the entire vehicle. The fire department extinguished the flames. The vehicle was towed to an…
The contact owns a 2008 suzuki forenza. While driving approximately 35 mph, the steering wheel caught fire without warning. The contact pulled over and was able to extinguish the fire. A fire report was not filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The…
The contact owns a 2007 suzuki forenza. When the vehicle was started, smoke appeared from the steering wheel. Immediately, someone screamed outside the vehicle and alerted the contact to exit the vehicle quickly. When the contact exited the vehicle, smoke and flames shot out of the steering wheel. An independent…
Structure 17 Read
Paint came off all door handles and wheel covers
Since taking possession of my vehicle (feb. '08)..the dash covers for the radio, clock & shift have always become extremely hot to touch, including the metal part of the ignition key. Whenever the car is driven..other parts of the dash get warm..these listed parts get hotter, this condition is frightening!..sometimes…
I just had the driver's interior door handle break at the base. I have already had the passenger front replaced under warranty, passenger rear replace at my cost and now this!
Forenza years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Air Bags | 12 | 6 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 10 | 22 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 18 | 7 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 4 | 6 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 6 | 4 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 141 |
| Average complaints per series | 5 |
| Worst single series | 24 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.5 years |
A model average of 5 hides a worst series at 24. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Forenza?
By complaint volume, 2006, 2007, 2005 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Forenza years are the cleanest?
2004, 2008, 2005 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Suzuki Forenza have?
698 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2004–2008. Of those, 50 describe a crash and 45 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.