2004 Suzuki Forenza problems
Owners have filed 86 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Suzuki Forenza. Lighting is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. After that come engine (15%) and electrical system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 86 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Lighting 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 11 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 50,000 miles 55 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 16 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 9 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 7 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 55 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 50,000 miles. For lighting specifically, the median reported mileage is about 81,000 miles (12 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 11 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 89% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Suzuki Forenza with enough data (57 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On 7/14/04 my daughter attempted to buckle a rear passenger seat belt in a 2004 suzuki forenza. Seat belt was very difficult to buckle, and she moved to another location in vehicle. On 7/16/04 she was again a rear passenger in same vehicle. An accident occurred by fault of a red light runner. She was ejected from the vehicle. Witness and my daughter state she was attempting to once again change seats as the seat belt was difficult to latch (right rear passenger side).
While driving passenger's side wheel unexpectedly sheared off. Consumer lost control of the vehicle and hit a curb. Driver and passenger sustained arm and shoulder injuries, and went to the hospital later. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, and mechanic determined that the wheel separated from the axle.
While driving consumer hit a curb, lost control of vehicle, and hit a tree. Upon impact, both frontal air bags did not deploy. Driver sustained head injuries, but refused to go to the hospital by ambulance. Vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 suzuki forenza. The light switch on the front driver side began smoking when it was turned on. The steering sustained burns. On november 20, 2007, the vehicle remained at the dealer for three weeks. She retrieved the vehicle on december 15, 2007 and returned to the dealer the following day. Currently, when the light switch is turned off, it would come back on. The dealer had the vehicle until january 16, 2008.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 suzuki forenza. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the headlights failed to activate. As a result, the contact was required to activate and drive with the high beams in order to view the road. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was repaired under NHTSA campaign id number: 14v262000 (exterior lighting) however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 101,000.