Faults:
The first night I had this car, I saw a lump in the rear right tire, and I would have had this problem done under warranty, but the dealer said they were backed up for a week, and I refused to drive that long with a bad tire, so I just went to a tire place and bought a new tire at my expense.
There was a burning smell from the brakes at 40,000 miles, and the dealer said this happens when the brakes are over used. But I always drive on the highway, and I never over use the brakes, and when I do need to use them, I'm very gentle on the pedal. I never stop short, which is what I told them, and then they started blaming me that I was doing something, and they were not going to replace it under warranty. So I got mad and just said FINE!! Whatever!! And I just went to a mechanic.
The battery kept dying, and I have gone through 3 batteries and they still kept dying. The dealer said they could not find anything wrong, and there was nothing they could do. I did not buy it, so I got sick and tired with the dealer, and just took it to a few mechanics, and said something is running down the battery, but they could not find out what. Since nobody could figure out this problem, I just dealt with it until I got another car.
General Comments:
This car was badly made. If you got rear ended in this car, the spare tire will cave in the back door. Being that the door is attached at the hinges and latch, the caving door will put the squeeze on the rest of the car's back end. It would be a big mess!!
Safety ratings are not that impressive. Do not listen what the dealer says, just look on http://www.iihs.org/ or similar websites, and look at the ratings on this car.
It was also horribly under powered! You floor it, and you can feel and hear the transmission and engine struggling.
Poor gas mileage. I have gone through 2 tanks a week.
We lost a lot of money out of this car in 5 years of owning it, and only put not even 30,000 miles on it.
We finally traded in this car and bought a Suzuki Reno, which is so far a much better car. Never had a problem with it once yet.
25th Mar 2010, 13:01
First you said the brakes messed up at 40,000. Then you said you only put 30,000 miles on the car when you apparently sold it. Which is it???