1st Mar 2007, 19:38

I own a 2005 Suzuki Reno and it has been in the shop the last two weeks. My complaints were the headlights were out of alignment, the passenger airbag light stayed on constantly. Also at certain times it seemed as if the car wanted to die when the RPM meter went almost to zero. My big concern was the fumes that came through the vents when I warmed my car up in the mornings for about 15 minutes, when its real cold outside. It's the 4th time in the shop for that, and now they say they can't find the problem so they are going to drop the gas tank to see if that's the problem. Anyone else that owns a Reno needs to let it sit in idle for about 15 minutes with the heat on, then get inside to see if you smell any fumes. I know a lot of people don't warm their cars up ahead of time, so this might go unnoticed.

5th Mar 2007, 19:31

I have a 2005 Reno which is only getting 16-18 mpg city. The passenger front airbag does not sense my wife at 125 pounds 5 out of 10 times. The rear washer supply line broke and had to be repaired. The water pump is being recalled and they are out of stock at this time. Not very happy with this car. Sure would be nice to get 22 mpg city.

9th Apr 2007, 09:34

I own a 2005 suzuki reno purchased new in 2/6/2006.

At 2800 miles the engine cylinder head had to be replaced because of "hard starting". I now own a new car with a rebuilt engine. The mpg on this car is a disaster.

The first 200 miles gave me 19 mpg city/highway.

I now have 6200 miles on the odometer and am getting only 15 mpg city/highway. What a shame for a senior on a fixed income.

Thanks.

24th May 2007, 12:43

I have a 2005 Reno. I will not have this Reno by this winter. The car is horrible in the snow. There could be only a dusting on the road and the car is all over. I even had new tires for this past winter. Today, my engine light came on. I drive 50 highway miles to work every day. The gas mileage should be much better than what I am getting. I get about 20-23. A compact car like this should atleast get close to 30. I do not recommend any one to get a reno. My neon was better than this car!!!

21st Jun 2007, 21:00

I purchased a new 2005 reno s in February of 2006. In May of 2006 at 2800 miles the car had hard starting. Repair entailed the cylinder head being replaced. Under warranty of course.

The feeling after this is driving a new car with a rebuilt engine. The time to diagnose and repair took over 3 weeks.

No more problems starting, but the mpg for city/highway is now 15 mpg. (cause was one of the cylinders was leaking oil)

This car is going to haunt suzuki down the road. I give it 5 years before it goes belly up in the USA. This car was a bad choice to use as an initial entry into the US market.

22nd Jun 2007, 08:52

In response to June 21st comments:

Did they repair the cylinder head? And, if so, did your gas mileage improve?

23rd Jun 2007, 14:28

Answer to 6/22/07 comments:

As I said, the cylinder head was replaced by a new one.

As for mileage the following is my history:

Received car new on 2/6/06 with 38 miles on the odometer.

Results after the first fillup were 17 mpg city/highway.

My experience with new cars, as I have had a few, (I am 76 years old) is that this is when the car shows it's best mileage. After that it's all downhill.

This past winter was a bummer. 15 mpg city/highway.

Replacing the cylinder head in my opinion had nothing to do with the low mileage. It is the nature of the beast.

I stopped using the car often since april. Too expensive.

Gas at $3.30 a gallon.

I have never used a full tank on highway driving or city driving. Always city/highway. My feeling is that every time you stop the engine takes a big gulp.

The best I ever got was 19 mpg I never saw 20 or higher.

23rd Jun 2007, 20:37

Followup to 6/23/07.

I have complained to dealer service and to SUZUKI by mail.

This car is a gas guzzler.

Had a factory rep. check the car out back in April of 2007. He had a technician check all settings on the engine, and then did a consumption test on the car. He took it for a drive of 52 miles and said he got 31 MPG. As you know, any test can be doctored. I was not present to see the test. He insinuated that I don't know how to drive. My other car is a '98 PONTIAC Grand Am, 2.4L engine, at least 2000 pounds heavier, and 4 cylinder. My city/highway MPG is 23 MPG.

You can see what I drive more of.

On long trips I get 28 MPG. (PONTIAC has 49,000 miles on it, which I bought new in '98)

29th Oct 2007, 14:49

I brought a 2005 Reno with 20,000 miles for my wife. The steering wheel began to shake and rumble Dealer said I needed a full service. 400.00 later I was told that it was likely the transmission, that was changed to no avail, next I was told it was the drive train/axle. This corrected after about two weeks with no car. Four months later and I am experiencing the same issue. The low beam lamps are also not working (I understand there is a recall for this). Although I like the Grand Vitara, I will not buy another Suzuki (poor customer service).

Ps gas mileage is horrible for a compact car...

17th Feb 2008, 21:57

Just bought an 08 and am hopeful that I won't regret it. This is our third Suzuki, (we also had an 06 Forenza and traded it for a Vitara which we still own). we have never had any problems and our dealer & service department are awesome. So far it feels better than my 03 Hyundai Elantra, which I never had any mechanical or gas problems with- just never loved it and it drove like a ton of bricks that didn't want to move. While the Reno is no V-6, it does the easy 50-60 mph I need it to do, but it did drink down a tank of gas pretty quick this week. Was hoping it was just all the extra driving I did, but from reading the other reviews, perhaps not. We shall see!