Bad service! Seized engine. New car!

Suzuki Auto South Africa — An Absolutely Disgraceful Customer Experience

I am honestly gatvol and disgusted with the way Suzuki Auto South Africa has handled what should have been a straightforward warranty matter.

I bought my Suzuki Ertiga brand new. The vehicle is not even a year old and has only travelled approximately 66,000 km. Despite being a relatively new vehicle, the engine has now seized — an extremely serious and concerning failure for a vehicle of this age and mileage.

What makes this situation even more unacceptable is that the vehicle was last serviced at Suzuki Centurion. Shortly after leaving their workshop, the vehicle experienced a serious loss of power. The driver also reported that the oil warning light remained illuminated for longer than normal. The vehicle subsequently broke down and was taken to Suzuki Mokopane, where the engine was diagnosed with a major failure/seizure.

At this point, I expected Suzuki to do what any reputable manufacturer should do: investigate the matter properly, take accountability for the vehicle having been serviced within its dealer network, and provide a reasonable solution under the manufacturer’s warranty.

Instead, I have experienced an extraordinary lack of urgency, communication, accountability and basic customer care.

The customer care process has been slow, inefficient and incredibly frustrating. You constantly have to chase for information, follow up on matters that should already have been dealt with, and essentially do the work of the customer-care department yourself just to get answers.

And then there is the service manager at Suzuki Centurion, Rico.

The attitude and manner in which this matter has been handled have been deeply disappointing. Rather than demonstrating compassion, accountability or any genuine concern for a customer who has purchased a brand-new vehicle and is now facing a seized engine, I have experienced an attitude that comes across as dismissive and completely unwilling to take responsibility.

The vehicle was serviced at his workshop. Shortly thereafter, it suffered a catastrophic engine failure. Yet despite the seriousness of the circumstances, there appears to be no willingness whatsoever to properly engage with the situation or take ownership of what happened within the dealership’s service environment.

Even more shocking is that Suzuki has rejected my warranty claim and expects me to carry the cost of repairing the engine myself.

Let that sink in.

A customer buys a vehicle brand new. The vehicle is less than a year old, has approximately 66,000 km on it, is serviced within the Suzuki dealer network, and shortly afterwards suffers a catastrophic engine failure — and the response from Suzuki is effectively: you must fix it yourself.

That is not the level of service, accountability or confidence I expected when purchasing a new Suzuki.

I chose Suzuki because I believed I was buying into a reputable automotive brand backed by a manufacturer and dealer network that would stand behind its products.

Instead, this experience has completely changed my perception of the brand.

Suzuki Auto South Africa has not simply failed to resolve my problem — they have failed to make me feel like a valued customer at all.

A vehicle can break down. Mechanical failures happen.

What determines the reputation of a manufacturer is how they treat the customer when something goes wrong.

And based on my experience, Suzuki has failed that test spectacularly.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for accountability, a proper investigation, transparent communication and a fair resolution to a catastrophic engine failure on a nearly-new vehicle.

At this stage, my biggest disappointment isn’t even the engine failure.

It is the way Suzuki has handled me as the customer.

Brand-new Suzuki. Catastrophic engine failure. Dealer service history. Warranty rejected. Customer left to deal with the consequences.

This has been one of the worst customer-service experiences I have ever encountered with a vehicle manufacturer.

Suzuki Auto South Africa — you can and should do better.