I'm new to the forum, joined hoping someone might be able to shed a little insight on my promblem. I have a 2004 Aerio AWD sedan with less then 30,000 km on it (haven't owned it a year yet). Both back tires are worn completely bald. Did a quick search and noticed some threads with somewhat similar problems which were solved by alignment. Here's where my problem throws me off. When your wheels are out of alignment they usually wear uneven. BOTH of my rear tires are worn completely bald and worn evenly (front tires are still like new). The dealer says it's probably alignment and recommended I go to Firestone and have the alignment checked first (which means I have to buy 2 new tires first). I asked him what the odds of BOTH back tires being out of alignment AND the tires wearing evenly were, and he agreed that's odd, but still told me he couldn't do anything warranty wise until the alignment was checked. Of course I'm going to get the alignment checked, but was just wondering if anyone else has experienced or heard of this problem. My worry is that there might be a problem with the AWD system, possibly dragging the rear tires a bit or someting? Also, my car is undriveable at any speed over 70 km/h in the rain due to the fact that it wants to start fish tailing (so I obviously want to correct this problem before the snow comes). Hope someone can shed some light on this for me.
You are experiencing the exact same problem I had, now I know where you are from, I am just curious did you end up buying the car used or new? If you bought it used, let me know. I ended up having a battle with Suzuki out in NB because that is where I drove the car to.
Eventually, since I had undergone various alignments and rotations of tires, all of my tires were well worn more on the outside of them then on the inside making them a write off completely. They eventually discovered two things were wrong with my car, 1. The wheels were completely out of balance, 2. the rear left tire was out .5 inches to the right and the rear right tire was out .75 inches to the right. This was the reason the car constantly felt like it was fishtailing, especially in wet weather, over speeds of 100km/h and when the AWD system kicked in. Note that the Suzuki Aerio is not AWD all the time, it is only AWD part of the time and the AWD system in the Aerio is primative compared to many others out there such as Subaru and Audi. But eventually after my battle with Suzuki, Suzuki ended up replacing all 4 of my tires because of their errors in fixing my problem. I would suggest you do the same.
Now what has come of my vehicle. I will be honest with you, after I had the tires replaced and the alignment reset, I was so **** off with the ordeals I was having with a car with less than 20,000kms on it, I drove it back to Ontario and bought another vehicle, not Suzuki. I didn't mind the car other than those problems but being where I am now located it rains a lot and I drive a lot of kms everyday. I opted for safety rather than a sporty looking car. I also found that with such a small wheelbase, in any type of wind with the problems I was having the car would be all over the road. I just never could get back to the feeling of being safe in my car after driving it for almost 14,000kms before the problem was eventually found being that I was standing right next to the mechanic when he was performing the alignement diagnostics.
I must commend the people at Fredericton Suzuki in NB as they were quite helpful, but I think a little to late for me. Hopefully your problem is resolved soon. I hope this helps. As for problems with the AWD system, I also have read some articles on the net that have illustrated that there may be an issue with the system, in that when it kicks in it has a tendancy of knocking out the alignment. A suggestion would be to contact a private automotive place (such as Canadian Tire) and inquire as to whether they have worked on your vehicle before and whether they have heard of any such problems.
Thanks for the quick reply and detailed info, very helpful. Going to Firestone later this week upon dealership's recommendation (they have the best equipment and the dealership knows they have current specs for my vehicle). Really hoping this will fix my problem and only cost me a couple of tires and an alignment. I will try fighting for some sort of reimbursement from Suzuki, can't hurt to try. Worse case scenario, if the problem isn't solved, I'll likely end up following your lead and dump the car (besides it isn't nearly as good on gas as they claim in the brochure - the only way this car would get 37mpg is if you put it in neutral and coast down every hill). Thanks again for the info.
If you only have 30K on the vehicle, the tires that come new with the vehicle are most likely to be the Geolanders. There was one other brand that Suzuki used, both brands are a very soft tire. The reason for this is the impressive handling. The softer the tire, the shorter the life of the tire. This may not sound very economical to replace your tires ever 30k, however you do get reliable handling from a softer tire. Especially being you are in Canada, you can understand that a softer tire in wintery climates can benefit you.
With regards to alignments, there are many factors to take into consideration. First of all you should be getting your tires rotated every other oil change for even wear. Also, make sure you get an alignment every six months. I know this can add up but it does buy you a few extra months of tire life. Factors to consider when getting your alignment every six months are to request an alignment report from whomever does your alignments. Pay close attention to the Camber, Caster and Toe adjustments.
Each time you run over a bump in the road, it adds up to mis-alignment more and more each time, even by fractions of an inch.
I have learned this and paid close attention to the measurements and have saved myself the hassle of last minute worries when I lack control of my vehicle in wondering, why I lacked the control from the get-go.
Take good care and provide it with regular maintenance, more than just your oil changes and it will take good care of you.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on getting an alignment every six months. That is extremely excessive to me. No way should running over a bump in the road change your alignment, unless it's an enormous pothole or you run over a tree, something that actually bends a part in the suspension. The three vehicles I've had previous to my Suzuki went over countless bumps and never needed an alignment or had uneven tire wear. I only did alignments when the suspension parts were changed, and that's usually once, maybe twice in the vehicle's lifetime. Heck, I am only going to be having an oil change every six months (7500 miles, Mobil 1 synthetic), nothing should need to be adjusted/replaced as frequently as oil!
I hear ya Aaron. I drive in Boston and around the Providence Rhode Island areas, as well as in New York City where the roads are junk. I can imagine in Washington State the roads are far better than they are here in New England and New York City.
I find that I get pulling and vibration in my steering wheel after many months going without an alignment. I get my wheels balanced and rotated every other oil change. I go to Sears where I bought my tires and they take care of all of this for me for free.
When the tires are balanced and the car is in alignment I don't have pulling or vibration in the steering wheel at higher speeds. I do alot of driving, about 30k a year.
Actually, another thing to take into consideration is dented rims from potholes. That too can cause wheels to go out of balance and create vibration as well as an array of other problems. I really need to replace them too! Suzuki lists them at $800 each!
When I first bought my tires, I was lucky enough to have a defective tire, that was "out of round" and it did create uneven wear, as well as vibration too.
The 2005 2 wheel drive sx also has way too much tire wear.
Mine with 12000 mile are bald.
Long story short Dealer did realign rear end but won't cover the tirs I drove it too far.
I just put on some used tires to make up for it $30.00 for 2 mounted. This is to see if they wear out the fast way.
Later if all goes well I'll probably go with non recomended tire as I got gyped with recomended tire to a 205.50.15 size. Waiting on another thread to see their results.
Suzuki does suck like cable way to high to drive They even lie on gas mileage on sticker 38 miles to a gallion another reason not to like Susuki sukie car.
Deepguy, the yokohama tires do have a shorter life. If you read the book that came with the car for the yokohama tires, you would see that these are a soft rubber tire, made for performance and traction, not longitivity.
What kind of tires did you replace your yokohama's with?
I have gotten 37mpg on my 03 a few times but I have 208000kms and have broken my engine in . When it was new I was lucky to get 32mpg. I had a similar problem with tire wear but for different reasons than 05/06 aerios are . I suggest you go into your dealership and make them bring up any service bullitens that are out for the Aerio. A lady here had tire wear problem on her 05 and suzuki replaced her tires free . I am currently keeping an eye on my wifes 05 for similar problems.
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