FaultScore report
Owners have filed 14 complaints about the 1993 Suzuki Sidekick with NHTSA between 1995 and 2004. The largest single group is the electrical system. Across this model's run it ranks 6 of 6 worst.
FaultScore 48/100
Higher is worse. Measured against the other years of the Suzuki Sidekick.
How this is worked out14
Complaints
1
Crashes reported
1
Fires reported
2
Injuries reported
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
Click any bar to open that year's report.
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Median failure at 90,000 miles
1 crashes, 0 fires
0 crashes, 1 fires
Median failure at 12,000 miles
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single owner can see from inside their own car.
An investigation is the step before a recall: the agency has seen enough complaints to look into a pattern itself. An open one means it thinks something may be wrong and nothing has been fixed yet.
REAR AXLE HOUSING FAILURE
A complaint is one owner's allegation. A recall is the point at which the manufacturer or a regulator agreed the defect is real and dangerous enough to fix for free — however old the car is.
Canada runs its own recall programme, and its campaigns do not always mirror the American ones.
Brakes
NOTE: 2 DOOR VEHICLES ONLY. THE REAR AXLE HOUSING ASSEMBLIES ON THESE VEHICLES MAY HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED INCORRECTLY, WHICH COULD ALLOW A WELDING FRACTURE AT THE AXLE SHAFT HOUSING TUBE TO THE DIFFERENTIAL CASE. FRACTURE OF THE AXLE SHAFT HOUSING COULD RESULT IN LOSS OF REAR BRAKING AND ADVERSELY AFFECT VEHICLE CONTROL. CORRECTION: REAR AXLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY WILL BE INSPECTED AND REPLACED IF REQUIRED.
Recalls cover specific build ranges, so check your own vehicle by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls or, in Canada, Transport Canada.
Reports where the owner recorded a crash, a fire, an injury or a death.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY
WHILE UNSCREWING GAS CAP, FIRE BALL CAME OUT OF GAS TANK INTO DRIVER'S FACE, FIRE ENGULFED DRIVER'S HEAD; GAS TANK WAS NOT FULLY REMOVED.
NHTSA complaint #982428 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEATS
CONSUMER WAS IN AN ACCIDENT AND DRIVER SIDE SEAT FAILURE SEAT BROKE IN HALF. TT
NHTSA complaint #977316 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
APPROXIMATELY. 14 MO. AFTER PURCHASE, SPEEDOMETER CABLE ASSEMBLY BEGAN MAKING NOISE, GOT WORSE (INTERMITTENTLY), AND CULMINATED 7 YRS. LATER IN A "FROZEN" SPEEDOMETER PLUS EXTREMELY LOUD SCREECHING (STUCK CABLE HEAD) AT SPEEDS OVER 20 MPH. REPLACEMENT OF COMPLETE SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER ASSEMBLY BY INDEPENDENT AUTO REPAIR SHOP WAS COMPLICATED BY LACK OF AVAILABLE USED UNITS (WE LOOKED UNSUCCESSFULLY FOR OVER 8 MOS.). USED UNIT FINALLY FOUND BUT NOT CORRECTLY DIGITIZED (5 SETTINGS INSTEAD OF MANUFACTURED 6 SETTINGS). ONLY OPTION OFFERED BY DEALER WAS NEW UNIT AT COST OF $700. I PAID $300 TO INSTALL USED (AND INCORRECTLY DIGITIZED) REPLACEMENT. THIS PROBLEM WAS REPORTED TO DEALER WITHIN FIRST 14 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP, AND WAS REPEATEDLY BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION EVERY YEAR AS NOISE GREW WORSE. DEALER WAS NON-RESPONSIVE EVERY TIME. HOWEVER, I NOW UNDERSTAND FROM THREE DIFFERENT AUTO REPAIR SHOPS THAT THIS PROBLEM WAS VERY COMMON TO 1993 - 1995 VEHICLES OF MY MAKE AND MODEL, WHICH IS WHY NO CORRECT USED UNITS WERE AVAILABLE TO ME FOR REPLACEMENT. IT APPEARS THAT SUZUKI HAS EITHER NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED THIS DEFECT, OR NEVER NOTIFIED OWNERS OF A FIX.
NHTSA complaint #10054881 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:INTERIOR/UNDER DASH
AT APPROX. 90,000 MI., TURN SIGNAL STEM BEGAN MAKING LOUD BUZZING NOISE INTERMITTENTLY WHEN MOVED UPWARD (RIGHT BLINK). PROBLEM INCREASED SO THAT BY 138,000 MI. BUZZING HAPPENED WHENEVER STEM WAS MOVED UPWARD OR DOWNWARD (RIGHT OR LEFT BLINK). BY 140,000 MI. BUZZING WAS CONSTANT, WHETHER TURN SIGNAL STEM WAS ENGAGED OR NOT. THIS PROBLEM WAS BROUGHT TO ATTENTION OF DEALER FROM 1997 - 1999. DEALER WAS NON-RESPONSIVE, SAYING THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM. WIRING WAS REPAIRED BY INDEPENDENT AUTO SHOP, COSTING OVER $200. PROBLEM IS BEGINNING INTERMITTENTLY AGAIN LESS THAN 500 MILES LATER. THERE APPEARS TO BE FAULTY OEM WIRING INSIDE STEERING COLUMN AND DASHBOARD. VEHICLE (ORIGINAL OWNER) HAS NEVER BEEN ROUGHLY USED OR IN ANY TYPE OF ACCIDENT.
NHTSA complaint #10019830 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
TIRES:TREAD/BELT
AS MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT APPROX. 60 MPH, THE LEFT REAR TIRE TREAD PEELED OFF A CHUNCK OF TREAD. SHE WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF THE FREEWAY, WHERE I WAS CALLED TO CHANGE IT WITH MY SPARE, WHICH IS A BRIDGESTONE( DOT NUMBER: 19681 TIRE SIZE: P20575R15 )
NHTSA complaint #727637 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR
POWER PASSENGER WINDOW WILL NOT ROLL UP DUE TO REGULATOR GOING OUT. POSSIBLE SHORTING OUT AND WINDOW ROLLING DOWN BY ITSELF. VEHICLE WAS SECURED WHEN LEFT, AND WHEN RETURNED PASSENGER WINDOW WAS DOWN. ESTIMATED COST OF REPAIRS: 350.00 BECAUSE SUZUKI DOES NOT MAKE REGULATOR'S WITHOUT A WHOLE NEW MOTOR.
NHTSA complaint #712712 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:TAILGATE:LATCH
THE SPRING WHICH CONTROLS THE REAR LIFTGATE GOT OUT OF ITS PLASTIC DUE TO WIRE MELTING THE PLASTIC, AND CAUSED THE REAR DOOR TO OPEN UNEXPECTEDLY WHICH MAY HAVE CAUSD INJURIES. THE REAR DOOR WILL NOT SHUT CLOSED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION AND VIN#.
NHTSA complaint #836312 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
ELECTRICAL FIRE.
NHTSA complaint #519331 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
THE REAR PASSENGER'S SEAT BELT ON THE DRIVER SIDE LOCKS WHERE IT CAN NOT COME OUT OF ITS RETRACTOR AND IS UNABLE TO BE USED AT THIS TIME. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS.
NHTSA complaint #807124 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM
LACK OF GRILL OVER AIR VENTS ALLOWS RODENTS TO ENTER VENTILATION SYSTEM.
NHTSA complaint #510212 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
VEHICLE FIRE.
NHTSA complaint #502301 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:PADS
CONTINUOUS WEAR ON THE FRONT BRAKE PADS AND DISC. DESCRIBE IN MORE DETAIL.
NHTSA complaint #986791 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY
WHILE UNSCREWING GAS CAP, FIRE BALL CAME OUT OF GAS TANK INTO DRIVER'S FACE, FIRE ENGULFED DRIVER'S HEAD; GAS TANK WAS NOT FULLY REMOVED.
NHTSA complaint #982428 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEATS
CONSUMER WAS IN AN ACCIDENT AND DRIVER SIDE SEAT FAILURE SEAT BROKE IN HALF. TT
NHTSA complaint #977316 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
WHILE DRIVING ENGINE FAILED/BLEW ESTIMATED SPEED 40 MPH DUE TO ROD FAILURE. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. TT
NHTSA complaint #966464 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STEERING:LINKAGES:KNUCKLE:SPINDLE:ARM
STEERING KNUCKLE BETWEEN STEERING COLUMN AND STEERING BOX WORE PREMATURELY AT 50,000 MILES. TT
NHTSA complaint #962055 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.