2000 Suzuki Esteem wagon. Subframe and front passenger side axel rusted through and collapsed while coming to a stop.. this caused the front passenger side wheel to be pushed back into the wheel well. The car needed to be towed and is being repaired for a cost of $1000. Fortunately no one was hurt as the vehicle was slowing down, but if these parts had failed at highway speeds, it is quite likely a fatal accident would have occurred. I have searched on line and found that other Suzuki owners have reported this same problem. I hope this vehicle is recalled or at least owners should be notified of this defect.

- Mcfarland, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2000 Suzuki Esteem. While driving at approximately 15 mph, the contact observed a loud grinding noise. While moving off the roadway and onto the shoulder, the grinding noise became more severe. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed the front K frame was severely rotted and the left lower control arm had ripped through the main frame. The vehicle was not serviced. The failure and current mileages were 96,000.

- Polland, CT, USA

I was a licensed mechanic for many years with a lot of expertise. I bought my daughter a 2000 Suzuki Esteem two years ago. We live in Michigan and I bought this particular car because it was from Virginia and was immaculate not like the cars from the rust belt here in michgan. She was driving the car and it all of a sudden, violently and without warning pulled very hard. She called me I told her to stop the car and let me inspect it. She got it to a safe area and also told me the passenger side wheel was "bent in". I inspected it and immediately noticed the cross frame that supports the two a frames to the subframe of the car had completed rusted out and detached on the passenger side and was almost gone on the driver side too. All other surrounding metal frames and the car body itself were in excellent condition but this cross frame was very obviously defective and rotted out causing catastrophic failure of the vehicles front suspension and steering loss. Again, this particular part is defective to the most casual observer as everything around it is in great condition and when this main frame part fails it has the possibility of tossing the car violently especially at highway speeds. My daughter is an emt used to driving an ambulance at high speed and is an excellent driver. A lesser driver may have had a catastrophic outcome. The car is here and can be inspected.

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2000 Suzuki Esteem. While driving approximately 10 mph, the passenger wheel went out of the alignment. The dealer stated that the passenger front sub- frame had excessive rust. Updated 05/20/08

- Stow, OH, USA

I was driving my 2000 Suzuki Esteem home from uptown with my sister and 8-year-old daughter in the car when a noise which was faint over the last couple of weeks grew quickly louder and all of a sudden my car jerked to the right, practically out of my hands. I grasped the steering wheel as hard as I could just to keep the vehicle on the road. I was only traveling about 20-25 mph. I fought the difficult steering long enough at a very slow speed to get the car to my sister's house. I parked the car there and called my husband at work to explain what had happened and to come pick me up. As I exited the car, I noticed the right front (passenger's) wheel was shoved clear back almost into the back of the fender well. When my husband and a colleague of his from work stopped by later, they crawled under the vehicle to assess what the problem was. To his astonishment, the front frame section of the car had rusted through enough to crack and crumple backwards far enough to allow the wheel to move into the fender well. He said that I was very lucky I was not on the highway doing 55-60 mph, because the speed could have been enough to throw the tire back into the fender well hard enough to lock the one front tire, causing the car to lose control, spin sideways and possibly flip over, killing all three of us. It was only by the grace of god that we were traveling at a slow speed in a remote area where no other cars were around to interact with at the time. The car is currently at my sister's house awaiting a decision on what to do with it. A seven-year-old car with an average of less than 12,000 miles per year on it should not have a frame rusted through long before the body shows any signs of significant rust. I just had a full brake job done on the vehicle and thought that something was wrong with them still. Suzuki should recall these vehicles to install a sturdier frame in the front section, before someone does get killed.

- Doylestown, OH, USA