Suzuki has launched a nationwide recall campaign in Japan that affects only one car. That’s not a typo. There is apparently only a single 1996 Suzuki Cappuccino with the problem, and rather than reach out to the owner directly, the company issued a standard recall as if it impacted thousands of cars. Even more amazing, the problem was a minor oversight at the factory that didn’t change the car’s operability one iota, and it took them 21 years to realize it.
Suzuki released an official recall to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on February 6, as reported by Jalopnik, and the reason was that the engine didn’t have it’s K6A stamp on it. That’s it. The Cappuccino in question is the car with serial number EA21R-102188 as denoted in the official recall campaign. How they even realized they forgot to stamp a single engine over two decades ago is beyond us.
Suzuki included a illustrated instruction of what is missing on the particular vehicle. Essentially the car works perfectly fine, it just needs this stamp on it due to a possible issue during the car’s Shaken test.
But here’s the kicker. Where most manufacturers would just have a the engine brought in so they could stamp the engine number on it, Suzuki’s recall is giving the owner a whole new engine. Luckily for Suzuki, they still produce this engine for th Jimny and the Caterham 7, so sourcing a new one isn’t a problem.
Essentially, the owner of this car just got a lucky break because their 21-year-old engine gets replaced from the factory, for free, with a brand new K6A with zero miles on it. For the owner of this car the timing is perfect because, at around 20 years old, emissions and road worthiness tests will force a slew of small repairs that nickel and dime the owner. Most people in Japan with a car that old to begin to question if they want to keep it and often when that decision lands on a “no,” they sell it and the car ends up exported to another country like the US or Canada.
What wows us so much here at Japanese Nostalgic Car, in an era of fudging emissions tests and blatantly hiding serious safety recalls, here’s Suzuki going out of their way to make sure that every single car they make is the best that they can be. Hats off to Suzuki for being the real MVP.
Top image by Skorj, co-founder of Filmwasters and you can find more of his work at Cars on Film and here on JNC.
This is awesome man! I really enjoy the work like this that you do!! Keep it up boss!
Could the “unstamped” Cappuccino engine/car be worth more as a collectible?
That’s a good question, I imagine so since it’s 1 of 1 at that point and it has a crazy story behind it.
This car is now an extremely rare one of a kind vehicle that can fetch a high price on the market in the car collector niche imagine what it could bring
Too bad Suzuki couldn’t survive here in the US. I really wanted a Swift SSS.
Come on, I thought you’d know more about JNC and the road tests they have to go through. That is the most singular reason you don’t find old cars, less hassle to get a new car than to keep an old one. And the old ones didn’t end up here, but China and other developing countries.
Sure, in North America you don’t see old cars American or European simply because they were crummy cars to start with. (How many 90’s German cars do you see on the road? None. Except for M-B diesels)
I’m NOT surprised with what Suzuki did, because it was the thing to do, and you do it. There is the one thing that still applies in Japan, and that is honor. Cool beans the guy gets a new engine, I’m sure there were many more cars without the engine stamp, but they were either crushed or sent to Vietnam.
You must not be from or been to the USA because there is old American, European and Japanese cars everywhere
I’m in SoCal, and I never see cars from the 90’s, except for the odd late 90’s Camry…
Sure don’t see any old BMW, Audis, Mercedes-Benz prior to 2006 or so, they’ve either traded them in, or junked them because they were simply too expensive to repair.
Look at the price of a replacement headlamp for a Ford Focus:$1100. Not your $15 Pep Boys sealed beams anymore.
Sad fact, but for the majority of the drivers, it ain’t worth holding onto a pedestrian car more than several years.
Sure sure, specialty cars will still be around, but I dare you to find a regular Joe driving a 1992 Sentra.
1992?! That’s not even that old. There’s a pre-1990 Sentra a few blocks away from where I live…and even a pair of 1st gen Civics (one local guy had a total of 3 at one time, now down to just 1, but there’s another guy with a 1st gen too), occasional 70s and early 80s Datsuns, Z31/Z32 chassis 300ZXs are fairly common, late 80s to early 2000s BMWs are literally everywhere. Saw a BMW E3 (7-series predecessor) yesterday. There’s a local BMW tuner that does nothing but 70/80/90s BMWs by the name of CA Tuned (http://catuned.com) who managed to get 21st place (out of 260 entrants) in SEMA’s Battle of the Builders competition, not to mention daily-driven 60s Americana, and it’s just a small town west of California’s capitol.
Whut? What year are you living in? Last time I checked, 1992 was *25* years ago.
That’s like when my dad bought my TE27 SR5 in 1974, then there should had been a bunch of 1950 Fords on the road… NOT. Hell, we had a Pontiac Bonneville that was only 14 years old at the time and it was freaking ANCIENT. (that would be a 1960 model)
I don’t know what to tell you man, I visited a friend in Glendora about 2 years ago (before he moved to Japan) and I saw plenty of vintage machinery in LA. Even he would go on and tell me (after moving to Japan) that California had a lot more older Japanese cars on the road than in Japan (and he lives in Nagoya, 3rd biggest city in Japan).
Last time I made it out to California I saw quite a few older cars, it seems like every other landscaping truck is an old minitruck.
Naturally due to age they’re not as prevalent as they once were however.
I have a 92 se-r for a daily driver 🙂 Cheers from NorCal!
Where you buying your auto parts. $1100 is a made up figure. Be real. You can buy aftermarket lenses for around $200 and OEM is usually less. You dont what youre talking about. Go talk out of your ass elsewhere.
Exactly, old cars are abound here in California.
I live in Shanghai
It’s illegal to even own a car older than 10 years old here, much less be able to drive it on the road
Are they certain the specific car is still registered/in Japan/still exists?
I would say yes. Now us lazy Yankees don’t even register the serial numbers of tires, but I’m sure this guy is meticulous about his Cappuccino.
It’s too awesome
That is just incredibly awesome!
Also, can we get a facebook “share” button?
That missing engine stamp is what caused the Cappuccino to lose to Takumi and his AE86.
Skorj! You strike again!!! Awesome pix (as usual).
This a friendly reminder that you are overdue for a post & gallery of your musings…
Great job Suzuki!
If I were the owner I wouldn’t change the engine though.
it’s a unique one and the Cappuccino deserves its own old motor.
They should give him a Shaken pass.
ha ha,, that’s not going to happen any more than California letting someone import a JDM AE90 Sprinter with a 4A-GZE without passing smog, even if it’s the ONLY ONE IN CALI.
Make me wonder if more manufacturers could do this. As in giving 1000 or so cars new engines after 20 years for cars still registered and driven to this day.
Anyway, pretty cool of them to do this.
I wonder if they legally have to replace the engine (Japanese laws can be strange). So the real reason for the mass announcement is to avoid the actual person with the effected vehicle, hope he never steps up and they don’t need to replace it.
Swap the engine and let the owner keep the old engine without the K6A stamp on it. Why did the original engine not have the K6A stamp?