dreaming of a jimny

[VW]

Ok, so as a few of you may have noticed, over the last year ive been wondering about a first car for the wife. Without going back over options, a jimny has been settled on.

I just went to look at one, 1999 1.3. Seemed ok. No rust, drove ok, sounded ok. Few clunks maybe when pulling off in reverse but may have imagined that.
Is a slight agricultural feel normal on this kind of thing? It seemed perfectly acceptable but it doesnt feel like a new little hatchback.

I know nothing about jimnys apart from rust issues and I know nothing at all about 4WD.

The 4WD selector seemes to work fine. Mot history shows no concerns.
Its quite cheap though (1k) and has been for sale for a little while so am wondering if I'm missing any jimny specific issues.

What goes wrong? (Mot history advises oil leak, I forgot to check). Whats expensive to fix (its had recent clutch).
I seem to remember reading about possible reliability issues and repair costs but don't remember any details.

Any jimny buying advice appreciated.
Thanks.

[dazcapri]

I think they're a very capable off roader but be careful cos of the weird tax rules some of them are expensive to tax. There's a good forum at www.bigjimny.com that will answer all your questions

[VW]

Jun 3, 2017 16:23:52 GMT dazcapri said:

I think they're a very capable off roader but be careful cos of the weird tax rules some of them are expensive to tax. There's a good forum at www.bigjimny.com that will answer all your questions

Thanks, ill register.
I think were buying it anyway so what will be will be.

It didnt seem to suffer from any of the problems ive read about but its hard reading about issues after the test drive.

[austinpowers]

They do feel a bit agriculture compared to a modern hatchback. And you will get a bit of clonking from the drive line. We have land rovers & ford rangers at work and they all clonk as it takes up the slack. For a 1.3 they are quite lively and can slide the backend out easily.

[rblote]

Rust is no issue here in Australia so don't know about that one.
They are a great little truck. Go well and yes they are a little agriculture.
I would not mind one myself but are just a bit to small for what I need.
I see them here for sale with well over 200.000km's and people asking and still
getting good money for them.

Look at this one...$5000 for a Jimny with close to 300.000km on the clock
www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Suzuki-Jimny-2002/SSE-AD-4700710/?Cr=0

[daslandroverman]

Not a great deal of choice in aftermarket parts, and often suzuki dealers don't keep a great deal in stock.

They can dissolve just as well as previous models, whilst fuel economy is pretty tragic for a 1300, with a couple of people I know who owned them reporting low to mid twenties mpg.

Asides that they're a capable little things, agile off road, if not the most nimble on it, and cheap and cheerful for what they are.

[strikey]

I seem to recall that the transmissions weren't as bombproof as the sj/samurais. good boggo basic motoring though.

[antni]

Bit of a thread revival to save starting a new one, has anyone seen the 2018 jimny? Strongly considering getting one for the wife. Look really funky/retro for a new car like a mini g wagon/jeep crossbreed

[niwid]

I hadn't until just now.



Yep, that pretty cool

[strikey]

like the look of that!!!!

[rblote]

Yes, can't wait to see it for reals. They look great and are now powered by a 1.5 liter power house.
First impressions look okay.

[Littlepixel]

I was thinking about starting a thread on these, as they're new but deffo have bona-fide retro DNA.

I think they're just so good - with proper functional utilitarian design language, looking for all like a slightly updated, mini 1979 era G-Wagen
When you consider what a mess the 2020 Land Rover will probably be, (curves, fake vents, over the top LED headlamps, fake bash plates) this thing fills all the criteria for a proper no-frills small 4x4.
Bravo Suzuki!
(also - wish that they had plans for a 5-door LWB version)

[ratchart]

I'm not normally a fan of 4X4 or suvs but I actually like this. It doesn't look too overly sanitised for a modern car, yet I presume it still ticks all the boxes as far as H&S etc goes. Hopefully they'll make an open version too.

[joem83]

I really want one... for the Mrs... honest

[rblote]

I always wanted a Jimny. Unfortunately the old or current Jimny can't pull my trailer. I hope the next one can.

[Littlepixel]

Not a new one but one of the nicest resto-mod ones I've seen - sort of like an Icon FJ Toyota, but an SJ / Jimny / Samurai







Some build details


Mind you everything looks better in grey.

Back on topic
Here's some other new ones







And a mk1 - you can really see how they're harking back to their roots on this new model:

[strikey]

shame they didn't hark back to the lj with the styling cues , though nice to see the sj homage coming out of it. seems to bit a bit new to find too many images of modified ones but i do like this one.



a couple of tidy renderings..





hummmm... rear drum brakes....waste of time on an offroader....thats dissapointing.

[tomcraft]

I hope for the 5 doors too, this little Jimny look like a little G class, but affordable
But here in France, they will be sold with a 1.5l NA petrol engine... With the rules about CO2, The Jimny will be punished very hard, so I'm not sure they will be a lot on the road here.... Sad....

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

Sept 4, 2018 19:57:47 GMT strikey said:

hummmm... rear drum brakes....waste of time on an offroader....thats dissapointing.

What's wrong with them? At least they generally give a half-decent handbrake, unlike some rear disc braked vehicles.

[strikey]

Sept 9, 2018 9:48:53 GMT Waxoyling Lyrical said:

Sept 4, 2018 19:57:47 GMT strikey said:

hummmm... rear drum brakes....waste of time on an offroader....thats dissapointing.

What's wrong with them? At least they generally give a half-decent handbrake, unlike some rear disc braked vehicles.

i used to kill brake shoes for a pastime on my samurai when much wading or deep mud offroading...never needed to replace pads once i had done a disc conversion. admittedly 99% of the ones sold will see nothing more arduous than a pot hole but surely drums are just too old hat these days?