Thoughts on a Suzuki Jimny

laurpat

I'm just wondering what the general opinion is on the Suzuki Jimny.

I'm thinking about picking up one for my partner that is currently driving about 5,000 Miles of city driving per year.

Any advice on the car is appreciated...

dirtydiesel

They are a reliable little jeep and cheap to run, although tyres will be expensive.
Not ideal for city driving and not the most comfortable jeep to drive.

gofaster_s13

dirtydiesel wrote: »

They are a reliable little jeep and cheap to run, although tyres will be expensive.
Not ideal for city driving and not the most comfortable jeep to drive.

Steering lock is atrocious on them compared to a small car so not really the most suitable city vehicle.

beertons

My sister had one. It was the most uncomfortable machine I ever drove. She has a mini now, and when she thinks about it she agrees.

Atlantic Dawn

Heavy on fuel, handling is terrible, off road useless, I suppose it looks ok.

Dempo1

Excellent city vehicle, i owned two in the past and could not fault them. One slight issue (But should not be of concern to city drivers), is handling at high speeds, motor ways etc. The four wheel drive on these vehicles is as good as the very best. Despite their size, space is minimal but excellent range of roof racks available. Finally, excellent vehicle for parking and high visibility & as with all Suzuki's very reliable

peasant

Despite its mickey-mouse looks, the Jimny is a a full-fat offroader with a ladder frame, live axles and great articulation. Combined with the short wheelbase this makes it drive like a bouncy castle on wheels. Quite fun, once you're used to it, but not particularly comfortable. A good test drive over bad roads is a must in order to find out if you can live with that or not.

It is great around the city in that you sit high up with great all-round visibility and that it's so small to be easy to park and to maneuvre through traffic.

The rear seats are for emergencies only and the boot with the rear seats up is next to non-existant.

It's a love it or hate it kind of vehicle ...I loved mine.

And no, it's not useless off-road, anything but

gofaster_s13

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Heavy on fuel, handling is terrible, off road useless, I suppose it looks ok.

You don't know what your talking about, one of the best out of the box off roaders available.

laurpat

Folks,

Thanks for all your help... I'm after securing a deal on a little Jimny and I'm over the moon.

Quick question... are they really that heavy on fuel? I thought with a 1.3 that they'd be quite economical for city driving.

peasant

It is comparatively heavy, has big wheels and low gearing so it needs to be pushed a bit ...which results in about 8.5L/100km or 33 mpg in city and short distance driving.

Dempo1

:)Yes agreed, consumption can be high. I did quite allot of long journeys and found consumption OK, i think the shorter journeys will be the challenge, this said, there lots of fun and low on tax to enjoy

BronsonTB

Best of luck with the new purchase....

Had a Suzuki GV for a while.....

argosy2006

you should buy a lil automatic for city driving, a clio or somethang

P.C.

Good luck with her.

As has been said here, they are very good offroad vehicles, but imo are no good in a city.

They are heavy on fuel - small engine and a heavy vehile does not make for good fuel economy.#

argosy2006

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Insight/1.0-HYBR/200943195565822/advert?channel=CARS
theres your city car

unkel

argosy2006 wrote: »

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Insight/1.0-HYBR/200943195565822/advert?channel=CARS
theres your city car

Good find! A bit pricey but it looks mint. What are the chances of the batteries lasting say another 5 years? How much to have them replaced?

laurpat

unkel wrote: »

Good find! A bit pricey but it looks mint. What are the chances of the batteries lasting say another 5 years? How much to have them replaced?

Jez lads, Not sure if i'm fond of it! What's the tax and MPG for such a car? A 10 year old Hybrid - ya can only be asking for trouble? No?

Think I'll stick to the Jimny - It looks more fun. . . Thinking about putting an "A Bar" and Side Step Bars on it! Maybe a set of Spots. Where is the best pace to find accessories for the Jimny? Ebay?

Cosmo K

laurpat wrote: »

J
Thinking about putting an "A Bar" and Side Step Bars on it! Maybe a set of Spots.

Please......Don't!

A Jimny is such a nice little car............ if you have to ruin a car, why not buy a Hyundai Sante Fe Mk1, they look really "good" with bull bars, step bars and all that other crap......

peasant

laurpat wrote: »

Think I'll stick to the Jimny - It looks more fun. . . Thinking about putting an "A Bar" and Side Step Bars on it! Maybe a set of Spots. Where is the best pace to find accessories for the Jimny? Ebay?

If you want to accessorise it get some wind deflectors for the front windows.(Suzuki sells them)
Ventilation isn't great and open windows (without deflectors) are very noisy and drafty.
A nice spare wheel cover could also look good.

stimpson

unkel wrote: »

Good find! A bit pricey but it looks mint. What are the chances of the batteries lasting say another 5 years? How much to have them replaced?

I looked at that very same car last year. CVT and Wicklow reg (and me other half getting preggers!) put me off. Having said that, if you're considering buying, the battery packs can be split and reconditioned with a specialist battery charger (I think they are ni-mh D cells).

http://www.insightcentral.net/community/ should have the skinny on that and things to look out for when buying.

Also www.99mpg.com is worth a read too. With a 5th wheel modification for electric only mode, and a few other mods, this guy gets 100mpg.

Apparently, if you get enough sun (probably not in Ireland) you can swap the packs, charging one at home from solar panels while you're out and about and it will do 30 miles at 30 mph for free! And you'll never get stuck liek a pure electric car because it has an internal cumbustion engine.

laurpat

Cosmo K wrote: »

Please......Don't!

A Jimny is such a nice little car............ if you have to ruin a car, why not buy a Hyundai Sante Fe Mk1, they look really "good" with bull bars, step bars and all that other crap......

I'm in two minds what to do, thought something maybe like



Or this one, I like the A bar but the side steps are just to wide, I'd like a bar instead



Cosmo, I think you may be right, A set of flaps but other than that leave it as it is

Esel

Think I remember reading they're extra-prone to rolling?

Fishtits

Suffer me...

Why on earth would someone in a city want a 4WD?

If its the high driving position, there are many 2WD options.

My experience of city streets is that they are rutted and uneven, a Jimny or similar is surely the worst carriage to traverse such terrain in?

PS someone mentioned 33MPG around town... if true its not to be sniffed at.

laurpat

esel wrote: »

Think I remember reading they're extra-prone to rolling?

esel, you can't have it everyway... I'll be using it more for short trips that will not exceed 80KMPH with an average speed of 18kmph. I think some how we'll be fine on that front;)

laurpat

Fishtits wrote: »

Suffer me...

Why on earth would someone in a city want a 4WD?

If its the high driving position, there are many 2WD options.

We'll be doing some off roading maybe twice a month,this is something we hadn't an option with before. There is very little in the price range with a 2WD and a small engine size with a high seating position... The Jimny ticked all boxes

Fishtits wrote: »

My experience of city streets is that they are rutted and uneven, a Jimny or similar is surely the worst carriage to traverse such terrain in?

IT's true, we're in for a bumpy ride, but the only thing it'll be travelling mon-fri in heavy traffic and the pace is slow... If I get 33MPG I'll be very happy...

argosy2006

Seems de Op wants what he wants, so have to respect his choice,,, if it snows again he will prove he was right after all to buy the jimny

Absurdum

argosy2006 wrote: »

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Insight/1.0-HYBR/200943195565822/advert?channel=CARS
theres your city car

only has 2 seats

argosy2006

Do this to it

bongi69

Here's Richard Hammond's car from the Police Challenge.

I know its a Vitara, but you might get some inspiration

Back to topic, I drove a Jimny when on holidays last year, it was the convertible open one. T'was ok for a little runaround. Enjoy it!

langdang

bongi69 wrote: »

Back to topic, I drove a Jimny when on holidays last year, it was the convertible open one. T'was ok for a little runaround. Enjoy it!

Ya, had one in Greece, good craic, mine got nowhere near rolling but squealed like a pig on every hairpin... (4WD drive was selectable, think it was RWD without 4WD engaged) If they're good for greek roads they should be fine on Irish country roads! No experience of driving one around town tho..
Basic though, dunno if they improved in later models but it kinda reminded me of driving an offroad version of a Nissan Sunny.

bongi69

langdang wrote: »

Ya, had one in Greece, good craic, mine got nowhere near rolling but squealed like a pig on every hairpin... (4WD drive was selectable, think it was RWD without 4WD engaged) If they're good for greek roads they should be fine on Irish country roads! No experience of driving one around town tho..
Basic though, dunno if they improved in later models but it kinda reminded me of driving an offroad version of a Nissan Sunny.

Had mine in Crete where everyone is related to Michael Schumacher As you said, it suited their roads

I didn'd bother trying to put it in 4WD, and I'd say the one I had was about 10 years old, and very basic. They'd fitted an aftermarket radio and those waterproof speakers you get on speedboats to it, so had a decent sound.

gofaster_s13

Most of the Jimnys for rent in Crete have the front propshaft removed as they don't want people taking them off road;)

cantdecide

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1036021

What about this one?

peasant

gofaster_s13 wrote: »

Most of the Jimnys for rent in Crete have the front propshaft removed as they don't want people taking them off road;)

There actually was (is?) a 2WD variant of the Jimny.
Thankfully that was never sold in Ireland.

laurpat

Lads

Yee won't believe it, I had agreed a price with a seller for A Jimny and was due to collect it tonight but of course the seller went missing and could not be found or contacted. I'm after hiring a car for the last week until the seller was ready to let go of the car and then he goes and lets me down.

I got a PM from them saying he can't sell the car and that he is sorry for wasting my time... Not impressed at all. I've lost a week of serching. Ok folks, I need all your help... I'm looking for a Jimny good value - year is not a concern... open to all suggestions

colm_mcm

Maybe the universe is telling you to buy something decent!

laurpat

colm_mcm wrote: »

Maybe the universe is telling you to buy something decent!

Good man Colm_mcm, you could be right!!!!

Esel

That's crap. I hope he didn't pull out just to get the extra €50 from that other guy...

laurpat

esel wrote: »

That's crap. I hope he didn't pull out just to get the extra €50 from that other guy...

Something not quite right about it all!

Planned collection on Friday last - Called off.

Collection on Saturday last - Called off

Collection today - Seller went missing.
PM recieved this evening ... Why wouldn't someone just state that they were not selling from day one or that they wanted a higher asking price. Can't understand why you'd go sale agreed. Bad form when he knew I had a hire car waiting...

Got a pm late tonight that if I'm still interested and if I could hold out till Monday that the deal may be on then... Messer!!!!