going to buy a jimny, what should i look out for?

Hi im new here

Im going to buy a jimny, want to spend around £3,000

i know for that cash i wont get a vvt engine but what should i be lookin out for?

Things to avoid

Rust. There shouldn't be any for that price. Look in the tray where the jack lives, and beneath the back seats.

A towbar, or worse, signs a towbar has been fitted and removed. Jimnys don't tow much, but from some of the boasts you read, people use them to tow steamrollers up mountains. This does not do them much good.

Pitted or leaking swivel housings on the front axle. Just trouble to fix, best to get one that doesn't need fixing.

Extra lights, raised suspension, knobbly tyres, coloured shock absorbers snorkles. These are generally fitted to cars that work hard off road.

Sporty air filters and exhausts.

Impacted mud underneath.



Things to look out for

The person selling it being in the logbook for years. (Then find out what is wrong with it for them to want to sell)
Bling! You might want to rip this off, but most people who bling up their cars look after them and never take them off road.
Very old owners. You might have to buy a clutch, but it will have been looked after generally.

Ok cheers, how often do the timing belts need to be done? im looking at a 2003 red convertible with 55,000 miles on friday... not massively keen on the colour but it looks in good nick

If the jimny done 55000 it will need a new cam belt,so get that fitted in the price,if not knock £300 of the price.
My jimny has all the parts on it that Facade as told you about, and has only been off road 3 time in 2.5 years, so don't say no to a jimny with mods till you've had a good look at it first.
I have a tow bar on my jimny and this is all tows.

60,000 miles for a cam belt, but they are quite easy to do on a jimny.
Budget for a full service, cambelt and likely tyres. Most people get rid of cars when the major service is due, and this usually coincides with everything wearing out: tyres & exhaust especially. If there is a fancy spare wheel cover, check how bald the spare tyre is.

Make sure the engine management light and seatbelt light come on with the ignition, and go out when it starts up. Check the roof for damage and broken clips, they are a right pain to remove and replace, about 100x worse in the cold weather. Check the carpets for dampness, especially in the back.
Check it hasn't been crashed, the front chassis legs are designed to collapse which can twist the front, but most end up written off by rolling onto the side, you will notice if this has happened :silly:

Ensure you have both ignition keys, and that they both start the car, a new one is £1,000,000 and has to be coded to the car.

Now is the wrong time to buy a jimny, you could save £500 by buying the same car in April.

If you just want 4x4 for the winter, a mk1 Rav4 is the best buy, they go for sensible money as they only do about 25 to the gallon, but they are excellent on road and will do 200,000 miles easy without major work.
£1000 will get you a very smart example around 1996-98 (Don't touch an auto made between 2000 and 2003 though)

Cheers for the help guys! Ill try and get the price lowered by a few quid coz i know the camvelt has not been done, im expecting to get a good £600 back from.part exing my current car so if there are a few bits to do ill have spare cash to do it