Reliability issues on a 2010 model

Hi all
I have just joined and thinking about buying a jimny 2010
Just wanted to know if there is anything I should be looking out for, when I go to buy one?

Hi,

Welcome to the Jimny forum.

I have a [late] 2011 Jimny, so the same as you are looking at. There are a few buyers guides out there, I think I used this one
www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/used-cars/use...g-guide-suzuki-jimny

There is also a thread here
www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/6-jimny...t/58109-buying-guide

Also look in the BigJimny wiki
www.bigjimny.com/mediawiki/index.php/File:Gen3-100x100.jpg

The main things to look for are rust round the body mounts and near the head lamps, although a 2010 shouldn't have started to rust yet unless it had a very hard life.

Then there is the 'so called death wobble', this is usually king pin bearings, but it is easy to check for and fairly straight forward to fix.

My view is that the engine is as relaible as anything else out there, some things seem to go, like the crankshaft [belt] pulley, but other cars might suffer the same.

Make sure you check the operation of the 4WD system, in all modes.

Hope that helps, no doubt others will add their pet likes/hates.

Robin

When you find one, check it's MOT history here

www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

If it does have rusty body mounts or has had them and been fixed, look carefully at the reapir.

Also I personally would avoid anything covered in underseal
Unless they can show pictures before it was applied 

Yep! Check all the above!
If there are ANY mot fails/advisories for corrosion on the body or chassis get right in there and brutally check.
In addition to the above check under the boot board, where the jack lives
check inside rear arches and inner sills, under the headlamps from inside the engine bay area.
My current Jimny (on my flickr pages) is rotten and badly repaired in all the usual areas if you want to know where to look.

If the car has had brake pipes replaced have a look at them, are they secure, are they routed properly?

Take caps off, creamy slime inside the oil cap? Not good. Does the anti freeze in the radiator look ok?

Do all the doors open and close ok? Badly closing doors could be worn hinges but on a Jimny its more likely to be bits of the body flexing/misaligned because of corrosion/bad repairs

Do all the lights that should come on when you turn the ignition actually come on? When you turn the ignition on you should see battery light, airbag, oil pressure, ABS (if its fitted) and they should go out when you start it.

If you are looking at 2010 cars, they are not going to be perfect and there is a good chance they will have suffered corrosion so be careful.

How reliable will it be? Depends a lot on you, the owner! If you service it, dont abuse it and fix stuff with quality parts (like the ones in bigjimny store!) it will be perfectly reliable! If you dont, it wont be!

Where do you live? Perhaps someone on here could look at it with you?