Re:new Gen4 or not ?

My 73 & 2019 plate Jimny have both been in recently having some warranty work done. Dealer registered the 2019 one which was out of warranty with Suzuki for the service activated warranty. Both have mods but none of the work had anything to do with those mods. I fully accept my modifications aren’t under warranty and if they affect something else then that claim would also be invalid.

Some may say who would pay over list price for a
vehicle that's three years old.

On the surface it doesn't seem sensible. But don't forget the residual value of the SZ5, which is way better than most cars.

Let's say you spend £25,000 on a low mileage Jimny SZ5. After keeping it three years l am willing to bet it will still be worth £20,000.

If you bought (say) a new VW Golf or T-Cross instead for £25,000 you'd likely have lost nearer £10,000 in the same time frame.

So, which is the better deal?

And look at the depreciation on electric vehicles.  Nobody wants them after five years.

Our 2020 Jimny was thoroughly rust treated when we got it, and 3 1/2 years down the line it's still like new underneath

It's not just the depreciation though is it there's also the inflation too. There's very few vehicles that beat both.

3 1/2 years after buying our 2020 SZ5, Motorway are offering me £25,600 this week.

They keep emailing me saying my vehicle is "in demand"

l think that part of the popularity is that the Jimny is exempt from most LEZ's which have forced a lot of people to offload their old 4x4's

There's been a definite fall in values of Defender TD5's and Puma's

Another reason for the Jimnys popularity is its one of the last cars that makes people smile and is fun. New cars and the future of motoring isn't looking great so many people are turning back and buying the cars they love or always wanted. Cars that may have been overlooked or not worth anything are starting their journeys to being collectible. I know Land rovers are falling because of ulez, theft, bad press and reliability but older Vogues, Sports, Discoverys and defenders will become rarer and finding a good one will become harder so people will want them. Already seeing lots of people buying 2007 to 2012ish rangies because they are cheap to pick up but hard to find a good one.

I was talking to a motor dealer while waiting for my test yesterday and they said that apparently land rover have had to transfer management of manufacturer buy back from head office out to the dealer network because they are having major issues with timing chains snapping on the ignium [sp] motors and apparently if it's out of warranty it'll cost you 11000 pounds for a new one to be fitted but you will be joining a 9 plus month waiting list. Consequently many people are not surprisingly saying I'll have my money back. I might have thought that JLR might have remembered the trouble with the gold seal engine replacement back in the day but seems they've not learned anything.

It's all making a replacement for my Friday afternoon special land cruiser just a little bit more difficult if there's nothing out there like it, I might yet be having to look for a classic vehicle myself that doesn't have a million computers draining the battery if you leave it for more than a fortnight.

It's a pity I can't double head a pair of jimny in front of my big sheep box and go down the road.

jlines wrote:

Another reason for the Jimnys popularity is its one of the last cars that makes people smile and is fun. New cars and the future of motoring isn't looking great so many people are turning back and buying the cars they love or always wanted. Cars that may have been overlooked or not worth anything are starting their journeys to being collectible. I know Land rovers are falling because of ulez, theft, bad press and reliability but older Vogues, Sports, Discoverys and defenders will become rarer and finding a good one will become harder so people will want them. Already seeing lots of people buying 2007 to 2012ish rangies because they are cheap to pick up but hard to find a good one.

Yesterday I went to my local timber yard for shed repairs and had some carcassing on the roof. The guy on the gate (checks paperwork for goods) was loving my Jimny. He's Canadian and used to big cars and trucks. He said "that is the smallest Jeep I have ever seen, perfect for the UK". He had a good look around it and was very complimentary.

Then later on in the day, a random BMW was coming towards me, (not one I'd seen before as it had a very distinctive paint job/wrap) he flashed me and gave me the thumbs-up and a wave. I bet most super cars don't get that at 5 time the value.

The lngenium 2.0 diesel timing chain issues were resolved in 2019 when the engine was upgraded with new chain and tensioner.

lt doesn't affect the new Defender, which (apart from early versions) is fitted with the lngenium 3.0.

 

There are quite a lot of new LCVs available.  You can get discounts on white or silver ones, not on the more desirable colours like blue, black and chartreuse yellow.

I'm seriously considering one while they're still around, as the de-speccing compared to the SZ5 actually removes almost everything I don't want (I even like halogen headlights - they work better for ageing eyes on wet roads).  Ok, fake leather seats would be nicer than cloth, but the fake leather in the gen3 does not wear well. 

Update: I have a chiffon ivory one coming next month.  You just have to ask the dealer at the right time.  That was the only one they could still reserve that wasn't white or silver (they had a white and silver one as stock last December, and had real trouble shifting them).

I'm not going to modify it except for alloys - the steelies look good enough but always start to rust after a winter or two.   The Dunlop AT20 tyres they now fit at the factory are reputed to be pretty awful, so they may go before next winter in favour of Yoko G015s.

Insurance isn't much different to a car but VED is a bit of a shocker after the first year - almost twice the car rate.  Essentially, you're paying the same rate as a Transit or something, and bevause there's no "over £40,000" luxury VED supplement for vans, they load the flat rate.

Well done Mr Zilla. Good colour too.

I tend to agree with you re the SZ5 upgrades being a mixed bag. On the German forum, there is a thread of "things that annoy me about my SZ5" (called the "GJ" there), and it is an interesting read for us LCV owners. For example, many owners find that the automatic climate control fan switches on and off so frequently that it becomes distracting -- that would certainly bother me. I prefer the old school. So the LCV is a good choice, in my opinion.

And while I am offering controversial opinions, I will add that the Dunlops are not really as bad as reputed. They wander a bit on the highway, but they're lightweight and get good mileage. And in my country, where many of the country roads look like what you British call an offroad park [edit for clarity: not Germany], the Dunlops are adequate for all but the worst mud. I usually run out of ground clearance offroad before I run out of tyre grip. I'm sure enormous knobbly Goodriches would be better offroad, but then I would be wanting 20 more hp and a set of earplugs for the highway...

It's the AT20's lack of grip on wet tarmac that draws most criticism from people, and the Jimny will essentially be road-going only.  I have been impressed with the G015 Geolandars on the other Jimny as they're not too noisy, the ride is good, fuel consumption is ok and they are 3PMSF marked.