Gen3 Automatic

I am interested in hearing from owners of Gen3 automatics as to whether they perform as well as the manual and whether they have any unique foibles I should consider when buying such a vehicle. I am still looking for a suitable vehicle to buy in South Africa and am wanting to go for a late model Gen3 automatic. Before I start searching in earnest I would like to hear whether they are worth considering or not. Thanks in anticipation!

They are slower.  But it's a nice box - changes fast and you always have drive (some modern boxes hesitate and really bog down, which is disconcerting if you're trying to cross a roundabout).  Fuel economy is not much worse than the manual.  You also know the engine hasn't been abused by lugging.

The difference in acceleration is marginal and you can minimise it if you are prepared to hold it on the brake with a load of revs on. But it is still not a race car. The box is responsive to using the selector, you ask it to lock out 4th etc it does it immediately which I find useful when towing trailers as I live in a hilly area and engine braking is necessary it's also useful off road. I've had a drive in some older land rover products and they are very dim witted compared. Off road and it does so much of the work for you especially with the traction control you can focus your skills on picking your line instead of having to balance clutch and gear selection, that makes it sound boring but the reality is that you're able to choose some quite spicy lines compared to a similar spec none traction control manual. There are videos out there of me at the last couple of jimny meetings just slowly creeping up and out of obstacles that were giving others a good kicking. I will not be looking for another manual if I ever need another jimny.

Lamberts last sentence clinches it. It would be a small runaround driven mainly by my wife who is used to large toyota 4x4 no frills bakkies so this would be right up her street ( OK lets be honest, to have a second one, albeit on another continent, would be great for me too!!!)

Mine is an 07 with nearly 75k miles and I love it. It's only recently that I have really been using the selector more intentionally (I hadn't appreciated just how useful it is until reading about it here) and it works perfectly. Locking it to 3rd or 2nd for an acceleration boost when needing to get up to speed or over a hill works nicely. My partner and I affectionately refer to it as "super boost" and it never fails to make me laugh. The car is so puny but it just feels like it's trying so hard for you.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is the implication for top speed / comfort at high speed. I seem to recall somewhere Lambert referred to it as "more refined" but I've never actually been in a manual in 5th to compare.

Personally I mostly like the auto for how relaxed it makes driving around town / in the city. True of autos generally of course but given the size of the Jimny it's actually really nice to drive down windy streets in Glasgow with cars parked everywhere.

I've driven a 2014 manual and a 2012 auto, and the auto is noticeably higher-geared in top (even though it only has 4 gears).  The rear axle ratio is quite different.