How different are Gen 3 to 4 to live with?

Hi folks, first post.
I have been mostly aiming my thoughts at a low priced (!) Gen 4, but seeing how capable a Gen 3 seems to be I was wondering if anyone had a decent amount of experience with both so could say from experience that the 4 is super worth it, or the 3 does the same job for less money?

The thing I really like with the 4 is the way the seats fold flat to sleep on. And maybe I like how it looks a little more, from the front at least. But light off roading, several week camping trips, light towing, school runs, long term reliable ownership is well within a 3 I would think?

All replies gratefully received

I've had 5 3s and 1 4 and I'm somewhat in a minority in that almost everything most see as improvements with the gen4 I'm having difficulty living with. All the adas systems such as lane departure and emergency collision avoidance especially that you can't permanently disable are distracting. The way it turns the dashboard red and screams at me when I leave a door slightly open as I creep through a gate on the farm or gets equally hysterical if a tyre gets a bit low on a cold morning is simply irritating. Then there's the extra power from the bigger engine which is robbed by the bigger tyres. It can't tow any more than the 3 at 1300kg. I'm not struck by the styling, it's trying too hard to be retro. But on the plus side it's got cruise control and the front doors open wider and the front seating area is marginally more roomy. Compared with either of my current 3s both of which are automatic I'd sooner be in the 3. The 4 is for me a tool to do shepherd things with that saves my other 2 3s from serious hard work.

I had a Gen 3 for 5 years and then swapped to a Gen 4, now nearly 3 years.

The Gen 3 is very capable, however, the 4 is just better:

- It’s got more power, especially at the low end;
- Is capable of cruising at a higher speed;
- It’s got better wheel arch clearance, doesn’t clog as easily;
- The cruise control works well;
- If you get the car version, the dashboard and radio/infotaintment is much better;
- In my opinion the standard seats offer more comfort;
- There is a lot more space in the back with the seats down, as it goes completely flat and is wider inside;
- Fuel economy is about 15 - 20% higher.

On road, it’s easier to live with, the more modern dash and driver aids, plus the higher power and bigger load carrying area (with the seats down) all help.

Off-road, there is more low down power and the wheel arches don’t clog as easily.

At the end of the day it comes down to budget, a Gen 3 is at least 8 years old and they only imported the car version of the Gen 4 until Summer of 2020 with the Light Commercial Van for a couple of more years, prices tend to reflect the rarity.

hairy wrote:

Hi folks, first post.
I have been mostly aiming my thoughts at a low priced (!) Gen 4, but seeing how capable a Gen 3 seems to be I was wondering if anyone had a decent amount of experience with both so could say from experience that the 4 is super worth it, or the 3 does the same job for less money?

The thing I really like with the 4 is the way the seats fold flat to sleep on. And maybe I like how it looks a little more, from the front at least. But light off roading, several week camping trips, light towing, school runs, long term reliable ownership is well within a 3 I would think?

All replies gratefully received

I didn't own a Gen 3, although I driven one. And wanted one for ages. But I did own a Gen 4 from new for 5 1/2 years and 40,000 miles as my daily driver. An SZ5 manual UK spec.

Just to give a point of reference. I've been around Land Rover's all my life and still own many. Plus a had a Jeep and also currently a 70 Series Land Cruiser.

For me the Gen 4 is a very liveable vehicle. Esp in SZ5 trim. It is comfy, quiet, goes well and well specced. You get a good screen, Apple CarPlay for navigation. Radio is fine, nothing special, speakers an easy upgrade. But you can listen to it comfortable at speed on the motorway. Cruise control, i.e. it'll happily sit at 70mph if you want it too on cruise. Heated mirrors, heated seats. Some of the best ever LED headlamps I've ever witnessed. It drove well (until the shocks wore out) and is fun to throw about and drive a bit like a 4x4 sports car. The engine was a peach, good low end grunt and smooth, would pull from practically nothing. And went well and eager out to the red line. And more than enough speed for modern traffic (auto is probably a bit sluggish though).

All in, it was a joy and very easy to use as a daily in all weathers, all year round.

A Gen 3 has a much lesser engine IMO and less performance. Also they are way more 1990s inside. Quite basic really, while the Gen 4 feels modern but not too much tech.

Suzuki however completely dropped the ball on some stuff, like the type pressure monitor and some other niggles. But mostly they are all minor.

I found the Gen 4 to be very practical, rear seats actually had quite a lot of room and you could quickly fold the seats up and down for decent boot space. Personally I don't think there is much room to sleep in there though. It is certainly possible, but there must be so many better ways really.

Mine also towed very well, lacking a bit of grunt maybe. But it lugged its max tow rating about quite well, even on the hills. And nice and stable.


The Jimny is small, which is good, but also compromised if you do want lots of stuff inside.

I also feel the Gen 4 looks brilliant, way better than the Gen 3. The Gen 3 is ok, but looks incredibly cutesy Japanese. While the Gen 4 has IMO genuine classic 4x4 lines and will likely age brilliantly.

Now I would say, depending on your budget. Something like a Jeep Wrangler is arguably a lot more vehicle for your money. Even the older JK version. It is slightly bigger than a Jimny, but the Wrangler is still a small vehicle and is vastly more capable in many areas. If the Jimny was half the price of the Jeep, the Jimny is great value for money. But if they are similar money the Jeep is better vfm in my opinion. The newer JL even more so and they have now dropped to sub £30k, putting them very close to some of the more expensive Gen 4's on the market.

With a Gen 3 I also think there is a healthy risk of rust problems at some point in your ownership too, unless you get very lucky with the past owner(s) and ensure continued proactive maintenance.

Would I have another Jimny? = YES! But only at the right money. I bought mine because it was brand new and made sense at the time. But I'd certainly want to go and check out a Wrangler properly before making the decision again.

A few more thoughts.

A jimny is a brilliant option if you are looking for a town car that is significantly more extra. By that I mean shrugs off winter, will go virtually anywhere you point it and further if you want to modify it and aren't afraid of doing your own mechanical maintenance, deep water kills kingpin bearings but they are easy enough to replace. However while it is entirely possible to live out of the back of a jimny for extended periods it's size really starts to work against it simply because you can't carry enough provisions and equipment at the same time unless you use a trailer. In this regard range is also a limiting factor 40 litres of petrol doesn't get a fully loaded jimny very far and a trailer makes it worse. At gross train weight in a standard jimny 200 miles is optimistic, add bigger mud tyres and off road equipment like lighting that adds drag and you might half that range. Oh and you can forget keeping up with traffic when you're loaded even without a trailer as neither version like hills if they're heavy. It's also not really practical to use the roof either as the limit is 30kg including the rack. As for living inside a jimny it is possible but I'd suggest being under 5'7" tall as you will never get comfortable otherwise, I'm 5'11" and I'm just short enough to drive comfortably without needing to adapt the seating position in either version. Basically a jimny will do overlander things but you need to actively want to use one for it and then you are going to want to have done it before and know exactly how little you really need with you to keep the weight down, payload on either is only around 300kg give or take and that's including driver. There's better bigger alternatives for example I've just nicely taken over a swb utility land cruiser and it's doing more mpg loaded than either of my jimny empty and is easily doing motorway speeds at the same time, but it's a big old Hector when you're trying to navigate an urban area or single track back road and that's before you try to park between the lines in asda assuming it's even gone under the barrier.

I've had both.
Ultimately, it depends on what you want from a car but here's my experience.

Gen3
Better looking IMHO (if you avoid the ones with the bonnet scoop and all the chrome bling)
Better colours (less of a problem now Gen 4s are JDM imports, Japan has better colours than we got )
Much more comfortable seats
(I had a 2000 plate, so the back seats folded properly, later cars and the Gen 4 have a fixed cushion and only the backs drop down)
Properly finished inside without acres of painted steel
Electric window switches were where you expect, on the doors not hidden under the dash somewhere.
Proper power steering, not this dodgy electric nonsense.
Transfer box was less noisy in high as it was epicyclic not full of spur gears.
Radio played CDs
Rear load area was carpeted, not shiny plastic so things didn't skate around unless you purchase the optional expensive rubber mat.
Doors came with plastic armour where they get dinged, you have to buy expensive extra trim for the Gen 4
Indicator switch on the correct side (again sorted if you buy a JDM Gen 4)
Has a temperature gauge

Gen 4
LED headlights are much brighter.
More powerful engine
More MPG
Less rust as mine is 19 years younger....
Has the allgrip system to act as a poor man's difflock.
Has ABS
Has Android auto.

Everyone else thinks the Gen 4 looks fantastic and people keep trying to buy it off me, I preferred my old Gen 3, but no-one ever asked if I was selling it in the 10 plus years that I had it.....