Re:Been offered a Suzuki Super Carry pickup

I know it's not a Jimny but you folks seem to have an extensive knowledge of small Japanese vehicles so thought I would ask. I have recently been offered a Suzuki Other super carry pickup 658cc with 12, 000 miles on the clock. It's been imported from Japan and looks to be in excellent condition. It's a 2010 model and just wondering if its worth the 5K asking price or should I negociate a better deal? Any real problems with an imported pickup, ie insurance, tax, spares? Any advice would be very much appreciated. I'm thinking  it would make a perfect companion to my 2019 SZ5 Jimny, thoughts please.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Adrian

I don't know enough about them to offer specific buying advice beyond giving it a thorough inspection as best as possible. Price sounds reasonable assuming it's a fresh import and not yet seen a British winter. Insurance has a habit of not wanting to play with import vehicles from the bigger companies but there are a good few specialised providers so it's not impossible. Same with parts. I'd still want it though, just look at it with your eyes open.

To what Lambert said, I would only add that spares are likely to be plentiful, with a little patience. With some advance planning it may be possible to have a full shelf of maintenance spares in one's garage without vast expense. Shipping from a not-rich country, like India or China or Indonesia, can be shockingly cheap, and from what I understand some of the small Suzukis are common in those countries.

I'd be interested to know what you are planning to use the little truck for. These little kei pickups are ubiquitous in Japan, but I feel like I rarely see them here in N. Europe, don't know if the UK is the same. Looks like fun!

price seems fair and if it's 4wd version that's a actual bargain 

I'm going to buck the trend - and ask what do you plan to do with it?

They are fun little vehicles, but unfortunately not very practical, can be an absolute pain to find parts for (depending, of course on where you are), virtually impossible to find service documentation for, and, if you think Consumer Reports were unfair to the Samurai with their "roll over claims" (and I think they were), be glad that they didn't test the Carry.

Back in the 90's the company I worked with, was a "sister company" to the local Suzuki dealership and we all used Suzuki vehicles, we had three Carrys, one of each body style, bus, van & pickup - they can be made to roll over at literally a walking pace. The three we had, had larger engines, two were 1.0 liter, and the third was 1.3, they are very economical and they make great small business "run arounds".

I'm not a lover of "used JDM" vehicles, as a general rule, the lack of service documentation makes them difficult to repair, online parts catalogs & suppliers have become available making it easier to source spares, if you're lucky enough to find the model you have in the online catalogs, but, even with that, you can't walk down main street and get the part you want, you order it, pay in some cases a hefty courier fee, and hopefully get the correct part, because returning the wrong one is not really an option, so in many cases, what you're buying is essentially a "disposable" vehicle.

Hi all and many thanks for the very helpful replies, I was aiming on buying it partly to use moving house, I don't have a lot of stuff and it would be perfect. The place I'm buying has some land and I think the Supercarry would be ideal for supplies, ladders building materials etc. Having said all that though have been to see it and it's superb for its age, the drivers side sill where you get in is scuffed and there a couple of very small bits of rust where water had got under the rubberised seam sealant, the surface was rusty but the metal seems sound when given a good prod. A tiny bit of surface rust on the undanaged load floor but rust wise I have seen one year old vehicles in far worse condition. The major drawback for me is my height, I'm over six foot tall and although comfortable it is a little cramped to say the least. I actually got the price wrong when I firt posted too, it's £5995.

If anyone else want to try for it the advert is here  , the advert says it's an auto but it's five speed manual. It drives very well  and the engine sounds sweet, it pulls very well when asked,but like most pickups does rattle at the rear www.4crossesgarage.co.uk/used-cars-for-s...y-pick-up-automatic/

Thanks again all

Adrian

UK Dealers are regularly asked for Carry vans, there is a level of demand for them

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Thank you Martin, to be honest even though it's cramped for the distances I will be using it for it may still be a good idea and buy, I think if it had been a four wheel drive I would have already purchased it, it's a good price I think but still a lot for myself. Decisions, decisions!

Adrian