is Jimny a good car to buy?

Hi I am Kind of interested in buying the latest Jimny. But i am not sure how good is it about the car. I am not using it for off-road but just traveling on paved road to cities.

What about the fuel consumption? is it high?
Does anyone know how far can I go with 40l full tank measured in the trip meter. :lol:

I have read an article it says about 9.4 litre per 100km :blink:

it's not a good car to buy. it's the best car to buy!!!

joking aside...are you sure you know what a jimny is like?
i use mine as a daily driver, and only do any sort of off roading during the ocasional weekend or when i go on vacation.
i love the car to bits. it's simple and honest, but it's slow, bumpy, small, no luggage space, and thirsty considering how fast it goes.
but as far as an offroader goes, and a brand new one at that, i think it's the best bang for the buck if you are on a budget. the most economical 4x4 available.
you need to look at it as a 2-seater with the ability to take 2 extra passangers on small trips every once in a while.
going on vacation with it? get the back seats down to make room for luggage.
need to go shopping for groceries? 2 or 3 bags in the back before needing to lower the seats or puting stuff in the back seat.
going on a trip? top speed...i've hit 100mph on mine but anything above 60 to 70mph is noisy,thirsty and dangerous. if at all possible, avoid highways.
fuel consumption... i normaly do 400kms with around 35l...around 250 to 280 miles. i average around 7,5l to 8,2l in normal driving (fast whenever possible, ocasional redlining)...in an econo run you might get 6,5l but with a whole lot of effort.
cheap maintenance and very reliable. however, more expensive to service than a city car due to extra offroadyness.
not a relaxing drive unless you keep it below 50mph.. it's unstable and wayward due to suspention style. you cant be distracted for too long.

i love it, drive it every day, 40 miles round trip to work, 300 miles to vacation destination no problem...you just can't be in a hurry getting anywhere. it's only me and the wife, and she has a aygo, so if we need to take more people with use or get anywhere faster we use her's.
unless you are willing to make some compromises, it's more of a second car, a weekend toy. just for driving around town, it's agile and easy to park, nice to get at those unortodox parking spots, and tough when the road gets bumpy. however, for half the money any city car will be easyer to drive and cheaper to run.
either way, if you're getting one, i'd buy used. a used one in good condition will cost you a quarter of the price..maybe less if you're willing to risk it and then spend a bit of money bringing it up to snuff. that way if you regret it you wont take a big loss. or you can keep it anyway and buy a dacia sandero.
the jimny is a car you buy with your heart, not your head. if you dont need something that though and if it's just to drive around town you'd be better of with a city car or a suv like a dacia duster or something...

Hi

Deckland,

What do you mean by it's expensive to service? Because I usually do is change fuel filter and engine oil...if I dont go offroad...will it still costs? :ohmy:

Hi K3sun

I think that Decklandpt is saying it's slightly more expensive to service because if you off-road the car, it's generally a good idea to change the diff oils, gearbox and transfer box oils regularly. Plus general wear and tear of off-roading.

I don't off road my Jim, but I still have all the oils changed during service for peace of mind. That's just my choice!

Decklandpt's write up is spot on and honest. I have owned some pretty expensive and luxury cars in the past and got bored! This little Jim gives me my kicks at 45mph where to get the same thrill as other cars you would have to be driving dangerously and illegally. (45mph down a bumpy country lane will give you a smile from ear to ear )

Like Deck, I love it, a great little car and fun

yeah, when i say more expensive i'm refering to the extra off road bits, mostly oil, in the diffs and in the transfer case. before the jimnys i had a 1.2 corsa, and the oils are about double of what i spent on the corsa or what my wife does on her aygo. aside from that, the other things that are prone to need more money than a normal car are the clutch (low torque 4x4 needs a lot of revs off road), brake pads (cuz of mud and sand) and maybe bushings, because of the added demands of offroading. also, the tyres are also a bit more expensive than your run of the mill econobox. still, nothing too scary. if you dont get stupid and break stuff it's only slightly more expensive than a modern city car. but cheaper than a modern small diesel, as far as garage bills go.

if you don't offroad it, i can only assume you want it for the looks..
if that's you're thing, sure, go for it.
as i said, in city driving it has the added advantages of extra visibility because you sit higher, you don't have to worry so much about potholes or speed bumps, you can park it anywhere and then some.
but it will use almost double the fuel a modern small car would, and you'll be compromising confort (i don't care about that), space (i'm 1,86m tall, and it's perfectlly fine), speed and handling (do a roundabout in the wet and at 25mph you can do it sideways lol).

but i have to say, it has proven very versatile for me...i lower the back seats and can get a lot of stuff in the back, i can take 2 extra passengers for small runs, park it in places a regular car can't and it's great during my vacations. going to the beach with it, or driving in a backroad and i see something interesting in the bushes, i can get it in the trail and off i go..not something i would do in a fiesta. once, i even managed to get a king size matress (rolled up) from ikea along with two other passengers in it (not recomended, but still).

it will always be cheaper to run than any other car with the same off road credentials. only exception might be the fiat panda 4x4 or cross, but it's also a different kind of car.

if you are on a budget and the fuel costs are a bit too high for you, if you dont want to compromise this much or if you dont need to go offroad, i would sugest you either get a panda 4x4 (wich in my opinio is the best of both worlds, rock bottom running costs, cheap to buy and mend, great mileage , same space and confort as a city car) or any other normal small car.

if indeed you want your own miniature tonka toy...you either buy a used jimny..in portugal they go for 3000 to 5000€, in the uk i think they're even cheaper, or you buy a old samurai or panda sisley or a vitara for like a grand, and use it as a second car.

also, they used jimny has an extra advantage. at least in my contry it doesn't depreciate.
a new jimny is 21000€ more or less..maybe less
a 2008 jimny with 30 thousand miles on it goes for around 8 to 9 thousand euros.
but a 1998 to 2004 jimny no matter the mileage will always go for 3000 to 5000€
keep it in good shape and it will never be worth less than that. if has some kind of cult car status.
a car that costs the same new with the same age as a jimny will always hit around zero worth, but not the jimny.
if i buy a used clio for 5000€ i know thar 3 or 4 years down the road i'll probably be able to sell it for 1000€
the first jimny i got was a 2005 1,5ddis that i got in 2011 with 27thousand miles on it for 7250€
3 years later i had a crash at 57 thousand miles, was a write off and i got back 6500€, that's a 750€ depreciation over 3 years...i think that's great. today i see 1.5ddis for sale from the same year with double the mileage for around 6800€.
even a 1993 suzuki samurai goes for around 2500€.
once they get past 10 years old, they stop losing value. sometimes, since there's not that many around, they even go up in price, especialy when it starts getting sunny.
of course, this happens in my market, but still.
that's one thing i learned..whenever possible, buy something with cult status. it will depreciate less.
if you want something fun to drive, cheap to run, reliable and don´t need the space but are not willing to put up with the compromises a jimny brings.... maybe a mx-5? there's loads of fun,caractherfull stuff you could buy with the money you'd spend on a new jimny.
or wait till tomorow and look up toyota's presentation on the tokyo motor show. that s-fr looks production ready and should cost under 25000€. if it makes it to production and to europe, i'm seriously considering starting saving my money for a used one in a few years