2019 Jimny - Real Life Experience + Feedback

Yeah a 68 reg is so 5 minutes ago! Get yourself to a quarry and send it like its a BJ Baldwin video!

Private plate...

J600 MNY is £250 on the dvla site:
dvlaregistrations.dvla.gov.uk/buy.html?p...J600%20MNY&price=250

saxj wrote: I fitted better coils and shocks. It makes a big difference in wind

Hi saxj - just noticed your comment. Can you tell me what "coils and shocks"? Does this relate to a lift (as I suspect it does), or is your Gen 4 (with the 'Rising Sun') still at standard height?

I am a fan of better engineered shocks in particular - but don't know how much benefit I might get for a standard height Jimny.

Odometer is spinning towards the 2000 mile mark so it has been booked into the dealership for its 'free' inspection/service. Was pleasantly surprised to learn the dealer would do it while I wait and enjoy a coffee - so no need to make arrangements for taking the bus to work. Delighted to report that there are zero defects to be attended to and no components have failed, rattled loose or fallen off. Hoping the dealer might even wash it and save me getting the hose out.

It's quite amazing just how badly your expectations of new vehicle ownership have been diminished by land rover! Ermintrude didn't have one single issue in her first 3 years that wasn't directly attributable to badly executed accident repairs. The Japanese know how to make cars properly.

Lambert wrote: It's quite amazing just how badly your expectations of new vehicle ownership have been diminished by land rover! Ermintrude didn't have one single issue in her first 3 years that wasn't directly attributable to badly executed accident repairs. The Japanese know how to make cars properly.

Our family have bought several brand new Land Rover products over the years, we have walked the production line at Solihull and undertaken several Land Rover Off-Road Driving courses. They could have retained us as customers for life but failed miserably to deliver a reliable product that doesn't require major warranty claims and the constant worry as to which expensive component was going to fail next. The Suzuki Jimny is our first experience of purchasing a Japanese 4X4 and both the car and dealership experiences have been excellent to date - long may that continue.

Your're not on the RRSport forum are you Bob1050?

Nearly 500 miles on the clock now, and getting 40 mpg.

A few musings/observations from me:

Odd mix of new and not so new tech - can read signs (not very reliably. - apparently we have an 80 mph speed limit road here in Weymouth) it can brake autonomously, see oncoming headlights, and link with my smartphone...however no keyless entry/ignition, no rain sensing wipers, no intermittent wipe on the rear wiper, no interior movement sensor on the alarm (not a hardship as its main use is as a dog carrier).

Lane departure warning is a waste of time, display is so insignificant in daylight, but turn it off and you have a constant orange light on the dash.

Could do with a hold open latch on the tailgate

Can’t understand why goodies on the Japanese spec didn’t carry over to the UK e.g. the handy little auxilliary mirror that lets you see the wheels on the passenger side, the ability to stow the rear seat belts flat when seats are folded down, possibly the latch that allows you to open the tailgate from the inside (jury’s out on that one).

Others have commented on handling in windy conditions, I don’t think it’s that bad, I think that a lot of the movement that makes it unsettling is the vehicle tilting in crosswinds.

One wind effect which caught me by surprise was when i parked in an exposed car park with a heavy rain shower coming in. The strong wind squall that came with it at right angles to the car meant that for a while I physically couldn’t get that huge drivers door open! (And I am no 7stone weakling).

Still loving it. Still puts a smile on my face

Guy 2 wrote:

saxj wrote: I fitted better coils and shocks. It makes a big difference in wind

Hi saxj - just noticed your comment. Can you tell me what "coils and shocks"? Does this relate to a lift (as I suspect it does), or is your Gen 4 (with the 'Rising Sun') still at standard height?

I am a fan of better engineered shocks in particular - but don't know how much benefit I might get for a standard height Jimny.

The coils are custom made, medium duty coils which give me around 50mm of lift. The shocks are Gabriel HDPs. Someone like Martin would be able to tell y o u what a suitable replacement would be. The shocks that fit the Gen3 fit the Gen4.

Dorsetdumpling wrote: it can brake autonomously,

This worries me. does it try and brake when you are nipping through a narrow gap, or if there is something on the edge of the pavement?

however no keyless entry/ignition,

A blessing when you see how many keyless cars are stolen. Probably wouldn't last a week here.

no rain sensing wipers

The [strike]Renault[/strike] Neesan has them. Total waste of time, they only wipe when the screen is completely dry, and shave the blades off, or after you crash because you can;t see a thing through the water drops. I just use the flick wipe or intermittent.

facade wrote:

Dorsetdumpling wrote: it can brake autonomously,

This worries me. does it try and brake when you are nipping through a narrow gap, or if there is something on the edge of the pavement?

Usually, these systems are fairly simple - the image from the camera is scanned for number plates. If the plate occurs within a certain area of the frame, and is above a set size, the system deduces you are too close and are likely to be on a collision course, and thus sounds an alert.

If the driver responds to the alert by braking, the system increases the braking force to help you stop in time, because research shows most people don't brake hard enough prior to an accident.

If the driver doesn't respond at all, the system can apply the brakes automatically. However, this is really only to reduce the impact force rather than avoid the collision in the first place. You'll still make a mess, but won't die, is the thinking.

In most of these systems, if it can't see a number plate, it doesn't know the obstacle is there, and that's why in testing you'll see them driving towards a pile of cardboard boxes with a number plate printed on the back. The system in the Jimny is said to be able to detect pedestrians, but with only a camera and a single laser (i.e. no radar) I'm not sure effective that is.

I personally find Suzuki's system rather annoying, because it's easily set off by driving past a row of parked cars, particularly on a bend. It doesn't seem to take steering angle into account.

Unfortunately the insurance industry and the EU are pushing for them to be mandatory so we're stuck with them. AEB is already a requirement for a full Euro NCAP score, although it didn't contribute to the Jimny's score because they complained about the head restraints.

Edited to add: By 'these systems' I mean the simpler camera-based set-up. The system in something like a Volvo is much more sophisticated.

facade wrote:
Dorsetdumpling wrote: it can brake autonomously,




My Vitara has a radar controlled Autonomous braking, it can get confused when you are heading towards a traffic calming bollard that you have to swerve around. It thinks your heading towards it and in all respects you are. In the first instance the screen goes bright red and an alarm sounds. I find by just tapping the brake pedal it assumes you have taken some action and turns itself off. They are generally activated at a certain speed to avoid them going off in tight slow moving traffic, I don't know what the minimum activation speed is for the Jimny . The new Jimny has already had this quirk of the system identified with the production vehicles.