Buying my first Jimny

Hi everyone, 

Glad to find such an active and vibrant forum dedicated to the Jimny! 

I am currently in the process of buying my very first Jimny (MK3) and also my first car. (Been a motorcycle rider for many years though)

I have already driven a couple of Jimny's and also looked at a few and have now stumbled across the following car and was hoping to get some opinions from some Jimny experts as to whether it looks like a good bet or not.

The car was registered in 2000, has 60,000km on the clocks, 1 owner (a company) and always been kept in a garage/warehouse. It has 4 service stamps in the service book  (@5000km, 15000km, 50000km and 57000km) but it went to a mechanics every 2 years for its German MOT when it was  also serviced but not necessarily always logged in the service booklet. The car was is owned by a local utility company (communally owned) so needed to be kept in a sound mechanical condition as they were used by technicians to drive to building sites. As such the car was mainly used for driving around town, occasionally driven longer distances to training & development seminars etc and never really used properly off-road.

Some of my concerns are:
- What are your thoughts about the rust on the underside & frame of the car (picture below or attached)
- If the car was mainly driven for shorter in-town journeys that this would potentially place more wear (constant stop-starting, turning over engine regularly etc) on the engine and mechanical components compared to mid to long range journeys.

Otherwise the car seems to be in sounds mechanical condition, no advisories on the last inspection, all 4WD ranges engage without problems. I will go to view the car likely tomorrow or Wednesday but as it is quite far away I was hoping to get some thoughts before.

Many thanks in advance! 
Ollie 

 

I wouldn't get hung up worrying about engine wear, they warm up quickly and any car that you don't own is pot luck on how it has been driven.

The underside looks excellent- a breaker would describe it as "as new"   That is all surface corrosion that you can wirebrush off and paint with suitable Magic Paints, they weren't well painted from new.


The big worry is Rust.  Not where you can see it but in the sills, under the rear seats (those are the superior single folding seats that Suzuki later discontinued in favour of a cheaper fixed cushion), in the little well inside the rear door where the jack lives, behind the headlights, and basically around any of the areas of the body where it is bolted to the chassis.


The fuel & brake lines rust too, but are a job you can do yourself when needed whilst you are young & enthusiastic, like de-rusting and painting then treating the chassis with Magic Fluids.

Listen for gearbox noises and if the temperature gauge sits in the middle, it doesn't blow smoke and there aren't any loud rattles from the engine it is fine.

Many thanks for the quick response and the pointers.

I am aware of the rust issues with Jimny's and will make sure I keep a close eye on that when I go for the viewing tomorrow.

What are your thoughts regarding the age of the car, ie. that it is one of the earlier MK3's, on German forums I have read about build quality problems among the early 2000er vehicles and supposedly earlier petrol engines being best avoided. No idea if this has any merit or not.

I am hoping to pick up the car for around €5000, considering the mileage, service history and condition of the car (subject to no nasties appearing tomorrow) it feels like a decent deal to me although I am aware prices seem to have gone through the roof lately.

At other times I have second thoughts due to the age of the car and wonder if I should go a newer reg example but therefore with more miles. Even though it only has 60,000 km's I'm slightly worried that due to the age I may have to start forking out on more substantial maintenance work relatively soon.

If it has been well looked after and garaged when not in use, it might be a bargain. I am not sure how much salt they put on the roads where you live and if you live a reasonable distance from the sea it might be relatively rust free.

It is relatively low Kms and if it has been well serviced there is no reason why something is about to fail in the engine, I always think the engine is the easy part, cutting out rusty panels and re-welding is the hard part for me.

As facade says, have a listen to the engine, see how it drives and check for rust in the known points, if it is all good, just check the price against others on the market, perhaps use the lack of service stamps to justify 5,000 Euro or perhaps try for a little lower price.

In Germany can you check the MOT history? Here, we can check the oddometer and if it failed on anything, very handy to verify the vehicle's life.

Expect a Jimny to be a good deal slower than a motorcycle and best of luck, hope it goes well tomorrow.

Robin

Yes I noticed the speed difference to the motorbikes on a recent test drive, but they make you smile and are lots of fun so that makes up for it!

The area where the car has been based is not close to the sea, cannot comment as to how much gritting there is/was.

They are actually asking for €5700. They said there is a little room for negotiation but have been taken by the amount of interest shown in the car since putting it online. Fortunately I was the first to get in touch so they have only been in dialogue with myself regarding the sale but I think they have firmed up a bit on how far they are willing to negotiate following all the interest. Hopefully I can get them down to around €5250. Although overall they have been very transparent and provided all the information I have requested, wich is a good sign and I am quite certain the mileage is genuine.

I used to live in the UK so am aware of the MOT history check but unfortunately there is a different system here, mainly paper based (they love their bureaucracy here!). Anyway will have a close look through all the paperwork tomorrow and check that it all tallies up.

Thanks again for the advice.

wrote:

<snip>

What are your thoughts regarding the age of the car, ie. that it is one of the earlier MK3's, on German forums I have read about build quality problems among the early 2000er vehicles and supposedly earlier petrol engines being best avoided. No idea if this has any merit or not.

I am hoping to pick up the car for around €5000, considering the mileage, service history and condition of the car (subject to no nasties appearing tomorrow) it feels like a decent deal to me although I am aware prices seem to have gone through the roof lately.
<snip>

 

The build quality is to do with the soft tops, they were "built to Suzuki standards in Spain" (if you've ever had a Spanish built Honda motorbike or Nissan you know what that means )  The ones with a VIN starting with JS are fine.

The early engine was the one with the cam belt, these do head gaskets and obviously need new cam belts and produce less power.

2005 introduced the VVT engine and it's matching gearbox that suffers from bearing wear as well as the push button transfer box that no-one likes. I think they made the rear seat cushion fixed at about the time the VVT came in.

late 2000-2004 is really a sweetspot for Jimnys, if it isn't rusty, hasn't been bent double in an accident and the price is right- buy it!


Good luck getting money off. If their 'phone has been ringing off the hook and you are the first refusual they have no reason to drop the price, they might accept a couple of hundred off because you are standing there I suppose...

 

I hope it goes your way and is a sound (rot free) Jimny. If it is then it must be worth meeting them in the middle.

Jimny's are great fun, yes they aren't all that quick, but hey I have had years of fast, powerfull cars and all that happens in the Jimny is you just need to set off a few minutes earlier and rev it a lot more.

Let us know if you get it.

Robin

@facade - Yes it is a late 2000er example, December 2000 to be precise. I agree with you that I am not in the best bargaining position, they have said on the phone they would at least come down to €5500, I said i was hoping for €5250 but the bloke said I would have to discuss that with his boss, so lets see. If the car is right, relatively rust free and the engine all seems fine then I won't walk away for the sake of a few hundred euros. As you say finding such a low mileage and hopefully rust free MK3 of that age seems to be quite difficult.

Will keep you posted how it all goes tomorrow and try and get a few pics of the condition while I am taking a closer look.

Cheers

My old one was a late 2000, first of the M13 engines. It had done about 140,000 miles when I sold it in 2019, and it is still running round now.

(It was like Trigger's broom mind- 4 engines, 3 gearboxes, 2 chassis, new bodyshell........ )

Seriously, the fuel pipes rotted, the kingpins went, one front wheel bearing a seized alternator and a new crank pulley, not bad for any car.

In terms of operating the 4WD system and in particular changing between the various ranges I was wondering if someone could provide some clarity.

From the information I've found online it seems that best practice involves changing between the various drives when stationary, ideally reversing a little to reduce wind up, then engage the relevant drive range.

What I am a bit unsure of is whether the clutch should be pressed in during the procedure &/or the car should be in neutral?

Any pointers would be great.

Jimny prices in Germany, wow, 5.5k for 23 year old 4x4 - it's just crazy how inflated they have become, I used to see them all over for 2-3k, especially with the older G13BB engines. If it's G13BB then I would probably look for different car for that price- although that's my personal feeling against G13BB not so much a proven fact.

Rust spots to check and really poke hard - trunk floor below the jack, areas in the front wheel arch, especially those behind headlamps.

4WD operates: 2WD to 4WD-High and back with either clutch depressed or in neutral up to 80kmph. 4WD-H to 4WD-Low Vehicle stopped, transmission in neutral (but probably you can get away with clutch as well).

I agree it is a lot of money for a car of that age. But saying that over the past 2-3 years used car prices have seemingly shot up in general and on top of that the Jimny has a certain appeal that is really in demand right now. Lots of people wanting one to just zip around town with too. Not sure where you are based but certainly in Europe prices are pretty steep. For newer examples say 2005 and onwards that are within my price range you are looking at 120,000km on the clocks and often shabby condition, occasionally there are exceptions but they go like hot cakes.

Well the verdict seems to be split on the older G13BB engines. @Dured for what reasons would you avoid the car if it has the G13BB engine?

Thanks for clarifying regarding 4WD operation.