Buying my first Jimny

g13bb - lower power, less common, older engine, probably lower parts availability, belt not chain more prone to damage, more prone to head gasket issues and weaker manual transmission. Also when swapping for 1.6i all the engines will be older. But these are my concerns, I am not an expert.

As the G13bb is an older engine it will be harder to find a decent replacement if it fails big time or if you wanted to increase size to 1.6L a decent G16 will be hard to find.

However, the car you are looking at is low mileage so expect it to be going well over 100,000Km before you get any real problems, just keep to the maintenance schedule and I am sure it will be reliable as anything. If you need spares contact Martin at the BigJimny store (see ad at top of page), if he can't help you he will know someone who can.

Personally I would rather have an older Jimny with no rust and low mileage than something with a lot of miles on it and rust breaking out everywhere. If it is rust free and not under-sealed, then I would get it under-sealed straight away.

Robin

Ok well I went to view the car today, was able to take as long as I needed to look through it all and test drive. Will upload pics following this post but to start:

General points:
- The engine is a GB13B (had my suspicions when i read it has 82ps in the ad)
- VIN number begins with JS

Good points:
- No engines noises, no engine smoke, temp gauge planted to middle, fluids at right level and looking good, transition very smooth, 4wd ranges engaged without any issues
- General condition of the car seemed very good
- Everything looks original, no tampering, all bodywork lined up as it should, no evidence of any respraying. A few minor scratches otherwise for its age the bodywork was in great nick.
- The interior also looked very good, all the plastics etc nearly mint condition.
- All lighting, cockpit controls including functionality all worked seamlessly
- All sills & windows in good condition
- Absolutely no death wobble, only started to feel some modest steering wheel shake at around 110km but i think that is normal
- Felt very true on the road, did not pull to one side or another, good under breaking
- All brake line and vacuum system looked in good condition

Bad points:
- Some rust apparent beneath the car at at various points but I was hoping to see what you guys thought how severe it looks. To me it seems quite superficial and not structural, there were a few areas where i could peal the bottom layer of material off but solid beneath (see various pics). Perhaps one body mount looked a little concerning otherwise there was nearly no rust behind front lights, along side trim etc. It looks like some of the underside of the car was undersealed before but does't look like the most thorough job
- Small area at underside of engine block where there seems to have been/is some oil or fluid escaping (very contained - see pic)
- Some mice managed to get in the car while it was stored in the garage and seemingly made themselves at home under the back seats, fortunately didn't chew any material up but smells like a bloody hamsters cage.
- Tyres have plenty tread but manufactured in 2007
- Sliding mechanism on driver seat is on its way out
- Light squeaking on brakes
- Corrosion on Wheel alloys 


 

Here a few general pics.









Is it normal that the footwell is open like this, at firs glance i felt like some trim was missing but i had a close look at the finsih looked like it was factory made.  

Here is the worst of the rust, some surface rust on other areas but nothing serious:
 

 






 
 



 

Any thoughts on the pics and general condition welcome particularly regarding the rust and also leak on the engine block.

It's very difficult to comment accurately on rust without actually having a poke at the rusty areas to see how bad it actually is.
As a Jimny goes I've seen a lot worse than this, but also better.
From the photos it looks like the rear body mounts are on the way out, worth a closer look in this area. The jack / floor area it's hard to see if it's surface rust, again worth a second look incase it's rotten, it's a common failure point.
The rest just looks like standard Jimny surface rust.
It's going to need some rust prevention or even welded repairs soon, so try to factor this in if you purchase.
As for the oil leak it's possible this is just oil that gets dumped down the side of the engine when you change the oil filter, it tends to run around the sump gasket in this area unless you clean it up. That's my assumption, or it a leak!
Just my personal, none professional opinion based on photographs. If you are unsure of it's condition it may be worth getting a professional opinion locally.
Good luck 
Mike