looking for my first jimny

How much are you looking at spending???

My suggestion would be:

2000 on model with the twin chain driven cam

No ABS - no good off road, more to go wrong and bits need replacement when working on hubs as don't come off like good little parts!!!

Check for body rust in boot, around front lights under body, under rear seats, especially near seatbelt mounts, everywhere else.

Chassis rust but not terminally, more just scabby appearance.

Don't worry too much if front vacuum operated hubs don't work, Martin has just developed a spacer for manual freewheeling hubs and see my entry on the recent post for that.

High mileage cars have been known to blow head gaskets so try to keep the miles down.

Go to KAP's website and cost up the price of a 3 inch lift with springs and shocks along with uprated transfer box mounts and heavy duty panhard rods front and rear. These are the minimum mods to allow bigger tyres (a subject all of it's own covered in previous posts). Jimny's need bigger tyres to perform off road and their enemy are ruts as the radius arm mounts get caught in the middle. I'm not saying that KAP's stuff is all the best but it gives you a ball park figure to add to the price of an unmodified Jimny.

A ready modified Jimny might be a better deal financially and KAP sells them and ebay has several regularly. I can send you details of many that have been on ebay and not sold if you need help looking. I have them in my watched items still as I keep an eye on them.

You can get bigger tyre options to fit your standard wheels. Don't think alloys are worth more money, steels are better off road for various reasons.

Also, make sure there are no leaks from any transmission parts. Changing the oil is simple on all parts of transmission and the engine.

Hope this all helps. Anything I've not covered, ask.

Kirkynut

As Gary says 78k is high mileage and they seem to be gaining a reputation for not being too strong. I guess that as Suzuki gained more power and less emmissions from the old engine design its been pushed to to the limit.

Make sure you have a good test drive and are happy with the steering and the handling on the road. They are prone to wearing out the wheel bearings etc. and gaining wobbles on the road - quite easy to fix but a negotiating point in the sale.


martin