The Suzuki Jimny is much smaller than you imagine. It is actually a ruler’s length shorter than a Ford Fiesta. So what’s it for?
Leaping in for the first time, I wondered if it would be like the Tardis, much larger on the inside than its petite exterior would like me to think. While squeezing my knees in under the steering wheel, I reached for the seat’s release handle to I could slide it back; Ssssh, thunk. I slide the chair back to its maximum travel, which was about 1 cm more than when I got in.
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| Suzuki Jimny inside (above) and out (left) |
The Suzuki Jimny is no Tardis. Something that I proved again later in the week when I tried to fit two passengers and a large overnight bag into the car. We had to put one of the rear seats down because the boot isn’t really a boot but just a small cupboard. Suitable for stationery; post in notes, compliment slips, nothing too big.
Something that isn’t small about the Jimny though are the wheels and these have a really important impact on the driving experience. As well as providing essential capability should you spend a lot of time on unmade roads, they also give you a totally different inner city driving experience to most other cars you will have driven. If you pull out of a tight corner quickly, it’s a bit like an old tractor, in that you have to help the wheels straighten up rather than just let the steering wheel spin round in your hand as you would with a little city car.
And if you turn into a corner on a bumpy country lane even slightly briskly, you get a bouncey ride and weighty feel through the steering wheel. Which all sounds a bit naff doesn’t it? But let me tell, it actually a right old laugh. If you can’t remember the excitement of first being able to drive, try one of these on a sunny day and it will come flooding back.
Perhaps that’s why a family I saw in North London bought one. I can’t really say I think they’ve made a good choice. While it will fit in the little street parking spaces available to them, the big wheels and short wheelbase make it tricky to judge and heavy on the wrists. Push chairs and all the other family gibbons will only go in if they have one seat down in the back all the time, which makes it a bit van like.
The Jimny is a frugal little run-around for people who live in genuinely rural places and don’t carry many passengers. Like the Vicar in Cumbria, who I also know has one, and uses it to visit parishioners up hills and down little tracks, but is usually travelling alone.
What’s the market like?
There’s a relatively small number of Jimny’s on the used market at anyone time – we estimate less than 400. A nearly new model with less than 5,000 miles will cost you less than £10,000 (just) and it will then steadily lose just under 10% a year which means 10 year old models are still worth an impressive £1,200 or more. So in terms of depreciation, there are no good or bad times to buy, like everything else about the car, it is nice a steady.
There are a tiny number of automatics on the market and a few private sellers, but the majority of cars are at Suzuki dealers. So you stand the best chance of getting a deal by shopping around for a manual.
What else will this budget buy?
£6,500 for a 3 year old 4x4 gives you very few options. There are some very high mileage Nissans if you look hard enough and if you don’t mind pick-up trucks, there are a good few Mitsubishi L200s out there. But they are all a lot bigger.
If you want a small 4x4, then there are only two alternatives (other than Suzuki’s SX-4) that spring to mind. One is the Subaru Justy and another is the Fiat Panda. There are quite a few similarly priced 4x4 Pandas on the used market, but few Justys. But neither give you the high-up Jeep driving position or ground clearance.
Summary
A jolly little jeep that is an ideal run around if you live in the kind of area where you can get genuinely snowed in.