Suzuki Jimny (1998-2019) Review

Do you live on a farm? Do you have horses? Do you live in an area that’s inaccessible in winter? If the answer to these questions is ‘no’, then the Jimny is not for you. If you’re buying it solely on the chunky 4x4 looks and high driving position, then you may come to regret it - there are other cars out there that do a similar job and are far more comfortable.

However, if you answered yes, then the Jimny may be right up your (unpaved) street. But, if you can, consider it as a second or third car. Although it’s good in rural areas, you won’t want to drive it much further than to the shops and back.

There’s only one engine and although the trims levels of SZ3 and SZ4 may suggest a much broader range, that’s all there is. There isn’t much difference between the two, so your choice of Jimny is most likely to come down to which colour you prefer or how close one is for sale. Don’t forget that the relative scarcity of Jimny means that you may have to travel some distance in order to buy one.

The same goes for the engine. Although there have been a few variations on the 1.3-litre fitted to the Jimny over the years, it’s still essentially the same and the only choice you have with Jimny.

Avoid the automatic gearbox unless you absolutely must have an auto. It takes what is already a sluggish engine and manages to make matters worse - and adds some seriously lethargic gear changes to boot.

There aren’t many direct competitors to the Jimny - it almost has the market to itself. That said, there are some that come close and the Fiat Panda 4x4 is chief among them. It’s not as good off-road, but it can deal with muddy tracks. The upside to the Panda is that it’s far more modern and much more comfortable.

If it’s the raised ride height and commanding driving position of the Jimny that you’re interested in, then opt for a small crossover. There are loads of them around, from the Peugeot 2008 to the Nissan Juke and Vauxhall Mokka. Some dabble with off-road capabilities, but most are just pretending. If you need that kind of ability, it’s best to stick with a Jimny or Panda.

There is no doubt that Jimny is well-engineered, durable and well built. That’s demonstrated by the amount of Jimnys that are still on the road, the number of owners that hold onto them for many years. There’s been little in the way of recalls, too 

If you’re feeling generous, you’d call the interior no-nonsense. It’s rather plain, swathed in dark, cheap-looking plastic. It’s the antithesis of what modern cars look like inside. This does come with its advantages - there’s no fancy or delicate trim to break or mark and everything can be cleaned down very easily - especially useful if you’re using the Jimny in muddy fields and have mucky dogs running in and out of the car.

Infotainment? What’s that? The 1990s throwback Jimny is seriously lacking when it comes to the kind of on-board entertainment that’s taken for granted on most modern cars. You’ll find a stereo on most cars, including FM radio and a CD player (remember those?) but it’s only a small number of later Jimnys that get DAB digital radio and Bluetooth connectivity. If you can find one of the couple of hundred Adventure special editions, you’ll also get satellite navigation - but these models are few and far between and command a premium.

Jimny is a small car and this is reflected in the interior space. There are a few cubbies and storage boxes, but nothing that clever or interesting.

Boot space is on the tight side and, with two passengers in the back, there’s barely enough room in Jimny’s boot for a couple of small bags. Thankfully those seats, though uncomfortable for passengers, are practical and will tumble and roll forward very easily. If you’re thinking about the Jimny as purely a two (or one)-seater - as you should - then with the seats folded and tumbled there’s more than an acceptable load area and Jimny starts to make a case for itself as a practical off-road workhorse. Get a hose-clean rubber load area mat for added practicality.

Jimny has always come with a 1.3-litre engine (save for a brief period, when a 1.8-litre was offered), but it has come in a number of versions. 

Cars from 1998-2005 had a 16-valve 1.3-litre petrol with 80bhp. This plodder was nothing to write home with a 0-60mph time of 16.3 seconds and a top speed of 87mph. 

This was replaced by a more modern 1.3-litre VVTi in 2005, which offered a bit more power, shaved a couple of seconds off the 0-62mph time - a largely academic change - and improved fuel economy to 36mpg, rather than 34mpg. This engine remained the only option for buyers right up until the car was discontinued in 2018. The Jimny has never been offered with a diesel engine, let alone anything like a petrol/electric hybrid engine.

As for gearboxes - there are two sorts, a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission. The manual is a pretty unremarkable gearbox, though is painless enough to use, while the auto is best avoided. It makes the Jimny even slower (062mph is in 17.2 seconds) and gearchanges are so slow and ponderous, that you’ll find you’re generally in the wrong gear at all times. The manual does, at least, give you better control of the engine, which really has to be worked hard to make decent progress

If you’re looking for peace, quiet and tranquillity on the road, then the Jimny is not for you. Even with the lightest of revving, it’s engine creates quite a din, which is just about bearable around town. But, out on the motorway, the Jimny is far too unrefined and the combination of excessive engine noise with wind noise created by the car’s tall shape and the roar from the tyres means that longer journeys are tiring and best avoided.

It’s bad enough for the driver, but it also applies to passengers. Those in the back will already be contending with a lack of legroom, utilitarian seats and no headroom, but the noise that’s being transferred to the back and the bodyroll of Jimny through corners and as it hits bumps in the road means that passengers will also want to keep trips as short as possible, too.

Euro NCAP never tested this generation of Jimny, so there’s no official crash test score. But what you have to bear in mind is that this is a car that was designed in the mid-1990s and that means you can expect its safety standards to be more in line with cars of that era than this one. Another yardstick is that the new Jimny - launched in 2019 - only scored three stars in its Euro NCAP crash test with the organisation describing its performance as ‘underwhelming’.

Airbags for the driver and passenger are the most notable features, which is a given these days. From 2015, and in n line with EU regulations, both SZ3 and SZ4 models got a new design instrument cluster that included a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) The 2015 Jimny is also equipped with ESC (Electronic Stability Control) as standard.

There’s not much to the Jimny range and, as a result, insurance groups are both low and straightforward. The entry-level SZ3 model is in group seven, while the SZ4 is in group nine – it’s as simple as that. That’s on a par with other small cars like the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa.

We’ve previously mentioned how slow the Jimny’s engine is, but that isn’t its only vice - it’s emissions are high too. The 1.3-litre petrol returns 39.8mpg and emits 162g/km of CO2 as a manual. Opt for the automatic and those figures are even worse: 38.7mpg and 167g/km. For a car of this size, the fuel economy is poor, while you’re looking at £180 a year in road tax for the manual and a £205 charge for the automatic. For a car of this size, some will find that surprising.

Jimny trim levels are very simple, and the only real option was which paint to go for. SZ3 models came with steel wheels, electric windows, a 12V socket, CD player, cloth upholstery, while SZ4 trim added synthetic leather upholstery, leather-covered steering wheel, 15-inch alloy wheels, tinted rear windows and air conditioning. The Adventure Special edition of 2016 got Dark Silver 15-inch alloy wheels, synthetic leather seats, air conditioning and rear privacy glass, satellite navigation with Bluetooth connectivity, hard spare wheel cover with ‘Adventure’ logo as well as individual Pearl White Metallic/Quasar Grey 2-Tone paint finish.