The Little Car That Can

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The Suzuki Jimny is a giant killing off-road vehicle in more ways than you’d think. They are incredibly capable on the rough stuff and they hold their value like some rare, exotic supercar. They may be basic, small and not exactly comfortable but they are depreciation busting mud pluggers. Read on...

If you are looking for a commuter car that will be confined to sealed roads then the Jimny is not the best choice. They are very small, noisy, cramped and not really that safe. Unless you remove the rear seat there is virtually no luggage space and if you remove the seat you have no rear passenger space. The third generation Jimny was around for over 20 years and despite later models getting electronic stability control and air bags it’s pretty old technology and gets a measly 1 star safety rating.

So why are they so popular and so good at holding their value? Where the Jimny really shines is it’s off-road ability. It’s very tough and built on a truck style chassis. Combined with a proper off-road 4WD set up and its lightweight short wheel base the little Suzuki can go places most cars can’t, including many bigger off-road vehicles and certainly any “soft-roaders”.

Which brings us to this 2000, ex-Japan example. It’s covered 132,500kms and has a buy now price of just $6990. So why is it so cheap? Well this is a Japanese Kei car version. Kei cars have tight size, weight, power and engine size limits. In return this gives them lower tax and insurance rates in Japan. So, this Jimny is a bit narrower than standard (due to its lack of wheelarch flares), and has a tiny 658cc 3 cylinder turbocharged engine that produces 63hp through an automatic transmission. So it ain’t fast. But it does still have the off-road capability of the more powerful models due to its lightness. Around town it’s probably ok but the open road will show up its limitations.

Find out more about this car here.