Talk me out of buying a Jimny in Canada

[brianpark]

My DD is an 05 Impreza RS sedan, but I need something more capable of getting places (I work in the mountain bike industry). I'd love something I can sleep in solo in a pinch as well.

Long term the plan would be a double cab Taco, just like everyone else, but in the meantime... I'm inexplicably into Jimnys, and our local JDM guys just brought one in.



1999 Suzuki Jimny, 4x4, RHD, 95000km, 0.6L, auto, no accidents, etc.

How much of an idiot am I to pick this up? I assume replacement parts in NA will be frustration station. Insurance could be a sticky one too, right? I'd keep the Subaru as a DD and let this be my project/fun car.

Oh, did I mention? I know ****loads about bikes, and virtually nothing about cars.
-bp

 

[krl81]

I say go buy a Jimny! Maybe because I have one myself.

 

[JamesW]

I had a 00 1.3 as my first car,then had an Impreza,and then back to the Jimny. It was so uncomfortable compared to the impreza,underpowered,cramped,noisy, thirsty . . . My girlfriend actually said her tits were being rattled after being in it down a road the Impreza danced down.

BUT . . . They have loads of character,they turn in their own length and they have lots of aftermarket goodies available to them. Mine was lifted 2.5" and had bigger A/Ts on it,with uprated panhard rods and shock relocation brackets,and would go anywhere.

It developed a death wobble later on,not usually caused by the kingpin bearings in the axle getting worn,basically a violent shuddering that feels uncontrollable,but is actually totally manageable.

I'm also into the MTBs,and I will tell you that a bike will never fit into the back of one without being totally disassembled ,and even then you might have the forks sticking out between the seats. and sleeping in it could be a bit of a pain,best bring a tent with you.

I still have mine and want to do a bit of work to it to get it going again. The jimny is based around one word,that word is fun!

 

[Thirty-Nine]

I say go for it. I will also be incredibly envious if you get it. In fact, we may need become fast friends so you'll let me drive it.

Honesty, if I could import one legally into the U.S., I probably would.

 

[libarata]

Why not lift the Impreza?

 

[reachdean]

I had a stock height 1997 Impreza wagon, which I took over many crappy back roads where I only ever found jeeps, etc. With four bike trays on the roof, it carried nearly all of my quiver.

Now I have a Forester. I like the extra cargo space, and the fact its basically an Impreza. With decent tires, it'll get anywhere I see myself heading, and will be way more fun/comfortable on the drive to and from the trailhead.

 

[brianpark]

It's a sedan, and as much as I've gotten it into some pretty rugged situations, a lifted Impreza without a low range is still not going to get me to a lot of the places I need to go.

For example, we got into a few interesting situations today on the way up here in a Tacoma.

 

[Hondaslayer]

I can tell you this, the US catalogs don't cover the Jimny, Carry etc..... We get people calling quite frequently looking for parts and all I can say is "sorry" Even simple things like plug wires and air filters may not be possible to get. If it were me I would find part numbers for all the common maintenance / failure parts and have a Suzuki dealer check and see if they are available (or shoot me a PM with the list and I'll check for ya) I can't check Canada warehouses, but I can check US.

 

[Jersey4x4]

Good luck attempting to cram yourself in the back to sleep... I removed the rear seats on mine and it still only made the rear space about the same as a normal family car boot

 

[Scott Brady]

DO IT! The Jimny is awesome. I drove half way around the world in one- it was perfect

 

[krl81]

If you take a look at my build you will see that sleeping in it is possible but not to easy.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

DO IT! The Jimny is awesome. I drove half way around the world in one- it was perfect

That... right there says it all. First hand experience. They look so small, but then again, an old Samurai is pretty tiny too, and I love those.

 

[tin]

The biggest question is what type of use is this thing going to see. If you are going to drive it only in the country on secondary highways, dirt roads and trails, then it might be worth while. It will hold 110km/h but not much more, especially on highway mountain passes. The engine on the one you have in the photo is a 660cc with a tiny turbo, which in my opinion is too small for anything other than city and secondary roads, especially if you want to haul gear. You could turn up the boost but you won't be able to get reliable results.

The second important question is maintenance. If you can't do 95% of the work yourself you will have enormous maintenance bills as there is zero parts availability locally in Canada for these engines, drive trains, suspension, etc. Not to mention that no shops in Canada have seen these models. You have to get really good at tracking down parts from all over the globe. Also the small 660cc engines don't have a terribly long lifespan, you can expect to start having serious issues close to 200,000km. Maybe finding one with the the G13BB (1.3 liter) N/A engine instead would be slightly better.

This is a car for an enthusiast for sure. If you will love it and dedicate a lot of time to it and adapt to it's limitations it can be a super rewarding to own. It is the only compact 4x4 with solid axles. As for bikes you could put them on the roof. And you have to be either 5' tall or folded to sleep inside, unless you modified the seats to fold flat, but the you cant keep any gear inside. If you do choose to go down this route you should definitely import it yourself and save the huge markup the importers are charging. Its simple, I've done this four times already. These Jimnys should cost you no more then $5000 shipped, repair/maintenance, inspected and registered. Check out this site to look for cars to import: tradecarview.com. It's legit, I've used it 4 times.

 

[tin]

this looks decent:
https://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan car/suzuki/jimny+wide/15532407/
and has the G13B engine that was used in the Vitara here so there may be some parts cross reference.

 

[jimny]

i have a standard jimny whit dueler HT wheels so bad jajaja and is amazing what cant do, if you can go for the 1.3