USED Suzuki Jimny - The common problems & should you buy one? | ReDriven used car review

and just because the chimney is hugely popular and might be just one of the coolest cars you can buy that doesn't necessarily mean they're any good and now they're buying a used example was about the only way you're going to get one unless you put your order for a new one in months and months and months ago what actually goes wrong with them and should you seriously consider buying one let's find out [Music] fishing chimney has been with us since late 2018 and unless you've been living under a rock it's basically a Suzuki's pint-sized affordable little off-roader but there's a bit more to it than that unlike the majority of small SUVs out there and like some of the most capable hardcore off-roaders the chimney is built on a body on-frame chassis it has a rigid axle low range gearing minimal overhangs and Suzuki's all-grip Pro traction control system this means it is perfect for like off-roading shenanigans but it might kind of suffer in the real world but we'll get to that in a second engine wires all chimneys here in Australia and the vast majority of chimneys internationally feature a 1.5 liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine bolted to either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic and in terms of different trim specs here in Australia we have just two to choose from Simply the chimney or from 2021 the Back to Basics chimney lights but if you're looking in the classifieds and notice models called the Jiminy GLX and GL light and you're wondering what the hell are they they're from Queensland it's not made in Queensland it's still made in Japan but it's just through a different distributor hence why it has a different name same car just different name queenslanders always have to be bloody different don't you it's okay we still love you Rascals now obviously there's plenty more details that we could cover on the chimney but if we did we'd be here forever so instead jump on redriven.com and check out the full chimney cheat sheet basically it's like the ultimate used chimney buyer's guide now a couple of things worth mentioning here on top of the two different trim specs you could almost say that almost no two chimneys are ever the same because just like this owner has done plenty of chimneys are covered in Aftermarket accessories and that's totally fine as long as like this one their quality Aftermarket accessories and they've been fitted professionally also can we just talk about the looks for a second personally I love I love the way these things look I'll go as far as saying this is one of the coolest cars money can buy there's just something about like nuggety little goodness like this like there's no pretense there's no showing off it's just a it's a little box on wheels that just wants to take you adventuring it doesn't get much cooler than that but there are some issues but we'll get to them in a sec aim is the outside it's tough It's purposeful and for me it's pretty close to perfect for what this is supposed to be like for example I love the instrument cluster it just looks so old school it can be a bit of a challenge to read in certain light but I love the grab handles like okay put all the surfaces you touch they're all kind of hard scratchy Plastics that's to be expected this thing is all about tough wear and tear this particular car gets a hell of a workout it is this owner's everyday driver every pretty much every weekend it's going off-road doing some kind of crazy adventure but it's wearing pretty well actually you know what when we were researching this video we would obviously read reviews from other journalists and whatnot and some of the journalists were complaining that this all feels a bit too you know the Plastics are a bit hard and whatnot honestly complaining about that sort of stuff in the interior of a chimney it's like it's like complaining that the soul of a hiking boot has too much rubber on it you like what are you expecting Alcantara and a chimney of course it feels like this this is what it's supposed to feel like also sorry to harp on about this but you've got to remember this was a vehicle that was designed to be under thirty thousand dollars when brand spanking new again are you expecting like a leather-lined interior idiots like I even love just the way all the buttons feel like everything feels exactly as it should now as far as the seats go look some people have complained about the seating comfort in these I'm exactly five centimeters taller than brilliant English comedian Jimmy Carr and I find this totally comfortable I'm not sure what people are on about like again it's not a luxury car but for what it is comfort's fine although one thing that does annoy me and look I know I sound like a broken record on this but the lack of buttons in the infotainment system yes there are buttons on the steering wheel they're great but just sliders and buttons when you're bobbling around all over the bush and even like just driving around town trying to like aim at the screen just annoying give me some buttons now in terms of practicality this particular chimney is like a full catalog of practicality aftermarket parts because standard this doesn't exist standard you've got two cup holders here and another little storage bin here but how cool is this thing it just goes in here so we've got an armrest also it comes with USBS obviously this owner hasn't wired them in yet but they're there if you want to then under the handbrake you've got this little velcro thin cup holder more storage area there standard you obviously have a spot for your phone down here with a couple of charging ports pretty small little glove box there the door bins are really only for things that have two dimensions and then around the center console he's also put these little let's call them little saddle bags oh and there's sunglasses what does he wear he wears Ray-Bans well done um and I think that's it up the front for practicality yeah good now in the back seat of the chimney as you can see this owner has removed the back seats and replaced it with storage probably for the best because I have sat in the back of these when standard and it's almost like sitting in the back of the least roomy third row seat in a small seven seat SUV it's not really ideal for humans this is a far better option but there's an issue with practicality and it's this see many many owners love to go off-road that's fantastic but the roof is only rated to 30 kilos if you do overload it and you have an accident it could affect your insurance so just be careful now practicality in the boot look in a standard chimney with the seats up there's not a whole lot of storage space honestly but forget the whole rear seat idea and you can do what this owner has done and pack it out with a whole bunch of stuff this is pretty bloody good not very comfortable for me but it's good plus if we had the keys these can open up so you can access from the sides also how good is this you can change a baby on that now considering how No Nonsense the chimney is it actually comes with a pretty decent range of tech and features infotainment is taking care of via Apple carplay or Android auto via a screen that is a little on the smaller side and does feel a generation old to use and if you do like your tunes make sure you upgrade the speakers because they're pretty average oh also it has Bluetooth connectivity as well you'll also get a reversing camera climate control a trip computer alloy wheels LED headlights fog lights guys the full list is on the cheat sheet now the light variant it loses the touch screen so no Apple carplay or Android auto the aircon is just that air conditioning no climate control the Allies are gone as well replaced by Steel Wheels and the halogens replace the LED headlights also to take the pressure off this semiconductor issue that the world is facing at the moment Suzuki Australia are fitting more recent chimneys with a larger touch screen but there are some issues with that which we'll cover soon now as far as safety goes as you're probably aware it's not good news here when and cap tested these things when they came out they awarded them only a three-star rating stating that the chimney misses The Mark with structural and design weaknesses poor protection of the pedestrians and cyclists and a lack of effective safety AIDS but to take you through exactly what safety equipment that you can expect because the safety uh rating on these is a little bit terrifying we're going to do the voiceover for the safety like I'm telling a ghost story around a campfire it all started so well you know it looks good it'll go off-road with the best of them it even has six airbags ABS brake assist low speed crash and pedestrian avoidance control ESC killed the center assist with Hill holder Lane departure warnings and Driver attention and fatigue detection but then bam logic and responsibilities they hit you in the brain and all of a sudden you're questioning if you should buy a chimney at all again guys for all of the specific details and the safety the tech and the features redriven.com check out the cheat sheet everything you need to know is there I can't hear the part of the video that I've been looking forward to the most what's it like to drive now obviously these things are amazing off-road and even more capable with some quality modifications but there's there's already thousands of videos on YouTube of these things dominating the Wilderness so instead let's break this down into real world scenarios is overtaking even possible sort of as long as the car that you're overtaking is going in reverse or has come to a complete stop this particular chimney is an auto and yeah it's liking for power but look around town it's fine it does the job it keeps up with traffic you do have to like rev it out to merge into traffic but that's that's kind of part of the fun small and scary yeah it does feel small but it it kind of feels tough at the same time but because it is so small and it's basically a box on Wheels like getting it into like a tight car park or maneuvering is an absolute Breeze and it's actually kind of really satisfying when you nail it but in saying that out on the freeway if it gets a bit windy yeah it can be scary let's just say that I was dropping one of these once and there was a massive gust of wind and I ended up changing lanes I had no intention of changing lanes mother nature decided that's what I needed to do and I ended up in the left lane the off-road system and Body on frame chassis result in a terrible on-road Driving Experience well like Terrible's kind of subjective isn't it and look even with this tough dog suspension which has improved the ride quality immensely it does still kind of bubble about a bit and kind of pitch and roll through the corners but again that's kind of what the Jimmy is all about it feels alive it feels like it's got its own little character and personality but will you eventually become tired and exhausted of the bubbling and bouncing nature well only if you're dead inside it's small budget built blocks on Wheels does it rattle well you know what no it doesn't really rattle at all like there are rattles in here but it's all the aftermarket equipment the actual chimney part of it it still sounds really solid also this car has an aftermarket exhaust and intake system and it can get a little bit droney on a long drive and in the wrong gear it just kind of sounds okay but can get tiring is he else you'd like to add yes there is there are very few other cars out there that draw this amount of positive attention everywhere you go people smile people give you the thumbs up it just exude such love and positivity look overall don't think of the chimney as like a normal car it kind of becomes like a best friend and like all best friends they're really perfect but you want to hang out with them anyway then that's that's the chimney like even when you go for a drive by yourself you're not actually going to be alone you're going to be inside one of your best friends like that that doesn't sound right what I mean is it's like having a friend with benefits right that doesn't no that's not right either okay so how much do these things cost far too much and it's your bloody fault when brand new here in Australia Suzuki were charging around about 25 000 but they sold out like crazy so Suzuki put the price up to thirty thousand dollars and they still sold out like crazy in fact if you want a brand new one right now you could be waiting many many months to get one so therefore the used Market has gone crazy even like the earliest spec High kilometer not great condition ones they're asking like mid thirty thousand dollar range accessory Laden Mint Condition recent ones let's Summit like 45 to 50 000 there's some even more than that which is I just I don't understand guys are they worth this sort of money let us know in the comments Suzuki are claiming a fuel consumption figure of 6.4 liters per 100K is for the manual and 6.9 liters per 100 case for the auto but through our research not many owners are seeing those figures obviously What accessories are bolted onto it and how and where you drive are going to affect those figures this particular chimney is claimed at 6.9 liters per 100 case it's actually seeing 9.8 now before we get into what goes wrong with these a massive shout out to Jimmy for Lending us his awesome little chimney guys check out his Instagram check out his YouTube all the links are down there somewhere also a massive thank you to everybody in the chimney community that helped us with the research for this video you guys Legends okay so what goes wrong with the chimney starting with the exterior pretty good news we couldn't find any like common problems with the exterior of the chimney the only problems that we could find were basically down to aftermarket equipment not being fitted correctly or it's just dodgy equipment there have been some complaints about all terrain tires fitting wheel alignment that's a whole can of worms that we're not going to open right now or it's just chimneys that have been driven incredibly hard or just basically abused now how is this for a perfect segue hence why it's incredibly important to go and check out our ultimate 4x4 buyers guide video please watch that guys because it could save you thousands of dollars when you're buying your next off-roader okay inside there are a couple of problems firstly problems with the infotainment systems these larger units you're fitting to more recent chimneys there are so many owners up in arms about these things apparently all sorts of problems even on the earlier models like these ones the apple carplay and the Android auto are having issues the screens can like just show a blue screen or blackout completely and there's a heap of problems with Bluetooth connectivity as well also many owners are quite critical of Suzuki or more specifically Suzuki dealerships for not coming up with a worthy solution so if you are in the market for one of these just make sure that the infotainment system works also and granted this is far more sporadic we wouldn't call it common as such there are a few reports of just like little electronic Gremlins here and there like switches not working minor problems it's more of an annoyance than a major problem now guys before we get into mechanically what can go wrong with the chimney look if you haven't done this already and you're enjoying our content can you please hit those like subscribe and Bell buttons especially subscribe one it just helps us make more of this content for you now mechanically what goes wrong with the journey I can't tell you because I'm not a qualified mechanic Jim is the k-15b that's the 1.5 liter four-cylinder petrol they're actually proving to be very reliable which is fairly typical for any engine built by Suzuki there are a few complaints about excessive oil consumption now one way to avoid that is just to maybe service it a little bit more frequently I know I go on and on about this but the recommended service schedule in these is 15 000 K's 10 000 case is definitely better really with these engines there's no one big problem that causes catastrophic failures and out of the ones we've seen in the workshop for servicing we actually have never had to refer anything back to the dealership for a warranty repair there are some reports of driveline and transmission complications and especially with the transfer case there's been a few instances where the transfer case has had to be completely renewed under warranty and there's been a few times where it has not been covered by warranty now that's got more to do with what the owner has been doing with the car and in a car like this there is always the gray area about how it's been designed and what it's been designed for and what it's actually being used for and the way it's being done what I mean there is it's safe to say that if you do a whole lot of off-roading and go through a whole bunch of creeks and there's water in your diff oil or your transmission oil and you have a catastrophic failure because of that chances are that is not going to be covered by warranty and a pro tip if you're doing that sort of thing just change your Driveline oils afterwards and speaking of things that are not covered by warranty it's the same with lift kits and big wheels and tires that stuff does put more strain on the Driveline and will absolutely avoid your warranty look a lot of them out there are heavily modified and you actually need those modifications for extreme off-road grocery getting so if you're looking at one just make sure the mods are done right and keep in mind that just about any mod can void your warranty look overall if they are maintained properly and driven with a bit of mechanical sympathy they are a tough little nugget but it is important to get a pre-purchase inspection and also go and have a look at our ultimate four-wheel drive buyers guide okay so should you buy one no because you're making it harder for me to buy one seriously though there are very few legitimate reasons why you should buy a chimney they aren't all that safe almost every other small SUV blows them out of the water for driving refinement on-road they're not all that practical the interior is utilitarian at best the underpowered and they can be terrifying if it gets windy okay sure they're awesome off-road and they're an absolute Breeze to park but the Junior skill set is extremely limited but you know what none of that matters because no matter how flawed or illogical a chimney is of course yes you should buy one in a world drowning in sensible and mostly boring SUVs the chimney is a bit like a like a stand-up comedian in a conference full of Taxation accountants and it reminds you just how fun cars can be actually you know what if anyone from Suzuki is watching this I genuinely want a five-door Jimny almost more than anything in my life so can I please have one now guys we need to know what you think are these overrated would you buy one what do you think let us know in the comments see you next time here in Australia and they've sold out like crazy so Subaru this is the new Subaru chimney here we go really with these engines there's no one big and brain was buffering or something it is important to make sure that those mods are done properly and if you're looking at one make sure the mods are done properly because you need to make sure the mods are done properly just make sure those mods are done properly and keep in mind that any mods very well ah bloody hell

Channel: ReDriven

Views: 746,054

Keywords: used cars, used car, second hand cars, cars, best used cars, motoring, new cars, new car, automotive, review, used car review, car review, new car review, new car reviews, used car reviews, redriven

Id: p4knXaxBiSA

Length: 17min 48sec (1068 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 24 2023