Why I bought the FIRST new Suzuki Jimny as a family car // Jonny Smith

I specced what is the UK's very first privately owned Jimny with several options that would best protect it and offer a level of practicality to what is an obviously compromised car! But sometimes you are happy to suffer compromise if it has character - and the Jimny has exactly that. In fact it is tipped to be an instant classic since there is still a year long waiting list, and UK sales will cease in 2021 due to emissions regulations.

Roof rack: The Slimline II by Front Runner

Before the release of the Jimny my wife owned a Nissan Figaro (we still have that JDM rascal), a Japanese import Nissan Cube Cubic, a Chrsyler 300C V6 diesel turbo estate and a Mercedes C350e estate PHEV. We did look at imported a factory RHD Toyota FJ Cruiser from South Africa for a daily family wagon, but with a 4.0-litre V6 it was out of the question. Do you own a new Jimny, or have you tried to order one and struggled? Tell me in the comments below.

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Jonny Smith
Creative content maker, car presenter & car pervert for hire since '98
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[DTRproductions]

I wish reviews in general were more like this, by an owner(s), light hearted, slow paced, detailed open conversation about a vehicle.
<3

[Daijyobanai]

"Defender drivers look at it jealously". I hang around LR forums and honestly this is what a lot of us wanted from the new Defender. A utility vehicle that could be fixed like an original 90/110 and at a reasonable price. Instead we got another luxury vehicle with 40+ mini-computers running the BCU and another addition to "the brand". A brand that was built on farm vehicles and military use.

[thefrenchruraldream]

I’ll be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of 5th Gear but Jonny was always my favourite presenter because he had an interesting personality which he (imo) has been able to fully unleash on his YouTube channel....never been a fan of fairly basic vehicles. However Jonny has made what is globally renowned for being a great budget 4x4 really cool, well for me anyway 👍🏻😊. Loving the freedom YouTube has given a really interesting and funny presenter keep up the great content 👍🏻😊😊.

[stuartsawyers]

This has been an expensive 27 minutes. Now got a roof rack in the basket for my Jimny. Great video

[sunnylam]

I feel happy when I see this car, I've sat in one, I don't want one, but I just like how it looks. There's a certain charm that's missing from most cars on sale today.

[KarstenBorngraber]

I am in South Africa and I took delivery of my new Jimny in 2019. I am completely happy and over the moon with it. It has surpassed my expectations.
Thank you for this review, because it has given me great guidance on the additional bits you can put on the car, which I will be considering.
This is the last car I needed to buy. As time goes on, I see no other car on the market that impresses me as much as this little adventurer. It gets a lot of attention and so many people would love to get one, but cannot due to the waiting time and the fact that secondhand ones are more pricy. All-in-all, this is the best car I have owned and I just love it.

[wmp]

Good lord that was a fantastic game of rock paper scissors, I was on the edge of my seat.

[SabreLilly.]

As an American, I can only look on in wonder at this forbidden fruit

[qlus]

I really agree with James may aswell when he says Suzuki is one of the most underrated car brands

[LifeofSmokey]

Just bought one myself, can't wait to get it delivered! Really enjoy watching your videos Jonny!

[davebarton]

Love the Suzuki, this is what the new defender should have been, simple, practical and affordable, instead it’s another luxury product from JLR!

[BRxRanger]

Suzuki: "Jonny, please don't make this video, we don't want to have to turn away more sales. "
Suzuki: " Damn it Jonny. "

[FabriSlv]

I have a 2006 Jimny and I love it to bits! Used to be my dad's car, was passed on to me in 2011, I've driven about 200, 000km in from city driving to long motorway trips through heavy off-road, and I couldn't be any happier about it!
I love the small size, driving in Rome it really helps with parking and moving around traffic, and the visibility is better than anything else I've ever been in, let alone driven: you can see every corner of the car from the driver's seat, and it turns in no space at all. When bumpy roads are concerned, my I live in the countryside, with a full mile of unpaved, bumpy, often completely broken road to get home, but in that I can still do 20km/h no matter the conditions, while most road cars have to carefully go around every bump at less than half the speed.
And actually, I find it very fun to drive as well, the fact it's so wobbly makes you feel quite unsafe, but the wheels have a ton of grip so you can run around corners if you dare.
The only, obvious downside of it is motorway driving. I've done two or three 1000+ km trips on it, and sitting in the back gets quite annoying with time, the extra shoulder room over the wheels means you can't really find a comfortable sleeping/lying position, and going over 110km/h with A/C on is next to impossible.
All in all, though, I'm really sad this is going out of production, my Jimny has been a lovely companion and now that it's throwing in the towel I kind of looked forward to get a new one. Who knows, though, maybe we'll soon see an EV version of it. Personally I would love it!

Two small notes:
1) I also got the roof rack, but I find it almost impossible to mount my ebike there, it's too heavy and the rack is way too high - higher up than on most SUVs actually. So I also bought a bike rack that van be attached to the wheel on the back, really useful and comfortable to use, and also quite easy to remove
2) the reason Defender owners eye it with such jealousy is because they know you can go anywhere they can, but you payed half the price for it!

[themorganator]

this is EXACTLY what a family car review should be. I've wanted one of these since I saw your first review, so off to suzuki I go!

[AM-zqro]

Mrs Car Perverts face at 25:30 when you thanked her for doing such along interview (love in her eyes) but then told her to go put the kettle on (her eyes roll). You went from hero to the naughty step. Lol.
Great owners review. Thumbs up.

[Danielevans]

I know it's cliche but that design is an instant classic!!! So beautiful 😍

[stephanematis]

Jimny with a crunchy clutch was one of the most favorite moments of a trip to Cuba. I suspect it had a really hard life from tourists who knew little about stick shift, but I persevered. My buddies on the trip and I agreed that on the next visit, we'd rent one for the whole vacation. Charming is an understatement.

[stephenwalker]

This would be my euromillions car for nipping into the local village from my country estate/castle, no point in putting extra miles on the Phantom :) Kind of like a modern 2cv agricultural simple but very effective car.

[eddyer]

This really takes me back to our Suzuki Maruti Gypsy, which at first I hated, but came to love after my wife showed me how amazing it was. We drove it a couple years in Southeast Asia, then a couple more years in southern Africa. Our (young) family of five was very comfy for our road trip adventures.

[sidewalkMCS]

i live in Japan and the waiting list is 18 months!
apparantly suzuki is sending more to european market, i thought why? but now understand.
brilliant little car that jimny.