After borrowing an old Vitara from a kind stranger yesterday… Im very tempted. I hear its not ‘great’ on a motorway.

Owner experiences?

As with all my cars itll never be washed (cheers Pook ‘honk for a bj will be there forever 😆 ) or cleaned inside.

Me and the Mrs had one for about 18 months, was my parents prior to that and they’d put just over 120k, brilliant little 4×4 which is very basic or at least ours was as it was a 51 plate, it never missed a beat though, the only issue when we traded it in with nearly 140k on the clock was the driverside electric window didn’t work all the time.

Yeah it was pretty rubbish on the motorway given its small cuboid body as it tended to get blown about a lot but nothing scary and was ok for longish drives.

It is very small inside and ours never had the rear seats up as otherwise you could get nothing in the boot. As for carrying bikes I could easily get my old Meta 55 in with both wheels off with the rear seats down. and easily have room for a second bike.

EDIT: Also had fully selectable 4wd and high and low ratio settings so was ace in the winter or mud.

Only ever driven a hire one on Caribbean islands, can’t imagine why anyone would buy one for any reason, other than for occasional ‘bumming’ around.

One of the works pool cars is a Jimny and it’s sh*t. It’s slow, uncomfortable, noisy and shakes and rattles like a bag of bolts. I can’t imagine how anyone could put 100k miles on one. I’ve heard they’re pretty competent off road, but have only driven on A roads in good weather so can’t comment.
OH had a Vitara for a while, totally different thing, quite liked it

Sorry piedi, wrong car:

I’m seriously thinking about getting rid of the Octavia and getting a Jimni, I rarely do long motorway journeys, most of my driving is around narrow country lanes and A/B roads, the car is seldom used during the week, and a small easily parked car makes more sense than a large 4-door hatchback.
I also very rarely carry more than one person.
Many of the roads I drive are little more than single-track, and most of the time are muddy and rutted/potholed.
Perfect car for me.
I saw a lovely little white SJ413 yesterday, with a snorkel fitted, I’d actually prefer that to the Jimny, great little car with great off-road capability.

Ladder chassis, coil sprung live axles, locking diff (of sorts)… It’s like a 2/3 scale Land Rover that doesn’t leak. Or break down.

If you’re after an off road toy or farm hack, it’ll be awesome. If you’re after a car, I think you’d be disappointed.

I work for a suzuki main dealer, they are what they are, small, basic, jiggly. Better on the motorway than I expected, very reliable. Only problems we get are the owners who don’t know how/when to engage/disengage the old school part time 4wd.

Countzero I only go on motorways at weekends

I’d love this:

[/url]Untitled by Adrian Hillier, on Flickr

We have had mine since new in 04. 100k +. It’s a keeper. It is not slow. Stupid comment. It does 70 easily and no one short of a blue light wearer or a moron needs more than that in the UK. Interior is the same as all modern cars. Proper 4wd, low ratio included. The low position sticks as few people use it. A good bargaining point. Gear box isn’t slick but fine. Not the power of my 110 but other than that as capable off road and in snow, better on ice. Less front and rear overhang. Tyres cheap.Limited space in the back, 50 miles is hard on my knackered knees but fine kids. Ride is hard to quantify. It is better loaded even after 100k miles. 38 mpg urban rush hour, 40 + loaded with camping gear and a roof box. Tons of mods out there. Look out for a wobble like a unbalanced wheel at 45mph. If the wheels are right it means that the kingpins are worn. Use that as a bargaining point. Ask if they have been done. That’s not always picked up even with a lot of levering. Steel wheels are bomb proof and less tacky than alloys. IME Suzuki (Clarion) radios don’ t last long.

Can uou fit a towbar in conjuction with a towbar mounted wheel-holding rack that clears the spare wheel? (Not one that you ‘hang’ your bike from)

Only ever driven a hire one, was the worst handling car I have ever driven. Was good fun on Greek dirt tracks though. Would I buy one for real life? No.

Lovely little motors for what they are; come the demise of the Defender this year they will be one of the only traditional ‘proper’ off road vehicles left to buy. (By that I mean body on chassis, live axles, high and low range). Would embarrass many a stratospherically more expensive ‘off roader’ when actually off road, but obviously this means that it is fundamentally flawed as a road car. If you are happy to accept the shortcomings, I would be if I didn’t commute 45 miles each way by motorway) then go for it.

My commutes 500meters’s 😀 but I do all of my mileage Manchester to Peaks, over M62 etc etc, at weekends so no traffic. Only once a year do I hit Europe but I can go via Hull-Zeebrugge. The biggest requirement in a vehicle for me is quirky, basic and useable in all conditions.

I couldnt do 45miles a day in any car

Its not a car , once you compare it to its alternatives its very good just check for rot round tank and behind headlights

Rotwise how long usually does it take? i.e say a 2005 or older?

The one I saw was was a 2000 but garage said it was faily common
Then again many 15 year old cars have some rust somewhere

Abit like Ford Pumas of c15yr old era now

I used to have a vitara that I modified (3inch body lift, 3 inch suspension lift, BFG MT’s, etc etc) it was fantasticbut would tramline on the motorway and go no faster than 60 without being a liability. I wouldn’t buy a Jimny unless it was from KAP Suzuki (if they’re still going?). If you’re looking for a small Japanese 4×4 seek out an old suzuki LJ90 and modify it, they are wonderful. Or an original Toyota.

So, to clarify; MrNutt, offering advice about a standard Jimny, states he used to have a completely different car (IFS vs live axle) that he modified the suspension and put off road tyres on, but then found it handled worse on the road, at speed. He also wouldn’t reccomend buying one from anyone but a retailer that may or may not exist, and he goes on to recommend a REALLY old Suzuki LJ90 (I presume typo for LJ80) or Toyota, which would basically be a museum piece. Excellent!

It’s a proper 4wd, not a car.

I’d have one like a shot if my missus could be persuaded. Perfectly capable road car IF driven appropriately.

Can lose the back end really quickly (and not in a good way) if you get too ambitious with the right boot on loose corners. Nothing a bit of suspension work wouldnt fix.

razorrazoo – Member
Only ever driven a hire one, was the worst handling car I have ever driven. Was good fun on Greek dirt tracks though. Would I buy one for real life? No.

You need to get out more; I’m damned sure I’ve driven a number of cars that handled worse than a Jimny’s likely to
It’s a question of driving within its limitations, a short, fairly narrow car with a high-ish centre of gravity on chunky tyres isn’t going to play well driven like it’s an MX-5.

After borrowing an old Vitara from a kind stranger yesterday… Im very tempted. I hear its not ‘great’ on a motorway.

Think I may be missing something here. You drove a Vitara but are considering a Jimmy ?

If you liked the Vitara why not find one of them.
We’ve got a 53 plate 3 door, not bad on motorways, not exactly luxurious. It recently did Scotland and back, no problem.

Ive driven a Jimny before but couldnt get my head/I kept comparing it to a roadgoing car but I do remember its other traits – wheelbase, character etc which this old W reg Vitara reminded me of. I was stuck on ‘what about motorways’.

“Can you fit a towbar in conjuction with a towbar mounted wheel-holding rack that clears the spare wheel? (Not one that you ‘hang’ your bike from)”
Not got mine fitted but yes.
If you want small, proper 4wd and even better handling on and off road buy a Lada Niva. I so regret selling mine for a 90.

Lada Niva

yeah, try getting s good one now though.
Only one on t’bay;
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=181792138231&globalID=EBAY-GB

mattsccm – what rack/model do you use?

Why cant we have colour choices like this?!

It’s a good 4×4 but not exactly for speed.

I am also thinking about Vitara (I prefer 4 doors) vs RAV4 as amongst my next car.

Ooh! First dibs on the green one! 8)

Made the bugger. Rough copy of a Pendle I think.

I’ve got some terrible dream to buy a cheap Jimny and mod it for an Iceland adventure…….

Maybe stretch the chassis a bit. Somehow find and fit Volvo portal axles and big wheels for river crossing ability. Or buy a Russian made portal conversion kit for the standard axles – what could possibly go wrong with all that weight and bending moment outboard of the standard king pins?

https://sites.google.com/site/voit4x4/home/koleesnye-reduktora-dla-suzuki

I suspect this could all be a very bad idea 🙂

What could go wrong? Just take a fatbike as a lifeboat. 🙂

My son has one, X reg with 85K on the clock. Great first car for a 17 yr old, not likely to break the speed limit, cheapish to fix (clutch was about 200 quid). He’s loaded it up for a camping trip to Scotland with his girlfriend, and with the rear seats out it makes a great little utility vehicle. He took a couple of mates shooting in it the other week, and managed to fit three lads, a shotgun and a rifle, plus two dogs in for a trip up north. He has a roof bag, a sort of collapsible roofrack, to which he added a Sunblest basket and returned with a decent haul of bunnies and pigeons. Smelled a bit funky afterwards, but that’s what they’re for.

The Icelandic adventure sounds awesome!

How are your feeling? Up for a ride yet?

Thanks to Duffer’s pic, I’m convinced…

How many cars do you get through Hora?

can you just buy it so we can get to the hate thread (or how it’s better with different wheels)

CountZero – Member

razorrazoo – Member
Only ever driven a hire one, was the worst handling car I have ever driven. Was good fun on Greek dirt tracks though. Would I buy one for real life? No.

You need to get out more; I’m damned sure I’ve driven a number of cars that handled worse than a Jimny’s likely to
It’s a question of driving within its limitations, a short, fairly narrow car with a high-ish centre of gravity on chunky tyres isn’t going to play well driven like it’s an MX-5.

Well I’ve driven a fair few and it’s by far and away the worst, to say the steering was ‘vague’ is an understatement. Only had it for a week and it’s only my opinion (plus I think my daily driver at the time was an Mk2 MX5).

Appreciate that the open road is not its forte, and that in the right circumstances it is great fun (as I mentioned), however the original post seemed to ask after its road manners, giving the impression that it’s not for ragging along dirt tracks 80% of the time.

If it’s as a cheap off road toy then I’d be less negative.