Talk me out of buying a Jimny in Canada

[brianpark]

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.

This is great info, appreciate it. Lots to think about!

 

[AndyO]

I have that Jimny, the JB23W. I would not get it with the K6A engine as finding parts isn't easy. Here in Barbados the Jimny is very popular but they all have the 1.3 which is common to other cars in the market. I have driven my 2006 for 5 years without a problem. My AC v belt just broke and the dealer was not able to help. Makes you think a turbo is out of the question.

 

[justbecause]

2 year old thread, I hope that guy didnt buy a tacoma.

 

[SurferJacoby]

2 year old thread, I hope that guy didnt buy a tacoma.

Lol! Definitely got a good chuckle out of that one.

 

[brianpark]

I bought a 2015 Forester (pics). Not as capable offroad, and definitely not as cool, but a lot more practical for me.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I would buy a jimny in a second if I had the chance. For where I'm living it would be perfect for the tight trails. But, and this is a HUGE but, I don't think it would fair well on North American highways. Maybe other places you have other options other than highways, but living in southern ontario I think it would get annoying real quick only being able to do 100km/h with a passenger and gear. I think the 1.3L would do just fine, but the 660cc is more geared for city driving and B roads at most. Would be great to be able to get to trail heads on a thimble full of fuel though!