Is the Suzuki Jimny a good first car? Here’s the honest truth

The Suzuki Jimny has long defied categorisation – sitting in the light SUV category but boasting equipment and capabilities you'd normally expect from a full-sized 4WD.

According to monthly new-car sales data VFACTS, the Suzuki Jimny was the second-best-selling vehicle in its 'light SUV' segment in November 2024, behind the Mazda CX-3. The model is on track to be within the top five of its category in terms of yearly sales.

The history of the Jimny started in 1970, when the first-generation model, with a two-stroke, two-cylinder 360cc engine, hit the market. This early model had moderate success in the international market, but it wasn't until its later generations that it really began taking off.

The second (1981–1998) and third-generation (1998–2018) models offered an affordable, capable, and well-equipped 4WD to a market that wanted something small – and Suzuki delivered, but with a larger four-cylinder engine this time.

The fourth generation (2018-current) finally burst onto the scene after the third generation was in production for a whopping 20 years, offering all of the same underpinnings of the original Jimny: selectable 4WD, selectable low-range, solid beam axles, and a four-cylinder motor – but with a modern twist.

The new generation brought the historic model into the 21st century with driver-assistance technology, as well as a new chassis, looks, engine, and outlook for the Jimny.

In this article, we will focus on the current model as we answer the question: Is the Suzuki Jimny a good first car?

Yes, all generations of the Suzuki Jimny are P-plate legal across all states and territories with a power-to-weight restriction of 130kW per tonne (Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland).

All models and trim levels of the current-generation Jimny have a power-to-weight ratio of under 70kW/tonne, making them more than acceptable for P-plate drivers.

As mentioned previously, the Jimny features everything you would normally find in a full-sized 4WD but in a micro package.

This means if you're in the market for an off-road-capable vehicle, but don't want the fuel costs associated with filling a large-capacity tank or managing the size of a full-sized footprint around town, the Jimny is a perfect option.

The standard equipment includes selectable four-wheel drive, selectable low-range, and tough front/rear solid beam axles with coil suspension. In layman's terms, the Jimny can handle rough terrain.

Because the Jimny is powered by a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, the power isn't going to be overwhelming for new drivers. Outputting 75kW means that you're not going to be breaking any speed records, but you have enough power to keep up with traffic on the freeway.

Realistically speaking, if you're looking at buying your first car, the odds are you're not going to want to spend a heap of money each week refuelling.

That's where the little 1.5-litre engine comes in handy. A combined fuel-consumption reading of 6.4L/100km for the manual models and 6.9L/100km for the automatic models is impressively low for a full internal combustion-engined car.

In terms of driver assistance, the Jimny comes with the standard kit of automatic emergency braking at low speed, pedestrian avoidance with brake assist, anti-lock brakes, stability control, hill holder, hill descent control, lane-departure warning, forward collision warning and driver attention detection.

The Jimny also sits on the low end of the servicing price spectrum. Suzuki offers capped-price servicing on the popular light SUV for the first 60 months (or earlier if travelled 105,000km), with intervals set every 12 months or 15,000km.

Servicing costs under the Suzuki capped-price plan range between $349 and $849. You can find out more about service pricing here.

Being an enthusiast vehicle, the Jimny also has a plethora of off-the-shelf aftermarket parts to extensively modify your car or just make it your own.

It's hard to ignore one of the Suzuki Jimny's biggest downsides as a first car: its ANCAP safety rating. 

When the Jimny was tested in 2018, it scored a three-star safety rating and ANCAP's Chief Executive at the time, James Goodwin, said it missed the mark on many fronts.

"The Jimny misses the mark with structural and design weaknesses, poor protection of pedestrians and cyclists, and lack of effective safety aids," said Goodwin.

"Engineers observed several issues in the frontal offset test including excessive deformation of the passenger compartment, with penalties applied for loss of structural integrity, steering wheel and pedal intrusion and knee injury risk.

"Insufficient inflation of the driver's airbag was also observed with the dummy contacting the steering wheel through the airbag, indicating reduced protection in more severe crashes."

Compared to other cars in the light SUV category, such as the Toyota Yaris Cross, which scored five stars, and the Volkswagen T-Cross, which also scored five stars, it's not the safest option in the segment.

Pricing is another issue when it comes to buying a first car. The cheapest option in the Jimny line-up is the Lite manual. It starts at $30,490 (plus on-road costs), which is affordable on an adult wage. However, for a 16-year-old, saving money at the national minimum wage for that age group of $11.39 an hour may be unachievable without a helping hand from an adult.

We would normally suggest looking at second-hand options, but since the new model's launch in Australia, the Jimny has been so popular getting hold of stock has been tricky, leading to inflated pricing on the used market.

According to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association's (AADA) latest used-car sales report, the Suzuki Jimny sells for more on the used market than its initial price when new. Two- to four-year-old models have a value retention of 113.4 per cent, while five- to seven-year-old models have a value retention of 114 per cent.

Retained value reflects how much of a car's value when purchased new it would hold if sold today. For example, if a 2018 Toyota RAV4 purchased new for $60,000 has a retained value of 85 per cent after two years, that means it would be worth roughly $51,000 if sold on the used-car market in 2020.

However, stock is beginning to free up and Suzuki Australia has had an influx of cars arrive in the country, so the used market should begin to populate again. However, as it sits now, the Jimny can still be pricier to buy used than new – generally speaking.

Drive's Director of Content, James Ward, noted two things when he tested the car in 2021: the Jimny is "quite noisy, though, with wind, tyre and engine noise resonating into the cabin" and "the skinny 195mm Yokohama tyres and 210mm ground clearance give it an elevated centre of gravity and somewhat twitchy nature".

The cabin noise may be manageable for a new driver, but the twitchy nature and high centre of gravity may be difficult to get to grips with, especially when travelling along the freeway.

The Suzuki Jimny may need to be purchased with careful thought and consideration for first-time car buyers. It's not inherently unsafe, but its three-star ANCAP rating is disappointing compared to other cars in the category.

Combine the safety rating with the pricing, twitchy driving nature, and high centre of gravity, and it may take some getting used to.

That said, it will be cheaper to run and easier to manage in small streets than a full-sized 4WD.

You also won't be breaking records easily with the 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine, so speeding, which is the number-one cause of road deaths in Australia, should be less of a worry.

That said, if you want a cheap, easy-to-run, and easy-to-maintain off-road vehicle, go for the Jimny. But if safety ratings are a high priority on your list, then it may be worth considering other light SUVs.

Looking to buy a Suzuki Jimny? Drive Marketplace currently has you sorted with an assortment of Jimnys for sale across Australia.

Click here to browse the used Suzuki Jimnys for sale near you.

Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.

Read more about Zane Dobie