Looking to buy a Jimny

Hi all, I hope you dont mind me posting a "im looking to buy a Jimny" question, im sure you get it a lot.

I currently drive a FordMaverick 4x4, and im looking to sell that, and hopefully buy a Jimny. The reaosn for this, is that the Maverick is quite expensive for the use I get out of it, but I still want a 4x4, so I figured id "downsize". Ive always liked the look of the Jimny, in terms of its capabilities. I dont particularly go offroading, but i want that option, so, i have a couple of questions, if you dont mind?

firstly, as a prospective buyer, what are the common Jimny problems I should look for? Are there any common, big expensive jobs on these cars? With the Maverick/terrano, the common problems are rusty outer sills, No1 injectors etc etc, do the Jimnys suffer anything like that?

I have read the MPG is around 32 -+, whcih tbh isnt bad as far as im concerned, I dont touch that in the Maverick, so it would be an improvment to my wallet whcih is what i am looking for. What about insurance costs? im 36, zillion years no claims, anythign i can compare to?

what about basic mods, I have seen the snorkel kit in the shop and will certainly get one, but i have read that the jimny is maybe a smidge low, so, without going for body lifts, can i get a bit more ride height from tyres, shocks and springs?

finally, rust, do these cars suffer from it, and if so, where are the worst, dreaded spots?

guys, thank svery much for your time, I hope you can advise me! Im looking for a chain driven Jimny, my max spend will probably be around £1500, which i know isnt a lot, but I have seen lots for less and i am NOT afraid to fix my own car, so garage bills generally are not a concern!!

First of all welcome

Mainly the rust is in the boot floor so lift the fake floor remove the tools and have a good look for holes

There is also a vaccum line issue which can disable the 4wd by not letting the forward hubs engage the main sign of this is the 4WD light flashing when 4wd is engaged

One more thing is king pins wearing and causeing "death wobble"

There is a full buying guide on this website

As for lift you can get a 4.5 inch suspention lift and further body lifts but after a 3 inch lift you start suffering with handeling on the road

a 2 inch lift is more then enough for a light off roading session

However a 3 inch is ideal if your planning on doing alot of laneing

Hope this helps

Thankyou for the response JerseyJimny, ill have a look for the buying guide, I must have missed it when looking earlier. thanks for the advice also, ill add it to my checklist, at least the lack of 4wd sounds like an easy enough fix (fir manual hubs) if i cant deal with the vacuum pipe thing easily. I have read a bit about the wobble scenario, so ill look into that furthur, again, thankyou!

No problem anything for a possile jimny owner! Have fun

As above but 32mpg is optimistic! To get more ground clearance you'll need bigger tyres and you need the suspension lift for those. The suspension lift will not achieve much on it's own and you'll still get caught up on your diffs and radius arms.

There are lots of tyre size threads on here to wade through. The bigger you go, the more it hits your mpg and reduces the on road performance as you'd expect.

In my opinion the front vacuum hubs may as well be changed to manual ones immediately as they are too unreliable. Easily done.

The shells rust underneath too now, so give the whole shell a good check. Front inner wings behind headlights, where the sills meet the floor pan and the boot floor being a favourite.

Kirkynut

cheers for this, seems pretty straight forward, and certainly no more complex than what I have now!

it may be a few month before i get one, but this advice is invaluable.