2008 Jimny and rust!

Hi all,

So I recently bought a 2008 Jimny with just under 100k on the clock, which on the face of it looked good. The bodywork, inside the bonnet around headlights, jack compartment all look excellent with no real rust. I had looked at maybe 7 or 8 others before buying this one, and this was the best of the bunch for the money.

However, two months in and we suffered a serious structural fail (see pictures below)! The rear end is clearly now no longer attached to the chassis, as its just bobbing around on the springs. The thick round bar that goes between the two sides of the chassis by the rear wheel has snapped at one end, which has then caused the other end to snap on the square bracket and the join at the top is also well on it's way to snapping through the same as the other side.

Fortunately, the garage (who clam it passed their MOT test, so are a bit on the back foot here) have agreed to do the welding work to fix this whether I keep it or not, but I have no idea what they mean by that, or to what standard of course. The garage, whilst not a big chain or anything, seems decent enough and advertise as a big-brand (although not Suzuki) service centre.

The question is, should I let them? I could just ask for my money back and walk at this point, but then I have to find another Jimny, and there is a “better the devil you know” argument I guess. And other than the underside, the general condition does seem better than most I have seen at this age.

I could let them do the work, and then spend more on it myself, maybe get the underside cleaned and treated if nothing else, as I suspect I would still be OK financially and then end up with a known good car.

I could get a mechanic friend to come and inspect the car before I agree to keep it, but he won’t have seen the generally shocking state of the underside of most 10+ year old Suzuki’s (and Japanese cars in general) and might just advise me to walk, not realising that this is what they all look like.

Any advice, or idea of what I am in for here, would be very gratefully received to help me decide how to proceed…
First picture is the general condition of the underside:

This is the main break:

And here is where it has then gone on the other side, with the hole in the round bar at the top visible in the back:

First off welcome to the forum.

Hmm difficult one. Anything is repairable with enough effort and yes I have seen worse.

Thing is though you have a way out and I would look long and hard at taking it. It sounds like you aren't entirely impressed with the garage and what standard it will do the repair to.

There are more jimny out there along with scrupulous garages.

My first thought is to walk away and get your money back. Clearly that's not acceptable after just two months with a fresh MOT if I've read your post correctly. Tbh I don't think I would be happy with that even if it had done a full 12months on its MOT without warning signs that the car is getting worse. What does its MOT history say? Anything about corrosion underneath? As to what to do next is the tricky one. If you've looked at a few and they all seem the same if not worse then perhaps you are better off repairing this one using a different garage and getting the underside all stripped back and undersealed. But this will cost money and it really depends on how much you love the car and how much money you want to put into it realising that you will probably never get that money back should you sell unless it's a long term keeper. I would defiantly take it to another garage or even better a garage that does undersealing to at least get a second opinion on how structurally sound the car is and what sort of cost it would be to put it right.

Just for info, the MOT has been listing chassis corrosion as an advisory since 2020. I guess I should have suspected something was up as in 2024 it had "Vehicle structure is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced (6.1.1 (c) (i))" along with fuel and brake line corrosion and then in 2025 it's suddenly gone...

And yes, jlines, you read right; a chassis break 2 months after an apparently clean MOT... Not acceptable for sure, but is that the cars fault?

As I say, I saw 7 or 8, maybe even more, and this was the best. So although I do have an out, I am then back as the start and I have a whole new gamble to take, so I am just not convinced I would be any better off.

I looked around today, and unless I spend quite a few thousand more, I don't think I am going to find a better one in terms of general body work.  And in terms of the underside, they all seem just as bad (to my untrained eye).  I could get this one back, spend a grand or even two on it, and be happy I haven't been ripped off (so long as what I end up with is sound for the next few years.  So I guess the question is; should I plan to spend many hundreds, or even a grand or two on this one, or hand it back and start again?

On the other hand, the guy who recovered me said give it back, be angry at the garage, and walk away because he would never accept a welded chassis, and neither would any insurer or whatever, because it is structural.  But then what 15 year old Jimny doesn't have a welded chassis, so are they being unrealistic?

P.S. In the interests of full disclosure, I am teaching my son to drive in it, and we have had some good times. So although I would swap it, perhaps I am a bit biased and overly committed to the Jimny at this point, and I should just get an old Fiesta instead...

If you are prepared to spend money on that one put it towards a newer better one. Also 2008 is right in the range for the weak main gearbox bearings so while it might be clean ish it may well be waiting to give you a gearbox rebuild as a nice surprise, unless you have evidence in the papers of it having been done?

Ok so it looks like the signs were there that the underside was becoming a problem and then when it changes for vehicle structure corroded that is the time to act or lose the car to rust. Certainly not the cars fault but the garage should have never passed it recently as clearly it went beyond the not significantly corroded part. The signs would have been there when they did the last test. I would also agree that if you are willing to spend money fixing that one then surely a newer better one could be picked up. Also if you are thinking about it as your sons first car I would recommend getting some insurance quotes as Jimnys are quite high for new drivers although my first car was a Jimny.