hello,
im a 19yo student who needs a vehicle to be driven to college. the vehicle that i m interested is in the 4x4 category.
why? because i need the car to be used off road occasionally(palm estate and other adventures).
Ive done some research on the the cars in that category, ranging from the pick up trucks to the suvs'.
As a student i have quite a low budget, maybe ard 30k or much lesser if possible, so i was thinking of a suzuki Jimny 1.3 or the Vitara 1.6.
Judging by the looks alone, the Vitara seems like a more road friendly car(in terms or speed, comfort) while the Jimny looks really well designed for off road.

So, as a student who needs a car to go occasionally off road, which of these two cars do u suggest. In terms of the FC, comfort on road, maintenance , spare parts, and cool factor(lol).
Other car suggestion are also welcomed.

TQ

U talking about this new Suzuki Jimny


or this old model?


If it's the old model, my bro used to own it and the only thing i can say is that it has quite good off road ability but the rear passanger will suffer in a long journey bcoz of the uncomfortable seating..
Plus that and the fact that it's still uses leaf spring suspension
On the road it isn't a screamer but capable, fuel milage is so-so depending on type of tyres ur using and how heavy footed are u..
Beware of its high ground clearance tho, take corners with precaution my bro almost flipped his car once..
Beside that back then maintenance was easy & quite cheap also but not sure about now
Reliabilty is good also, but if ur buying 2nd hand watchout for any rust tho, this model is known for its prone to rust around the door hinges area & at the back IIANM

Yup. The older Suzuki are prone to rust, even on chassis board.

Plus, Suzuki parts are rather expensive due to limited supply. Searching for used parts at kedai potong would give u a very rough & tough time.

How often do u need to go offroad? How's the terrain like? I mean the difficulty level. If u really offroad often, take the jimny, n sacrifices the on road comfort.

With vitara, your bushing will need replacement in no time if u go offroad often. That's not cheap.

i've used and still am using the suzuki vitara 3 door (the 1988-1997 version)
my uncle ade pakai the old jimny
and my colleague ade pakai land cruiser shorty and also daihatsu feroza - all off hardcore off roaders

of all these, my friends (most of them 40+ and more than 10 years off road experience) recommend the vitara or the jimny (but jimny aint that comfortable on road)
if u wanna plan for mild offroading, the stock version of the vitara is fine (i mean its just oil palm estate and i've seen tests done in australia when this guy bought a vitara off a second hand shop and took it straight into the great outback - siap the car 'berenang' into a pool of mud...i mean literally the mud was like already at radiator level...but the car did just fine)

rougher terrains require a lot of changes bro
the suspension, tires, pulley, bars, nak tambah snorkel, adjust the height, gear ratios, new bushings, jerry can, = more than 10k

if u really wanna get a vitara, get a good mechanic to check on its viability cuz the wear and tear age really fast and while they are easy to replace, the cost of those stuff are expensive but once replaced, it'll serve you good in the long run

my parents used to own an old Jimny. very bumpy, very bouncy & you can feel the road gradient. meant for off-roading.

Jimny 1.3 is built for tough!!! even a 10 years old Jimny is more prefered than using a Hilux when going to offroad, hill climbing, and the jimny's body is hard and rigid, if you been opened the front hood, then you should know how heavy and thick it is!! The maintenance is considered cheap also.

But when driving at city road, it is less comfortable than Vitara, definitely.

I vote for Jimny, it get my vote because my father own a 10 years old Jimny, but my father still felt reluctant to let it go when some one offered 23k to buy it.

if just driving to college better don't go for jimny. the harsh ride will make you exhausted by the time you reach anywhere.

hey thx u all for the really fast reply.
my 1st post i its quite a success already.
anywho, the terrain isnt that bad, but theres is some up hill journey required.
ive seen a vitara with some light off road modification, the changes being an increase in the ground clearance and a winch. priced ard 20k. looks like a good bargain, but then again, since the previous owner had used the car off road before, so it might have a great deal of wear n tear right.

n also abt the rust, cant that be fixed by some sort tar paint job on the undercarriage?

the old suzuki jimny simply doesn't mean to be driven on the tarmac. it bounce and bounced like no tomorrow.
but a fully modded / mock up jimny or suzuki samurai as they call it in south america, will feels at home in the rough terrain / mud condition.
as for the vitara, it behave better in tarmac due to it's wider body and slightly refined engine / handling.
an abused vitara might need close to 10k to be in pristine condition again. but it well worth it.
make sure to get a good set of tyre too.
all terrain tyre will be just nice for mostly tarmac ride with light off road adventure.

i really like this jimny, but do u think it might be abit of an overkill for me, i mean i dont need all those extra bars on the front n winch, but they do loooooookkk GREAT.



but i do wonder how muhc would it take to buffen up a stock Jimny to this one.

close to 25k! it looks great for off-road adventure but sux big time on highway ride.
get one that suit your driving style while still offer the best of both world.

yeah i think i should prioritize the comfort of on road driving as ill be on the tarmac more often than off road. but that car does loook dayyumm cool tho.
haha
anyway, i think im better off with a vitara, any suggestion anyone. how abt the old rav4 or kia sportage?
n why izt that the jimny is pricier than the vitara. n is there anyway to help the on road feel of the jimny?

seriously, im studying forestry. and the staff here uses jimny more than vitara.vitara is more like a perodua kembara. talking about on-road uncomfort, yeah, jimny got hard seats, but if ur talking about going around to college only, it wont hurt much of ur back thou. but if ur talking about going on highway for long journey, yeah, it hurts. but going off-road, its a catch of buck for a jeep at that price. maintenance fee low, high performance and easy to parking also.

u only can use better tyres to smooth the rythm..off-road jeeps got hard springs, either u customize ur seats more comfy, or u just have to get used to it.

vitara is not bad, but i heard that the sparepart serious difficult to be found.unlike jimny.

Ford ranger around the region of 30-35k can be bought. Good if your college has no serious parking problem because it really takes up 100% of a parking lot length with no allowance.

This post has been edited by ceo684: Jul 31 2010, 03:15 PM

ford ranger. 2.5L diesel right. roadtax is already rm700 i think, n i wouldnt need to be carrying much weight/stuffs on the rear tray either. so its abit of a waste do u think, bt spareparts should come easy isnt it.

about the jimny's comfurt, is it possible to change the leaf spring at the back to some coil springs.???

n vitara=kembara, seriously? I thought kembara sucks?

BHQ91
i mean the concept, not the performance.

light jungle tracking ok lar, dun expect kembara can perform as good as vitara/jinmy lor.

kembara is nimble and comfortable to drive, but must choose dvvt version ya

This post has been edited by ahshuy: Jul 31 2010, 06:24 PM

i see. how abt the old rav4?
say u wanna compare between vitara '97 to a kembara dvvt, which would be a grater buy.