All generations and engines together · 10,631 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 35k
Middling among small SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch brakes and suspension. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating brakes advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Factory rust protection on the Jimny is thin, and owners regularly report bubbling on wheel arches, sills and the bottom of the tailgate, worse on the 2nd and 3rd generation (pre-2018) cars that were never galvanised as standard. It can show up from 5-6 years old on a car kept outside or used off-road in winter, and cutting out and welding a sill or arch runs to several hundred pounds a side. No recall or factory fix exists, Suzuki's line has always been that customers should have it waxoyled.
On early 4th-generation (JB74) cars built between August 2018 and December 2020, the wiring loom running through the door hinge can fray from repeated opening and closing, which can stop the side curtain airbag firing. Suzuki issued an official recall covering around 4,000 UK cars, with a free dealer inspection and loom repair where needed. Check the MOT and service history for the recall work; if it hasn't been done, get it sorted before buying.
A batch of Jimnys built between November 2018 and September 2019 got a fuel pump with a resin impeller that could swell and jam against the pump housing, causing the engine to stall, sometimes at speed. Suzuki recalled the affected cars (recall code 97HA) for a free pump replacement. It only affects cars from that production window, not the whole model run, so check the recall was carried out via the DVSA recall checker.
Owners of the current Jimny frequently report the car wandering and needing constant small corrections at motorway speeds, on top of the model's known sensitivity to tyre pressure differences. Some of this comes down to the steering box not being centred correctly from the factory, which dealers can adjust, but forums also report the front kingpin bearings showing noticeable play by around 35-40k miles (60,000km), which makes the wander worse and needs new bearings and a track rod check. No manufacturer bulletin covers this.
The Jimny still uses rear drum brakes with a cable handbrake, and owners regularly report the self-adjusters clogging with mud and grit, or the shoes sticking to a rusty drum, until the handbrake barely works or a drum won't come off at all. This lines up with the measured MOT data, where brakes are the standout fault for this model; the drums and cable-operated adjusters look like the part of the system most likely driving that number, especially on cars that have seen genuine off-road or wet-weather use. A clean and service is £80-150; if it's been left, expect new shoes, drums or a cable on top.
On automatic Jimnys, low-speed, low-range off-roading (deep sand, steep climbs, rock crawling) makes the torque converter slip continuously, which owners and specialists say can overheat the transmission fluid and lead to slipping or delayed engagement. It doesn't tend to show up on cars used normally on the road. If buying an auto that's clearly been used hard off-road, get the fluid condition and colour checked; a service is cheap, a cooked transmission is not.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 3,526 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.