10:24 am, December 24, 2021
There is a very good reason why I and the other Used Car Awards judges have named the Suzuki Jimny as the best Used SUV of the Year and our overall Used Car of the Year – it makes you happy.
Every time you walk up the little Jimny you smile – it doesn’t feel like a car, but like a member of the family. An excited puppy, if you like, waiting to be taken for a walk, and it’s absolutely delightful.
It certainly made me smile when I took one – a Commercial model – out for a spin during our Used Car Awards filming, and you can see how happy I was in the video above.
Even I am not going to try and convince you the Jimny is a posh, flashy SUV – it ain’t! Sitting in the cockpit it is billy basic – but that’s part of its charm. It’s no fuss and no frills.
You shouldn’t be surprised though as the Jimny has always been like this. The previous generation car was on sale for 20 years as Suzuki had no need to play around with it as customers just loved it.
The new one has brought in a whole new group of buyers after a characterful car in a world of lookalike SUVs, but also appeals to die-hard Jimny fans from before. That’s a clever trick Suzuki has pulled off there.
So popular is the Jimny I couldn’t even find one to drive – I had to get behind the wheel of the Commercial version with no rear seats and steel wheels in my video.
We didn’t just give the Used SUV of the Year award and the prestigious Used Car of the Year award to the Jimny just because it’s cute. This car has basically summed up how crazy the used market has been this year.
Dealers have been selling three-year-old Jimnys for more money than when they were selling them new – yes, really!
For dealers that’s the perfect scenario, but for the used car buyer they know they’re getting something that will likely hold onto its price, especially as Sukuki has now stopped selling the Jimny in the UK.
Get one while you can!
