[dearchichi]

For several months, I've been in a dilemma regarding my upcoming purchase of a car: I booked the Innova Hycross in November 2023 and have been told to expect delivery in March. But, I cannot seem to drop my interest in the Jimny, which I once test drove and rejected for its size and rear seat comfort (clearly, too soon). They, of course, are vehicles from different classes, but I assume both qualify as a tourer for our family (3 members and a driver).

A brief background:

I had a Tata Safari Dicor (2006) for 14 years. We drove it around large parts of South India (to popular and obscure heritage sites) for 1.96L kilometres before selling it. She took us around in absolute comfort (though her handling and braking were unstable) without a single breakdown and few niggles. But, age did catch up with her and maintenance costs were getting out of hand in the latter years.

I currently drive my brother-in-law's Hyundai Grand i10 (2013) and enjoy this one too. I never would have thought that the transition from a humongous SUV to a small hatchback could be eventless, but it indeed was. The ride is very harsh, but she is a joy on the highway with her taut handling and her peppy pull past 2500 RPM. Each winter, I make a monthly 600 KM round trip to dark skies for astronomical observations, and have an inordinate amount of gear to carry. She swallows it all without a problem, though that leaves just about enough space for the driver to be seated.

I'm 46, and the decade to follow would likely be my last for traveling the country before creaky joints, lifestyle diseases and reduced energy limit such carefree jaunts. I would like my wife and now 13 year old daughter to be with me for most of it.

Car requirements (all subjective):

Primary use case: highway and country drives with wife, daughter, myself and a driver at times.

Needs:

• Safety (both the 5-door Jimny and the Hycross has not been crash tested)
• Reliability
• Reasonably air cabin
• Not expensive
• Holds 100 kmph+ speeds well
• Good ride
• Decent handling
• Good braking

Wants:

• Tough build
• Fuel efficient
• Go-anywhere ability
• Street presence

I'm not for intimidation, but do desire some street presence since vehicles that have them tend to earn the occupants more "respect" in remote areas where I would sometimes be accompanied only by my wife and daughter, and could do with a vehicle that would encourage a sense of "restraint" among the locals.

Choices of cars:

Neither the Jimny nor the Hycross satisfies all of the above requirements, but my final choice has come down to those two. After having owned an Indian SUV for long, those from Tata or Mahindra don't interest me (also, I'd have no patience with the niggles they might present). The CSUVs don't seem like much of an upgrade from the Grand i10 in terms of space or utility.

The Hycross chooses itself for spaciousness, comfort, and reliability. And, the VX variant would give me a taste of EV technology that I would otherwise miss out on until my next car purchase in my 60s. But, perhaps unfairly, I sense it might sentence me to boring, lumbering drives along well-worn roads throughout its lifetime. Also, its long-term maintenance costs with respect to the batteries are unknown.

The Jimny, on the other hand, offers comfort for two and reliability at a much lower cost. It's seduces with the promise of access to the wilds, which I find impossible to ignore. But, passengers need to compromise with the poor rear bench squab. I have been on 3 more test drives since the first one, all in the past two weeks. I love its compact, understated, unpretentious stance and its potential to open up access with its 4x4 capabilities. I don't mind the lack of storage options. (There is one just ahead of the gear stick to keep my mobile phone, and two bottle holders behind it. Including the glove box, that's plenty for the first row passengers.) My wife was in the back row for a whole 45-minute drive and didn't complain of the lack of under-thigh support. But, she found the rear very bouncy over speed breakers. The ambient noise is very well attenuated, but the whine of the engine isn't.

I suspect more experience with these cars might apply a steadying hand to my mind that, like a dog drawn to a bone, seems to endlessly evaluate these two options given a spare moment. I've compared relevant performance and cost-of-ownership characteristics of these (and several crossovers), but cannot yet definitively choose one among these two.

Performance (numbers sourced from Autocar):



The numbers above strongly favor the Hycross: it provides strong braking and excellent driveability, with acceleration comparable to the two popular CSUVs. In contrast, the Jimny performs surprisingly poorly in both areas.

Cost-of-ownership:

Assumptions:

• Fuel cost per litre: ₹102
• Fuel annual inflation rate: 2.00%
• Annual depreciation of car: 10.00%
• Annual depreciation of insurance: 5.00%
• Inflation: 6.00%
• Running per month: 1500 KM
• Annual Investment Returns: 8.00%

Depletion of a net corpus of Rs. 50L after drawdowns towards running costs of various vehicles



We see that the Hycross VX would cost me ~Rs. 50L across 15 years of ownership while it would be ~Rs. 36L for the Jimny Alpha, a difference of ~Rs. 14L, or nearly ~Rs. 7,500 a month. But, this does not account for the opportunity cost. Assuming we fund it all from an existing cache of money (say, ~Rs. 50L), it would dwindle to ~Rs. 2.5L with the Hycross VX while the Jimny leaves ~Rs.20.5L behind, a difference of ~Rs. 18L or Rs. 10,000 a month. This is not an insignificant amount. All of these values are in today's rupees.

While my affordability of either vehicle is not in question, the relative worth of them is.

Verdict?

I realize that only my family and I can assign subjective weights to our requirements off the car and thus make a choice. But, would there be a framework that we could use to do so, and relieve me of this burden of choice?

As I see it, I have three choices:

1. Go for the Hycross and mourn the loss of all those adventures that the Jimny promises. This is the option that my wife and daughter are for.
   
2. Go for the Jimny and incur the (hopefully temporary) wrath of the family before they warm up to it. Accept its drawback with respect to road presence in the countryside.
   
3. Option 2, and buy a CSUV/EV in a couple of years when the options would be greater (with the money saved, and possibly after selling the Jimny) if the family ends up hating the Jimny.

Thank you for your input.

[DDIS_RE650]

But isn't unfair to compare Oranges with Apples?

[androdev]

I think it would be unreasonably selfish to subject your family to the rear seat of Jimny on long drives, especially when the alternative is Innova. While we all dream about the wilderness, getting there is 80-90% of the journey and Jimny is not safe for highway speeds compared to many other much cheaper options you can consider.

I own a Jimny and I do like the car more than I should but I treat it as a strictly two seater car for long journeys and I drive with a LOOOT of caution and restraint (thankfully it's low on power and acceleration figures which helps).

Maybe you should consider a good crossover that offers an all-in-one package. I don't see any particular reason why Innova is at the top of your list. Jimny, I understand, has some desirability factor going for it.

[Kosfactor]

Hycross is a very comfortable and practical vehicle to have , decent enough for highway although may not be very exciting to drive.

I think that Jimny won't suit someone at that age especially if it's the only car, generally we tend to have a family around , mostly full size kids who needs their own space , luggage space etc and a powerful drive train would be make it fatigue free to drive long distances. More than anything else, Jimny's size and the way it looks may get a No go from the family side, they may want to see their man drive a more substantial automobile.

There is another 4 door adventure vehicle coming in a few months , take a look at that before you decide for good, keep an open mind , experience for yourself before you sign the cheque - for long trips and go anywhere capability, you want something that's made with such things in mind.

As for the finance part of it, I would rather spend a bit more than I can afford
and get the best tool for the job at hand, it's a lesser known fact that the men are at work even on holidays when the family is around, phew!

[Geo_Ipe]

I would tell you to stick to your Hycross booking. As some others have pointed out, Hycross vs Jimny is not a fair comparison. Jimny is a niche product, which everyone aspires to own, but hardly anyone does - the sales figures speak for itself!

As long as hard-core off roading is in your "wants" set the only USP the Jimny offers takes a backseat. Every single other criteria in your set of needs & wants are met by the Hycross. The Hycross is from two segments above, has better technology, is more comfortable and reliability is supreme! For a single car garage, there is no way Jimny is even a comparison to the Hycross.

Go for the Hycross now & pick up a used Jimny 2-3 years down the lane.

[NPV]

In my mind, the decision is quite clear after reading your requirements - go for the Innova Hycross, your family will be happy. Moreover, you have a driver so all the better and you will not compare it with an enthusiast car like the Jimny. Just be patient with your booking, do not cancel now.

Couple years later, if you still have the itch for something like the Jimny as a second car, especially if you’re going to be driving it, you can always make that decision.

[Shreyans_Jain]

If you are thinking Jimny, you needs will be much better served by the Hyryder AWD. It is far more spacious than Jimny, has much better comfort and mile munching abilities, and will fare much better off the road than the Innova HyCross. It is is perfect compromise for you, and will also provide the trouble free ownership experience that you seek

[anandhsub]

You need a tourer and not an offroader. Jimmy offers nothing in comparison to the Hycross. Go for it eyes closed if the finances permit, if not go for the Hyryder AWD.

[Evyas]

Much as I love the Jimny, in your case I think an Innova makes more sense. If it was only 2 people you could still have thought of it but if it’s a 13 year old (who will grow really quickly!) a Jimny might become a bad idea really soon.

Unless you’ve missed out on certain trails because you didn’t have a 4X4, I think the Jimny only gives you an idealised version of what you want your travels to be. Like the joke goes, for all roads there is Lord Alto. And it’s true. It’s not the car its the driver but above all, it’s the drive. When you’re on the road you love the feeling of the drive, and every car, unless it’s really uncomfortable, will give you that.

Also you’re only 46, this is not your last decade as a tourer! I know people well into their 60s who still roam the country. So don’t think like that and maybe the decision will be easier. May god be kind and May you make so much that you can buy a Jimny also in a couple of years for your weekend rides! Exercise, eat healthy and think hopeful, positive thoughts. Plus you can always go do an off-roading course and I’m sure they let you hire an off-roading car there.

[padmrajravi]

Buy the Hycross now. I understand Jimny is very tempting, but it just can not be the only car in a household. Its second row is closer to the third row of Hycross in terms of comfort. The kid will grow up soon and will find it unable to endure longer journeys in its rear seat. And with a driver, the Jimny becomes all too crowded.

I have had this crush on Jimny too for a long time. So much so that I sometimes think about selling my Fortuner and getting it. But like you, my use case is long drives with my wife and daughter and the Jimny just cant fit in there. I console myself by thinking about the rumours of Jimny EV in click bait articles. May be in 5 years time, a Jimny EV will arrive and you can buy it for your little lady to learn driving and take it to college. For now, settle for the Hycross.

[yuvmudapa]

If you want an offroad capable vehicle go for a Fortuner(It will hold good resale value) though, it is not as efficient as the Hycross, even the Meridian is good but re-sale is not looking good for jeeps. Scorpio-N is also a good option, though service experience is a let down.

Otherwise just stick with the Hycross, much better bet as compared to the Jimny. It is way more comfortable and will be great for touring.

[Mystic]

At the present time, our infrastructure development for roads is in WIP. Not all places are connected by proper roads. It may take couple of more decades.

If I were you, I would have both vehicles in my garage if budget is not an issue and you have parking space. Have the best of both worlds. Enjoy both apples and oranges. I owned both top end Innova Crysta Z diesel automatic and top end alpha dual colour automatic Jimny and let me tell you my experiences. If you are touring most of the time on 6 lane highways, go for Innova ( my Crysta has 17 inch tyres and for some unknown reason is not as comfortable as Jimny) and if you are touring most of the time on rural roads / no roads, go for Jimny. In many instances, I got stuck on rural roads with Innova due to its heavy weight and it had to be towed out. For Jimny such scenarios never exist.

Also, lot of times people tend to think that 4X4 need to be engaged on very special occasions on trails when you go alone without family. This is regarded as a very luxury hobby. I always think that 4X4 need to be engaged whenever the situation requires as part of your go anywhere attitude so that there is no place you need to think twice if your vehicle can take you there ( My father who works in department of roads used to take us in Willys Government petrol jeep with a trailer attached to it in the deep jungles in 1960s to lay roads for others. Going on the same mud roads in our other Government Ambassador car is unthinkable).

I lean towards Jimny most of the time as we are only 2 people and rarely the back seats are occupied. In case it is occupied, I already purchased high end seat cushions for all 4 seats.

[One]

Originally Posted by Mystic

In case it is occupied, I already purchased high end seat cushions for all 4 seats.

Can you please provide details for this ?

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by One

Can you please provide details for this ?

Pls check the photos etc in another thread I posted sometime back. I once travelled 1K kms long drive in back seat with these cushions and it is very comfortable.

Originally Posted by Mystic

I have seen a lot of posts on the back seat comfort of Jimny. In my personal case, I don’t use back seat most of the time but still have resolved this issue just in case with the seat cushion from Amazon. I bought 4 large size cushions for 80+ kg passengers as it is officially only 4 seater and not 5 seater. It is worth the money spent especially for people going on long drives. I even bought a small PVC stool to climb just in case as the ground clearance is high. I don’t want to install any permanent step as it is off road vehicle. In case of non occupancy of back seats , I have put in seat belt clips to avoid the car warning me to put seat belts on back seat for non existing passengers. Just check the Jimny water bottle given by NEXA with name Jimny on it. The open wire for the back window is also closed by the accessories shop guy for free.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07LDDX8B1?...p_mob_ap_share

[Biraj]

As a Jimny owner, I wouldn’t recommend it for a single-car garage especially for long distance touring with family. The lack of power, space, storage, and comfort (relative) may affect your family’s experience during road trips. Jimny is a great second car but it requires significant compromises to be the only car in the garage. It’s perfectly livable for solo drives or two adults. Beyond that the trade-offs become more pronounced.

With the Jimny available as self-drive rental in Chandigarh and even in Goa. I would recommend going for a more practical option as your daily driver and then rent the Jimny when you feel like exploring the Himalayas in it.

Frankly, even the Hycross seems to be an overkill for three occupants. On your regular drives, you would lug all that real estate with mostly the front seats occupied. Grand Vitara or Hyryder suit your requirements much better.

All the best!