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7 annoyances I'm facing with my Maruti Jimny after 3000 km of ownership

I think this platform would really come on song with a 2L or 2.4L engine, like the one in the original Grand Vitara.

BHPian gsferrari recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A few pics of my Jimny. I've completed 3000 km so far. Plenty of off-road driving (mostly sand/dunes/cross country) and a trip from Chennai to Bandipur/Masinagudi via Bangalore. Very happy with the vehicle and the reality is faithful to the observations made during the media drive.

For the Masinagudi trip, we were 4 adults with luggage for 5 nights - 6 days. The car was quite heavily loaded with close to 500kg including passengers and luggage. Highway performance was adequate, but not exciting. Climbing from Krishnagiri to Hosur was an exercise in patience and being submissive to the faster vehicles out there.

I must make a mention of the insane rumble strips on the road between Krishnagiri and Hosur. These really throw little Jimny offline, particularly when the suspension is overwhelmed with the load in the vehicle. The first one was so unpleasant I started to slow to a crawl for the ones that followed.

While I feel the engine is adequate, I think this platform would really come on song with a 2L or 2.4L engine, like the one in the original Grand Vitara. It wouldn't be unjustified at this price point either.

Annoyances in order of severity:

  1. Auto start stop
  2. Traction control is atrocious in 4H off-road. Even in 4L, it feels like there is some loss of engine power even when TCS is held down for 4-5 seconds and the MID goes orange.
  3. Gearbox should/could have had a manual/Tiptronic option
  4. Rear seat belt chime. I have installed dummy clips but when they are misplaced, it will be another irritating reminder of the cost-cutting by MSIL.
  5. The rear door hydraulic strut might smash the rear door into parking lot pillars/cars nearby if you aren't careful.
  6. IRVM is too low on the windscreen and obscures a large chunk of forward left visibility. This holds true for taller drivers. If I could get a shorter stalk for the IRVM, it would make a huge difference.
  7. This deserves to be told. People gawk at the vehicle and often when they are turning across the road in front of me, preventing me from merging. I have lost count of the number of times someone has started to turn in front of me, spotted the Jimny and either slowed down or come to a complete halt while informing everyone in the car that there is a Jimny here. They start moving again once they've had a good look, discussion, cup of coffee and concluded that I am an idiot. To hell with the rest of the road users or with the fact that I am sitting there waiting for them to vacate the intersection so I can get on with my day. Actually, this annoyance should top the list but some of you may enjoy the celebrity status Jimny affords. It is just not for me.

I have no idea how to upload videos here. I will share some off-road videos once I figure that out.

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