Hi jwayne,

Good to have you on the forum — thanks for taking the time to post.

I actually know of several people who use Suzuki Jimnys (plural Jimnies?) on shoots for the simple reason that they are cheap and Suzuki has got a good track record for producing no-nonsense 4x4s starting way back with its old SJ-series jeeps. (Let's disregard all those lurid pastel Vitaras with fat alloy wheels and "amusing" rhino wheelcovers on the back.)

I think Jimnys look like a pretty good package if all you are after in a second car is a straightforward four-wheel-drive capability in a vehicle which is not terribly big. One chap I know in North Wales loves his Suzuki that he bought about nine months ago. It didn't cost him the earth at all and it's light enough and capable enough to get around quite wet ground he has up there.

Just don't expect the Suzuki to come up to the same standards on-road as it does off-road. Wind and road noise are bad and the speed, handling and refinement are not scintillating.

It is what it is — a cheap, small off-roader. If you wanted something fairly new and inexpensive for just you and a couple of dogs it is worth putting on the list. It'll cause less of a wallet-bashing than a second-hand Land Rover/Jeep Cherokee/Discovery etc.

Put it this way, for the same price as a new quad, you can have a three or four-year-old little 4x4 that has electric windows, a roof, stereo, heater, power-steering and so on.

Personally, I miss our fantastic old F-reg Range Rover. But it was getting a little on the criminally expensive side to fill with petrol every few hundred miles.

Does anyone else out there have any thoughts on the Jimny?

Alastair.