The Jimny XL has 75kW, no safety rating and a boot smaller than a Kia Picanto’s. People still queue for it, and after reading what the testers say, it’s not hard to see why.
We haven’t driven the five-door. This guide runs through the figures and the published Australian road tests so you know what you’re signing up for, good and bad.
Five numbers to know
$40,490. That’s the drive-away price for the XL manual ($34,990 before on-roads), per CarExpert’s latest pricing. The auto is $42,990 drive-away. The Jimny stopped being a cheap car a while ago.
75kW. The 1.5-litre petrol four makes 75kW and 130Nm, and it’s hauling about 1,200kg. Every review mentions it. CarExpert’s Alborz Fallah said at launch it needs more power, especially with four adults on board.
9.5L/100km. That’s what CarExpert’s William Stopford recorded over a week in the XL, against a 6.9 claim. Fallah saw 12 to 15 in mostly off-road driving.
211 litres. Boot space with the back seats up, compared with 85 in the three-door. Fold them and you get 332 litres by the standard measure. Suzuki quotes 1,113 litres as a maximum, but the seats don’t fold flat.
Zero stars. Not because it failed. The XL has never been tested by ANCAP. The three-door scored three stars in 2019 and that rating expired at the end of 2024, so the whole range is currently unrated.
What the extra 340mm gets you
Rear doors, mainly. It’s still a strict four-seater, but adults can get in the back without folding themselves in half, and you can fit a child seat without swearing.
The longer wheelbase costs a little off-road. Breakover angle is 24 degrees and the turning circle is 11.4 metres. In return, Stopford found the XL surprisingly comfortable on the road.
You still get a ladder frame, low range and hill descent control. That’s the hardware that matters when the bitumen ends.
What the testers found
Off-road, it earns the reputation. CarExpert described the XL as capable off-road and comfortable on it. In Max Davies’ November 2026 review of the three-door, off-road ability was what carried the score.
On the highway, it doesn’t. Davies listed poor highway manners and noise, a weak engine and gearbox, and a dated touchscreen. Stopford called the XL slow and thirsty with cumbersome steering.
The back seat is basic. No rear air vents, no armrest, no USB ports.
So it’s a weekend toy that can do the school run, not the other way around. If most of your kilometres are at 110km/h, you’ll get tired of it.
Safety: read this bit properly
The XL has six airbags, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning. It doesn’t have blind-spot monitoring or rear cross-traffic alert, and it misses a few items the three-door gets, including lane departure prevention and front parking sensors.
The auto has adaptive cruise control. The manual doesn’t.
When ANCAP tested the three-door in 2019, it noted structural weakness in the frontal offset crash and limited AEB performance. Nothing says the XL would score the same, because nobody has tested it. But if this is going to carry your kids every day, that’s a gap you should weigh honestly.
Running costs
- Warranty: five years, unlimited kilometres
- Servicing: every 12 months or 15,000km. CarExpert has quoted $2,265 to $2,365 over five years. Get the current XL figure from a dealer.
- Fuel: budget on 9 to 10L/100km
Jimnys have a reputation for holding their value. We couldn’t find hard data to put a number on it, so check what two-year-old XLs are listed for before you assume.
Who should buy one
Buy it if you want something small and honest that will go places a soft-roader won’t, and you plan to make it yours. Few new cars have as much aftermarket support, and that’s a big part of the appeal. If lifts and bigger tyres are on the list, check your state’s rules first with our wheel and tyre legality calculator.
Don’t buy it as a family’s only car, as a highway commuter, or if a current safety rating is on your must-have list.
If you want to see what it’s built for, our Blue Rag Range Track guide is a good place to start dreaming.
