Cover photo: Tread Lite 4x4 Hire, who rent out kitted Jimnys for self-drive trips around South Africa. Go and have a look at their trips.
For five years the current Jimny had one big problem as a daily car. It was tiny inside. With four people aboard, the boot held a couple of soft bags. The 5-door fixes that. It went on sale in South Africa in November 2023, and South Africans bought it in a hurry. In its first four months, it outsold the 3-door about four to one.
At the first Jimny Gathering in Clarens, owners asked CAR magazine’s team the same four things about the new car. What is it like next to the 3-door? Is the boot bigger? How much power does it have? Can I sit in the back? This review answers those, plus what one costs today.
The short answer
- Buy the 5-door if you carry people in the back, need a real boot, or want one Jimny to be the family car.
- Buy the GLX if you can. It has six airbags. The GL has two.
- Buy the manual if you do long trips. The automatic is fine in town, but it works hard on the open road.
- Buy the 3-door if it is one or two of you and you love tight, rocky trails. Our 3-door vs 5-door guide lays out that choice side by side.
JC74 or JB74: what the codes mean
JB74 and JC74 are Suzuki’s factory codes. JB74 is the current 3-door. JC74 is the 5-door. You will see the codes on forums and on parts that fit only one body. South Africans mostly just say “the 5-door”. Australia calls it the Jimny XL, but that name is not used here.
Under the skin they are the same car. Same 1.5 petrol engine, same gearboxes, same 4x4 system with low range. The JC74 is 340 mm longer between the front and back wheels. That stretch pays for two more doors and a bigger boot. The 5-door is made in India by Maruti Suzuki, Suzuki’s Indian company.
| 3-door (JB74) | 5-door (JC74) | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 3,485 mm | 3,820 mm |
| Distance between the wheels | 2,250 mm | 2,590 mm |
| Width and height | 1,645 mm, 1,720 mm | Same |
| Seats | 4 | 4 |
| Engine | 1.5 petrol, 75 kW, 130 Nm | Same |
| Gearboxes | 5-speed manual, 4-speed auto | Same |
| Weight empty | 1,095 to 1,130 kg | 1,185 to 1,215 kg |
| Fuel tank | 40 litres | 40 litres |
Figures from Suzuki Auto South Africa’s brochures, September 2026.
Jimny 5-door boot space
The boot is the reason most people buy the 5-door. Here are Suzuki SA’s own figures.
| Boot | 3-door | 5-door |
|---|---|---|
| Back seats up | 85 litres | 211 litres |
| Back seats folded | 377 litres | 332 litres |
| Packed to the roof, seats folded | 830 litres | 1,113 litres |
So with four people aboard, the 5-door has about two and a half times the space. That is the whole point of the car. One CAR tester called it “relatively cavernous”, which is fair for a Jimny.
There is a catch that few reviews mention. Fold the back seats flat and Suzuki measures the 3-door’s boot as bigger, 377 litres against 332. The 5-door wins by a mile with people in the back, and it wins packed to the roof.
Different SA sites print different boot numbers, which confuses people. The figures above come straight from Suzuki SA’s brochures. The seats-up figure is the one that matters day to day.
What else is in the boot? A light, a 12V socket and a wide back door with a low sill, so heavy things slide in easily. The back seat splits 50:50, so you can fold one side for a long load and keep one seat.
Parents on 4x4community have tested it with real children. One fitted a rear-facing swivel baby seat in the back, and an adult could still sit in front of it. The pram, the nappy bag and a toddler’s bike all went in the boot. Another dad said don’t even try, and one owner sold his Jimny when the first baby arrived. The honest line: it works for a young family that packs light. It will not replace a big SUV.
For drawers, fridges and cargo gear made for the 5-door, see our storage and drawers guide.
Can you sit in the back?
Yes, and that is new for a Jimny. The extra length all goes into the back seat and the boot. The car is no wider, so it is still four seats, not five. Suzuki SA lists it as a four-seater.
On a trail drive in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, CAR magazine carried four adults. Head, knee and shoulder room were all acceptable. TopAuto’s long-term tester called the back seat surprisingly roomy, and said four adults fit easily.
The two back doors change daily life most. You no longer tip a front seat forward to reach a child seat. Both trims have two ISOFIX points, the clips that lock a child seat to the car.
Campers will like one more thing. Suzuki says the front seats slide all the way back and fold down to make two beds with the back seats.
On the highway: calmer than the 3-door, still a Jimny
This is where the 5-door surprises people. Every owner we read who has driven both says the longer car is calmer on the open road. A longer car between the wheels is harder for bumps and wind to upset.
One couple on 4x4community own a 2021 3-door and a 2024 5-door, both bought new. The wife drove the 5-door home in the rain on day one. Her first comment was that it felt more stable, even on the factory tyres. Six months later, the owner said it had none of the short car’s quirks.
A 5-door manual owner in Centurion cruises at 120 km/h and says the car stays settled there. In the August wind on the Highveld, she keeps it under 100. A Cape Town 3-door owner has been scared above 80 km/h on the N2 when the south-easter blows. His advice to a parent: buy a manual, and the 5-door for long trips.
Suzuki also fits the 5-door with a steering damper, a small shock absorber on the steering, to calm it on the road.
Now the honest part. As one forum owner put it, the 5-door is more stable, but neither body drives like a normal car. It is tall and narrow, and strong side winds still push it about.
Before you judge a test drive, check the tyre pressures. A Namibian Defender owner came back from a 5-door test drive shaken. He said it wandered badly at 100 km/h. The forum’s first answer was the tyres. Dealers often send cars out pumped well above the figure on the door frame, and a hard tyre makes a Jimny twitchy. Our tyre size guide covers the right pressures.
How much power does it have?
The same as the 3-door: 75 kW from a 1.5 petrol engine with no turbo. The 5-door weighs about 90 to 105 kg more, and the gearing is the same. So it works a little harder.
On the launch drive, TopAuto saw about 3,000 rpm at 100 km/h. At 120 km/h it was close to 4,000 rpm. Overtaking takes planning. Owners put it plainly: “it’s a 1500, it drives like one”. It keeps up at 120 on the flat. On a long climb behind a truck, you drop a gear or tuck in for a moment.
People who come from a small hatchback tend to be happy. People who come from a diesel bakkie or a big SUV tend to complain.
Manual or automatic?
Local owners lean hard towards the manual for long trips. The automatic has four gears, and owners say it hunts between the top two on the open road. It also uses a bit more fuel. CAR magazine’s used-buyer guide goes further. It calls the five-door GLX manual the only sensible choice for a daily car that carries passengers.
The automatic makes sense if you mostly drive in town traffic. It is also what most used 5-door sellers have: about seven in ten used 5-door adverts are automatics.
Fuel: what it really uses
| Source | Litres per 100 km | Km per litre |
|---|---|---|
| Suzuki claim, manual | 6.4 | about 15.6 |
| Suzuki claim, automatic | 6.7 | about 14.9 |
| TopAuto, 2,000 km test, mostly road | 6.9 | about 14.5 |
| CAR magazine, 600 km with trail work | 8.3 | about 12.1 |
| Owner reports on 4x4community | about 7.7 to 9 | about 11 to 13 |
Most SA owners think in kilometres per litre, so we give both. With the 40-litre tank, TopAuto got about 400 km between fills. On a long tour, that range is the thing to watch. One 5-door owner arrived at camp with only 50 km left in the tank, and went shopping for jerry can mounts.
One owner reported a trip from Johannesburg to the Oudtshoorn area and back in a 5-door manual, towing a small trailer. It still returned close to 12 km/l. Suzuki SA publishes no towing figure for the 5-door, so read our towing guide before you hitch anything.
Off-road: what the longer body costs
Less than you would think. Only two off-road numbers change.
| Off-road figure | 3-door | 5-door |
|---|---|---|
| Ground clearance | 210 mm | 210 mm |
| Nose angle (approach) | 36 degrees | 36 degrees |
| Belly angle (breakover) | 27 degrees | 24 degrees |
| Tail angle (departure) | 47 degrees | 47 degrees |
| Turning radius | 4.9 m | 5.7 m |
| 4x4 with low range | Yes | Yes |
Figures from Suzuki Auto South Africa’s brochures.
The belly angle is how sharp a crest you can drive over before the middle of the car scrapes. It drops from 27 to 24 degrees. So long, sharp humps get harder. The nose and tail are the same, so steep entries and exits are not.
The turning radius grows from 4.9 m to 5.7 m. That is the difference you feel most, on tight trail switchbacks and in a tight parking bay. Owners who have both say the bigger turning circle is the one real price of the 5-door.
In practice, testers were impressed. CAR magazine took a 5-door with four adults up a grade 3 trail in Golden Gate. It made light work of the rocks, dongas and slippery climbs. The only thing that touched was the front tow hook. TopAuto found the longer body did little to hurt it off-road. The boxy shape also makes it easy to judge where each corner is.
On rough gravel, the ride is the good news. On the launch drive through Limpopo into Botswana, TopAuto’s tester could not remember one hard knock. That matters in a country where the farm road or the park road is part of daily life. One long-term tester did find the back end a bit unsettled on corrugations in two-wheel drive.
Two weight limits matter for touring. Suzuki allows only 30 kg on the roof, and that includes the rack. The whole car can carry about 330 to 360 kg of people and gear, about the same as the 3-door. Our roof rack guide and rooftop tent guide explain what that means in practice.
GL or GLX: what you get
There are three versions. The GL comes only as a manual. The automatic comes only as a GLX.
| GL | GLX | |
|---|---|---|
| Airbags | 2, in front | 6: front, side and curtain |
| Screen | 7-inch, Bluetooth, reverse camera | 9-inch, Bluetooth, reverse camera, phone connection |
| Aircon | Manual | Automatic climate control |
| Headlights | Halogen | LED, with washers and fog lamps |
| Cruise control | No | Yes |
| Both have | ABS, stability control, hill hold, hill descent control, rear parking sensors, two ISOFIX points, 15-inch alloy wheels |
From Suzuki Auto South Africa’s 5-door brochure and website, September 2026.
The GLX manual is the pick. It costs R28,000 more than the GL at list price. For that you get four more airbags, the bigger screen, better lights, cruise and climate control.
The airbags are the big one. If you are buying the 5-door for the family, buy the GLX. No 5-door in South Africa offers automatic emergency braking, the system that brakes for you if you do not. Suzuki offers it only on the 3-door GLX, as an extra.
What a Jimny 5-door costs in South Africa
Suzuki’s list prices have barely moved since launch. Each version costs about R10,000 more than it did in November 2023.
| Version | Suzuki list price | New ones on live listings ask about |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5 GL manual | R439,900 | R405,000 (52 adverts) |
| 1.5 GLX manual | R467,900 | R435,000 (83 adverts) |
| 1.5 GLX automatic | R489,900 | R460,000 (174 adverts) |
List prices from suzukiauto.co.za. Asking prices are for 2026 cars with under 1,000 km, analysed on 23 September 2026.
Two things stand out. First, the GL manual is the cheapest new Jimny you can buy, R5,000 under the cheapest 3-door. Just remember it has two airbags. Second, new 5-doors typically ask R30,000 to R35,000 under list on live listings. The waiting-list days are over. Walk in and ask for a deal.
Like for like, a 5-door GLX costs R23,000 more than a 3-door GLX at list price. That is the price of two doors and a proper boot.
Used 5-door prices
Every used 5-door is young, since the car only arrived in late 2023. Most are still inside the warranty and service plan.
| Used 5-door | Adverts | Asks about | Typical km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 21 | R350,000 | 45,000 |
| 2024 | 249 | R370,000 | 34,000 |
| 2025 | 80 | R410,000 | 18,000 |
| All used 5-doors | 351 | R375,000 | 32,000 |
Live listings, 23 September 2026. Asking prices, not what cars sold for.
A used 5-door asks about R375,000, and very few ask under R300,000. A used 2024 GLX automatic asks about R85,000 less than a new one on live listings.
Two useful points for buyers. A used 5-door asks about the same as a 3-door of the same year. And most sellers who change a 5-door’s price cut it, usually by about R10,000. There is room to talk, on new cars and used.
The 5-door has not been around long enough to say how it holds its value against the 3-door. Our resale value guide tracks that. To see what is for sale now, browse the Jimny listings or the live market data. If you are selling or trading in, the Jimny valuation tool prices your exact body, trim and gearbox.
Living with it: the small print
- Warranty and service plan. New 5-doors currently come with a 5-year or 200,000 km warranty and a 4-year or 60,000 km service plan. Suzuki calls the warranty a promotion, so check it when you buy. You also get five years of roadside help.
- Services. Every 15,000 km or once a year.
- Parts and accessories. Much of the Jimny aftermarket was built for the 3-door first. Racks, sliders, drawers and rear-door mounts often come in a separate 5-door version. Check the listing says 5-door before you pay. Our accessories guide covers what fits.
- Drive it standard first. The standing advice from long-time owners is to live with it for a while before you modify it. Get the tyre pressures right first. If it still leans or wanders, our lift kits guide explains better springs and shocks.
- Security. Owners in Cape Town and Gqeberha report Jimnys broken into through the driver’s door lock at beach car parks. Some fit a lock cover. It applies to both bodies.
For the faults owners actually report, see our common problems guide.
Who the 5-door suits
| You | Buy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small family, one car | GLX | Six airbags, back doors, ISOFIX, 211-litre boot |
| Couple who tour and camp | GLX manual | Room for gear with the seats up, same 4x4 and low range |
| Town and gravel commuter | GL or GLX manual | Narrow, easy to park, rides gravel well |
| First Jimny on a budget | GL manual, or a used GLX | Cheapest new Jimny, but only two airbags |
| Only drives automatic | GLX automatic | The only automatic 5-door |
| One or two people, tight rocky trails | A 3-door | Tighter turns, better belly angle, easier to park |
A first car on tar only is a different question. Many locals say a small crossover is cheaper to run and calmer on the highway. The Jimny wins once the gravel gets bad. Our first car guide goes through it.
The bottom line
The 5-door is the Jimny grown up. It keeps the engine, the 4x4 system, the low range and the 210 mm of clearance. It adds the two things the 3-door never had: a boot you can use with four aboard, and a back seat you can reach. It is calmer on the highway too. You pay with a wider turning circle and a little less room over sharp crests.
It is still slow, still a bit loud and still pushed about by strong wind. Nobody who owns one seems to mind. Buy the GLX for the airbags, the manual for long trips, and ask for a deal, because dealers are advertising below list.
A big thank you to the people whose photos made this review: Tread Lite 4x4 Hire, who rent out kitted Jimnys for self-drive trips in South Africa, and Suzuki Auto South Africa. Go and see their work.
