Cover photo: Suzuki Auto South Africa, whose press and model photos show every trim covered here. Thank you to their team.
The Jimny GL and GLX have the same engine, the same 4x4 and the same ground clearance. On a Sani Pass trip or a Baviaanskloof weekend, they are the same car. The difference is inside and up front. The GLX adds four airbags, a bigger screen, climate control, cruise control, LED headlights and the option of an automatic.
On a new 5-door, that costs R28,000 more at list price. The airbags are the part that matters most, because you cannot add them later.
This guide covers what each trim gets, what changed in 2026, what each one asks new and used, and which to buy.
The short answer
- New 5-door for a family or long trips: buy the GLX. Four more airbags and cruise control are worth the R28,000.
- New 5-door as a farm, bush or trail car: the GL does the job. Spend the saving on tyres.
- New 3-door: there is no choice to make. Every new 3-door is a GLX. The only question is the R15,000 safety pack.
- Want an automatic: it has to be a GLX, unless you buy an older used 3-door GL.
- Buying a used 5-door: a GLX asks only a little more than a GL of the same year. Take the GLX.
What do GL and GLX mean?
GL and GLX are Suzuki’s trim badges. GL is the lower trim and GLX the higher one. Suzuki uses the same badges on its other cars here, like the Swift and the Fronx. That is why a Fronx GLX and a Jimny GLX sound alike.
On the Jimny there used to be a third badge, the GA. It was the basic 3-door from the 2018 launch, with steel wheels and no proper radio. It is gone now, but you will see it in used adverts.
Suzuki Jimny trim levels in South Africa (2026)
These are the new Jimnys Suzuki sells today, with its list prices seen on 23 September 2026.
| Body | Trim and gearbox | List price |
|---|---|---|
| 5-door | GL manual | R439,900 |
| 5-door | GLX manual | R467,900 |
| 5-door | GLX auto | R489,900 |
| 3-door | GLX manual | R444,900 |
| 3-door | GLX manual DSBSII | R459,900 |
| 3-door | GLX auto | R466,900 |
| 3-door | GLX auto DSBSII | R481,900 |
So the GL is only sold as a 5-door manual. It is the cheapest new Jimny in South Africa. The automatic adds R22,000 on either body. DSBSII is the 3-door safety pack, explained below.
Jimny GL vs GLX: what the extra money buys
This is the 5-door, the only Jimny where you can still choose between the two. The facts come from Suzuki Auto South Africa’s spec table and brochure.
| 5-door GL | 5-door GLX | |
|---|---|---|
| Engine and 4x4 | 1.5 petrol, 4x4 with low range | Same |
| Gearbox | 5-speed manual only | 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto |
| Airbags | 2 (front) | 6 (front, side and curtain) |
| Screen | 7-inch, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto | 9-inch, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto |
| Aircon | Manual | Climate control |
| Cruise control | No | Yes |
| Headlights | Halogen | LED, with washers and auto on |
| Fog lamps | No | Yes |
| Steering wheel | Hard plastic feel | Leather |
| Side mirrors | Electric adjust | Electric adjust and fold |
| Rear seatbelts | No reminder | Reminder and force limiters |
| Wheels and tyres | 15-inch alloys, 195/80 R15 | Same |
| Reverse camera, rear sensors | Yes | Yes |
| ABS, stability control, hill hold, hill descent | Yes | Yes |
| Two Isofix points for child seats | Yes | Yes |
| List price | R439,900 | R467,900 (auto R489,900) |
Both screens work with your phone. Suzuki lists Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on the GL’s 7-inch screen as well. The GLX just gets a bigger screen.
Now look at the airbags. Some adverts, and some websites, say the GL has six. Suzuki’s own spec table says two.
What stays the same on both
This is the GL’s best argument. Both trims have the same 1.5 petrol engine. Both have the same 4x4 system, where you pick 2WD, high-range 4x4 or low range. Both sit 210 mm off the ground on the same tyres. Suzuki claims the same fuel use for both manuals, 6.4 litres per 100 km.
Both get the same four-year, 60,000 km service plan. Both come with Suzuki’s five-year, 200,000 km warranty, which Suzuki lists as a promotion.
So a GL goes exactly where a GLX goes. In the Cederberg or up Piesangkloof, tyre pressure matters far more than the badge on the back.
On the 4x4community forum, a Jimny dealer said he would buy the GL manual himself. He said it the day 5-door prices came out. A long-time owner there prefers the basic model, with as few electronics as possible. That view is common among SA Jimny people: buy the GL and spend the difference on kit.
The one gap you cannot fix later: airbags
Most of what the GLX adds, you could live without or fix later. A phone mount and a good set of spotlights close some of the gap. The airbags are different.
The 5-door GL has two front airbags. The GLX adds side airbags and curtain airbags, which protect heads and chests in a side crash. That makes six in total. No 5-door, GL or GLX, can brake for you on its own. So on a 5-door, those four airbags are the biggest safety step money can buy.
The GLX also warns you when a rear passenger has no seatbelt on. Its rear belts have force limiters, which ease the belt’s grip on the body in a crash.
If you carry children, a new driver or passengers on the N1 at night, this settles it. Buy the GL for what it does off road. Buy the GLX for the people inside.
Only one Jimny can brake for you
You may read that the GLX has automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning and blind-spot monitoring. In South Africa, no 5-door has any of these. No SA Jimny has blind-spot monitoring at all.
The only Jimny with these driver aids is the 3-door GLX with the DSBSII pack. It costs R15,000 more than the plain 3-door GLX. DSBSII is a camera and a sensor behind the windscreen that watch the road ahead. The pack adds:
- Automatic braking, which can brake the car on its own for cars, people, cyclists and motorbikes ahead.
- Adaptive cruise control, which keeps a safe gap to the car in front.
- Lane warning and lane prevention, which warn you if you drift out of your lane and help keep you in it.
- A tiredness warning if the car starts to weave.
- Automatic high beams, and four parking sensors in the front bumper.
One owner on the forum waited almost a year for his DSBSII 3-door. He called the extra airbags and driver aids overdue, given how often drivers here jump red lights.
2026: the 3-door is now GLX only
In March 2026 Suzuki cut the 3-door range down to the GLX. The GA and the GL were dropped. The 3-door GLX also got a lot better:
- Six airbags instead of two.
- The 9-inch screen from the 5-door GLX, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
- Mirrors that fold electrically and have heaters.
- The DSBSII safety pack as an option.
Prices went up by R8,000 on each gearbox. Even so, the cheapest new 3-door (R444,900) now has six airbags. The cheapest six-airbag 5-door costs R467,900. If you do not need rear doors, the new 3-door GLX gives you the most kit for your money.
For the body choice itself, read our 3-door vs 5-door guide. If the 5-door is your pick, our 5-door review covers life with one.
Manual or auto: the auto is GLX only
Want a new automatic Jimny? It has to be a GLX. The auto costs R22,000 more than the manual, on both bodies.
It is an old-style 4-speed automatic. Owners on the forums like it in Joburg traffic. Some prefer it off road too, because it will not stall on a steep climb. But on the open road they say it hunts between gears on hills and feels rough at highway speed. CAR magazine’s used buying guide agrees: it calls the auto too compromised for open-road use. On the 5-door, Suzuki claims 6.7 litres per 100 km for the auto. The manual claims 6.4.
So the local advice is simple. Buy the auto for town and traffic. Buy the manual if you tour.
What each trim asks today, new and used
Suzuki’s list price is not what dealers ask. On live listings, analysed daily, every new Jimny asks about R30,000 to R40,000 under list. Here is what each trim asks, with the number of adverts behind each figure (23 September 2026).
| GL | GLX manual | GLX auto | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New 5-door | R405,000 (52 adverts; list R439,900) | R435,000 (83; list R467,900) | R460,000 (169; list R489,900) |
| New 3-door | Not sold | R407,000 (12; list R444,900) | R428,000 (19; list R466,900) |
| Used 2024 5-door | R345,000 (12, manual) | R350,000 (58) | R375,000 (179) |
| Used 2022 3-door | R304,000 (44, manual or auto) | R320,000 (38) | R330,000 (94) |
Figures are typical asking prices on live listings, rounded, not selling prices.
What the table tells you:
- New, the gap holds. A new 5-door GLX manual asks about R30,000 more than a GL manual. That is close to Suzuki’s R28,000 list gap.
- The cheapest new routes cost the same. The new 5-door GL and the new 3-door GLX manual both ask about R405,000. At that price, the 3-door has six airbags and the 5-door GL has two.
- Used, the 5-door gap shrinks. A 2024 5-door GLX manual asks only about R5,000 more than a GL of the same year. That is on a handful of GL adverts, so treat it as a rough guide. Either way, a used 5-door GLX costs little more than a GL.
- On a used 2022 3-door, the GLX asks about R20,000 more than a GL with the same gearbox.
What does R28,000 mean each month? Spread over a six-year car loan at prime (10.75% from 25 September 2026), it adds roughly R530 a month, before fees. Our finance guide shows how deposit and term change the sum.
Does a GLX hold its value better? We see no sign of it. Used GLs and GLXs get the same price cuts, about R10,000 at a time. The GLX simply keeps a gap in rands that is about what it cost extra new. For prices by year, see our price by year guide and the live Jimny market data.
Buying used: GA, GL and GLX
About nine in ten Jimnys for sale are GLXs. A used GL is harder to find: about 70 are on live listings, against more than 800 used GLXs. Even under R300,000, you will see about 150 used GLXs and about 25 GLs. So on a budget, you are often choosing between an older GLX and a newer GL.
The used 3-door is where the trims meant different things. Here is the history.
| GA (from 2018) | GL (from 2022) | GLX (from 2018) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gearbox | Manual only | Manual or auto | Manual or auto |
| Airbags | 2 | 2 | 2 until March 2026, then 6 |
| Wheels | 15-inch steel | 15-inch alloys | 15-inch alloys |
| Radio | Space for one, 2 speakers | Bluetooth and USB radio, no touchscreen listed | Touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto |
| Aircon | Manual | Manual | Climate control |
| Headlights | Halogen | Not confirmed | LED |
| Fog lamps | No | Yes | Yes |
| Electric windows | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
| Typical used ask | About R280,000 (24 adverts) | About R304,000 (2022, 44 adverts) | About R330,000 (2022, 132 adverts) |
The key fact: every 3-door sold before March 2026 had two front airbags, whatever the badge. A used 2019 GLX is not safer than a used 2022 GL. On a used 3-door, the trim choice is comfort only. That makes a used GL, or even the rare GA, a fair buy if you plan to kit it out anyway.
Two more things to know when you shop:
- A “GL auto” is always a 3-door. Suzuki never sold a 5-door GL automatic. If an advert says 5-door GL auto, the trim or the body is wrong.
- Adverts get the kit wrong. We found new 5-door GL adverts that claim six airbags and cruise control. Neither is true. Check the car, not the advert.
On a 5-door you can tell the trims apart from the kerb. The GLX has round LED headlights and fog lamps low in the bumper, a leather wheel with cruise buttons, a 9-inch screen, climate control dials and mirrors that fold. The GL has halogen lights, no fogs, no cruise buttons, a 7-inch screen and plain aircon knobs.
Used buyers care about more than the badge. Plenty of used Jimnys come with a roof rack, a lift or better tyres already fitted. A kitted GL can be worth more to a trail driver than a bare GLX. Our accessories guide shows what those parts cost new, so you can put a fair number on them. Browse Jimnys for sale and check the trim in the photos.
If you buy the GL, where to spend the saving
The R28,000 you save on a new 5-door GL buys a lot of useful kit. A set of good all-terrain tyres comes first for most owners. Our tyre guide covers which to buy, and our tyre size guide covers what fits. If night driving on unlit farm roads worries you, look at spotlights and light bars. Better shocks come later, if at all. Our lift kit guide explains when you need them.
Who should buy which
| You | Buy | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Family, or passengers on long trips | 5-door GLX manual | R467,900 |
| Mostly town and traffic, need rear doors | 5-door GLX auto | R489,900 |
| Farm, bush or trail car, tight budget | 5-door GL manual | R439,900 |
| One or two people, want the most safety | 3-door GLX DSBSII | R459,900 manual, R481,900 auto |
| One or two people, best value new | 3-door GLX manual | R444,900 |
| New driver | A GLX with six airbags, ideally a 3-door DSBSII | From R444,900 |
| Used 5-door buyer | GLX, since it asks little more than a GL | About R350,000 (2024) |
| Used 3-door buyer who will kit it out | GL or GA, same airbags as a GLX of that age | About R280,000 to R305,000 |
For more on Jimnys and young drivers, read is the Jimny a good first car. The full specs are on our Jimny model page.
The bottom line
The GL and GLX go to the same places. On a new 5-door, the GLX’s four extra airbags are the one upgrade you cannot buy later, and that alone makes it the pick for most people. The GL is a fair choice for a farm or trail car, if you know it has two airbags. The 3-door is GLX only now, and the DSBSII version is the only Jimny that can brake for you. Used, a 5-door GLX costs little more than a GL, while on a used 3-door every trim has the same two airbags. Whatever you buy, ask for a deal, because new Jimnys ask well under list. If you already own one, check what your Jimny is worth.
A big thank you to Suzuki Auto South Africa for every photo in this guide. Their model pages and brochures are the best place to check the spec of the exact car you are buying.
