Suzuki Jimny three-door returns to Australia with upgraded safety tech — but prices keep climbing

Back on sale after an AEB-driven hiatus

The three-door Suzuki Jimny has returned to Australian showrooms after Suzuki paused production early in 2025, when the model's autonomous emergency braking system failed to meet updated Australian Design Rules, as reported by GoAuto's reviewer Cobey Bartels. The revised line-up arrives with an overhauled safety package: a reworked AEB system, adaptive cruise control, lane departure prevention, front and rear parking sensors and what GoAuto describes as a weaving alert. ⁴

Chasing Cars, which has just begun a six-month Jimny long-termer with Road Test Editor John Law, frames the 2026 updates the same way, noting forward AEB and adaptive cruise control across the range, plus front and rear parking sensors, traffic sign recognition and — new for the Lite grade — a reverse camera. Chasing Cars' view is that the additions should make the Jimny more palatable for urban buyers without sacrificing its off-road character. ¹

That range-wide description needs one qualification at the top of the ladder. CarExpert's April 2026 review notes the five-door Jimny XL removes lane departure prevention, traffic sign recognition and front parking sensors from its standard safety equipment, though it does get adaptive cruise control. So while the three-door grades carry the fuller new suite, the XL's standard list is narrower on those specific items. CarExpert also notes the XL itself has not received the upgrades its short-wheelbase sibling gained. While the three-door was off sale, the five-door XL carried the nameplate, largely unaffected by the safety issues apart from a brief production pause. ³

Pricing: an outlier that keeps rising

CarExpert's current price list puts the range at $31,990 before on-road costs for the Lite 4x4 manual, $33,990 for the Jimny (formerly GLX) manual, $34,990 for the XL manual, $36,490 for the Jimny automatic and $37,490 for the XL automatic. Drive-away pricing spans $36,490 for the Lite to $42,990 for the flagship XL. CarExpert also records that the XL automatic costs $1,000 more than it did at the start of 2025. ³

The price trajectory is stark. Chasing Cars notes the current-generation Jimny launched in Australia from $23,990 before on-road costs for the GLX manual in February 2019, and that today's Lite manual starts at $31,990 plus on-roads — buying less equipment than the original entry point. Chasing Cars contrasts this with the Mazda CX-3, which rose from $34,790 to $39,190 in range-topping Akari trim over the same period, calling the Jimny's increase a clear outlier. TorquePress, reviewing the five-door separately, pegs the XL as starting around $35,000. ¹⁵

What you get, grade by grade

GoAuto details the revised three-door line-up: the stripped-back Lite is manual-only, with halogen headlights, a 7.0-inch touchscreen and 15-inch steel wheels, while the standard Jimny — tested by GoAuto in $36,490 four-speed automatic form — adds a 9.0-inch display, automatic LED headlights, climate control, redesigned 15-inch alloys, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated and electric-folding mirrors and privacy glass. The automatic is a $2,500 option on the higher grade, Chasing Cars notes. GoAuto measured the three-door at 3645mm long and 1645mm wide — only around 50mm larger each way than a Kia Picanto — and flags no telescopic steering adjustment and a high-set seat as fitment constraints for taller drivers. ⁴¹

Mechanically nothing has changed. Every variant runs the 1.5-litre non-turbo petrol four producing 75kW at 6000rpm and 130Nm at 4000rpm, driving a part-time 4x4 system with low-range transfer case, ladder frame and solid front and rear axles — a recipe GoAuto points out Suzuki has sold here since the LJ10 arrived in 1970. Chasing Cars lists a claimed 6.4L/100km for the manual it is running, while CarExpert quotes 6.9L/100km claimed for the XL automatic and 8.3L/100km as tested, skewed by low-speed off-road work. CarExpert's XL figures include 210mm of ground clearance, a 36-degree approach angle, 47-degree departure angle, 24-degree breakover angle and 211 litres of boot space (1113L folded). ⁴¹³

Brilliant off-road, hard work on it

The reviewers converge on a familiar split. CarExpert calls the Jimny a "thoroughbred mountain goat" off-road after testing in several Victorian national parks, praising its easy placement on tight trails and generous clearance, while finding it "frankly awful" at highway speed — hideously underpowered, wandering, and wind-sensitive, with highway-terrain tyres the main limitation on loose surfaces. GoAuto's verdict after a day at the Glasshouse Mountains is that the three-door leaves most dual-cab utes for dead off-road, while remaining "dreadfully slow" with the four-speed auto, though its LED headlights punch well above the Lite's halogens. ³⁴

TorquePress's five-door review adds that the XL's 340mm-longer wheelbase reduces the choppy ride of the three-door and improves high-speed stability, at the cost of breakover angle (down from 28 to 24 degrees by its reckoning) and a larger turning circle of 11.4 metres. Its claim that the five-door lacks adaptive cruise control sits uneasily beside CarExpert's equipment list, which credits the XL with the feature; on that point CarExpert's more detailed specification is the safer guide. Chasing Cars' first month of long-term running — 1835km at 6.7L/100km — surfaced a practical constraint: four adult occupants and gear came within 3kg of the vehicle's gross vehicle mass limit. ⁵³¹

Payload is a shared criticism. CarExpert lists 345kg for the XL auto and separately calculates roughly 335kg from the 1210kg kerb weight and 1545kg GVM, noting that four 80kg adults would leave just 15kg for cargo; GoAuto quotes around 325kg for the three-door before occupants. TorquePress, by contrast, argues the XL "finally makes sense as an only car" thanks to added rear-seat practicality. ³⁴⁵

Safety rating and ownership evidence

CarExpert reports the Jimny's three-star ANCAP rating from 2018 expired at the end of 2024, leaving the current model unrated — a point GoAuto's review also flags. TorquePress describes a 2018 four-star rating for the five-door, a discrepancy against both Australian outlets' accounts; the unrated status per CarExpert and GoAuto is the position consistent with the rating's expiry. CarExpert also notes minor gripes with the new safety kit on the XL, including one phantom AEB warning and a reversing camera it calls barely decent. ³⁴⁵

On ownership, Suzuki Australia backs the range with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and capped-price servicing, with intervals of 12 months or 15,000km per CarExpert, which totals the five-year service plan at $2365; Chasing Cars quotes $2265 for the first half-decade — a small discrepancy between the two publications that buyers should verify with Suzuki. CarExpert adds five years of service-activated roadside assistance and average annual service costs of $473. ³¹

Long-term mechanical evidence is encouraging. VehicPulse's 18-month, 24,378 km assessment of a 2022 JB74 five-speed manual by a self-described automotive electrician recorded zero major failures, no ECU fault codes, stable battery voltage and only minor infotainment quirks, with total maintenance costs of £482.37 and fuel use averaging 7.8L/100km. Its recommendation to change transfer case oil earlier than Suzuki's 120,000km schedule is the publication's own advice, not a Suzuki directive. Owner sentiment collected by Autocar India is more mixed: user reviews average 3.5 out of 5, with praise for build quality and road presence offset by complaints that the Jimny is underpowered with basic interiors, and community guidance that it feels lively rather than planted at 100km/h. ²⁶

Which body should buyers pick?

CarExpert's bottom line is that the XL is not worth the spend as a daily commuter and steers buyers toward the three-door variants as easier-to-justify off-road playthings, despite their tighter cabins — while conceding the five-door remains genuinely capable in the bush. Chasing Cars plans to run the Lite three-door for three months before swapping in an XL for the remainder of its six-month test, specifically to weigh each body's benefits and drawbacks. For its part, TorquePress concludes the five-door preserves the original's soul while adding the utility the nameplate always lacked, making it the version that can work as an only car. ³¹⁵