Planning to buy the Maruti Suzuki Jimny Zeta variant with a manual gearbox? Here’s a review which can help you take a decision.
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Catalogue
•What car
•Why the Jimny
•Interior – Front
•Interior – Rear
•Interior – Boot
•Exterior
•Infotainment & MID
•Driving the Jimny
•My plans with the Jimny
•Pricing
My criteria for a new car were that it should be:
•Interesting
•Value for money
•Light(er) on the wallet
•ICE
Bonus points for it being uncommon and rare.
I was not pedantic about body style, transmission box or fuel type.
Options considered
Used Cars:
1. 2017/18 Toyota Camry (P)
Pros:
-Efficient for city drives
-Comfortable ride & good NVH
-Safety
-Reliable automatic transmission
Cons:
-No Apple car play – can’t be added to stock infotainment system either
-Needs a longer parking spot
-Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery replacement around 8 year mark
-Hard to come across a reasonably priced, cared for example. I tried for a year and gave it up with a heavy heart.
Price: ~15L for a 60-70K run, 2017 manufactured, clean car in Delhi
2. 2017 VW Jetta TSI (P)
Pros:
-International spares support
-Comfortable ride & good NVH
-Apple Car play could be enabled in the MIB2 stock infotainment system (Rs ~25k cost)
-Safety
Cons:
-German saloon niggles
-OEM spares are on the expensive side
Price: ~5.5L for a 70K run, 2017 manufactured, clean car in Mumbai. Compared to other sellers, overpriced by Rs. 1L
3. Skoda Yeti – any clean example (D)
Pros:
-Interesting and cool car to have
-Efficiency
Cons:
-Clean stock examples are never on the market for sale. I’m not sure if they even exist.
-Long downtime for any spares
-Usable life in NCR is hardly a few years
Price: Market so small, difficult to put a reliable number next to it. Sellers ask Rs. ~8-10L for a 2015/16 manufactured well-kept examples
4. 2020 or newer Honda CR-V (P)
Pros:
-Global Honda product + Reliability
-Apple car play & Android Auto
-Comfortable ride & good NVH
-Manufacturer warranty still in force
Cons:
-Model is still new, not many examples in the used car market
-7-8 kmpl mileage in the city
Price: Rs. ~20L for a 40k run, 2020 manufactured, clean car in Mumbai.
New cars
1. MG Astor CVT (P) – 2023 SMART variant (Renamed as SELECT variant in 2024)
Pros:
-Has all new tech – Apple car play & Android Auto, panoramic sunroof
-No AI bot in this variant
-Creep function in the CVT gearbox can be turned off/on
-Soft and luxurious materials used inside – door pads, dashboard, seats, front and back arm rests
-Very good NVH (better than 3rd gen Skoda Octavia)
Cons:
-Apprehension about how the car quality will age post warranty. Neither the Chinese, nor the British are known for quality products.
-7-8 kmpl mileage in the city
Price: Rs. ~15.5L OTR Noida. (MY-2023 stock clearance prices)
2. Skoda Slavia 1.0AT (P) – Ambition variant
Pros:
-Apple car play & Android Auto
-Sleek looking interior – Analog speedometer with digital information screen
-1.0 engine is mated nicely with the TC gearbox and paddle shifters. Shifts are imperceptible and well timed.
-Spacious boot & passenger cabin
-Driving dynamics are sharp & confidence inspiring at highway speeds
-Front & rear armrests with good storage space
Cons:
-The VW Virtus has a 10″ touch screen infotainment system in the same variant (Slavia has a 7″ system)
-Central console and transmission tunnel plastic components are beige
Price: ~16.1L OTR Noida (MY-2023 stock clearance prices)
3. VW Virtus 1.0AT (P) – Highline Variant
Pros:
-Apple car play & Android Auto
-Sleek looking interior – Analog speedometer with digital information screen
-1.0 engine is mated nicely with the TC gearbox and paddle shifters. I felt the 1L + TC box are better mated than the 1.5L + DSG.
-Spacious boot & passenger cabin
-Driving dynamics are sharp & confidence inspiring at highway speeds
-Front & rear armrests with good storage space
-10″ touchscreen infotainment screen in this variant
-Central console and transmission tunnel plastic components are Black
-Very sharp silver and Deep red colour
Cons:
-More expensive than the equivalent Skoda Slavia by Rs. ~80K
Price: ~16.9L OTR Noida (MY-2024 prices)
4. Maruti Jimny MT (P) – Zeta variant
Pros:
-Interesting and un-common. Nice to know that the car’s ability offroad exceeds mine.
-Apple car play & Android Auto
-Retro looks & convenient small size
-No stereotype associated with the Jimny (yet – fingers crossed)
Cons:
-Storage space inside the cabin is poor. No rear parcel shelf cover.
-Safety – Don’t think this would be a 5* rated car.
-Comfortable highway speed is only 80-90 kmph
-Poor noise insulation
Price: ~12.2L OTR Noida (MY-2023 stock clearance prices)
Why the Jimny
When the Jimny 3 door was announced in 2018, I had made up my mind to get one – if they ever launched the 3 door in India.
It was small (3.4m long), I suspected a vast majority of people wouldn’t get one – so it’d be rare. And I’d just use mine as a town car – for the ease of parking and not be worried about the Jimny’s safety ratings.
The Jimny did come to our shores, but alas in the 5 door format. Well, at least something is better than nothing.
The 5 door Jimny too met all my core criteria in a new car:
1. Interesting
2. Value for money
3. Light(er) on the wallet
4. ICE
5. Un-common / rare
I had planned to get the car in FY-25. But a combination of factors pushed me to pick up the Jimny right away:
•The dipping factory dispatch figures in 2024 – I didn’t want to risk the car being pulled out of production
•Absence of meaningful discounts for MY-2024 models
•My base location shifting from NCR to BLR (NCR dealers seemed to be more liberal with discounts)
•Sweet discount of Rs. 2.75L off Ex-showroom price
Multiple dealers in NCR have a healthy stock of MY-2023 Jimny. More so for the MT variants than the AT ones.
The choice between Zeta and Alpha was not a difficult one to make
Alpha did not feel worth the Rs. 1L premium over the Zeta, for just the UV cut green glass which I valued.
Fog lamps have been installed from the Nexa showroom for Rs 4,800 (with 1yr MSIL warranty)
The colour:
•The Kinetic Yellow and Sizzling Red were a straight No.
•Nexa blue didn’t look great in their brochure, but was fine in person. My apprehension about other Nexa blue coloured cars (non Jimny) aging poorly put it out of contention.
•The white looked good. Felt it’d age the best. But I wanted a colour I’d enjoy more now – was shortlisted
•Bluish Black looked great on the brochure but a bit too black & shiny in person – was shortlisted
•Granite Gray looked fabulous – seemed like the best option – but alas – no stock. Seems like more folks thought along the same lines.
I couldn’t choose between the White and the Bluish black. Picked the Bluish black because the dealer offered a better price.
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