Why I bought a Jimny AT & why I feel I made a good choice

I could have purchased a Mahindra Thar or Scorpio N at the time of their launch but something inside me told me that the best was yet to come.

BHPian jojoinassi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My observations with a recent 750 km trip with Jimny over three days.

Before that, my reasons to buy one.

• Had a liking for the vehicle ever since MSIL disclosed its Indian plans for Jimny. (That’s to say I was never a big gypsy fan) Used to follow the media for the titbits ever since closely.
• My wife was a big Gypsy fan. She always wanted to own one. Since her other love was a Mini Cooper, I thought this one made sense.
• Before buying a Jimny, I had a choice of buying a Thar and a Scorpio N at the launch (first lot). I cancelled both since something inside me was telling me that the best was yet to come.
• And of course, the Team-BHP review made it easier (as with my previous cars).

At last, a month ago, got our Kinetic Yellow Alfa AT. Delivery was delayed although we had the very first bookings at two different dealers (that’s a long story, maybe I’ll disclose it someday).

Now my idea of buying Jimny was NOT to use it as a pure off-roader. For that matter, I detest the idea of off-roading for the sake of off-roading- I hope you understand what I mean. I love to travel by road. I had instances where I felt handicapped with the vehicles I had (with an Ecosport initially- which led me to buy a Jeep Compass 4×4. But even with the Jeep, there were times I hesitated to do certain things. However, I should admit that Jeep had given wings to my dreams. I could do a lot of adventure drives across India, and find the best of like-minded friends).

So my idea of buying one was to have a vehicle for my wife which can be used for small drives in and around the city, our not-so-infrequent drives to the hill stations nearby and to the occasional drives to the Himalayas. Somehow I badly wanted to have drone shots of my Kinetic yellow Jimny driving through the snow..

About this trip

First the drive on the good roads- at speeds around 60-90, it was doing a decent job. Stable, planted but very very sluggish. It was a pain to see all those hatchbacks zoom past. The remedy? Handed over the steering to my better half.

On the winding mountain roads, it did an excellent job. Taking curves was not at all an issue. I was very apprehensive about this coming from a Compass which was very good at this. Felt the lack of power uphill anyway. But was not very bothersome.

Now coming to the best part. The way to the resort was a steep uphill climb spanning over a few kms. Google Maps showed 2 routes with similar ETA and to my luck, I chose the road less travelled. It was a gravel road with potholes, big stones, narrow and steep. I wouldn’t have tried this in any of my previous vehicles. It was a cakewalk for Jimny. Travelled effortlessly over the terrain without any hitch. Wifey was also super impressed. We also climbed a few big rocky hillocks on the way.

Another instance- we were driving through a forest and they were building a new bridge with the approach road yet to be completed – quite steep and high with big boulders. Again it was effortless for the Jimny (other vehicles were taking a detour).

These small things made me feel that I made a good buy. Of course, it’s heart over the head any day. But there are times when you should listen to your heart.

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