Price confusion and lack of availability cause headaches for potential future Suzuki 4X4 owners The Suzuki Jimny hit our shores amidst a wave of anticipation; declarations of it being 4WD of the year, ‘a true 4WDer’s car’, inundated it. Therefore,…
The Suzuki Jimny hit our shores amidst a wave of anticipation; declarations of it being 4WD of the year, ‘a true 4WDer’s car’, inundated it. Therefore, it was to no one’s surprise that the Suzuki Jimny has sold incredibly well. Suzuki Australia General Manager, Michael Pachota, stated that even before pricing was announced they had already received almost 350 orders, which had left Suzuki dealerships around the country struggling from the get-go.
However, with all this demand, cracks have begun to open up surrounding the pricing of the new 2019 Jimny, with customers complaining not only of prices being excessively more than the listed $23,990 and $25,990, but also that their pre-order price has been changed.
When contacted, Suzuki Australia addressed this by pointing out that pre-orders taken before the pricing was announced are what created the outcry and confusion of individuals having dealerships change their pricing.
“Some customers insisted on having a maximum driveaway price listed on their contract of sale to which many orders were placed subject to this condition. Accordingly, post-pricing release, Suzuki Dealers made contact with their customers to advise them of their final driveaway pricing.”
However, this doesn’t answer the question regarding the exorbitant pricing differences consumers are still being quoted, long after the official pricing has been released. With the accepted government add-ons that come with new vehicles aside, dealers seem to be making up their own rules with dealer delivery fees thanks to the supply issues they’re facing, raising driveaway prices over $5000 more than the official list price. The problem is further exemplified by extreme differences in pricing from dealer to dealer.
Suzuki Australia seemingly weren’t ready, with only 343 vehicles delivered to dealers to date but with over 800 orders for the Jimny taken. Furthermore, this is out of only 1100 that they have coming to Australia in 2019. Unfortunately, due to this supply problem for the Jimny, it results in consumers having less negotiating power, as dealers know they will sell them due to so few being available. If you’re after a Jimny you’re in for a long wait, as the soonest any of the dealerships in the Sydney area could give us was July, with most saying September or October.
To get a better understanding of the pricing differences, we hit social media and asked what people have been quoted or paid for a 2019 Jimny, and to use the old cliché … the results will shock you.
