Suzuki makes the Jimny in two body styles, and since we charge exactly the same for both, this is a question about what fits your trip rather than what fits your budget. Here is the honest comparison.
The short answer
Two people, mostly around the Cape: take a three-door. It is shorter, it parks in gaps the five-door has to drive past, and two suitcases fit fine.
Three or four people, or a longer trip: take a five-door. Rear passengers get their own doors, and four suitcases fit without folding a seat down.
Side by side
| 3-door | 5-door | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats | 4 | 4 |
| Luggage behind the rear seats | 2 bags | 4 bags |
| Rear passenger access | Fold and tilt a front seat | Own doors |
| Length | Shorter - noticeably easier to park | About 34 cm longer |
| Turning circle | Tighter | Still very good |
| Gearbox options | Manual or automatic | Manual or automatic |
| Price per day | Identical | Identical |
| In our fleet | 4 cars | 6 cars |
Both are the same 1.5-litre petrol Jimny underneath, with the same ground clearance and the same four-wheel-drive system. Nothing about the mechanical capability changes between them.
Luggage is the real difference
This is what people get wrong. The three-door Jimny has a genuinely small boot with the rear seats up - it takes two suitcases and a couple of soft bags, and that is it. It is completely fine for two people, and it is tight the moment you add a third.
The five-door adds its extra length almost entirely behind the rear axle, so the boot roughly doubles. Four suitcases fit with the seats up.
If you are two people travelling light, take the three-door and enjoy the parking. If you are four people with four bags, the five-door is not a preference, it is a requirement.
What the extra doors actually buy you
Access, and not much else. In a three-door, anyone sitting in the back climbs past a tilted front seat. Once, that is charming. Four times a day for a fortnight, with a child or anyone less mobile, it stops being charming.
For two adults who never use the back seats, the doors are irrelevant and the shorter body is a daily advantage.
Parking, and why the short one wins in the city
Cape Town’s city bowl, Kalk Bay, Kloof Street and most of the Atlantic seaboard were not designed around parking. The three-door Jimny is one of the shortest cars you can hire here, and on Chapman’s Peak or Franschhoek Pass the tight viewpoint pull-ins are far less stressful in the short body.
The five-door is still a small car by any normal standard. It is just no longer remarkably small.
Manual or automatic?
A separate question, and available in both body styles. Most visitors take the automatic, and for Cape Town traffic that is the easy choice. If you enjoy driving, the manual on Chapman’s Peak and Franschhoek Pass is the better car - holding a gear beats an automatic hunting for one.
We have three manuals in the fleet: Pearl (three-door), Bella and Stella (five-door).
Which of ours to pick
- Three-door: Harper and Maya (automatic, GL), Daisy (automatic, GLX, the only blue one), Pearl (manual, GLX).
- Five-door: Amelia, Lucy, Sophie and Willow (automatic, GLX), Bella (manual, GL), Stella (manual, GLX).
Every one costs the same per day, so pick on shape, gearbox and colour. The full comparison table on Our Jimnys lays them all out side by side.
Decided which one you want?
From R1,450 a day · insurance included · no deposit
Still not sure?
Tell us how many of you there are and how many bags, and we will tell you honestly which one to take - including when the answer is the cheaper-to-run three-door. Check availability or message us on WhatsApp.
