Jazz comments

[Kit]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy a brand new jazz...
all you jazz owners out there, i'm after opinions and experiences on stuff like:

- faults
- strengths
- weaknesses
- maintenance

or any other comments you may have

thanks
Chris

[Jus-10]

OK here are my thoughts on the VTi (1.5 vtec). I have about 6,500kms on it and bought it new in December 2003:

Faults -
None that I have encountered yet. no problems with fit and finish and no other niggling little problems really except for a creak that developed at about 2,000kms when I go over speed humps. Apart from that I still don't have any rattles.

Strengths -
Extremely versatile and roomy. There is no problem with fitting 4 adults in the car. With the rear seats folded you have a massive carrying space! The engine is IMO very under-rated. It offers very adequate performance and I have scared/surprised many other high performance car owners. The manual is light and has a good smooth feel to it. It's p*ss easy to drive. The fuel economy is astounding even when revving in to vtec frequently. I will get an easy 600km from mainly city driving and it costs about $35 to fill it up! The stock stereo is pretty decent for a budget car. The safety features a good with dual airbags, abs with ebd and all that crap. There is a heap of aftermarket support if you can get patrs in from Japan.

Weaknesses -
The electric power steering is a bit too light and vague. It is my one biggest problem with the car, but you do get used to it. It makes for very easy driving/parking. In fact that would be one of the only real weaknesses I have come across. The stock suspension and tyres on the VTi could do with improvement but if you want a stock city cruiser they are satisfactory.

Maintenance -
Costs me a bit to get it serviced at a Honda dealer (but don't most Hondas?) considering what they actually do, but where I go, they know their sh*t so that's the price I pay (plus they are just up the road from me).

Seriously, I know I have said it before around this forum, but it is a top little car and for the money I don't think you can do much better. In this price bracket I would only consider the Mazda2 an option as it is probably on par, but it just doesn't do it for me for some reason.

I truly am impressed with this little car (remember I came from a 4 month old BMW) and love getting in it every time. It is comfortable, practical, discreet, versatile and well put together.

Hope that helps.

J

[petrovski]

hey kit,

from my experience maintennance has been easy as!!! all i do is get it serviced whenever honda says so. :wink:

strengths - its very easy to park in very tight spaces and cheap to run.

i dont know about weaknesses or strengths for that matter - what are you comparing it to??

as for faults ive only ever had one problem and that was honda didnt wire up my towbar properly and the light circuit blew a couple of times but they fixed that when i whinged to them!

yeah good little car is all ive got 8)

are you after the manual or 7spd?

Pete



ps justin - you get 600km to a tank???? :shock: im lucky to get 500 with the fuel light!

[Kit]

Thanks Jus-10, very informative.
I thought the jazz was a pretty good car, but i just needed to hear it from some owners..
I would much prefer the jazz over the mazda 2.. Ive been in one before, and everything in the interior is a plastic/rubber type material, right down to the gearknob and steering wheel! and once that rubber gets dirty, you cant clean it, as was seen on the one i sat in. it didnt help that it was all beige too, and you could see the markings on the steering wheel and gearknob from wehre the driver put his hands!

petrovski, probably after the VTI-S auto. I drove both the auto and the manual, and i coudlnt believe how good the CVT transmission was. I've always preferred manual cars, but this is one car that should be bought as an auto i reckon. The CVT transmission should also mean that the car is faster off the line and more fuel economical.

[wyl03]

my $0.02 after owning the car for a mth :

Pro's;
- handy space as mentioned above - i can manipulate the chairs to make sure my wife + my schnauzer sit snugly
- mileage - easily 600km on a full tank. i scrutinise my weekly mileage closely. i'm convinced the Jazz fuel gauge is on the conservative side. even when it's in the "red" zone, it can go for at least another 50km! and yes, u get even better mileage on the CVT.
- fully equip - ABS, SRS, EBD, ESP, cd player, a/c - so even though it's more expensive than its competitors, u don't have to pay for any equipment
- CD players pretty reasonable
- very nippy car, good for city driving .. can't wait to see how it runs at OPH

Con's:
- torque profile VERY different to euro cars .. (not that it's a bad thing, u just have to get use to it)
- not too happy with the headlights (strong for 50 metres or so and pretty much nothing beyond that?? or is my car's set-up?)
- spacesaver spare .. sigh ..

we thought about the mazda2. car-for-car, it's up there with the jazz. only thing was the better 2nd hand value with the Honda's. whether the 'H' badge deserves the high resale value or not is another matter, but that's the market perception. and i'm pretty sure there's good basis for that

had a look at Fiesta too. nice but nothing made it stand out. and u only get ABS if you get the AUTO. i guess manual drivers' lives are less precious.

was keen on the Polo's shape & form but it has almost identical kerb weight to Jazz (ie on the heavier side of super mini's) but only 55kw . .what's up with that??

206 was expensive and tight inside.

[Zimp13]

Honda Jazz does not have EBD... Cheers

[08ESE]

Honda Jazz does not have EBD... Cheers

Strange? Im sure it was in the brochures when i brought mine, and the dealers told me it did too??

[Zimp13]

Strange? Im sure it was in the brochures when i brought mine, and the dealers told me it did too??

not that i am aware of... ABS yes EBD on the pre face lift, dun think so..... as for the face lift model, i still cant find any where that confirm it does have the ebd.... but in some countries the face lift version is using rear disc instead of drum....

[Sp00n]

I've only had my jazz for 3 weeks...
it's a manual.. but it's pretty zippy..
i've even tried to fit 4 skinny people in the back seat.. all bums on the seat (but very uncomfortable)
the boot's pretty decent for a car that size.. and it dun take too much fuel either.

the only negative i'd say is the steering which can be a little scary sometimes..
i almost had a bit of a moment in the carpark whilst turning pretty quick...

the funny thing is.. everyone who sits in the front passenger seat will have to touch the plastic in front of them and make a comment about it hehehehe.. (on the VTi-S that is)

anyways.. thats my little bit of input..
its better than any other car in that small car group...
(only cos it has [acronym:f2f8f32736="Valve Timing and lift Electronic Control"]VTEC[/acronym:f2f8f32736]!!)

[coladuna]

- fully equip - ABS, SRS, EBD, ESP, cd player, a/c - so even though it's more expensive than its competitors, u don't have to pay for any equipment

Jazz doesn't have ESP.

Pro: refined, relatively quiet cabin, build quality is excellent, nice interior
Con: rear seat is very uncomfortable as it's too upright. Also the seat base is very short, which means unless you are very short, you'll have very little thigh support.
Fitting drum brake on a top spec VTi-S is a joke too. Also, I find GLi and VTi to be too ugly. VTi-S looks much better thanks to the alloy wheels and bodykit.

[coladuna]

its better than any other car in that small car group...

My sister chose Citroen C2 over Jazz VTi-S.
Jazz was number 1 small car for me until I looked at C2.
The only downside I can think of is that it's slightly noisy in the cabin compared to Jazz and not as roomy and practical as Jazz.
Other than that, it's better equipped, better looking and handles better.
I'm a Honda men but I was converted very quickly.
Curious as to what will change when the new updated Jazz arrives later this year though.

[wyl03]

-
Jazz doesn't have ESP.

....

oops .. sorry .. meant to type EPS! ops:

but preference for VTI-S bodykit .. that's a personal matter :lol:
doesn't mean you are right .. doesn't mean you are wrong either, just depends on who you talk to.

have to agree about the rear brake drums tho' ... waiting for rear disks to come out.