honda jazz 1.4 se review

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Average Ratings

Performance	7.2/10
Practicality	9.7/10
Reliability	9.5/10
Value for Money	8.2/10
Overall rating	9.2/10

100% Recommended6 out of 6 Reviews

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By Keith the Astrophysicist on 3rd Jun 2005

Keith the Astrophysicist's Ratings

Year Manufactured	2004
Length of ownership	7 Months
Performance	8/10
Practicality	10/10
Reliability	10/10
Value for money	8/10
Overall value	9/10
Keith the Astrophysicist's recommendation

Good Points

Superb fuel economy, solid build and roomy flexible interior.

Bad Points

Small fuel tank limits range

General Comments

From the outside this Honda Jazz 1.4 SE looks like a slighty quirky oriental runabout but don't be fooled, the secrets are inside.

The Honda Jazz is remarkably roomy given its supermini body shell. It is unique in having the fuel tank beneath the front seats, thus liberating valuable floor space behind (and eliminating most of that under seat space where pens,loose change and sandwich crumbs hide). This enables the back seats to fold down totally flat (in a single move) with the head rests tucking under the front seats. An alternative configuration is to raise the seats up against the back rests, creating a deep space across the rear part of the passenger cabin. Further more, with the back seats down, the front passenger seat can be tilted right back producing a long 2.5 metre bay. This easily accommodated a pair of short ladders and the other seat arrangements made collection of my son's university items a doddle (despite having three passengers on board as well).

Every review counts cup holders; this car has three and one has a solid looking cup which is a removable ash tray or somewhere to put loose change. Just as well because pockets are relatively scarce and the door ones are rather narrow. There's just one ridiculously small side pocket in the boot and the boot light is in a very silly place, low down on the left. Put something in and the light is blocked! There's shelf at shin height on both the driver and passenger side. Not clever on the legs in crash, although the twin airbags will save your upper parts. This car scores 4 stars in the NCAP tests but the shelves and side impacts on the narrow profile doors have been noted.

The engine idles virtually silently but revs harshly when acceleration is needed. Its a tiny bit underpowered on Welsh hills (solved by changing down)and the fuel economy is around 42mpg on local runs. However, this rises to an impressive 50+mpg on long motorway journeys with modest gradients. Using the air conditioner (unusually) makes little difference to the economy. Basically, you get diesel-like frugality from a petrol engine.

I do have a gripe with the range; the clever front-mounted fuel tank delivers a range of 300-350 miles (my old diesel Passat did 700+ miles). My fuel gauge needle sticks slightly as it descends on a journey so the next time one starts up theres a little less fuel in the tank than one thought. None of these things are problem around town but annoying in rural areas where cheap filling stations are rare. I tend to carry an extra gallon in a can. The ride is frequently described as jittery or hard but I cannot say I have noticed. The roads around my way are certainly bumpy enough to tell.

The build quality is excellent. Everything feels really solid inside and out, except perhaps the hardboard cover over the space-saver in the boot and the flimsy looking filler cap. Nevertheless, nothing has come off in my hand yet! The seats are very comfortable, mainly because they lack pronounced side wings which cut off the circulation in your thighs. Great news if, like most people, you're not built like a stick insect! The upholstery and trim are excellent compared to my wife's Polo, which looks dull, flabby and cheap by comparison.

Finally, a useful tip to purchasers. Pay the little bit extra for the SE over the S model. It has air con., 4 electric windows, CD player, sun roof, remote locking, colour co-ordinated bits and ABS.

This is a super little car; well built, economic to run (low tax, low insurance) and the inside works like the Tardis!

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Update 29th August 2006

This is a sort of progress review following on from my original expert review of the Jazz 1.4 SE. I've now had the car for nearly two years and have had time to experience wear and tear, as well as after sales service.

Above all, the car continues to be mechanically sound. I have not had a single malfunction of any kind. When I took it in for service two weeks ago, I was asked if there was anything that needed looking at. 'It's a Honda, what do you think?', I replied. Only one major item failed to live up to expectations. The Yokohama tyres at the front rapidly went bald in just 15000 miles; the replacements are showing little wear after a further 10,000.

The exterior bodywork is holding up well. Someone, too cowardly to own up, dented the rear offside door of my car in a car park and the optional black plastic mid-door 'runners' are therefore a good idea if you are buying a Jazz. There's a small but suspicious bubble just beneath the rear windscreen wiper, suggesting a touch of rust.

Inside, the dark micro-dimpled parts of the trim are a little irritating. It is undoubtedly rock-solidly constructed (and, according to a friend, better than the new Civic) but shows every tiny scuff mark. Moreover, the tiny dimples collect dust and cleaning is a little difficult, especially the deep dashboard area under the windscreen. There's a raised rectangular floor section just before the accelerator pedal. The carpet covering the sharply angled corner has worn through despite having a mat on top. The good news, though, is that trim parts are relatively cheap and easy to fit.

I have now taken the car to three different Honda dealers for servicing. This was partly as an experiment in after sales service but also to remind them that the customer is king. The original dealership tried to sell me the wrong model because they had one they wanted to get rid of; so, after a brief 'post six week inspection', I dumped them. Sales staff MUST be punished for their misdeeds! The second dealership misdiagnosed the tyre wear (they thought the vehicle was tracking but any idiot could seen otherwise), so they went too. The third dealer, in Bristol, was absolutely fine.

All the Honda garages are extremely shiny and clean at the front but the workshops are hidden from view and, although my service book says that I should be shown around, no-one has offered. The problem is that a trouble-free car is a little unnerving to have serviced because, short of marking engine parts, how can you tell that they have done anything? Wouldn't the thing keep running anyway?

Finally, there's servicing costs. The 12000 mile service was £125 and the £24000 mile service was just over £300 (more filters and fluids changed). By today's standards this seems quite reasonable.

I continue to enjoy driving this vehicle. OK, a 1.6 engine would be an improvement (I hear they exist in SE Asia) and the fuel tank range of about 300-350 miles is a tad small, but I have discovered that you can squeeze an extra half a litre into the tank's feeder pipe at the petrol station. Since this car cruises on motorways at 47-53mpg (unless you drive like a fighter-jockey), that's an extra 25 miles or so.

I run cars until they drop so I'm going to be keeping the Jazz for quite a while. It fulfils my three criteria perfectly; cheap to run, reliable and you can get a shed load of junk in the back....oh, and it's classified as a 'cool car' on the Top Gear cool wall.

Total Respect: +3