Honda Jazz Might Be Expensive But Cheap to Run
Honda Jazz Might Be Expensive But Cheap to Run
The Honda Jazz is a choice of many UK drivers and is famous for its reliability. Honda has managed to sell about a quarter of a million units in the UK alone since it was introduced in 2002. Its brilliant design and flexibility distinguishes the Jazz in its class. A new more efficient Hybrid version of the Jazz has also been launched with the same drive train as of the Honda Insight. The only limitation in its wider appeal is that there is no choice of a diesel engine. The Jazz is overall a bit expensive to buy.
Though the previous version of the Jazz had a very big cabin but the shape gave a boxy look. The new Jazz comes with even more enormous interior, but it does not have a bulky look due to a very smartly designed bodywork. The entry level Jazz doesn’t come with alloys and body coloured side mirror. A bespoke grille and blue headlights are offered on the hybrid version. Inside the cabin, the controls for stereo and heater are very easy to reach for the driver on the driver oriented dash board. The plastics used are hard and shiny giving a cheap feel.
The driving position is quite high allowing an excellent all-round view. The gear shift and steering are very light. All these features make the Honda Jazz a very easy to drive car. The Honda engines offered with the Jazz are 89bhp 1.2 litre and a 98bhp 1.4-litre petrols. Both of the engines have to be pushed to get a decent performance. The hybrid performs better as extra torque is provided by the electric motor at high revs. The firm suspension is not that good on rough road surfaces and the automatic CVT gear box, wind and road make it a bit noisy inside the cabin.
The Jazz enjoys a five star Euro NCAP rating. In this year’s Driver Power survey it has scored 100 % for reliability. All the versions come with six airbags and ISOFIX mounting points as standard and Electronic Stability Control comes with all variants apart from the entry level S version. The Jazz has a very spacious and intelligently designed interior which can accommodate a huge variety of loads. The boot offers 399 litres of space which is more than many family hatchbacks. It also features double layered floor to store lose bits and pieces. The rear seats can be completely flattened by a button and bases can be flipped if required. The Jazz outruns most of its rivals for space except Toyota Verso and Nissan Note.
Both of the engines can return more than 50mpg with carbon emissions between 120 and 130g/km if there is not any load on the car. The figures are good but are behind the class, however if there was a diesel option available it would have been a different story. The hybrid gives an economy of 63mpg with 104 g/km of CO2 emissions, just above the 100g/km bar that could have qualified it for the road tax exemption. Still the first year road tax is free and £10 thereafter. The insurance and servicing is not that expensive either, therefore the running costs are very low, making up for the high buying price.
