Greetings!
Trying to buy a Honda Jazz Vti Base Model. Was offered $20,500 from a dealer.
Wonder if anyone can advice what I should be paying for this car. Also if any Jazz owner can advice on fuel consumption, reliability and any interesting points on the Honda Jazz.
Really appreciate your feedback and advice.
Care to elaborate how Jazz is better than HRV? I was looking at these 2 as well a few months ago, and decided to wait a bit more. Was offered $19.5k for the Jazz base model and $27.5k for the HRV btw.
HRV feels sluggish, engine seems a little under powered
Jazz also feels more planted and nimble through the corners.
HRV interior is hands down nicer than the Jazz.
A car with a lower centre of gravity will always have a more "planted" feel. Any SUV equivalent of a small car (eg Jazz —> HRV, Mazda 3 —> CX 5, Golf —> Tiguan) is virtually the same car "beefed up" some what and raised. Ultimately the space gain is tremendous for the price premium paid. Lexus 101 needs to work on the purchase motive to not get confused about the item being purchased.
@Drew22: My apologies Drew! I meant to say the gain isn't worth the price premium over their tradional hatch counterparts.
Thanks Drew22 and Equavate. Appreciate your feedback.
Drew22 or anyone here know the real world fuel consumption of the Honda Jazz?
Understand Equavate got an offer for $19.5k. Do you think we can try for a lower price in the Jazz base model?
Again, thank you.
I've got a 2006 vti-s manual. It's engine is top notch with smooth idling, driving, and response which is hard to appreciate until I drive another brand car because I just assume all cars are built this way. Maintenance is cheap and easy only requiring wear and tear items to be changed including synthetic engine oil, filters, tyres, brake pads (twice to date on front wheels). It's just about to hit 100,000kms and still gives me consumption figures of around 6.7 to 7.9 with mixed driving using standard ULP (non E10).
Disadvantage - It's small and can get pushed around on roads - I've been rear ended twice and once got reversed into once at a car park. I nearly got reversed into a second time but had installed a louder horn earlier and the driver stopped in the nick of time. Oh yes, the original horn sounded like a low pitch fart - big safety issue to me. Had it replaced with a pair of Hella disc horns. I would not recommend it for inexperienced young drivers esp anywhere where roads are dominated by trucks, vans, 4WDs and large cars (like Sydney).
I like it for general daily driving but I prefer my other vehicles for long distance or highway driving as they cruise better at a high speed and are safer.
Also you could go for the i30, but then if you plan to keep the car for a long time, this article demonstrates why Hondas lead the way:
http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/auto-news/10-long-last…
Ultimately depends on your needs and preferences.
We have a late 2014 CVT Jazz at work, fuel consumption fluctuates wildly as if you take a short trip and the car is start / stopping allot it can be around 12.5/100 as the little engine spends allot of its time over 4000rpm. Where as on longer journeys I can get it down to around 6.7/100. The car records "this trip" and "last trip" fuel use. There is an eco-button which turns on a little green leaf on the dash - makes the car even slower, and the A/C even worse, in my experience doesn't make a discernible difference to fuel use.
Main gripes with this car: I am a nudge under 6ft and my knees rest on the dash in the front passenger seat, I have around 1cm clearance from the dash on the driver side. The drivers seat padding is underwhelming, on tight turns the padding flattens on the sides of the seats and you lurch out of the seat (luckily held in place by knees resting on dashboard). The centre console screen which controls many functions is pretty laggy and annoying to use. The front footwells are also deeply tubbed, which means there is only about 50cm of width to put your feet (both driver and passenger sides).
This is definitely not a big and tall mans car.
Best feature: LED headlights, great reversing camera with different aspect ratio's, flat folding rear seats and high roof make the back like a little station wagon which is great for hauling stuff around.
i wouldnt be paying 20.5k for a base model JAZZ when you can get an i30 for 22k.
Hey IM Frugal.
Thanks a great write up! Most informative and objective. I will look into upgrading the horn. But mostly, I understand the Jazz should be a great little town car, which is what we are after.
Cheers and thanks!!!
No problem! As a town car, it's great - easy parking and maneuvering, can carry a heap of stuff by folding rear seats fully flat.
Regarding fuel consumption - I have found it sensitive to poor fuel. Most E10 fuels make it feel like it is driving with the handbrake on and result an approximate 10% reduction on fuel economy (or worse). Lots of drag. Unfortunately that leaves me with only the independent servos which sell the next grade up at a reasonable cost. I usually use ULP Mobile at 7-11.
On occasion when fuel is cheap, I go for premium and it is a massive boost in the responsiveness of the engine. Not much difference to the economy though with premium, just more fun to drive!
Hi Jason 101,
I laughed pretty hard with your description…you being tall and jamming your knees against the dash. Also how your lurch sideways when cornering. I hope the seats are not that bad and soft as you have describe, that would be bad.
Also, the mileage around town is quite high at 12.5ltr/100km. That is shocking actually. I thought it would have been more like 7-8ltr/100km???
Appreciate you input and time!!!
Hi Madmouse,
The i30 was quoted at $20k. While the Jazz is around there too.
I guess the ONLY reason why we are leaning toward JAZZ is the Fuel Economy. The i30 clocks in at about 10ltr/100km. I am expecting to drive about 80-100km a day, so every drop of petrol saved is important for us.
Cheers and thanks!
Really awesome little cars, we got the VTi-L.
We were going to get the HRV but seriously the Jazz is a better car.