Honda Jazz - Hard to beat (Honda Jazz 1.4)

Member Name: Random Jointer

Product:	Honda Jazz 1.4
Date:	10/07/03 (3370 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 5 door 5 Adult Seater, Legendary Honda Build, Good Value for Money

Disadvantages: Hard to Haggle

I've been a fan of Honda for some time, having owned their cars, motorcycles and generators before, I've always found them to be of exceptional build quality and first rate reliability.

I took delivery of my new Jazz in April, after many visits to Honda Showrooms, they just don't want to give them away. Haggling is hard work with these guys. I even offered to pay full screen price in January if they would just shove a CD player in. Come April CD players were standard and I eventualy managed to beat them down £300 and a tank of fuel. Even so, the RRP of £8999 is, in my book, pretty keenly priced for a 5 door hatchback.

The first thing you find with the Jazz, is the amount of interier space. It really is amazing. The petrol tank has been moved under the front seats, the rear suspension has been squeezed and the 1.4l engine has been shrunk fit into a bay smaller than a suitcase. Moving the petrol tank has enabled the so called " Magic Seats" The rear seats have a mechanism that resembles cinema seats. They lift up leaving a void underneath, where most cars have the petrol tank, perfect for shopping loading when you have'nt enough room to open the tailgate. A flick of a switch enables the seats to fold flat and low, without having to remove the rear headrests, which niftly fit underneath the front seats. It's so obvious, why hasn't anyone thought of it before?

Up front, ample leg and head room is provided for all shapes and sizes and a shelf is fitted across the front just below the dash for your odds and ends. The dash itself is a sporty affair with nicely placed clocks tactile steering wheel and a beautiful short throw gear stick. Honda have finally come up with an attractive interier. Previous Hondas I've owned have always had a basic utilitarian and dull feel, typical of a Japanese motor.

The trip meter doubles as a MPG indicator and the fuel consumption has been excellent. Around town it'

s been reporting 43mpg and on a couple of hundred mile motorway trip cruising at 70, your into the 50's. The 1.4 engine is fitted with two spark plugs per pot helping fuel economy without compromising performance through more efficient combustion. Honda are always innovative on engines , they invented variable valve timing and are the worlds biggest engine manufacturers. I've always found them to be bullet proof. The same 1.4 engine is fitted on all 3 variants of the Jazz.

I chose the base model which comes with elecy windows and a CD player. I didn't really want to pay the extra for sunroof ,ABS and Aircon which can pump up the price to £11000 but you pays yer money and takes yer choice. There's a choice of some pretty lairy colours, including metalic pink! I plumped for conventional red.

In all, the Jazz is a keenly priced, 5 adult carrying, space efficient, fuel efficient small car, with legendary Honda build and residual value. Be prepared to walk away if the dealer won't discount, they know they are good value for money and don't want to give them away. They also know that the Jazz was the biggest selling car in Japan last year and that success will travel with it.

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