Honda Jazz 2008, 1.4, purchasing advice - noisy a/c

[guest5390]

Hello guys,

I need some advice regarding a 1.4 Jazz that i am about to buy from a private owner. I saw the car and seems to be OK and taken care of, except a strange noise that comes when the a/c is on.
To me, it sounded like a "clicky"sound(i was suspecting a bearing). I discussed with the owner and said that i would be interested with the car if this was fixed(he said he did not notice the sound but i think it was clearly heard from inside while engine was idling)
Yesterday i got a call from the owner, that the noise was caused by the driving belt for the a/c(or something like that) because it was warn and gotten too hard. He replaced it.

I have read many articles about the Jazz and from what i saw the a/c compressor is a weak spot.

I just want to ask you guys if this fix the owner is mentioning seams plausible to you or if the real problem is a dying compressor?  I want to make sure i don't end up paying a lot of money for a new compressor because the belt change just hid the elephant in the room

Thank you,
Radu

[Ozzie]

Its always a gamble buying privately.
Can you purchase a used car warranty from a third party to cover yourself?
Personally if I was worried I would leave it, walk away and buy a different car.

[madasafish]

My attitude to buying cars with obvious faults faults  is follows:

A normal and honest  seller of a car wants it to look its best and run well and will ensure there are no problems with the car before trying to sell it. Or states what the problems are and sells it as it is.

A crook/cheat or someone dishonest won't, and will deny there are any problems unless pushed.  So if you are buying a car from someone like this, there may be  lots of other problems you may not have identified. Chances are that maintenance will not be top notch.

So as there are lots of cars for sale, I just walk away.

ESPECIALLY when a private sale: there is NO come back...

(I was bitten when younger and never again)

[VicW]

Having owned several Jazzes I wouldn't say that aircon compressors are a weak point.

You can sometimes here a click as the compressor clutch engages but that is at approx. 15/20 second intervals.

Auxiliary drive belts do not 'click', if loose or worn they squeal as a load comes on them.

If there is any doubt walk away, there's plenty to choose from.

Vic.

[guest5390]

Thanks for the tips guys.

@VicW - this is what i read on a few forums that sometimes the compressors fail on the Jazz. It is written on the Honest John website also.
Not sure is this is the case also for the car i want to buy.

I am planning to take it to a Honda service so they can have a look at it also, and if they give the ok, maybe to buy it. Still thinking if i should quit or continue with the Honda test.
The car is a 2008 Honda, and apart from the the clicky sound, the guy has full service history. He asks 5.7k euros for it. Not sure if this is a good deal, but compared to the prices on mobile.de, seems a fair amount.

[chrisc]

Compressors can fail on any car.  A favourite here is since the aircon is seldom used in winter, the lubricating properties of the gas do not get to lubricate the seals.

This is what my friend up the road says, and regassing aircons is a big part of his workshop business.  When it is 35 to 40 deg in the shade, not having a working aircon is murder

[guest5168]

why would u pay that much for the old 2008 model when for the same price you can get the new 2009+ model?
you can get the first gen ~2004 for right around 2k euros, the 2008 should be no more than 3500euros if in great condition!

[Eddie Honda]

why would u pay that much for the old 2008 model

Different local markets and local taxes.

For example, used cars in RoI aren't particularly cheap and importing them is expensive. You have to remember that quite a few EU member states have "registration taxes" as a proportion of the vehicles value. Not in the spirit of free movement of goods and props up the local used car market.

[guest5168]

the guy is from romania and is looking price at mobile.de
Im saying specially about his market already...

[guest5390]

@sitefive

Don't get me wrong but there aren't that many Jazzes in Romania to choose from. I would say they are pretty rare. The ones from 2004 go for around 3k euros.
Lots of people in Romania go to Germany to buy cars since they are better care of. That's why i checked the mobile.de site for comparison. The car in question is ok, with the exception of that noise coming from the a/c.

[guest5168]

to be honest I went to germany to get my jazz as well, And Im about the same distance from Germany as you are , about ~1100km , for the 5k you CAN get the new Jazz in Germany which is miles better than the old one.
Looking to probably buy 2009+ jazz as well IF i can find a buyer for decent price for my 2003 one,
You must also realize when the time comes you won't really be able to sell your old shape jazz just because the new ones by then will get even cheaper,

If I were in  your shoes and Had that kind of Budget for the car, 99% I wouldn't buy the old one even it has been superb reliable for me and economical- It's just getting old , and the engine is just weak and no fun at all!