Author Topic: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience  (Read 8987 times)

jazzavac

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 29
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda Jazz HS Hybrid
Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« on: November 23, 2017, 02:12:42 PM »
My 2011 Honda Jazz Hybrid Experience so far

HISTORY:
Before the Jazz, until recently, I drove an X-reg Peugeot 206 2.0 HDI (90 HP, 200 Nm) which was surprisingly reliable car, but my trusty mechanic advised me that both sills and front suspension mounts are rusty and I tis very unlikely the car will pass next MOT.

So, at this point I knew I want a supermini automatic car for mostly urban driving. After initial research I dismissed “usual suspects” Fiesta and Polo due to their unreliable automatic transmissions (PowerShift and DSG). Also, I don’t like their 3-cylinder turbo engine concept.

I also considered some Hyundai and Kia models, but Kia Venga automatic is very poor on mpg in urban driving and did not like i20 as a package.

So, Honda Jazz ticked all boxes, but which model? Definitely automatic, but iShift or CVT? As I wanted used car no more than 6 years old, CVT was only option.

Further research showed no major problems with Honda’s CVT, and if necessary it can be controlled manually through 7 “gears” by flaps, so that is fine too.

Now, which version – petrol only or Hybrid? Initially I thought they share the same engine, but that is not correct. Petrol only version uses 16 valve DOHC engine with 4 spark plugs, while the hybrid uses LDA3 engine with 8 spark plugs (i-DSi) and 8 valves SOHC (with i-Vtec).

Finally I decided to go with Hybrid as I think it will easily cope with start-stop traffic and has more low rpm torque for faster low speed acceleration which makes it more suitable for urban driving. Also the hybrid has some improvements over petrol only model (additional soundproofing, tweaked suspension, more ‘toys’, leather steering wheel, tinted rear windows, special chrome decoration and transparent rear lights)

TEST DRIVE
I spotted a nice Jazz Hybrid at Toyota dealership where a university professor part exchange it for a Prius. Salesman offered no obligation test drive, so why not.

Comparing to the Peugeot, difference is huge. First impression was how quiet and smooth drive is.
Initial problems were purely due to my habits – left foot was looking for clutch and left hand wanted to change gear. Salesman told me that is normal for first few days and mentioned that another lady wrote off their Yaris hybrid as she instinctively hit the brake pedal sharply, and a van behind not expecting that hit her.

After some additional thinking I decided to buy the car which was sold with 6 months recovery and 18 months ‘premium’ warranty.

3 WEEKS EXPERIENCE
Now, after 3 weeks, I can say, yes, I like the car very much, still impressed with drive and car overall, and so far it was wright choice. I am not saying that the Jazz is ideal car, there are few things I do not like, but they are minor comparing to what I like.

Positive:
-   Very quiet and smooth drive
-   Dashboard lightning
-   Good acceleration from 0 to about 50mph without revving the engine hard
-   Excellent brakes
-   Light steering
-   Lot of space inside
-   Lot of places for bottles and other storage compartments
-   Excellent rear visibility
-   Big side mirrors
-   Start-Stop system very quick and smooth, but I would prefer to have manual control over it without changing to ‘S’ mode
-   Reasonably good sound system

Negatives
-   Foldable mirrors do not fold automatically
-   Boot lightning is useless
-   In ‘D’ mode response to throttle is delayed by a second
-   Almost every time IMA decides to charge battery while I am driving uphill
-   Braking by engine is almost impossible – diesel engines are far superior here
-   Suspension very hard on ‘raised junctions’ above 15-16 mph, but OK on speed humps

I do very like acceleration. While 12.1 seconds for 0-60 does not look impressive, in reality acceleration from 0-30, 40 mph is very quick. Major advantage is that there is no “gap” in acceleration, car accelerates smoothly like train, even on very low revs (1-1.5K) and stays quiet at all times.

My impression is that in normal driving conditions (not revving to the limiter in 1st and 2nd gear) Jazz is faster from standstill than similar cars as no time is wasted on start and gear changing.

CONSUMPTION
Well, first tank was around 40 mpg (34 litres of Shell V-Power for 300 miles of urban driving, 44mpg indicated on trip computer).

Currently, second tank is on around 44 mpg (48 showing on trip computer) which is likely due to adopting my driving style. Peugeot 206 needed around 43 litres for the same 300 miles.

This may not look as a good result, but there are few factors which may explain ‘poor’ mpg.
-   Morning temperatures are low, around 3-6 degrees C
-   I start car and wait around a 1-2 minutes to set phone, radio, wait for passengers. Also, I immediately set cabin temperature to 20 (auto), and often switch demister on.
-    I drive only 6 miles per trip, 1 mile is downhill while engine is still cold, so that further delays reaching full working temperature.
I drive very sensibly and every drive is marked with 4.5 ‘flowers’.

CONCLUSION
So far, so good. I am very happy with the car. After 3 weeks, there are no noticeable major faults, hybrid battery works OK (fully charges and discharges).

Only 'problem' so far is faulty light bulb under climate control switch, which is not difficult DIY.

For me, urban driving with manual gear change is past, I hope I will never do it again, CVT is far superior solution which leaves me more time to focus on driving and cars around rather than to think about gear and clutch.

I hope this may be useful to someone in similar position, happy to answer any question.

Ozzie

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1050
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2011 HS, 2015 HS-T, now in a VW T-Roc
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2017, 02:30:35 PM »
Good choice, and an excellent review, lets hope you have many worry free miles ahead of you.

mikebore

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 605
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: 2016 1.3 Mk 3 SE CVT
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2017, 03:18:05 PM »
Thanks, very interesting and well written.

Can I ask what is the mileage on your Hybrid?

Also did the dealer say anything to you about warranty on the main battery? I have heard seven years mentioned. (Not that I have heard of problems with this).


123Drive!

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 480
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda Jazz 1.4 ES i-Shift
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2017, 04:47:29 PM »
Thanks for the info. Ask the dealer to fix the bulb where the climate control is?

jazzavac

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 29
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda Jazz HS Hybrid
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2017, 04:59:51 PM »
@Ozzie
Thank you! I must admit that your posts and your 200K+ miles car encouraged me to consider Jazz Hybrid.
I wish you that the second car serves you as well as first Jazz and many happy learner drivers.

@mikebore

I checked my warranty booklet for you, and in short, yes, the Hybrid battery is covered for the full 18 months period by the the Toyota dealer, regardless of Honda's warranty. 12V battery (in engine compartment) is covered by 6 months only. Please let me know if you need more details.

I bought the car with just under 50K miles on the clock, 4 service stamps from 2 Honda main dealers, recent CVT fluid change by Honda, and recent inspection report from Honda during latest service. Also, car was serviced (probably just oil) by Toyota dealer before delivery and confirmed by their stamp.

@123Drive!
To be honest, I am not bothered, I prefer to do that by myself as it requires careful removal of radio cluster. I am afraid they may broke plastic clips if not carefull enough.

Ozzie

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1050
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2011 HS, 2015 HS-T, now in a VW T-Roc
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2017, 07:58:51 PM »
@Ozzie
Thank you! I must admit that your posts and your 200K+ miles car encouraged me to consider Jazz Hybrid.
I wish you that the second car serves you as well as first Jazz and many happy learner drivers.
I bottled it and pulled out of the deal. my cars heating now works, and we have moved house this year, so need the money for the house really. Cheers !

John Ratsey

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2663
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2022 HR-V Elegance
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2017, 03:12:23 PM »
Cold weather is a killer for fuel consumption. You will have to shorten the delay between starting engine and driving away.

The dim boot light is easily fixed by putting in an LED bulb - several times brighter while using less power. I recently put this in my HR-V https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-T10-W5W-5730-9-LED-3W-5W5-Error-Free-Canbus-Door-Light-Dome-Light-12V/292235940960 and, most likely, it will also fit the Jazz (take a look at the bulb).

I had a Jazz hybrid for 4 years and was generally impressed by the smooth and fuss-free drive although it did not give a big fuel saving as most of my driving was on open roads. I was also annoyed by the habit of starting to charge the battery while going up a hill and read that this characteristic was fixed on the Insight by a software update. It might be worthwhile asking Honda if this was also made available for the Jazz.

I traded in my hybrid for a Mk 3 Jazz as (i) I felt that someone needed to put the miles on before the vehicle started to suffer from old age; (ii) I wanted somewhere to put a spare wheel without using boot space; and (iii) my eyeballs seemed to be in the optimum worst place to suffer from the glare on dashboard problem.
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

jazzavac

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 29
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda Jazz HS Hybrid
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2017, 02:56:47 PM »
John,
thank you for your reply.

I will definitely replace interior bulbs with appropriate LEDs.
I was thinking to do that for side lights and maybe headlights, but it looks that strait swap is not legal and may cause insurance problems.

However, I will visit local Honda dealer to see if any software update is available.

Strangely, I do not have the notorious "glare" problem.

Jazz hybrid

  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda jazz hybrid
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2017, 05:11:41 PM »
HI guys , just recently Brought a hybrid for my wife . Which I’ll be driving now and then . That way I get to keep the mileage down on my sports suv ; ) After joining this forum it’s good to see a lot of people are enjoying their Hybrids and they seam to be very reliable .so  I started looking and found a very clean one in York (Marshall Honda ) it only had 7,000 miles on it , 2011 one lady owner who recently sold it back to Honda due to ill health . I’ve upgraded all the lights which has made it look Bespoke to most other jazz’s on the road . Wife is loving the car and how it drives and and plus point it has plenty of space . Hopefully will be keeping this car for many years to come, as long as it serves us well !
 

[attachment deleted by admin]

Jazz hybrid

  • Registered Member
  • *
  • Posts: 6
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Honda jazz hybrid
Re: Used 2011 Jazz Hybrid Experience
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2017, 05:18:02 PM »
Another pick of the indicators on .
If anybody is interested in and light upgrades please let me know and I’ll give you the details of the gentlemen who does all my cars . Plus his done a a lot of cars from the Audi for and Porsche . His done both of my Porsches led interior and number plate led upgrades


[attachment deleted by admin]

Tags:
 

anything
Back to top