Thoughts on getting a Hybrid. (long!)

[guest5045]

Just joined. Thinking of suggesting a used hybrid for my wife. The reviews aren't necessarily spectacular, largely I have found on cost, because they always want to say there are cheaper more/as economical hatchbacks. Everyone seems to miss my most relevant requirement -it must be an automatic. Show me the small automatic hatchback over two years old that has low emissions and good economy. Well yes - the Skoda Citigo and its equivalents but you have the ASG gearbox which every review I have read says it is almost unusable. So the reviews miss the point. There might just be a Polo with a DSG box but too new and too expensive.
Anyway, she rarely drives more than 30 miles, mostly around a not too congested town (that would knock the diesel figures right down) and the size is about right. She currently has a top of the range 03 1.4sve Micra CVT which has been and is outstanding. If Nissan still made one with good mpg and emissions there would be no problem, but they don't!
Of course a plug-in Jazz would be spot on!
Anyway my only real concern is that if I buy a two year old one what is the residual likely to be when the battery warranty has run out in 6 years time? How much is a new one or can it be regenerated? She tends to keep good cars a long time!
Thanks , Dave.
P.S Can we cut out the ageist remarks. I've done 600,000 miles without an accident (regretting saying that!) and my wife has never had one and we are in our early sixties  (I await for the caused a few though    )

[m44rrt]

I have just bought a 2011 Hybrid HX in white.

My wife an I have come from Lexus and find the Jazz, great particularly for mpg

The hybrid seems to sit better on the road (compared to non hybrid test drives) due to the extra weight of the batteries.

At 3 years old most of the depreciation has been knocked out of the car.

We looked at alternatives but small things like the space, the leather, folding mirrors, pano roof make the Yaris and others less attractive to us.

I am not worried about battery warranty as there are several about with over 100k miles

 

[Ozzie]

 . . . and mine is one of them 122,000 miles in 3 years, so far it has just needed a new battery which we think is caused by a damaged battery cell, that was damaged by the developers speed bumps on the development that we live on, £96. Not bad for the mileage.

I regularly do 300 miles a day as a driving instructor, and of course most of the driving is done by learners and manoeuvres etc. In the past my cars have only lasted to around 80k before major components need replacing, so the Jazz Hybrid is standing up well.

Go for it !

[guest4078]

x 2 for what Ozzie said.
Early 60's, not old enough for a Jazz!
I potter around from patient to patient, carry walking frames and other equipment and get mid 50's mpg. Very relaxing and easy to drive. My car is an NHS lease, but I would genuinely spend my own cash on one (sorry, have to sit down, the word 'spend' does that to me!) the hybrid is a seriously good car, despite what 20-something motor journalists think.

[guest5045]

Thanks for the encouragement. Just deciding on a new deal or a couple of year old one now. On a slightly different tack with motoring journalists they are obsessed with "handling". For me that means bumpy, noisy ride. Fell into the trap when choosing a family hatch for my daughter. Narrowed it down to an Ibiza ST which is the estate version to get the bigger boot. Everything looked good low emissions, high mpg. good space etc. test drove one seemed ok. But my daughter being an Essex girl wanted a sporty looking white one. She got a cracking looking one but we didn't realise that the "sportrider" tag wasn't just the looks. Extra thin tyres, big wheels, rock hard suspension = almost undriveable bumpy noisy ride. Great for a rally - no good for a young family - doh!
Dave

[John Ratsey]

As another Jazz Hybrid owner I would comment that it is a very pleasant vehicle to drive. Gear changes are almost unnoticeable.

The MPG isn't as good as I had hoped for with only around 10% better than a non-hybrid (but manual) Jazz I owned previously but with the cost difference second hand compared with a 2011 onwards (ie CVT) normal Hazz then it would be a good choice.

I would also clarify that Ozzie's battery (mentioned above) that needed replacing is the little one under the bonnet and not the big one under the boot. Honda seem to have set up very conservative operating rules for the big battery - I've only once seen the charge level in mine drop to below half. This will, no doubt, help the battery longevity but also reduces the potential MPG gain.

[Ozzie]

Thanks John, yep its the battery under the bonnet.
The battery itself was £62.50, there was also a battery check, £17.50, plus £16 vat, £96 in total.
We're all good again.

[guest5045]

Moving forwards slowly - see above!

[TrevJC]

Hi There,

Not sure what you mean by "(that would knock the diesel figures right down)". I had a Peugeot 205 diesel for many years and it returned 50mpg however I drove it and wherever I drove it. Short journeys, long journeys, motorways flat out, in town going slowly: It made no difference. Living in London, the big advantage I found with a diesel was that it got 50mpg for the shortest of journeys. No warm up time needed. 

[guest4078]

I had a lot of diesels and they were all great cars. However, the complexity and potential issues would make me very wary of getting a modern oil burner. Also, the dpf and turbos mean that short journeys don't do the engines any good. Shame, all because of the EU and its obsession with co2.

[guest350]

I am also seriously considering getting a 2/3 year old Jazz Hybrid.  My current CVT Jazz which I have owned for the last 11 years will stay in the family. I drove loads of other company cars whilst I owned the Jazz ( one's I bought ) and never thought to sell the Jazz. On purely economic terms it makes no sense to change it..
I drove an Insight for a couple of days 2 weeks ago and I was very disappointed with it. Loads of techie gizmos but vague steering and not all that good fuel consumption put me off. The car felt heavy and underpowered.
So the question is; how does the Hybrid compare against the old CVT 1.4 Jazz?

[culzean]

Here is an Honest John road test - seems a pretty balanced review as he doesn't seem to have the normal anti-Honda-pro-anything-German bias that most motoring journalists have.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/honda/jazz-hybrid-2011/?section=road-test

I know exactly what you mean about not making economic sense to get rid of an older car, the plus side is that you know exactly how it has been looked after and what has been done to it, rather than trading it in and getting nothing for it against a car you know nothing about except what the salesman tells you.

[madasafish]

I test drove a 3 year old hybrid Jazz in October last year. Much quieter and better handling than my Jazz (revised suspension and more sound proofing). Went well.
Recommended.

[John Ratsey]

The Hybrid system gives a very modest boost to the mpg (around 10% in my experience) due to the low capacity battery but the motor gives a useful boost to the power, particularly at lower revs, resulting in a very smooth driving experience.

I don't recognise the high engine noise feature noted in the Honest John review. Rarely do I find the engine needs to exceed 3000 rpm unless I need to push very hard with the right foot whereupon the engine opens some more valves, delivers a lot more power and does make more noise.

One disadvantage of the hybrid is that you lose the cavity in the boot where you could put a spare wheel if you like to carry one as better backup than the provided gunk.

The economics of the hybrid look better with age as the prices converge with the non-hybrid versions. Probably the only member here, Ozzie, who is well past 100,000 miles, has found the saving in fuel cost sufficient to justify the extra investment when buying new. I have to comfort myself with getting the smoother performance although I had hoped that I would see more like 20% improvement in the fulel consumption relative to the 58 reg manual Jazz ES I had previously.

[guest4078]

My experience with a 2014 Jazz Hybrid. It is a 3 year NHS lease, and was around £10 cheaper a month than an equivalent non-hybrid Jazz would have been, plus less tax. I wanted a new Jazz to replace my pink peril, as the magic seats make my job much easier, getting walking frames and equipment in and out. Whilst our blue 1.2 S was being replaced, I spent some time looking at a hybrid at the dealer and decided I would try it. Delightful, so I was hooked.

It arrived last May, Milano red, 7miles on the clock, by transporter at 0630, to a certain amount of curtain twitching in the close. I hadn't driven an auto for a few years, but from the start the cvt was a joy to use and as I have become more used to it, it is a perfect match to the hybrid power train, providing a relaxed and easy drive along with a distinct nip if required. I seldom use more than 1500 revs around town and the estates, and as John mentioned above I can cruise at 70 at no more than 3000 revs, so quiet and relaxed. I seldom use the M25 for more than 1 or 2 junctions at a time, but I can think of no more relaxed cruiser for a M25 commute. However, for the sporty among us, I have to say this is no sports car!

The lease takes care of all maintenance costs, insurance etc., all I have to pay for is fuel. These are my fuel costs since I have owned the car. You decide if it you think it is good value, I am very pleased with the costs. The majority of my journeys are quite short, 1-3 miles with the odd dog leg of 5-10 miles for patients in outer areas. Some longer journeys say 50-100 miles infrequently. Most visits are around an hour, so this weather it is cold when I start to drive to the next visit.

21/5/14 arrived. 7miles, full tank
19/1/15 6408 miles full tank
643.1litres /141.6 gallons
Total fuel spend £760.58