Living with a Jazz Crosstar

[John Ratsey]

I needed to shunt the car on the driveway today. The engine immediately started and was running at medium revs. I noticed the battery gauge increasing so I waited to see what happened. Once the battery was at 60% the engine stopped. It appears that, at least at this time of year, that the engine behaviour on starting depends on the battery status but making the engine run under load is much more efficient and hould promote faster warming up than letting it idle under no load.

[Austriaman]

Greatly impressed with how smooth and seamless this car drives. Have done 300 miles in mine now. Battery went to 100% after a long, steep run downhill in the Cotswolds, then we ran on battery for several miles. Ride over lumpy surfaces very smooth, better and less crashy than my previous CRV. Just need my dealer to establish why no traffic updates on the satnav, then we'll be sorted.

[John Ratsey]

Just need my dealer to establish why no traffic updates on the satnav, then we'll be sorted.

If you haven't seen it then the 100 page manual on the navigation system is available at https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/owners/manuals-and-guides/honda-owners-manuals.html . The traffic updates need a subscription to a provider. That could be through the vehicle's eSIM if a data plan has been enabled but another option may be via a smartphone if data sharing has been enabled. However, it's something I won't be trying to fix. I find the Garmin navigation instructions to be exasperating as it give a name for a road if it can find one instread of using the road number (as shown on the signs) and nowhere in the 100 pages of manual can I find an option to change this. If I want to get anywhere unfamiliar then I'll be putting my Tomtom satnav on top of the dashboard (Tomtom also has much more frequent mapping updates).

[John A]

However, it's something I won't be trying to fix. I find the Garmin navigation instructions to be exasperating as it give a name for a road if it can find one instread of using the road number (as shown on the signs) and nowhere in the 100 pages of manual can I find an option to change this.

That's typical Garmin Sat Nav behaviour, and I think it's because that's what they tend to do in the USA. In town just about every road has a name, outside may not, in which it will, hopefully, say the roads number like the Garmin standalone Sat Navs that have TTS.

[Jocko]

I get a great laugh at the Garmin pronunciation. Cheers up a dull journey.

[Austriaman]

Satnav Traffic info not available in the UK at present, confirmed by Honda via my dealer. Bit of a disappointment as my previous Hondas have all had traffic data with their satnav's. However, the Android Auto works very well, so its back to Google Maps etc.!

[John Ratsey]

Today I passed 500 miles since refilling the fuel tank. The car claimed an average of 75mpg. There are still 2 bars (out of 10) remaining on the fuel gauge but I'll need to refill next week ready for a longer trip. I'll then have a clearer idea of the optimism built in to the car's mpg calculation.

Something I noticed today is that the auto-wiper seems to have a limited range. There was fairly heavy rain and I needed to switch the wipers to continuous since the auto-wiper was intermittent even at its maximum setting. Maybe I'm dreaming but I thought the wipers on my previous Hondas could be left on auto and would automatically work through the entire speed range to suit the rain conditions.

[BigRon]

John you are correct it should go through the settings.

From memory last week when I collected my Crosstar and its was raining cats & dogs my wipers went through the range.

[Mellorshark]

The wipers on my MK3 tended to be over sensitive to rain, whereas on the MK4 they appear less sensitive. Similar to John's experience.

[John A]

On my Mk 3 the intermittent range seems to have a big effect on the sensitivity. Once I've found it's sweet spot, for me, I try not to mess with it!

[iainsd]

Hi, looking to upgrade to the crosstar from my Jazz EX 2018. What price do you recon i should be haggling to for one at the moment. Thanks

[John Ratsey]

Hi, looking to upgrade to the crosstar from my Jazz EX 2018. What price do you recon i should be haggling to for one at the moment. Thanks

Getting a better discount can depend on several factors such as the dealer wanting to reach a monthly sales target (in which case negotiating near a month end might prompt a better price) and whether what you want to buy is something (eg colour) that Honda / dealer want to shift. If you want a specific colour which isn't in stock then a discount is less likely than accepting something which is available. For example, I was told by the female part of the household to get red (I personally wanted the more distinctive blue) but I didn't want to pay the extra for the two tone red. However, when the dealer found that the two-tone red was in stock but the non-two tone wasn't then the dealer offered to swallow the extra cost in order to close the deal. I also didn't specifically demand a discount but wanted to see the bottom line after trade in and adding some accessories / extras (5 year service plan, mats, door visors, touch-up paint and the boot sill protector). I work on the principle that the dealer probably has more wriggle-room on the pricing of the extras than on the basic vehicle price and also that a nice discount on the purchase can be offset by a less attractive trade-in offer. Also, if you wait until the rush for the 70 plate is out of the way then the dealer may be looking for business. However, this may be offset by trade-in prices dropping as shifting used vehicles (as well as new ones) becomes more difficult as winter approaches.

You might also want to look at the ex-demonstrators. This one https://usedcars.honda.co.uk/en/used-cars/approved-cars/honda/jazz-crosstartwotone/15-i-mmd-107ps-crosstar-ex-vdcdc8b is very competitively priced (£21,4999) given that the next one is £22,500 and most of the ex-demo Crosstars are over £23k. Carwow says that the average saving on a Jazz is about £900 https://www.carwow.co.uk/?make=Honda#make-model-menu . However, the Crosstar has been selling better than anticipated so less likely to be significantly discounted than whatever version(s) of the Mk 4 aren't selling as well as expected.

[BigRon]

Hi, looking to upgrade to the crosstar from my Jazz EX 2018. What price do you recon i should be haggling to for one at the moment. Thanks

I purchased a Crosstar in Crystal Black list price  £22,635 and paid £22,400 but as part of the deal the following were included:-
Elegance Mats
DiamondBrite Paint Protection
Number Transfer (I have a private registration number)
Full Tank of Fuel
1st Service Free
2nd & 3rd Services 50% Discount

[John Ratsey]

I've refuelled the Crosstar as there were two bars on the fuel gauge and a trip planned for next week. I managed to squeeze in 32.9 litres so, with 515 miles since the previous refill that's 71.2 mpg. In contrast, the car claimed 75.1 mpg since the last refill indicating that the fibometer is just over 5% optimistic. The car also reported 94 miles remaining just before it was refilled which is about right but, I suspect, 600 miles since a previous refill will cause both car and driver to feel anxious and not something I would plan to test if the 600 miles includes any motorway speeds as the mpg starts to drop at over 60 mph.

[Jocko]

Superb mpg for what is a bit bigger than the Jazz. I hand you my crown.