how reliable

[guest4847]

Hey all, I'm currently doing my research into a new second hand car, my current ride is a 2ltr diesel picasso, while I havnt had any of the notorious faults I've owned it for 14 months and spent over 3000 (including purchase price of 1300) keeping the thing on the road @112k miles I'm faced with another 1500 bill to replace the clutch and gearbox due to the diff giving way to much play, that repair is the last straw and I can't justify the cost vs the value knowing at its mileage more expensive repairs won't be far away.

On to the question, ill be looking to spend up to 3000 and would prefer cvt (4000 but allowed some for rear wheel bearings and dog tailgate hatches) now most sites seem to praise the jazz for there reliability yet at the same time they mention the issues as far as rear bearings, cvt judder, leaky seals, notchy steering back and a few mention something with the air con. The thing is not one car brand seems to be free of a costly fault that can leave the car undriveable, so here's the thing, how common are these faults, in particular the cvt, is it a case of it Will happen at some point or are they like the Picasso, known to have faults but don't always show up.

[Ozzie]

Hiya,

I am a driving instructor, and live in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, however my working area is in Hertfordshire, where I lived for 26 years, so that is where my referrals are based, so each working day starts and ends with a 60 mile trek. During the course of a working day my pupils add another 180 miles, so each working day puts around 300 miles on the clock.

My Jazz Hybrid is currently 33 months old, and has 106,000 miles on the clock, apart from service items, brakes, brake discs, tyres etc, the only additional expense has been a complete set of wiper blades.

Before buying my Jazz, I used Vauxhalls, Astras and Corsas, and to honest most of them were past there best at 80,000 miles, and already requiring new parts, oil pumps, fuel pumps, alternators, power steering pumps, diesel particle filters have all been replaced on previous cars, along of course with clutches as a tuition car. As my Jazz reached the 80k mark, I needed to decide to keep or change the car, I have decided alreday to run the car until it drops. The only signs of wear are some carpet wear, and a little scuffing on the door panel where I habitually rest my elbow

Is it reliable?? Definitely ! 

[guest4847]

Cheers for the input Ozzie, tbh most the items i see listed as causing problems are i guess more along the lines of wear and tear items, although maybe a little earlier in life than usual but limited to a few area's and i would find them acceptable maintenance given the car was reliable on other fronts.

My main concern is over the CVT tho, From reading it seems to be a. trans fluid related and if the have had the right fluids as often as required and b. The start clutch, i see this mentioned a fair amount with regards to the cvt and its replacement, does anyone know if the replacement start clutch is redesigned to the original and if its something an independent garage could handle, may well be a case of looking for one that has had the clutch replaced already or simply banking on it going at some point and adjusting my buy price to allow some left over for its replacement.

[Eddie Honda]

I've had mine 3k from 34k miles. It had judder, but I just factored in doing it at some point myself. Parts 150-200 and a couple of special tools to improvise. If you're lucky, CVT-F around £40 / 4L, 2 lots require to "flush".

The starter clutch was revised. It's apparently bigger, but bigger in what way I don't know as I haven't had them in front of me and compared them side-by-side.

Take it further than down the road on a test drive. Judder is less or not noticeable when cold. Look for one that has evidence of it done under warranty. Low mileage will probably mean more wear to the starter clutch. I don't think changing one is beyond the skill of a good DIY'er, but most indies would probably run a mile (as they tend to do with anything unusual to them)

Maybe worth asking a local dealer or two what they would charge if you want a figure to factor in.

Timing chain and not belt, 8 spark plugs though.

Drive it gently and get 50mpg, just do shorts and get 33-35. £130 tax. Make sure you get two keys. Looks for water in the spare wheel well, rot on the rear door frame front top corners and tailgates on some. 14" wheels have cheaper tyres. 15" alloys nice, but (decent) tyres more expensive.

It's not big, but it is space-efficent.

[John Ratsey]

Also read the separate thread about the CVT gearbox issues http://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=3020.0.

[SuperCNJ]

Having driven quite a few different cars, including other hondas, I would rate our GD Jazz second to none in terms of reliability.

The only fault that it has developed is a small amount of water migrating into the bottom of the boot. Other than that, no problems at all. The best thing I like about the Jazz (we have two in the family) is that they are so easy to maintain. If you enjoy a bit of DIY car maintenance, things like brakes, sparkplugs, oil, filters etc are very easy to do yourself and save a big wad of cash.

[Century21]

Mine is a 10 year old horror story.  It's a nice car, great to drive... but every couple of months something else (and expensive) seems to go wrong with it.

[Ozzie]

Mine is a 10 year old horror story.  It's a nice car, great to drive... but every couple of months something else (and expensive) seems to go wrong with it.

and you have kept it 10 years?

[peteo48]

I've had the water in the boot issue. Local bodywork specialist sorted this for £50. Other than that, nothing but I've only had the car just over 12months.

On a more general point, I have owned 3 Nissans and this is my third Honda. Over a long motoring career, these are the only 6 cars that have been totally reliable so I think you have to be really unlucky to get an unreliable Japanese car. A side issue is you can often say you bought British as well!

[guest4884]

With my current experience of a 34K miles Jazz 1.4 with returning CVT judder and potentially being sold for spares or repair if it requires a new starter clutch I would steer well clear of a Jazz over 4 to 5 years old if you need an automatic. (Honda know these are an issue and extended the warranty on them to 7 years but after that the potential cost of the gearbox rebuild plus parts is over to the owner)

[Eddie Honda]

Uncleron has a point if you don't want to get your hands dirty and a CVT-F flush 'n' burn doesn't do the trick.

However, if you're really good with the spanners and don't mind pulling the lump out, it doesn't appear to be too bad a job. It's mainly the labour that gobbles up the cash. The box shouldn't need stripping, as replacing the start clutch doesn't require a full teardown.

[monkeydave]

Hiya,

I am a driving instructor, and live in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, however my working area is in Hertfordshire, where I lived for 26 years, so that is where my referrals are based, so each working day starts and ends with a 60 mile trek. During the course of a working day my pupils add another 180 miles, so each working day puts around 300 miles on the clock.

My Jazz Hybrid is currently 33 months old, and has 106,000 miles on the clock, apart from service items, brakes, brake discs, tyres etc, the only additional expense has been a complete set of wiper blades.

Before buying my Jazz, I used Vauxhalls, Astras and Corsas, and to honest most of them were past there best at 80,000 miles, and already requiring new parts, oil pumps, fuel pumps, alternators, power steering pumps, diesel particle filters have all been replaced on previous cars, along of course with clutches as a tuition car. As my Jazz reached the 80k mark, I needed to decide to keep or change the car, I have decided alreday to run the car until it drops. The only signs of wear are some carpet wear, and a little scuffing on the door panel where I habitually rest my elbow

Is it reliable?? Definitely ! 

did you get the valves done at 75000? or is it running ok with them being left alone ?

[culzean]

would prefer cvt (4000 but allowed some for rear wheel bearings and dog tailgate hatches) now most sites seem to praise the jazz for there reliability yet at the same time they mention the issues as far as rear bearings

for best all round reliability get a manual gearbox,  the gearbox bearings may play up in earlier models but just get noisy in lower gears and don't make  car un-driveable, rear wheel bearings get noisy over many thousands of miles, but won't stop the car.  Rather than problems that take the car off the road the Jazz faults can be described as 'niggles' or 'inconvenient' but will not leave you stranded. Even the 'water in boot' issue can be solved by drilling a 6mm drain hole at lowest point of wheel-well, which stops the build up of water and relieves the condensation problem in car. EGR problem, just blank it off = no more problem.

[peteo48]

would prefer cvt (4000 but allowed some for rear wheel bearings and dog tailgate hatches) now most sites seem to praise the jazz for there reliability yet at the same time they mention the issues as far as rear bearings

for best all round reliability get a manual gearbox,  the gearbox bearings may play up in earlier models but just get noisy in lower gears and don't make  car un-driveable, rear wheel bearings get noisy over many thousands of miles, but won't stop the car.  Rather than problems that take the car off the road the Jazz faults can be described as 'niggles' or 'inconvenient' but will not leave you stranded. Even the 'water in boot' issue can be solved by drilling a 6mm drain hole at lowest point of wheel-well, which stops the build up of water and relieves the condensation problem in car. EGR problem, just blank it off = no more problem.

I think the other point worth mentioning is forum induced car hypochondria!

I always join a forum for any car I have as it is useful to compare experiences and get tips. The downside is you tend to hear about a lot of problems because it's in the nature of the beast to bring attention to problems. It's why people seek advice. You wouldn't post, except possibly in reply, something like "nothing went wrong with my car last year."

All the available evidence puts the Jazz at the head of various surveys about reliability from JD Power, Which and also Warranty Direct where the evidence is gathered from actual warranty claims.

That doesn't mean there won't be some issues but you are less likely to suffer problems in a Jazz than many other cars.

[guest3895]

I have had my Honda Jazz 1.4 EX Auto for over 17 months now and I can honestly say that I have not had a single problem with it. Before the Jazz I had 2 Honda Civics and they also gave me no problems - the only time my Hondas see the inside of a garage is the annual service.

I was talking to an AA patrolman the other day (at a 'Services Day' fete) and he asked me which car I drove. When I told him that I was a Honda owner he told me that if all drivers owned a Honda he probably wouldn't have a job.

I am sure that they sometimes break down - but much less than the majority of cars on our roads.