Buying an older, high mileage Jazz advice

[guest5263]

Hi all
Just a bit of advice on buying an older Jazz.
Due to financial reasons, I can only consider an older, higher mileage Jazz.
I am looking at between £1000 and £2000 to spend and have seen several for sale, one was a 2002 1.4SE with 95,000 miles, another a 2004 1.4SE with 115,000 miles.
Have you any suggestions on what I could look for as potential problems, i.e common faults with the Jazz, I have heard about gearbox problems, but how can I tell if it is on its way out?
Any help, advice would be appreciated

[madasafish]

Read http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/honda/jazz-2001/?section=good


ANY odd noises from gearbox in any gear = bearings and big bill.
Wheel bearings fail - noise when cornering or at speed.

A Yaris from the same era is MUCH more reliable.. (we have had two)

[guest5263]

Thanks for the pointers, one of the things that sell the Jazz to me is the luggage space and reliablity, I think boot size on the Yaris is smaller?
What about on the motorway? How would you compare the two? I know it is not the best choice for a trip to Scotland from the midlands, 320 miles there, but i would make this trip about two times a year, but I don't want to get a bigger car just for these two or three trips.

[madasafish]

Yes, Yaris boot is smaller and seats don't fold as flat as Jazz,

Lots of wind and tyre noise on motorway.. Our 2003 Yaris d4d is quieter than 2012 Jazz...

[guest5168]

Yes, Yaris boot is smaller and seats don't fold as flat as Jazz,

Lots of wind and tyre noise on motorway.. Our 2003 Yaris d4d is quieter than 2012 Jazz...

you must be nuts to even consider the yaris, although reliable it's total ********** inside/out and it's sooo small as well, you are lucky if you can squeeze 3people in back seats and everyone will be so cramped up.
I have 2003 jazz with 360,000km on it now and it has been rock solid, also on motorway it's just fine, I do 3000km trips several times a year across all europe and even on german autobahns It's just fine. What I can suggest is to go for 1.4 as the 1.2 is sluggish and get the manual gearbox, I don't think there's really any more economical car which is also super spacious.

[guest4078]

If you are a Scot in Scotland, be careful when you buy and make sure that the underside and door bottoms aren't rusty. Your weather takes it out of the untreated Japanese built cars. My old pink one was Scottish, and that had some rust around. I waxoiled it when I first got it so it didn't get any worse, but exhaust etc. had seen better days, and was a bit crusty.

[guest5263]

If you are a Scot in Scotland, be careful when you buy and make sure that the underside and door bottoms aren't rusty. Your weather takes it out of the untreated Japanese built cars. My old pink one was Scottish, and that had some rust around. I waxoiled it when I first got it so it didn't get any worse, but exhaust etc. had seen better days, and was a bit crusty.

Thanks for the advice! I'm a Scot in the West Midlands!

[guest4283]

...be careful when you buy and make sure that the underside and door bottoms aren't rusty. Your weather takes it out of the untreated Japanese built cars.

I'm intrigued to hear you say that as I would have thought that they would apply rust proofing depending on the intended market. I know that Japanese domestic market cars ('grey imports' as they are known if imported into UK) do not have rust protection applied. Could it be that you were referring to 'grey imports'?

[guest4512]

Hi all
Just a bit of advice on buying an older Jazz.
Due to financial reasons, I can only consider an older, higher mileage Jazz.
I am looking at between £1000 and £2000 to spend and have seen several for sale, one was a 2002 1.4SE with 95,000 miles, another a 2004 1.4SE with 115,000 miles.
Have you any suggestions on what I could look for as potential problems, i.e common faults with the Jazz, I have heard about gearbox problems, but how can I tell if it is on its way out?
Any help, advice would be appreciated

Gearbox bearing sounds like you've got the car in reverse when you're accelerating in 1st 2nd and 3rd, less noticeable in 4th and 5th. It an annoying whiney noise. If you hear that,  walk away. The FAQ tells you the other common faults.

You should be able to get a 2005 with around 70k for around 2k.

[guest4078]

>> Could it be that you were referring to 'grey imports'?<<

No, my car was a UK car sold in Scotland, 2005. But I think you are correct about imported JDM cars, no underseal.

[guest5263]

Hi all
Just a bit of advice on buying an older Jazz.
Due to financial reasons, I can only consider an older, higher mileage Jazz.
I am looking at between £1000 and £2000 to spend and have seen several for sale, one was a 2002 1.4SE with 95,000 miles, another a 2004 1.4SE with 115,000 miles.
Have you any suggestions on what I could look for as potential problems, i.e common faults with the Jazz, I have heard about gearbox problems, but how can I tell if it is on its way out?
Any help, advice would be appreciated

Gearbox bearing sounds like you've got the car in reverse when you're accelerating in 1st 2nd and 3rd, less noticeable in 4th and 5th. It an annoying whiney noise. If you hear that,  walk away. The FAQ tells you the other common faults.

You should be able to get a 2005 with around 70k for around 2k.

Thanks for the advise, appreciated
one last thing, I possibly will be travelling  to Edinburgh and back from the midlands, perhaps 3 times a year due to family commitments, and maybe a few 120 mile trips, would this car be comfortable with a 6/7 hour drive of 350 miles? I know it might be down to personal opinion, but if anyone has driven this distance would appreciate any comments. and is there any difference in the drive between the 1.2 and 1.4? the specs don't seem vastly different.

[guest4324]

My mum has a 2003 GD 1.4 and she's now 70. Once a year she drives down from Manchester to my brother's in Dorset no problem.
Last summer me, my missus and daughter went with my mum and her 2 dogs to Wales for the week in her Jazz. So with all luggage in, my mum and wife in the front, me, my daughter in a booster seat and the dogs (medium size) on the back seat I was more than comfortable enough and I'm 6'2". It's for those reasons that I bought a Jazz myself!

[guest5263]

My mum has a 2003 GD 1.4 and she's now 70. Once a year she drives down from Manchester to my brother's in Dorset no problem.
Last summer me, my missus and daughter went with my mum and her 2 dogs to Wales for the week in her Jazz. So with all luggage in, my mum and wife in the front, me, my daughter in a booster seat and the dogs (medium size) on the back seat I was more than comfortable enough and I'm 6'2". It's for those reasons that I bought a Jazz myself!

I should have no problem then i am 5'5"! thanks!

[guest4512]

They're pretty comfy wee cars - so no different from any other small engined petrol on a long run. Mine will sit at 80 all day.

[degzi]

I found it surprisingly comfortable. Just done 370 mile from lakes to Southampton then next day all over again. Lower back was sore after 700odd miles but only to be expected. The most annoying thing is the stupid way the gearing is. It's about 3k rpm at 70 and gets as bit annoying so I generally do 65ish as its nicer on the ears and gives mid 50mpg