Would this be a good first car? Jazz - 2004

[guest4039]

Dear Jazz-Enthousiast,

I'm about to buy my very first own car and the Jazz look like a perfect fit. The problem is I have never bought a car and I'm a doubter by nature.It would be nice to receive some input about the car I'm considering to buy. Tomorrow I will visit the seller and have more information.

The car in question is a 2004 pre-facelift Jazz with Airco. The car was owned by the seller's elderly mother, who mainly used it for short distances. Therefore the car 'only' has about 46k miles on the clock. The car was always maintained by a official Honda Dealer. At the moment I don't know whether there have been parts exchanged or not. The seller told me the ABS light was on at the moment, so this has to be checked before I buy the car. It could be a bad sensor, but it could also be the whole ABS-system. So I don't want to take that gamble.

It would be my very first own car. I'm 23 years old and I've been riding with my grandmothers car for the last 5 tot 6 years. So I've already have some signigicant experience. The car would be around 3800GBP (4500€ here in Belgium). But that includes repairing the ABS, a official check-up and Carpass, and temporary license plates for a testdrive).

What do you guys think? A car with more options like music controls on the steer, AUX, ... would be very nice. But I can always exchange the radio in the future when I've saved up again. I'm mainly looking for a reliable car that doesn't have high maintenance costs and is still able to travel long distances abroad.

Here are some pictures!

Thanks in advance!

[DrShockr]

Welcome to the forums!

Obviously I don't know about Belgium car prices but in the UK that car for £3800 would be bit overpriced even with the low mileage from what I saw during my search for a jazz just a few months ago. I bought a 2005 automatic Jazz for £3500 just 6 weeks ago, and the manual versions are usually quite cheaper than the autos.

In regards to changing the radio/CD player, that is quite a difficult and expensive job on the Jazz. Honda's unit is non-standard so you have to purchase a replacement trim for your dashboard in order to fit a standard headunit, which so far I have found to be very expensive at about £130 for a piece of plastic!

Have a look here to see what I mean:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-Jazz-2003-2007-Car-CD-Double-Din-Fascia-Panel-Kit-DFPK-15-08-/250934715551?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a6cdfe49f

Good luck in your hunt for a jazz!

[guest4039]

Welcome to the forums!

Obviously I don't know about Belgium car prices but in the UK that car for £3800 would be bit overpriced even with the low mileage from what I saw during my search for a jazz just a few months ago. I bought a 2005 automatic Jazz for £3500 just 6 weeks ago, and the manual versions are usually quite cheaper than the autos.

In regards to changing the radio/CD player, that is quite a difficult and expensive job on the Jazz. Honda's unit is non-standard so you have to purchase a replacement trim for your dashboard in order to fit a standard headunit, which so far I have found to be very expensive at about £130 for a piece of plastic!

Have a look here to see what I mean:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-Jazz-2003-2007-Car-CD-Double-Din-Fascia-Panel-Kit-DFPK-15-08-/250934715551?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a6cdfe49f

Good luck in your hunt for a jazz!

Thanks for the reply! In the meanwhile I've done some research for exchanging the radio and it indeed seems like a cumbersome endeavor.

I've also seen a 2006 Jazz with everything I want for 5000€. It comes from a Official Honda Dealer so I would get 12 months of warranty. The only downside is that the Jazz already has 90.000 miles on it. I would only do around 6000 miles year, but I don't know whether it's wise to buy a car with that kind of miles on the clock?

[RichardA]

I've heard that used cars are more expensive on the continent.

[DrShockr]

Thanks for the reply! In the meanwhile I've done some research for exchanging the radio and it indeed seems like a cumbersome endeavor.

I've also seen a 2006 Jazz with everything I want for 5000€. It comes from a Official Honda Dealer so I would get 12 months of warranty. The only downside is that the Jazz already has 90.000 miles on it. I would only do around 6000 miles year, but I don't know whether it's wise to buy a car with that kind of miles on the clock?

To be honest with you, I would advise to go with that one especially since its from the main dealer and at that price compared to the other car this one is a bargain! It's 2 years newer, you've got Honda warranty and an AUX jack so you wouldn't have to mess around with changing the CD player. Not sure about the belgium spec but here you also get the electric folding mirrors, nicer bumpers, steering wheel controls etc.. for 2005+ cars.

I bought mine at 91000 miles, you know what they say about Hondas - its only just broken in at that mileage!

[guest4039]

Thanks for the reply! In the meanwhile I've done some research for exchanging the radio and it indeed seems like a cumbersome endeavor.

I've also seen a 2006 Jazz with everything I want for 5000€. It comes from a Official Honda Dealer so I would get 12 months of warranty. The only downside is that the Jazz already has 90.000 miles on it. I would only do around 6000 miles year, but I don't know whether it's wise to buy a car with that kind of miles on the clock?

To be honest with you, I would advise to go with that one especially since its from the main dealer and at that price compared to the other car this one is a bargain! It's 2 years newer, you've got Honda warranty and an AUX jack so you wouldn't have to mess around with changing the CD player. Not sure about the belgium spec but here you also get the electric folding mirrors, nicer bumpers, steering wheel controls etc.. for 2005+ cars.

I bought mine at 91000 miles, you know what they say about Hondas - its only just broken in at that mileage!

Thanks for the quick reply! I really appreciate it.

I've indeed read that a Honda can go for many, many miles. But it doesn't feel right to pay 5000€ for a car with that kind of mileage. Isn't such car more prone to expensive maintenance costs? What's your experience and how many miles have you added to the Jazz? Have you had many costs?

On the other hand: the 2004 Jazz has only driven 46k miles in the past 9 years and the car was mainly used on the country side... I've heard that this can also be very hard on a car. Chances are that the 90k miles 2006 Jazz has seen a lot of motorway-speeds.

[DrShockr]

Thanks for the quick reply! I really appreciate it.

I've indeed read that a Honda can go for many, many miles. But it doesn't feel right to pay 5000€ for a car with that kind of mileage. Isn't such car more prone to expensive maintenance costs? What's your experience and how many miles have you added to the Jazz? Have you had many costs?

On the other hand: the 2004 Jazz has only driven 46k miles in the past 9 years and the car was mainly used on the country side... I've heard that this can also be very hard on a car. Chances are that the 90k miles 2006 Jazz has seen a lot of motorway-speeds.

You're welcome, I'm glad I could be of help!

The jazz actually belongs to the missus, obviously we've had it for just over a month and have covered only 1000 miles, so it may be too soon to tell in regards to 'reliability' - I did change the battery as a precaution as I was noticing slow starts occasionally. I personally drive a Toyota Prius which I bought at 3 years old with 80k on the clock for certainly a lot more than 5000 euros! It's now just over 100k and I haven't had to spend a single penny on it other than yearly servicing and one set of wiper blades.

Prior to the Jazz we had a 99 Polo which was bought 10 years old and had 'only' 45k. We had this for just over three years and 15k miles, it was in and out of the mechanic's for one problem or another, eventually we got £150 from the scrap yard for it!

In essence, I guess it depends on the actual car you buy, there'll be lots of people saying go for lower mileage and an equal number saying go for the newer car, you should decide which one you think is better and more suited to you. In this case, I recommended the 2006 because it was from Honda hence 'approved used' and has the warranty, whilst the 2004 already has an ABS fault and was overpriced in my opinion. Since you're only going to be doing 6k a year, mileage wouldn't matter too much in the long run should you choose to sell the car.

Let us know how you get on!

[culzean]

i would go for the newer model, don't let the fact that it has done 90K put you off because with modern engines and oils it is only just run-in at that mileage.  Cars that have done low mileage are often not the bargain they appear to be, as a lot of local mileage, short runs and starting and stopping are harder on a car than 'motorway miles' - most of the wear on and engine takes place in the first couple of miles after starting from cold, and after that nothing much happens. Also start-stop miles are harder on gearbox and transmission in general (not to mention the CAT and EGR) than 'motorway miles'.   Mileage to a car is like exercise to a human, if it doesn't get enough it gets soft and flabby.  Honda engines love miles and love to rev, and all you need to do is keep a decent oil in the engine and change it regularly (it is the cheapest most cost effective maintenance you can do for your car).