Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.

[culzean]

What makes my one brothers buying a Skoda even more unbelievable is that his wife has had a Civic for many years and had zero problems in over 80K of motoring, and he knows how good my various Honda cars have been.  My other brother also had a Civic and Ford Kuga before the Skoda,  he said Civic was best car he ever had but road noise was terrible,  he has been a passenger in my Civic and remarks how quiet it is - I told him road noise is 90% tyres, to which he replied   ' then why do Honda fit noisy tyres as OEM'  - I couldn't really answer him ...............  (my first Civic was fitted with Pirrelli tyres as OEM,  they were terribly noisy,  when I fitted Michelins to it I thought I had gone deaf they were that quiet).

Both are well p155ed with Skoda - and they are supposed to be best of VAG.

[peteo48]

Well! Done a 100 miles round trip today on a brief visit to North Wales. A lot of motorway but no deflation warning came on. I wonder if it has sorted itself out?

Just on tyre noise. Even allowing for the fact that the CVT revs much lower than the manual at motorway cruising speeds, this car is significantly quieter than either of my Mk2s in terms of road noise. It has Michelin Energy Savers all round - the Mk 2s had Dunlop SP2030s. I'd never really thought about tyre noise much before but the difference is really noticeable.

[ColinS]

There is no such thing as a silent, good gripping tyre that will last 100K miles and give good mpg.  It's a trade off between them.  You pay your money and make your choice.

I personally rate them in the following importance, but this is just me:

1) Grip
2) Elongevity
3) MPG (edit - forgot that one)
4) Noise level

[peteo48]

I think I'd go with that priority Colin mainly because road noise is more noticeable at high cruising speeds. My motoring is mainly local with the odd long trip like today. Grip has to be the biggie but I can well see how someone who  spends a lot of time on the motorway would want a quieter tyre.

[andruec]

My car came new with Dunlops. They lasted just over a year (as noted in the thread 'A Tyre warning'). I replaced them with Michelin E-Savers and after 14 months they are still all over 6mm. Grip levels as far as I can tell are just as good. No change to economy either.

But I'd rather fit tyres that will comfortably last two years than those that barely make it past one year.

[culzean]

There is no such thing as a silent, good gripping tyre that will last 100K miles.  It's a trade off between the three.  You pay your money and make your choice.

I personally rate them in the following importance, but this is just me:

1) Grip
2) Elongevity
3) Noise level

Road noise is very tiring, makes conversation difficult

These days lower mileage (lower than the 20 to 25k annually I used to do) I rate grip first, noise second and longevity third. I used to get Michelin because they were quiet and long lasting, but they do leave something to be desired in the grip area - when I emergency stop now ABS really does not cut in with Avons even on wet road,  it used to do with Michelins, also Michelins had less directional stability and could feel 'squirmy' on bends, Michelin ES could be embarrassing pulling away on some junctions by me especially in wet when the wheels would spin. With Avons now and grip is great, low noise, and seem to be wearing OK, but in any case I have winters on cars for 5 or 6 months of the year so I would be surprised if my summer Avons do not last many years.

Even though adding silicate to tyre compounds  has narrowed the gap, there is still a trade off between grip and long life.

[Jocko]

With me it is
1) Grip
2) Noise level
3)MPG
4)Longevity

I do not do a great mileage and tyres last me for ever.

[dogbiscuit]

So..tell me again - what sets Honda apart from other manufacturers on the quality/warranty front? Seems to me like they are as bad as everyone else.

I have to agree with this. My 2018 Jazz was delivered with gremlins. The main one is the parking sensors that intermittently refuse to switch on. The car has been back to the dealer on 3 separate occasions for a total of 8 workshop days. At the least the dealer has tried to rectify with replacing the control unit, switch and now the fuse box. I have some patience with the dealer as they rely on Honda UK for technical advice and instruction. I thought the replacement fuse box may have fixed things as I was informed the fault showed up on another Jazz when my old fuse box was fitted to it but it hasn’t.

I’ve contacted Honda UK customer care about this fault and their attitude appears to be one of indifference, one of the most unhelpful replies I have ever received from any customer services department. Not sure where to go from here as I feel I will have to wait until the sensors fail completely before they can be rectified and until then live with them failing every few days.

The other issue is a cold starting problem, fortunately not as frequent as the sensors but on a brand new car it’s unacceptable.

This is my fourth Jazz purchased on the reputation and reliability of the brand and my experience of three pretty much flawless MK1/2 models. I’m sorry to say the MK3 has destroyed this reputation for me and this is a shame because there are many things to like about the design of the car.

[peteo48]

So..tell me again - what sets Honda apart from other manufacturers on the quality/warranty front? Seems to me like they are as bad as everyone else.

I have to agree with this. My 2018 Jazz was delivered with gremlins. The main one is the parking sensors that intermittently refuse to switch on. The car has been back to the dealer on 3 separate occasions for a total of 8 workshop days. At the least the dealer has tried to rectify with replacing the control unit, switch and now the fuse box. I have some patience with the dealer as they rely on Honda UK for technical advice and instruction. I thought the replacement fuse box may have fixed things as I was informed the fault showed up on another Jazz when my old fuse box was fitted to it but it hasn’t.

Just a quick question on the parking sensors. Is it front or rear or all of them? The reason I ask is I was thinking the other day that I don't think I've ever heard the rear sensors on this car. Front sensors are fine.

It's less of an issue for me cos I rarely have to perform any difficult parking manoeuvres but, if they are not working and you are being fobbed off then it is wholly unacceptable.

[andruec]

This is my fourth Jazz purchased on the reputation and reliability of the brand and my experience of three pretty much flawless MK1/2 models. I’m sorry to say the MK3 has destroyed this reputation for me and this is a shame because there are many things to like about the design of the car.

Agreed. Unfortunately from a cursory look around last week there doesn't appear to be an alternative. Not with the same feature set. Looks like if you want a supermini with climate control, auto headlights, auto mainbeam, auto gearbox, keyless entry, infotainment unit, auto wipers and cruise control the Jazz is your only choice. Although I think there's a Golf that comes close but costs going on for £30k

The Nissan Micra was a possible (great looks) but they aren't selling an automatic version at the moment.

[Kenneve]

I'll probably regret saying this, but my Mk3 66 plate EX CVT, purchased new in August 2016 has covered a tad over 17000 fault free miles. Everything works as it it should and nothing has gone wrong.
Yes, the Atkinson cycle engine takes a bit of getting used to, but i'm prepared to accept that, in the interest of fuel economy. I can't give you the MPG over the 17000 miles, but the 'B' trip is current showing 7000 miles at 51.0 MPG.
My previous cars were an EX I-shift and a MK2 EX CVT, both good cars, but in my opinion the Mk3 is better overall.

[Rory]

I’ve contacted Honda UK customer care about this fault and their attitude appears to be one of indifference, one of the most unhelpful replies I have ever received from any customer services department.

Sweeping generalisation thing, but I get into regular customer service battles and whereas a few years ago I'd usually get the result I wanted, that rarely happens now - although today Panasonic have just agreed to cover the cost of repairing our microwave, however it's taken weeks (thankfully we have a spare one).

Honda UK sales must be poor - rare to see a mk3 Jazz and I can't remember when I last saw a HR-V - you'd think Honda would be trying to up their game.  Maybe they just can't afford it now?  It's not the end of the world, but I feel robbed that I had to replace the rear pads & discs early on our 2014 car and Honda won't make any kind of contribution. On the 2009 one Honda and the old dealer between them replaced the same parts simply because they looked tatty.

[JazzyJJ]

This is my fourth Jazz purchased on the reputation and reliability of the brand and my experience of three pretty much flawless MK1/2 models. I’m sorry to say the MK3 has destroyed this reputation for me and this is a shame because there are many things to like about the design of the car.

Agreed. Unfortunately from a cursory look around last week there doesn't appear to be an alternative. Not with the same feature set. Looks like if you want a supermini with climate control, auto headlights, auto mainbeam, auto gearbox, keyless entry, infotainment unit, auto wipers and cruise control the Jazz is your only choice. Although I think there's a Golf that comes close but costs going on for £30k

The Nissan Micra was a possible (great looks) but they aren't selling an automatic version at the moment.

I was on the verge of buying a 2017 Golf 1.4 125ps (turbo / automatic / adaptive cruise) with everything you've listed at £17500 with 8k miles on it. Was excellent condition. I think it was Europa rental. In the end I decided not too because of previous bad experience with dsg - otherwise it was perfect, and it had Appleplay - making the infotainment screen actually useful!!!

Come on Honda allow retro fit of Appleplay - nasty that usa get the perfect jazz! Annoys me as you can see.... 

Still waiting for my 2018 Jazz EX for handover. Hopefully I have problem free ownership.

Edit - Oops, the golf wasn't keyless.

[LJs JAZZ]

There seems to be a fair amount of anti VW feeling in this topic, ( well it is a Honda site ! ) I would just say that I am now on my 15th VW . I started driving in 1968 and bought my first one more or less straight away. Apart from this first buy, all have been very reliable,although things got off to a bad start with the first one which dropped a valve and ruined the engine. Despite this I was impressed with the otherwise good service this vehicle gave and have used VW ever since.
We have the jazz as well, but I prefer the VW, in particular the bodywork /paint finish/interior plastics are much better than the jazz, also the ride is much smoother in the VW  I do like the CVT transmission in the jazz however, I wish VW would use this type of auto, I am not confident in the DSG which they use.
All the above obviously just my opinion based on 50+ years of motoring
 

[andruec]

Honda UK sales must be poor - rare to see a mk3 Jazz

Not around here. I see other Mk3 Jazz all the time - on my commute, during the day. They are quite common.