See all Used Car Buying Guides
What’s it like?
Honda has always done things its own way with the Jazz supermini, refusing to slavishly copy the normal shape of similar-sized cars and instead employing what is known as a ‘monobox’ form on the outside. This is not the most interesting thing to look at as a result, but what it does lead to is plenty of interior practicality and space, making the Honda a solid choice as an urban runaround. As an alternative to the usual likes of the Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa, Renault Clio, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio, SEAT Ibiza and more, this third-generation Jazz’s appeal lies in its ‘Magic Seats’ – in which the seat bases can be folded up, allowing tall objects to be transported in the enlarged footwells – in the rear and its efficient petrol engines.
Which model to go for?
Honda only ever sold this generation of Jazz with two four-cylinder petrol engines – a 1.3-litre, with 102hp, and then a larger 1.5-litre model with 130hp. The latter only appeared during the Jazz Mk3’s midlife facelift in 2017 and it was given a sportier bent here by only being sold in Dynamic trim, but as it was special-order only in Ireland it’s a rare find these days on the second-hand market so the majority of used domestic market Jazzes will be 1.3s.
That said, there are a surprising number of Jazz Hybrids available used here. This will all be imports: although the current Jazz is only sold as a hybrid, for the previous generation of car the petrol-electric version was only ever marketed in Japan and Malaysia.
The Hybrid also uses a CVT automatic transmission, which we would advocate against avoiding – it’s an option on both the 1.3 and 1.5 petrol models too. It doesn’t do very much for the refinement of the car, as it allows the engine to rev right out far too often in everyday driving.
The manual gearbox is much better and, with this fitted, the third-gen Jazz is a pleasant little car. It’s not great in the corners, but it’s also not terrible either, while rolling refinement and ride comfort are both more than acceptable. Officially, the 1.3-litre can achieve 5.0 litres/100km and it should be no drama at all to match this in real-world, day-to-day motoring, as the engine is very efficient if driven carefully.
Specifications ran SE, ES and then EX, with even base-grade models featuring at least air conditioning, cruise control, a City-Brake Active autonomous braking system, electric windows all round, auto lights and wipers, a multifunction steering wheel, LED daytime running lights, six airbags and those fancy Magic Seats in the rear. At the other end of the scale, EX versions came with all-round parking sensors, seven-inch touchscreen infotainment, a reversing camera, keyless entry and go, loads of advanced driver assist safety aids and more, so these Jazz models feel very well-specified.
Does anything go wrong?
This is a sensible used buy because there are no known major faults with this generation of Honda Jazz. It uses mechanically simple yet reliable technology from a company renowned for making dependable cars, so unless the Jazz you are looking at has covered mega distances, is in visibly poor condition or has a lack of service and maintenance history, you should be fine buying a second-hand example, provided you do the usual stringent, general checks of any used car (tyres, brakes, engine etc).
Further adding to the Honda’s gloss as a used proposition, the company issued just one recall for this generation of Jazz during its lifetime, which relates to bent springs being installed in the rear-seatbelt retractor/locking mechanisms.