2003 Honda Jazz SE Sport from UK and Ireland - Comments

The back door is dropping on it's hinges.

The back "magic seat" has collapsed.

Air conditioning smells bad and does not cool the car.

Water comes through the hole for the aerial and makes the car damp.

The interior squeaks and rattles.

The panel gaps are uneven.

The paint is seriously bad quality.

It broke down at 7400 miles and when the AA came to my house he said dealing with Hondas is his bread and butter.

The fuel economy figures are all lies, if you want to keep up with traffic it easily drops to 32MPG.

It is uncomfortable, and really slow, on the motorway with anything near full load you will be lucky to get to 70MPH. A problem my Fiat never had. This is probably due to the miserable amount of torque it produces.

It is generally looking tired now with many stone chips and the thin metal easily picks up parking dents.

So, what you're saying is, that the Jazz is not your taste of car, but the Fiat Punto is? I suggest that you look carefully at this site and all the smiley faces, then look at the fiat punto site and all the sad faces! I had a Punto, an it really was awful! Happily I now have a Jazz!

Good to see someone giving the Jazz a detailed (though damning) review ; you've obviously had a bad one - and folks it does happen even with Honda.

This is exactly what this sites about... and the "I've had it for 3 weeks from new and nothings gone wrong " reviews are NO USE to anyone.

I have driven my Jazz for over two years now and have never returned less than 40mpg and am normally around 48mpg. If I run a couple of tanks of the most expensive petrol through it and drive very lightly with my right foot, I can return 53+mpg. I just can't believe that anyone can only get 32mpg unless they have the car loaded with concrete blocks or something. I am not a granddad by any means, I regularly travel over 80mph on motorways and I keep up with traffic around town although there is usually only one person (me) in the car and no luggage. I do however agree with the dashboard comment above. I had a hands free kit that is linked into the radio fitted and the dashboard got quite badly scratched. However that could have been the fault of the idiot that did it, and he did end up doing it for free.

It sounds like you bought a lemon!

Had my jazz for two years now, and agree with most of the positive comments.However, I am am experiencing two recurring problems, a handbrake that constantly needs adjusting, and a noise on cold mornings, (similar to a blown manifold sound),which goes when car warms up. The garage where I bought the car, have done their best to resolve the problems, and are working on them at present, hopefully with some success, anyone else experienced these symptoms?

With regard to the last comment. I have had my Honda Jazz for about a month now and I have just noticed in the last few days that the engine sounds a little noisier than usual - whether this is due to the cold weather? On accelerating in low gear it sounds a little 'blowy!' as when I first bought it I remember how quiet is sounded. Is this because of the recent cold weather we been having? I also notice too that the handbrake really has to be pulled high to hold the car steady on a hill.

I have just recently brought a brand new Honda Jazz and after parking the car on a slope for a couple of hours it rolled down to the bottom and collided with another car. Has anyone else had this problem? We know the car did not roll for at least 40 minutes - so it was not an obvious problem.

We took the car to an independent dealer who stated that although the handbrake did function it was not to a satisfactory level for a new car. In that the force required to effectively activate it was way more than the standard required and expected on a new vehicle.

Having reported this finding to the dealer where we purchased it from they are refusing to pay or help with these costs, (which total £500).

Does anyone know who is liable for these costs?

...and...has the above happened to you? Thank you.

Regarding apparent handbrake failure - I had a similar problem. Parked on a hill I sat in the car reading for around 10 minutes then left it for about another 15 minutes to take some photos nearby. All was well when I returned to put the camera in the car. I then left the car for around half an hour to do some shopping. On my return I found it had rolled down the hill and collided with another car. The Honda dealers response was that the car should have been left in gear - and a check of the handbrake appeared to reveal nothing suspect. I still have my doubts however especially as a similar thing happened whilst the car was parked on my property and without the same serious consequences as on the first occasion. Honda still deny there is a problem with the handbrake.

I hope I don't experience any of the problems that others have had with the Honda Jazz. Here in the United States they are introducing the Honda Fit, which is based on the Jazz. I have been looking forward to trying it out. My current vehicle is a 1998 Honda CRV, which I love except for the bad gas mileage. I have to drive about 45 miles to work and was hoping the Honda Fit would be the car for me. Has anyone had a problem with the size of the Jazz?

Our Jazz is just coming up to a year old and has been great so far. Fuel economy has been about 40mpg. Only problem has been with the handbrake not holding on a slope - so I'm interested to see that others have also had the same problem.

I was however really shocked when I tried to book the car for its first service this week. £177 for an oil and flter change is, I think, a little on the high side! An independent garage will do it for £110 - but considering the filter is £6 and oil shouldn't be more than £20, what are the dealers up to?

Regarding size of the Jazz, at 6'4" and 16 stone, I fit in with no problems and found it the most comfortable of the super minis we looked at.

We have not had a problem with handbrake on our Jazz, but where did you guys take your driving test? A car should always be left in first gear as well as handbrake on when parked. Every Auto car I have driven has had device to stop ignition key being removed before gear-lever is in 'Park' position, in this position the transmission is locked up and the car can't roll.

My 3 year old Jazz 1.4 has started misbehaving at low revs/light throttle when engine is hot. My Dealer says it requires a replacement part which he will get under warranty - he has other Jazzes with the same problem.

He cannot tell me what the device does, but it is bolted to the engine on front lh side, easily seen when opening the bonnet (looks like a water pump).

Any other folk had this problem?

My 3 old Jazz has also started to misbehave (slightly). At level speed, say 30 or 40mph it 'hesitates' or 'jerks', not badly, but enough to be annoying. I wonder if it just requires the part mentioned in the above post. It also has a strange feature - I can hear the coolant swishing around whilst driving. If you listen carefully it seems to be coming from near the heater matrix. I was wondering if it is just air locked. Anyone any ideas? Not had this car long, but fuel consumption is phenomenal - 60mpg with last tank of supermarket fuel, mixed driving!

My wife has had a bad smell in her air conditioning since just after she bought the Jazz new three years ago. It is at its worst when the vent is set to recycle and the car is restarted 30min after the engine was turned off when the A/C was on. The Honda mechanic said that he has not had this problem before. Has anyone also had this problem and how did they get it fixed. Thanks for any help you might give.

We traded a Mitsubishi Colt for a Honda Jazz 2 months ago, and the Jaaz is a far superior car in every way. Much more space all round, better boot, and way more fun to drive. The only niggle we have is we can hear a sloshing fluid sound also - coming from the rear of the car - under the seats. Guess will have to get it checked out. The Jazz/Fit is a superb little car - great for lots of small trips, but will also handle an intercity cruise with ease. GREAT fuel economy - very good.

Re the comments on the Fiat above - I can only say I have owned a Punto Sporting before and my comments on its demise are also on this web-site - a very very costly mistake!