Honda Jazz petrol hybrid
Discussion
Don't 
Owned a brand new 2021 Mk4 myself and it was awful, owned it for nearly a year and it spent weeks in the dealers with issues before I got rid of it.
Lots of issues by people in the owners club, so it's not just me:
- infotainment randomly failing and nothing the dealers can do to fix it. Even a new £2k unit didn't work - it's design faults.
- Drivers seats splitting after a year
- wing mirrors that don't fold unless you turn the headlights on.
- Brakes failing. There is an electronic part called a brake simulator, seems to be failing just outside 3 year warranty. £2k to fix and many dealers aren't getting a decent goodwill discount from Honda if at all.
- The lane departure warning system can't handle normal narrow roads and steers you towards oncoming traffic.
- Cruise control is camera based and brakes late before flooring the accelerator to try and catch up. It also randomly picks up cars in other lanes and brakes hard before accelerating hard.
- People rejecting new cars because they sound like a bag of spanners from a cold start
etc. etc.
The worst car I've ever owned, including several high mileage second hand cars. It spent longer in the dealers than every car I've owned before combined.
I highly recommend either a Toyota Corolla or Yaris hybrid instead.
Owned a brand new 2021 Mk4 myself and it was awful, owned it for nearly a year and it spent weeks in the dealers with issues before I got rid of it.
Lots of issues by people in the owners club, so it's not just me:
- infotainment randomly failing and nothing the dealers can do to fix it. Even a new £2k unit didn't work - it's design faults.
- Drivers seats splitting after a year
- wing mirrors that don't fold unless you turn the headlights on.
- Brakes failing. There is an electronic part called a brake simulator, seems to be failing just outside 3 year warranty. £2k to fix and many dealers aren't getting a decent goodwill discount from Honda if at all.
- The lane departure warning system can't handle normal narrow roads and steers you towards oncoming traffic.
- Cruise control is camera based and brakes late before flooring the accelerator to try and catch up. It also randomly picks up cars in other lanes and brakes hard before accelerating hard.
- People rejecting new cars because they sound like a bag of spanners from a cold start
etc. etc.
The worst car I've ever owned, including several high mileage second hand cars. It spent longer in the dealers than every car I've owned before combined.
I highly recommend either a Toyota Corolla or Yaris hybrid instead.
Edited by Whataguy on Monday 22 April 13:57
My wife has had one since new in April '21, and I'm a regular driver of it.
It's our default car for shorter, local trips. Handles well (I'm a keen driver like most PH'ers), ride not jiggly at all. Loads of space inside with the relatively high roofline and magic seats.
CVT gearbox which isn't to everyone's taste, although it suits the car well and is only frustrating when you completely floor the throttle (revs flare up while speed gains). Very nippy around town thanks to the electric motor - off the line to 30 / 40 is nice and quick so it's easy to pull out and be up to speed. Gearbox & drivetrain are very smooth - seamless transition from batteries to hybrid / petrol power. Will run on battery power at motorway speeds when not under load.
We've averaged low 60's MPG over 21K miles. Expensive to buy but they hold their value well and are cheap as chips to run. Quieter than my Civic at up to 70 mph.
Lane keep assist is annoying (beeps and forces steering wheel back on line if you cross a white line without indicating) so I turn it off each journey.
I can't recommend them highly enough (for context I've had loads of the usual German fare) - they are very good at what they do.
It's our default car for shorter, local trips. Handles well (I'm a keen driver like most PH'ers), ride not jiggly at all. Loads of space inside with the relatively high roofline and magic seats.
CVT gearbox which isn't to everyone's taste, although it suits the car well and is only frustrating when you completely floor the throttle (revs flare up while speed gains). Very nippy around town thanks to the electric motor - off the line to 30 / 40 is nice and quick so it's easy to pull out and be up to speed. Gearbox & drivetrain are very smooth - seamless transition from batteries to hybrid / petrol power. Will run on battery power at motorway speeds when not under load.
We've averaged low 60's MPG over 21K miles. Expensive to buy but they hold their value well and are cheap as chips to run. Quieter than my Civic at up to 70 mph.
Lane keep assist is annoying (beeps and forces steering wheel back on line if you cross a white line without indicating) so I turn it off each journey.
I can't recommend them highly enough (for context I've had loads of the usual German fare) - they are very good at what they do.
OP - thought it might be helpful to comment on some of the specific issues flagged by Whataguy, so that you can compare with our experience:
- Infotainment and split seats: no issues after 21k miles.
- Wing mirrors. We have the headlights set to auto, no issue with folding mirrors, and we've set them to fold when the car is locked.
- Lane keep assist (lane departure warning) is a pain as I mentioned, I prefer to turn it off although the wife doesn't care!
- Cruise control: the issues highlighted are common to a lot of radar cruise control systems and the reason I don't use them. In an average speed zone I prefer to use the limiter and adjust speed myself.
- Cold start: no complaints, around town and at lower speeds the engine is barely above idle, with most drive from the electric motor.
- Brakes: we've not experienced any issue yet, but the car is only just three years old. Fortunately it came with an extended warranty and 5 year service plan (a deal at the time when you took out minimum £5k finance for at least 6 months). I'll keep an eye out for the brake issue flagged above.
- Infotainment and split seats: no issues after 21k miles.
- Wing mirrors. We have the headlights set to auto, no issue with folding mirrors, and we've set them to fold when the car is locked.
- Lane keep assist (lane departure warning) is a pain as I mentioned, I prefer to turn it off although the wife doesn't care!
- Cruise control: the issues highlighted are common to a lot of radar cruise control systems and the reason I don't use them. In an average speed zone I prefer to use the limiter and adjust speed myself.
- Cold start: no complaints, around town and at lower speeds the engine is barely above idle, with most drive from the electric motor.
- Brakes: we've not experienced any issue yet, but the car is only just three years old. Fortunately it came with an extended warranty and 5 year service plan (a deal at the time when you took out minimum £5k finance for at least 6 months). I'll keep an eye out for the brake issue flagged above.
I'm currently mooching around in my Mums 2018 Jazz.
Jiggly ride for sure. Even Mrs. V mentions it, so for a non-car person to notice, it must be prominent.
I absolutely hated it at first. With the CVT it is slow, so slow that my 73 year old Mum commented. They should provide a wall calendar to plan overtaking.
But the more I drive it, the more I like it. On the motorways at the Japanese speed limit of 100kmh/62mph it is low revving and relaxed at c. 2,200 rpm. If my destination involves a lot of urban driving it is the car of choice. The CVT is super smooth and makes braking easier to come to a cushioned halt. And it makes any slushmatic gearbox, DSG etc etc feel like jerk city. Approved!
Jiggly ride for sure. Even Mrs. V mentions it, so for a non-car person to notice, it must be prominent.
I absolutely hated it at first. With the CVT it is slow, so slow that my 73 year old Mum commented. They should provide a wall calendar to plan overtaking.
But the more I drive it, the more I like it. On the motorways at the Japanese speed limit of 100kmh/62mph it is low revving and relaxed at c. 2,200 rpm. If my destination involves a lot of urban driving it is the car of choice. The CVT is super smooth and makes braking easier to come to a cushioned halt. And it makes any slushmatic gearbox, DSG etc etc feel like jerk city. Approved!
I had an first generation (2011) Jazz Hybrid for a few years, a few years ago. I absolutely loved that car. You wouldn't imagine it would be something you could bond with but I did. I went out looking for an second generation Insight but ended up with the Jazz once I realised what I could fit in the back! 
I have test driven one. I was quite impressed. They are driven by the electric motor, and the battery gets recharged by the petrol engine (but the electric motor still does the driving). At higher speeds the engine drives the wheels directly by a clutch (with single speed reduction gearing)
A word about Lane Keeping Assist. They are mandatory on all new cars since 2022 (?), and are on by default. You have to switch the system off on each trip (if that is your preference). As I say, these are mandatory on ALL new cars.
A word about Lane Keeping Assist. They are mandatory on all new cars since 2022 (?), and are on by default. You have to switch the system off on each trip (if that is your preference). As I say, these are mandatory on ALL new cars.
vikingaero said:
I'm currently mooching around in my Mums 2018 Jazz.
Jiggly ride for sure. Even Mrs. V mentions it, so for a non-car person to notice, it must be prominent.
I absolutely hated it at first. With the CVT it is slow, so slow that my 73 year old Mum commented. They should provide a wall calendar to plan overtaking.
But the more I drive it, the more I like it. On the motorways at the Japanese speed limit of 100kmh/62mph it is low revving and relaxed at c. 2,200 rpm. If my destination involves a lot of urban driving it is the car of choice. The CVT is super smooth and makes braking easier to come to a cushioned halt. And it makes any slushmatic gearbox, DSG etc etc feel like jerk city. Approved!
The latest generation are not CVT. Although they call them e-CVT, that is confusing; read the Honda description of how it works to be aware.Jiggly ride for sure. Even Mrs. V mentions it, so for a non-car person to notice, it must be prominent.
I absolutely hated it at first. With the CVT it is slow, so slow that my 73 year old Mum commented. They should provide a wall calendar to plan overtaking.
But the more I drive it, the more I like it. On the motorways at the Japanese speed limit of 100kmh/62mph it is low revving and relaxed at c. 2,200 rpm. If my destination involves a lot of urban driving it is the car of choice. The CVT is super smooth and makes braking easier to come to a cushioned halt. And it makes any slushmatic gearbox, DSG etc etc feel like jerk city. Approved!
Pica-Pica said:
A word about Lane Keeping Assist. They are mandatory on all new cars since 2022 (?), and are on by default. You have to switch the system off on each trip (if that is your preference). As I say, these are mandatory on ALL new cars.
The Honda one was particlulary bad, I've driven many different newer VW and Skoda cars and theirs was fine. Recent Toyotas were also no problem and could be left switched on.BlueJ said:
Hadn't seen Whataguy's reply before I posted mine. Amazing - like we're talking about different cars and what a shame to have such a bad experience with the car. Our experience couldn't be more different!
Yes, I was surprised how bad mine was - I'd owned a couple of other Hondas before and they were good. I'd also driven several generations of Jazz as service loan cars and liked them.The latest issues with the brake failures seem to be a manufacturing fault, but Honda isn't recalling and replacing. They are leaving it up to people themselves. If you have the extended warranty you get it replaced for free, but others are having to pay £2k and be without their car for weeks.
Whataguy said:
The latest issues with the brake failures seem to be a manufacturing fault, but Honda isn't recalling and replacing. They are leaving it up to people themselves. If you have the extended warranty you get it replaced for free, but others are having to pay £2k and be without their car for weeks.
Thanks - forewarned is forearmed. I've got a 2022 model with the hybrid electric transmission & reckon it's the bees knees.
As previously mentioned the "e-HEV" drive system is akin to the Nissan Qashqi system - the ICE drives a generator to power the wheels via battery & electirc motor, and also drives the wheels directly when at speed. This gets rid of the gearbox & gives a very smooth progressive drive.
No problem with performance (0-60 in 9.6), even in the default "econ" mode. Fuel consumption has been over 60 mpg since purchase & up to 70 in summer.
It's by far the easiest car I've ever had to drive & with the "toys" - rear camera, radar, auto wipers, auto lights, ACC - the most fully equipped.
Only drawback (so far) is that the boot isn't as big as the previous model (must be for the battery).
As previously mentioned the "e-HEV" drive system is akin to the Nissan Qashqi system - the ICE drives a generator to power the wheels via battery & electirc motor, and also drives the wheels directly when at speed. This gets rid of the gearbox & gives a very smooth progressive drive.
No problem with performance (0-60 in 9.6), even in the default "econ" mode. Fuel consumption has been over 60 mpg since purchase & up to 70 in summer.
It's by far the easiest car I've ever had to drive & with the "toys" - rear camera, radar, auto wipers, auto lights, ACC - the most fully equipped.
Only drawback (so far) is that the boot isn't as big as the previous model (must be for the battery).
My wife has a Jazz Hybrid from 2022 new. She loves it and she came from an A250 Merc. She loves the compact size, magic seats and the economy is excellent. As others it our go to car for local journeys. Although we did take it on a 400 mile round trip once and again not my ideal choice for those journeys but it was fine.
Zero issues with the car. Its 100% reliable.
As others have said a CVT type gearbox takes some adapting to but im fine with it owning a Rav4 with a similar gearbox.
I would recommend the jazz to many people.
Zero issues with the car. Its 100% reliable.
As others have said a CVT type gearbox takes some adapting to but im fine with it owning a Rav4 with a similar gearbox.
I would recommend the jazz to many people.
Pica-Pica said:
Pica-Pica said:
The latest generation are not CVT. Although they call them e-CVT, that is confusing; read the Honda description of how it works to be aware.
Someone has corrected me, they are called (and badged) e-HEVThe cars are badged e-HEV but the transmission is called e-CVT.
Jader1973 said:
Pica-Pica said:
Pica-Pica said:
The latest generation are not CVT. Although they call them e-CVT, that is confusing; read the Honda description of how it works to be aware.
Someone has corrected me, they are called (and badged) e-HEVThe cars are badged e-HEV but the transmission is called e-CVT.
Then again, for those who don’t know,
At the following speeds the situation is:
Low speed: electric motor drives wheels powered by a low capacity battery.
Medium speed: electric motor drives wheels, and naturally aspirated petrol engine charges the battery.
Higher speed: a clutch engages and the petrol engine drives the wheels.
The whole system is designed to use whatever motor is most efficient at any specific condition.
Further back from the ‘D’ lever position, is a ‘B’ position, for regenerative braking.
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