So as there doesn’t appear to be a “what new car” thread* on the front page at present I thought I’d start one.

My better half and I are looking to purchase a new car, we do very little mileage (both either walk or cycle to work) so a second vehicle is a non-starter which means no van. The good lady would like a small vehicle – presently have a mk1 focus and don’t want to go larger really.

This weekend we were looking at cars and happened to pass the Honda garage, I’d seen the jazz mentioned on here in response to a thread previously but expected it to be too small. (Having searched this morning mostly I can find one or two line replies of the have you thought about… variety). Since we were there we popped in to have a quick look and strike it off the list – I’m 6’4” and expected it to be no good – but rather than ending up a definite no it has become a probable yes.

It looks like there should be ample room in there for two bikes with the rear seats folded but up, leaving the whole of the boot free for those weekends away where I want to take the bikes but they otherwise eat luggage room. (Being a man I can cope with a few pairs of pants and a bottle of shower gel if I’m traveling light, my BH would be horrified at this).

My big question is on occasion I will be heading out to the hills for the day with a couple of friends and, at present we get three of us with bikes in a Mondeo, bikes laying flat. Judging from the cab height and the fact the rear seats go flat in the Jazz, does anyone know if you’d get three bikes (bearing in mind mine is going to be big) upright in the rear with the remaining rear seat up? (Wheels off obviously).

Also what are they like to drive with a load in them, we’ll be looking at one of the 1.4petrol versions which, given the size I would think is going to be plenty big enough.

Any thing we should look out for we’ll be buying new – or pre-reg.

Any feedback of real-life experience with them would be gratefully received.

Possible alternatives for the small and spacious considered – we tried a Skoda Roomster, which was spacious inside and smaller than a current model focus, but the 1.2 we tried felt sluggish and underpowered with three adults in it, so worried with people and load it’ll just be annoying.

<edit> we’re also considering the berlingo multispace, but haven’t seen one in the flesh and it might be too van like.

It needs to be big enough in the cab that I can drive it with a similarly sized adult behind me for a reasonable time when I’m on designated driver duties and bike days.

*There are a few about vans (and possibly now I’ve finished writing about cars too) but if I wait for a full page gap in what new motor vehicle threads I’ll be discussing which solar powered hover-car by the time I post.

I’ve driven a few and always liked them – I like the looks to, the bubble over the headlamps reminds me of a 60’s racecar.

As for getting bikes in, I’m not so sure, 3 up in a Jazz with 3 bikes in the boot – I couldn’t do that in my Exeo estate.

Roof bars and Thule, it’s the only way IMO.

Cheers pj, roof or rear rack is the other option definitely and is the only choice with the focus and three.

A good bike car assuming you are not driving too far. Two people and bikes easy but three ?

I researched them a while back, can be hard to find manuals as most are sold as autos. You do need to get your heard round the “pensioners” image they have here, In Singapore they are called the Fit and you see them with alloys and spoilers and driven by kids 🙂 In the end I didn’t buy one and will probably get another older Rav4 (old model where seats are removable) instead as it has the 4wd and they are better on a longer run, I had one before so know the car well too.

The long haired boss at home used to have the 1.4 Jazz ,and to this day I swear its one of the best cars we have ever had ,and the list is long

3 large blokes + 3×100 ltr bergans and 10 rifles + 3 tents ,sleeping bags ,food water and boots and still room enough for more ,what amazed me more is even at 90ish mph with the aircon on it gave me 49 mpg on the trip to Wiltshire , more than enough room for mine and the kids bikes too

What were you hunting in Wiltshire?

My MiL bought one brand new in 2006 and it’s been totally faultless. In 2009 she got in a tizzy because it was almost three years old and it might go wrong and cost lots of money and she should trade it in for a new one 🙄 We told her to stop being stupid. It has never gone wrong.

As for fitting bikes in, I once tried it out with mine (I’m 6’4″ like you, bike is an XL Stumpjumper FSR, 26er) and it would go in upright with front wheel out, either at a slight angle across the car or with the back wheel partly between the front seats. With some careful packing you might just get three people + bikes + kit in there. It’ll be tight though.

Can you take it on an “extended test drive”, long enough to pop home and try shoving three bikes in there ?? 🙂

As above, my mum has one and it’s been faultless for years. Similar age iirc.

Re bikes – just go to the showroom/garage with a few bikes and try them out. That’s what I did last time I bought a vehicle. They want the sale, you have specific requirements. 🙂

I think they are fantastic cars. They aren’t fashionable though for some males here in the UK who need turbo’s and 18″ rims to make them look virile.

The Jazz is reliable, simple, frugile, beautifully small with a great and usable large interior.

Worth also saying most of the ones I drove were autos, despite all my feelings about small petrol engined cars and autos – it actually suited it well – it seemed to have a huge amount of ratios 7 or something silly like that.

I had one, it was a great car, probably my favorite one I’ve had. It really was quite incredible how much space you got inside compared to how small the car was. It was very reliable and surprising quite good fun to drive, but you had to rev if you wanted to go fast (which it’s not really about).

I couldn’t say if you would get three bikes and people in though, you’d have to try. If that was what was important to you, I’d sure the deal would let you try.

A mate has one and seems pretty happy with it, reliable, economical, fits one bike easily with seats folded so I think two should be fine. Three might be a push, three and three passengers I would say probably not but that’s a guess.

The only bad things about it are the colur (blue rinse) and I end up waving at every pensioner between home and where ever I’m driving as I think it’s my mate.

3×100 ltr bergans and 10 rifle

@steve, that’s one way to shed the pensioners image !

I’ve got one. Been in family via my Mum and Mrs since it was pre reg in 2003.

It has been faultless and currently averages about 53mpg on a mixture of open roads and motorways. Really easy to drive too.

The only thing about the bike carrying is that once you put up the magic seats, you’re a bit short of length to get assembled bikes in. Medium road bike just goes in with front wheel off. Soul needs both wheels off. You’d def get 2 frames and 4 wheels in.

My Mum has the new, 2008 one and it is just as practical and nicer inside. It’s supposed to be faster, too, but my Mum complains that the vtec is less flexible than the old DSi engine.

Bear in mind if you are buying from dealers that there is another new one out this year, so discounts on current one should be good.

I had a civic, so wider than the Jazz, and with both wheels off of my SB66 it was still too long to go in with the ‘magic seats’ up.

Awesome bootspace though.

Sounds promising, thanks for the feedback folks. The 3 bikes & passengers/combo is a nice one for me but not a deal braker as I think short of a van(like) its a long shot. (tempting to put the third body in the boot any how)

I must say I’m surprised at the lack of width you mention nobeer, to look at it appeared wide enough, but appearances can be deceiving of course

My wifes got one and frankly we’re disapointed. It’s noisy and sluggish. OK, you can load it up with loads of kit but once loaded it’s a p.i.t.a. to drive anywhere.

Look at some other cars….

The 10 rifles and bergans were for a training weekend around Copehill down ,the wettest place on gods earth after Sennybridge, all sold up now and firmly into two wheel fun instead of bang fun

Which 1.2 engine was in the Roomster you tried? They do 60, 85 and 105hp versions and I’d agree that the 60 is grim. I drive a Fabia and found that the 85 and 105 are great in terms of power for their size.

Either the Roomster or the Jazz will be great- my last car before the Skoda was a Civic and it was unkillable. I have had a few friends with Jazzes that like them too.

Our Fabia is big enough to get 2 bikes and kit inside (though I use a rack on a towball most of the time instead), the extra length and height of the Roomster would open up more possibilities. The Jazz I suspect will be nicer to drive than a Roomster.

My Mum has one, that I used to drive when I lived at home. Could just fit 3 bikes in with 3 people, however it was a tight squeeze and these were all mediums. As for power, the 1.4 auto struggles with anymore than a couple of people, even hit the rev limiter trying to keep at the speed limit on a dual carriage way hill. Nice car though and really easy to drive

My wife and daugher both have Jazz’s – the wife’s is a 1.4 auto (the CVT one) and the daughters is a base model 1.2 manual – which we’ve had for quite a few years (7 years for SWMO’s which was bought new and maybe 4 or 5 for the other one). Great little cars – reliable and with loads of space. Certainly great for 2 people plus 2 (or more) bikes – I can get my road bike in without taking the wheels off it when the rear seats are down. Not so convinced about 3 people and 3 bikes though – I’m pretty sure that’d be a struggle.

Economy on both ours is pretty good – 45mpg or so in normal mixed driving (unless it’s me driving when it drops to more like 40mpg).

Are the Nissan Notes any good? We half looked at them when we were looking for something small-yet-roomy-for-stuff and it seemed feasible – no idea if they’re any good though?

Depends what you want it for. Notes don’t have the flip up seats but the rear bench slides so you can choose to end up with a lot of rear leg room for a small car.

We just got one for child carrying duties. I think a Jazz would be better for bikes with the rear seats flipped up.

The 3 bikes & passengers/combo is a nice one for me but not a deal braker as I think short of a van(like) its a long shot

Peugeot Partner tepee – 3 fatbikes with just the front wheels out, and 3 big blokes.

We have one. 2 kids and me and my wife can get a bike in and suitcases to go on holiday. The amount of space inside is fantastic.

Best car I’ve ever had.

When we moved house I think I got six bikes in it!

We’ve also got an estate octavia which is a more comfy ride but I prefer the Jazz.

Only thing is say is get a 1.4. Ours is 1.2 which will happily sit at 80mph but it’s a little slow to accelerate when loaded up

We’ve had one for the last 3 years, (2005 1.4) girlfriend commuted 70 miles a day in it for 2 years, it’s never broken down (now at 142k) and regularly does 45mpg+. Bit tiresome for motorway driving but what supermini isn’t?

She’d only replace it with a newer one, its taken-

2 people, 4 bikes and kit for a week in the IoM
2/3 people and 2 road race bikes all round the country inc rollers etc
4 people and 2 bikes to events
and…

3 people and 3 MTBs from Manchester to the peaks,

You’ve got lots of options with the flexi seats, fold them flat and put bikes in wheels off upside down/fronts out and upright. Wheels out across the rear seat space (useful if like me you have a 62cm road bike) or just lay stuff flat.
It’s probably better in terms of bike carrying than my Golf or 5 series estates.

rob2 – Member
When we moved house I think I got six bikes in it!

Now there’s an idea – make them walk but take a choice of steed each

One thing to watch for, certainly on the older models, was the electric power steering. I’d like to think that through the last 10 years or so Honda have sorted that problem (not that there ever was a problem mind, the rack was supposed to get heavier with age and of course it’s a service item) or made the rack more servicable to sort out the worn torque sensors when they do go (notorious on 1st gen Jazz and 7th gen Civic).

Other than that anything I’ve heard has been good, just something to do a bit of checking up on.

We bought an 11 plate 1.4 Ex with average mileage from a Honda dealer for all the reasons listed above but especially because it was the only small car I tested with decent build/reliability which could fit 4 6′ people in. It’s not exciting but I’ve no reason to believe it won’t live up to its reputation. The foldy up seats are really handy for shopping etc and it’s an ok drive albeit a little sluggish until you learn to rev the vtec engine a bit which seems contrary to the image of it being an old person’s car.

I only wish Honda sold a T4/T5 competitor..

Consider Kia Venga / Hyundai ix20
Euro NCAP 5*, mega warranties (Kia 7 years + 5 year paint, Hyundai 5 + 5 year paint)
Kia start at £10645, Hyundai £12515. Plenty of S/H bargains

Cheers for all the feedback, I’ll check on the steering issue and have a look at those alternatives

Facia estate is a good alternative for small car and generous space without going all tall and van like.

I’ve had my ’11 plate Jazz 1.4 EX CVT for over 2 years and 25000 miles, it’s a great little car, does everything you can reasonably ask and very tardis like inside, more space than the current Civic hatch too.
Go for a 1.4 (1339cc) and avoid the iShift versions, 2008 – 2011, appeared when the new/current shape arrived, and disappeared with the face lift early 2011. There are a couple of good forums, clubjazz.org which is UK biased and fitfreaks which is US based, the Jazz is a known as a Fit in many markets other than Europe.
It’s comfortable, economical, reliable and practical, and my local Honda dealer is great.
Tyres make a great deal of difference to the noise, my winter tyres are noticeable, but aren’t intrusive, the summer set aren’t.
I do have other vehicles but this is my everyday car and does 90% of journeys.
Not the most dynamic of drives but very competent, the 1.4 Si has slightly lower and sportier suspension and a body kit, but no more umph.
Yes you need to rev the i-vtec to get it go quickly, but once on the boil it can surprise people, I had a wonderful cross country drive in the Cotswolds a little while back with the vtec on full song!
Give one a try.

Yes, three bikes and three people in a Jazz is easily doable provide you don’t blow the length. Fortunately the wider section of rear seat is behind the passenger so you can shove them right forward.

I’ve had five bikes in the back, seats down, with room for bags alongside, and I’ve had a 62cm road bike in the boot, wheels off but otherwise complete, with the seats up. Oh, and the tandem, with the front passenger seat flat. The interior is insanely flexible.

I bought ours new in 2004 and we’ve done 109,000 miles in it. In that time, other than tyres and brakes and scheduled servicing, I’ve had to replace one battery, one exhaust section and one wiper assembly: total cost £400 including labour. It still drives like a new car. The only other fault is a sticky bonnet catch in the winter. Can’t rate it highly enough.