We need another car and the Jazz seems to be the answer;
– Short B road trips 90% of the time
– Odd motorway journey to bike parks/holidays
– Bike to be stored inside with just front wheel off; long 29er FS bike
– Reliable and cheap to run
– Roughly 12k miles/yr.

Would be a new shape (2016+) with the 1.3 in SE or EX.
Any real world opinion on these? Am I missing a good competitor?

Lots of people love them but my wife’s was slow and noisy……..

They get an unfair rep as pensioners’ cars over here, the opposite of most other markets.

Good cars, big flexible space on offer. SE has all I’d want. Not sure there’s enough length from the rear hatch to back of front seat to manage a FS 29er though. Dimensions are here if you want to compare (149.5cm long boot floor with rear seats down).

Depending on how you feel about leasing, there’s been some really cheap deals on them lately. If you’ve got the cash then buying outright a couple of years old is sensible but if you’d be financing definitely worth comparing rates to leasing a new one.

From what I understand supposed to a be a pretty solid car if a little lacking in zest, gets the job done fine.

Nissan Note is a similar car, nothing too exciting to mention but solid car that takes you form a A to B and might cost a little bit less than a Handa Jazz.

I test drove both cars can’t remember what spec level they were but were around the 2008 age. Perfectly fine cars maybe lacking a bit of refinement compared to VW of a similar age but still very acceptable for me.

Practicality and useage wise Skoda Yeti should fit the bill too but I don’t know about much about reliability and running costs.

Thanks all.
Test drive would clearly be in order, but didn’t want to waste time if a bike didn’t fit and feedback was poor.

Not sure there’s enough length from the rear hatch to back of front seat to manage a FS 29er though. Dimensions are here if you want to compare (149.5cm long boot floor with rear seats down).

Hmmm.. my bikes a 1211mm wheelbase + 29er rim @ 311mm (1/2 the diameter) + tyre 50mm = 1572mm/157.2cm.

So, boot;
Lenght= 149.5cm
Width 101cm
Gives you a diagonal measurement of= 180.4cm. So should fit in diagonally okay, especially with a front wheel removes, reducing the HA making it shorter still..
I was thinking of fitting a 15mm mount to bolt the forks into.
Sounds Like I need to take a trip and try and fit it before the test drive.

Other cars around the same price, year and size:
– Fiat Tipo Estate
– Skoda Fabia Estate
– Peugeot 2008

I’ve had one of these.

Does 0-60 eventually, and comes with an integrated Tenalady dispenser and personalised Rainmate.

Obvious fun-poking aside, they are a bit dull to drive and rather noisy on the motorway.

However, ours was super-reliable, despite racking up some considerable mileage. The 1.3 engine (wierdly listed as a 1.4, despite being way closer to 1.3) turns your petrol tank into an ever-lasting gob-stopper. 55 mpg achievable (according to the dash read-out).

Very spacious inside with the seats down. I couldn’t get my FS 29er in it with the wheels on, but I’ve seen it done removing only one wheel via a bit of tantric bike positioning. I just popped the wheels off, as life’s too short.

On my fourth consecutive Honda Jazz, my wife is disabled and needs a wheelchair, which stores in the boot area and it leaves the unique “between seats” area that I can fit my Ibis Ripley into with both wheels out. No other small hatchback has the adaptability that the Magic seats make possible.Rhino boot liners also will do a Jazz specific between seats liner.

My wife’s Jazz is my cx race day motor of choice. With the back seats down and the boot floor folded flat forward i get two cx bikes in (upside down, wheels off) plus six spare wheels!. I have made a wooden rack thing to hold the handlebars on the folded rear seats. The saddles sit in the spare wheel space. I ride 62cm cx bikes too. Great car.

My old (2005) jazz takes my xl Whyte T129 with just front wheel off with all rear seats down. I can’t imagine they’ve got any smaller over the years but worth checking.

CVT transmission needs servicing/oil changes, apart from that they seem to be pretty reliable

I know the OP is looking for a 2016+ but a word of warning if anyone is considering an earlier model, the 2009 I-Shift gearbox is truly appalling and only lasted 12 months before reverting to a CVT.

Fifth most reliable car here

https://www.reliabilityindex.com/top-100

We have had a few in the wider family. They all seem to like them and have had no real issues. Oh except my sister hitting a deer. It was done on insuarnce but she said it was crazy exopenive to fix. Everything is so cleverly packed in the front so that just a small fold in at the front wiped out loads of expensve bits. Pumps and radiators etc.

But I can’t see that being a reason not to buy one

Got 2014 ES+
18k on the clock, drives well, starts first time despite being on the drive for days at a time

Loads of space for bikes and crap

Not the most exciting or flashy motor but as a second car ideal

It’s actually pretty decent at 70mph too

Love our 2007 CVT Jazz, currently about to hit 90k on the clock. It’s now the ‘dirty car’ (dogs and bikes!) and when it eventually dies we’ll most likely replace it with another Jazz. We’ve had the new one as a courtesy car a few times, it’s pretty sweet actually. If you want a bit of go there is the Jazz Sport which nicks the Civic engine for a bit of actual speed, instead of “gets there eventually”.

I’ve just replaced my 2008 Jazz 1.3 with a Skoda Yeti.  I bought the Jazz as a cheap run around and was pleasantly surprised by how practical and economical it was. Before getting the Yeti, we had a couple of test drives of a new & nearly new Jazz and Jazz ‘sport’ – but we preferred the extra torque of the 1.4tsi in the Yeti.

The latest model is slightly bigger inside than my Mk2, but it has the same back seats that give a flat load area when folded (seats are also a lot easier to flip down than most hatchbacks).  I could fit my large FS 29er in with front wheel off seat dropped – bike lying on its side.

Economy wise, if you use the gear change indicator, they are very impressive, and on steady A-road commute, I got anywhere between 54 and 63mpg, depending on time of year (air con, lights etc).

Downsides – I found were that you need to rev the nuts off the engine to make brisk progress, and this is the same in the current model.  The ride quality and road noise in the latest model is a lot better than the Mk2, as it’s got a 6 speed ‘box.  However, on dual carriageway/motorway, I found I had to drop into 4th or 5th on overtakes where the VAG tsi engines will just pull in 6th.  Having said this, tootling around in town and B-roads, I never found the lack of low revs torque a problem.

Fabia estates are very good, but FWIR, the rear seat back doesn’t fold flat and the boot lip is quite tall, so it’s a bit more of a PIA to slide a bike in on its side – might be worth having a look though.

If you do decide on a Jazz and are buying cash (or via your own finance), haggle hard, as there are some real killer deals available on new and nearly new.

We’ve had two Jazz’s and they were both great cars without any reliability issues other than the one with the CVT gearbox needing an oil change (done under warranty) to sort some juddering. They make great bike carriers. Yes they’re not the most exciting but they are very practical. We replaced the last one with one of the 1.0 turbo Fiesta’s (which is a lot more fun to drive) but in a year that’s already had more issues than the Jazz’s had in the nearly 20 years of combined ownership we had with those.

Thanks again all.
Sounds good enough to go and check out.
Will take the bike and give it a trial fit.

I have an HRV which is just a Jazz with a bigger body on it. Excellent car – very big inside compared to others in it’s class – you wouldn’t have any trouble fitting an FS in there with both wheels on if you put the seats down.

It’s lacking a bit in character, I admit.

Had two of them, small, nice enough to drive and oddly spacious. Quite enjoy fitting bike in back easily next to someone struggling to get a bike in their SUV.

My dad loves his. He’s 84.It even survived his recent attempt to kill it when he reversed into a wall.

My Jazz is Mk 1 but when it dies (if ever) we’ll replace it with a newer one. I’ve often said its the perfect car for us, just missing 4wd and a turbo.

It’s a small car but you can fit loads in, we have had weekends away with 2 bikes, a baby and the paraphernalia, all inside.

May also be an option to consider an older Civic too, nice drive and places to sit, but into bangernomics territory with cost/reliability/mileage.

I say this as an owner of an EP3 Type R which I love and which just runs and runs (178k recently hit). Also had a later 2.2 Diesel which was comfy and great on long trips, but the reliability wasn’t as good as the older model, nothing major, just running costs although it was at 140k so to be expected really.

Neither car cost me over £3k up front, the diesel I shipped on after a year and a lot of miles at a loss. The type R is probably like for like on value for its age/condition.

I’d rather have a Fiesta. The Fiesta has nicer engines and is much nicer to drive. It’s not as practical, although I used to fit my Trek Slash in the back of one with the front wheel off.

It’s probably not quite as reliable. But that’s a bit like saying the German rail network isn’t as reliable as the Japanese rail network.

I have a first generation one. Dull, noisy, excellent town car. I always take both wheels off bikes to fit them in. Best to try one with your bike to see how it goes. For such a small car, they have an impressive amount of space with the seats folded down. Renting or borrowing one for a weekend and doing a trial run would be my advice.

We had a 2005 Jazz for nearly a decade and it was ace. Petrol, manual, it didn’t have a lot of power for hard acceleration but would happily chug along at 70-80mph for hours in comfort and do 50mpg relatively easily.

It was also cavernous. We managed to move huge amounts of stuff in it – the back seats folded completely flat so the boot space was very versatile, almost a pallet size in footprint, and the front passenger seat laid back completely flat so I carried long bits of wood in it (certainly 2.4m IIRC).

(edit: I fitted 6 bikes in the back, with the wheels removed and carefully stashed around them, several times, but it was more common that I fitted three of us and three mountain bikes in comfortably)

It was an incredibly reliable car. Though it’s worth remembering that you should replace the oil and oil filter regularly. Do that and they run and run.

Sounds like the ideal small car to me!
We’ve got a new shape Qashqai as our main family car, so this will be used for those smaller trips, town and loading up.

My mother bought a 2018 SE late last year to replace her 3008 spacebuggy.

Yeah she’s an old granny, but the car is remarkably refined and built very well indeed. I like it, it drives like a car and stops like a car and is quite smooth and quiet (considering the thin feel to the doors and windows) back seats fall flat and there’s loads of space in it, haven’t tried bikes but did get a washing machine in it (with a squeeze past the inner boot opening) but once in the car there was loads of room. Visually I reckon you’d get a bike in with front wheel off no problem.

Couple of niggles, the door bins are made of thin scratchy plastic that score when hit with a shoe. The center console is a bit flexiable.

Its a nice thing. And semi anonymous in that you could park it anywhere and it still be there weeks later. And I like that.

Obvious fun-poking aside, they are a bit dull to drive

I disagree with this. I had one as a courtesy car from Honda while my Civic Type-R was being fixed, and I thought it was a proper lively drive, with comedy lift off oversteer. It did feel like it was made of recycled yoghurt pots though (maybe that’s a good thing?). Anyway, I’d have one if I wanted a cheap runaround and didn’t care about looks or cabin quality.

I’m not bothered by looks or cabin quality. SE & EX seem to have all the toys I’d ever want.
I’d have a car you could pressure wash the interior of if I could.
I can see why they’re so popular from the above to be honest.

On seeing a mention for the Fiat Tipo I shuddered. Only buy one of you enjoy the experience of self-loathing. I had one for about a month whilst my own car was being fixed. It was terrible to drive, gutless and did I say gutless. It also had a very pronounced lip at the boot which was a PITA.

On seeing a mention for the Fiat Tipo I shuddered

Seems to be a common theme for these.
They look quite smart online and the boot is pretty big.
All the reviews are scathing though and it appears to be a Fiat parts bin special with some vacuum formed cheap plastic panels to make do.

Update- I ended up buying a Jazz EX ’16.
I’ve done about 1,000 miles in it and I love it!
With the seats down it’s a proper little van. BMX goes in with both wheels on and loadse of room to spare and the big 29er 150mm FS goes in with the front wheel off straight standing up. My B road commute gets me 60mpg average despite lots of junctions and stop start over 40mile daily commute. It’s a very comfy place to be and the interior is functional. No fancy materials and feels like it’s built to last. My insurance was half that of the Fiesta ST and the tax is only £30, so substantial savings already. Acceleration is adequate and 101hp is plenty for our busy roads. I’ve found that my commute is much more relaxing now and despite driving slower, I still seem to arive at the same time.

Only criticism is that 6th is geared very low, so at 70mph you’re doing 3,200rpm. This means you can hear the engine on the motorway and there’s a bit of windnoise too. We have a big car for long journeys though, so this is the perfect local run around.

The car seems to fly under the radar and people always let me out at junctions and are generally kind to me. Refreshing being in an invisible car that should be penuts to run and be reliable.

Currently putting plans together for mini camper conversion kit to take a single airbed. With the passenger seat down I get about 2.3 metres length and there’s plenty of with for a single person and the MTB with both wheels off.

I liked my 2005 Jazz. For its size nothing comes close to providing as much bike lugging capacity.

They are entirely vanilla to drive. They work faultlessly. I revved the tits off mine for 2 years and it it just took all the abuse you could give it. The engine is ok, it moves you but to make any real progress you need to work the gearbox and rev it hard.

If you don’t need to hustle it is a lovely easy simple drive that gets on with everything without fuss.

My garage says the only thing they ever need beyond basic servicing is rear brakes and exhausts.