Honda Jazz Review & Prices

The Honda Jazz has taken a place in the heart of a certain demographic for some time, but it’s more modern looking and has the same dependable character at its heart.

While the Jazz isn’t the most exciting option, with hatchbacks like the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and Vauxhall Corsa being more interesting to drive, it’s more like going with a comfortable cotton chino than a stylish skinny jean.

The design of the Jazz is quite streamlined, with a sleek face and a curved line to join the headlights up, while you have sharp lines down the sides and smoothed-off alloy wheels to help with aerodynamics.

There are some modern aspects inside too, with different materials adding texture to the cabin. You’ll also find plenty of equipment and a more lounge-like feel that’s more comfortable than other hatchbacks, while the windows are large allowing in lots of light.

In the back, adults will be more than happy with lots of headroom and legroom, while you can fold the seat bench up to create an excellent storage space if you’re moving things or had a particularly fruitful shopping trip.

The boot isn’t the largest compared to its alternatives, but with the Magic Seats in the back and a useful opening with a low load-lip to help get things in, the Jazz is the most practical small hatchback option – especially more so than the sportier-looking Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta.

You only have one power option – a hybrid 1.5-litre petrol paired to two electric motors sending all 122hp to the front wheels. The power system switches seamlessly between petrol and electric drive, and unless you’re really trying, you won’t notice the petrol engine until you need to accelerate hard.

When you take the Jazz around town, you’ll find it has light steering, comfortable suspension and excellent visibility. It runs a lot of the time on electric power, which is smooth, and you can turn on a harsher brake regeneration mode to help charge the battery up.

Going on the motorway is a fairly serene experience too – apart from when you’re accelerating that is. There’s not too much wind or road noise to deal with and it’s a nice place to be in, especially as adaptive cruise control is standard.

You won’t find the Jazz particularly fun on a twisty road as it’s more set up to get you from A-to-B in the most comfort. It’s less settled here and feels like it skips around when you go over bumps.

The Honda Jazz is a very comfortable car that’s practical for families or those who need to get around in peace, but just don’t expect a lot of excitement in terms of driving and the interior finish.

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Being hybrid-only and being a bit more premium than its alternatives, the Honda Jazz is more expensive than the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Volkswagen Polo.

What those cars don’t offer is excellent safety assistance systems as standard alongside high levels of equipment, while the Jazz is more practical in terms of different storage layouts.

The Jazz is comfortable on all roads and is peaceful to be in, but it’s not an exciting car to drive

In town

Driving the Honda Jazz in town is a pleasant experience on the whole. The steering is light to make manoeuvring and parking a simple exercise, with the turning circle just 10.1 metres on the Elegance trim and 10.7 metres on both the Advance and Advance Sport models. That’s on par with its main alternatives.

The suspension is comfort-focused and allows the Jazz to soak up almost all the cracks and bumps in the road, unless there’s a larger pothole. You won’t hear or feel many rattles either.

You’ll be happy to hear that there’s also good visibility all around. The large front window helps you look out over the front corners, while there are large wing mirrors and large windows either side.

The hybrid setup suits in town as the electric motors do most of the heavy lifting. That allows for good acceleration from junctions, while you won’t notice too much when the petrol engine is needed to drive the wheels. There’s a CVT automatic transmission, so you won’t have to worry about changing gears either.

Putting the brake regeneration mode on makes things easier as well, as you can drive mostly with the accelerator alone, while the resistance levels under deceleration put energy back into the battery. The paddles you’ll find behind the steering wheel on the Advance Sport model can adjust how much regen there is, and the highest level is close to one-pedal driving. You’ll need to use the brake to stop fully though.

On the motorway

With the comfort focus for the suspension, you’ll find that long drives in the Jazz are easy to do. There’s little wind and road noise to be worried about, as there’s good sound insulation and the wheels only go up to 16-inch alloys, which don’t emit much noise compared to larger wheels.

Adaptive cruise control is fitted across the Jazz range, making long motorway journeys or shunting along in traffic a lot easier than if it wasn’t included. Lane keep assist helps you stay in lane, while emergency brake assist is there to save you too.

With the electric motors giving instant torque, you can get on the way to motorway speed before the petrol motor needs to kick in. The engine drones a lot when you’re accelerating, but when you’re cruising it quietens down and you can drive in near peace.

On a twisty road

With the ‘Sport’ mode engaged, the steering weight goes up a little and there’s more responsiveness from the throttle. That doesn’t change the characteristics of the Jazz much though, as it’s not the most fun to drive on a twisty road – especially when compared to a Volkswagen Polo or a Ford Fiesta.

Being a lot taller than lower-sitting alternatives, there’s more body lean to deal with and you’ll find it’s easier to push wider through a corner if you’re driving harder – not like you would with a Jazz anyway.

While the suspension is great at soaking up bumps almost everywhere, if you’re cornering and hit a sizable bump, the Jazz will skip a little. That’ll show you that keeping it cool and calm like the rest of the Jazz’s character will set you right – rather than trying to hustle it down a back road.

The cabin of the Jazz is spacious for passengers and practical for storage, but the boot itself is a little small

Honda has done a great job of making the Jazz’s cabin as practical as possible, considering its rather modest dimensions. Just in the front part of the cabin, there are multiple cubbies and places to store things, while the seats themselves are comfortable – trimmed in cloth and synthetic leather, with a smattering of Ultra suede in the Advance Sport model.

You have plenty of adjustment with the seats and because there’s so much headroom above, you can jack the seat up or sit much lower depending on your preference. There’s angle and reach alteration for the steering column too, meaning it’s easy to get comfy.

Storage up front is also good, as you have large door bins, cupholders in the centre console and at either end of the dashboard, a space under the central armrest and two gloveboxes on the passenger side. There’s also a place for your smartphone below the central touchscreen, which houses two USB chargers.

Space in the back seats

The rear seats are an interesting feature to the Jazz, as they can hold three adults or be folded up to be an extension of the boot.

When you’re using the bench to carry people, you’ll see there’s lots of head and legroom, while you won’t be fighting for foot room much, as the flat floor means you can spread out and under the front seats.

Sitting three adults across the back will be a bit of a squeeze, but the cushioning on the seats does mean you can take them in relative comfort. For fitting child seats, you have two ISOFIX mounting points on the outer seats, with the large door openings allowing you to slot them in place easily.

Folding the seat bases up reveals a large and tall space that can be used if the boot is crammed full and you need more room to carry larger items. You will sacrifice the space for passengers if you choose to take both the 60/40-split seat bases up, but you can leave either the two-seat or single-seat section down if you need to.

Boot space

The 305 litres on offer in the boot isn’t exactly small, but the Volkswagen Polo’s 351-litre boot and the 330 litres from the Skoda Fabia are larger than the Jazz’s. The Vauxhall Corsa (309 litres) and Peugeot 208 (311 litres) also offer a touch more. Despite the lower figure, the Jazz still feels practical when you consider the space in the cabin.

You get a small area under the floor, while there are a couple of bag hooks to hang things off if you need. A fold-up pram and a weekly shop will easily fit in the boot without much trouble.

If you need to fold the seats down, the seat-back latches are easy to reach. When you fold them, the space is flat and the 1,205 litres – which is better than all but the Volkswagen Polo – offer a good area to throw things in, while the load lip is level with the floor. That means sliding things in and out is simple.

The black and grey colours don’t make the Jazz the most exciting place to be, but it’s nicely laid-out and you’ll find lots of kit

Although it’s no premium large saloon, the finish in the Jazz is excellent, with all the elements fitted nicely and all the materials feeling decent for the price point. Sure there’s no Nappa leather or fancy wood veneer, but the smooth faux leather and plastics help make the cabin a comfortable place to be.

The look of the cabin is also rather pleasing, with simple lines combined with easy-to-use knobs, dials and stalks making this a great place to be. It’s just a shame Honda couldn’t feel more inspired by putting only grey and black trim pieces everywhere – only the Advance Sport gets a splash of yellow detailing.

You do get a large gear lever, which feels a little unnecessary when buttons could have done the job – but there are conventional dials and buttons for the climate control which is great.

The two displays – a 7.0-inch driver’s display and a 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen – are both very clear and crisp. The software is smooth and the menus are easy to navigate on the infotainment screen, while you can customise the driver’s display to your liking. A head-up display is also available on the top-spec models.

You can use Apple CarPlay wirelessly, but you will need a wire to load up Android Auto. The directions from your map application will integrate with the navigation system in the car and show up on the driver’s display, which is some neat integration that not many cars are able to offer.

There are some options to add character to your Jazz, including a couple of exterior styling packs, while there are storage packs to make the boot more practical or easier to clean. But as the Jazz comes fully loaded on most trim levels, you won’t need to add much to it.

You only get the choice of one engine with the Jazz, which makes your choice an awful lot easier. The 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is teamed with two electric motors to make it a self-charging hybrid, while a CVT transmission is used when the petrol engine is engaged.

With the electric motors doing most of the heavy lifting at slower speeds and the petrol engine taking the strain on the motorway, the Jazz can do between 58.8 and 62.7mpg depending on the trim level – better than most alternatives as they don’t offer a full hybrid powertrain.

Emissions are also fairly low with the Jazz, with combined CO2 figures between 102 and 108g/km. That means road tax and company car tax rates will be affordable.

The Honda Jazz has an excellent safety rating, scoring five stars when tested by Euro NCAP, while all bar one sub-category scored above 80% – a good all-round showing. It did particularly well in adult occupancy, achieving 87%, but child occupancy, pedestrian safety and assists weren’t far behind.

As standard, all Jazz models feature a host of safety assist technology as part of the Honda Sensing setup. That includes brake and collision mitigation assist, lane departure and keep assist, forward collision warning, traffic sign recognition and adaptive cruise control with low speed following. Advance and Advance Sport models also get blind spot monitoring.

Models also get a security alarm with an immobiliser, two ISOFIX points on the outer rear seats and airbags throughout the cabin.

The current Jazz has had two recalls in the UK. One was for a sensor in the seat belt assembly, while the other was a software issue for the front camera when you start the car up. Both are easily solvable, so used options should be checked to see if they’ve been affected and resolved.

Each new Honda comes with a three-year/90,000-mile warranty, although this can be extended by up to five years before the car is over three years old. An additional guarantee service can also be purchased, which can be bought from Honda until the car is eight years old.