Comments on: Honda Jazz Most Satisfying

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:01:49 +0000

Got my CVT replaced.

Car runs like a dream now. YAY!

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:01:10 +0000

For the first 4.5 years I was pretty happy with my 1.4 iDSI Jazz. But now it started deteriorating fast. At 51,000 Km strated doing “woo-woo” noise >45km/h which sounds like front wheel bearing noise and sudden increase in fuel consumption.
I bought a Japaneese car only for the sake of reliability, because this is the only area where the Japaneese cars are supposed to be superior than European brands; on all other accounts they are worst. But apparently today’s Japaneese reliability is a myth. Yes, their engines are robust, but a car is far more than just an engine. Will not consider Honda or any Japaneese brand again. I think the times of legendary Japaneese reliability for the totality of a car are gone with no return. At least with European brands with higher failure rates the dealer mechanics have a higher expossure to problem resolution increasing the propability of knowing how to resolve the problem spot-on without so much guess work.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:17:23 +0000

I’ve had the shuddering issue for some time aswell.

Trivett Honda in Parramatta have flushed and reset the CVT on each of my 10,000KM services. However after 3-4000km the problem reappears. It’s not like I trash the car too. I’ve very light on the accelerator and understand the concept of mechanical sympathy! However, this is very much so a design fault. No doubt.

I’m going to Trivett this week to get this looked at again. Since the oil was just replaced, I’m just going to ask them to get a reset done and then see how it behaves.

If the above quote of $2500 for a new starter clutch is true, it might be time to offload the car.

By: Russell

Russell — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:50:57 +0000

I must say the build of the Jazz and functionality are still excellent, and the Honda engines are legendary. As for the above vibration I mentioned it comes and goes, so maybe not much to worry about. We get such good economy it is worth the quirks.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:41:08 +0000

I have a Honda Jazz 2003 model it has 158000kms on the clock and I have been told that the gear bearings need replacing. When it had around 80000km I had the front wheel bearings replaced and around 100000km I had the rear wheel bearings replaced.
When I phoned Honda to mention this they said my car was over 5 years old and that they have had complaints about wheel bearings being replaced.
Maybe it is time to buy another car

By: Russell

Russell — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:45:01 +0000

In regards to Robert above, I helped my daughter purchase a second hand Honda Jazz 2004 model with 80,000 km on the clock. It had the shudder at take off as well so I took it to a Perth Honda dealer. They said it was the starter clutch bearing in the CVT, and although it wasn’t under warranty and we were the second owners, they replaced the whole CVT with a reconditioned one free of charge. We were impressed with that dealer and thanked them. The other day the vehicle developed a vibration in the whole car at idle, so I guess now we are up for new engine mounts in a car less than 5 years old. I just sold a Toyota Tarago 19 years old and never replaced any of these components. I guess the 2004 Japanese Jazz was built to Japanese conditions and only to last 5 years, at a cheap price? I can only hope the 2009 model addressed these issues.

By: linda

linda — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:16:14 +0000

i bought my jazz vtis 2oo4,first problem came out 8 monts ago .Paint on both side mirrors starting to peel off . Trivett said its not their fault,don’t want to honor warranty on paint.they said it was the company who applied the paint protection so we complain to them, as expected they toss back the fault to Honda,they reckon it was a factory defect.Then about a week ago ,same as the few of you now we are also experiencing some shuddering on take off too and my car only have 58000 kilometers on odometer.Just wondering what do we have to do to get Honda get their act together and save their company’s dignity and pride.maybe if we all get together and some how publish all this problem we are having with our cars on national publication ,then it might wake up Honda personnels to their senses .

By: Oscar

Oscar — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:49:14 +0000

i’ve had my cvt jazz vti-s new since dec 2002. it has done 146000km to date. i had similar problems with robert, to date i have change the engine mount twice at the same location which is on the passenger side underneath the battery. first one was at around 60k (covered by warranty)and the second time was at 130km(out of warranty- so i got the parts from asia which cost me around $40 and $40 to install at my mechanics). I had the transmission issue since about 35k and i had raised the issues many times to honda trivett. each time they check, they recalibrate the start up clutch and change the oil, but after about 5k it comes back again. i change the atf oil every 20k since new. the shuddering always comes back after about 3-4k after the oil change.after a while i got fed up and dont bother to raise the issue to honda. Until about 2 years ago, my mechanic told me that honda got a special oil for the cvt and it is expensive. so i’ve changed to the new oil and the shuddering actually disappears. but to do it properly, they need to flush the entire transmission so you need about 7 liters. with the radio, i had to replace the entire console and my mechanic got a second hand one for $350. i think $1500 is way too expensive. with that price, you can get a double din console for $235 and get the double din cd player etc.

By: robert

robert — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:29:35 +0000

HONDA BUYERS BEWARE. I bought my Jazz Vti-S brand new in Feb 2005. Light city driving to work and back from Killara to City. All was good until I got to around 45K and started to notice an unpleasant transmission shudder upon even the mildest acceleration from a standstill. I was told it was fluid and it was replaced twice. This made little difference, still shuddered. Got steadily worse. Complained again at 60K service (2 weeks ago) they told me it was a worn out front engine mount and replacing it would fix it…$250 later NO difference. I am now really pissed off and have since found out through the web that many CVT Jazz and City transmissions have developed a faulty ’startup clutch’….surely this should have been something that Honda just fessed up to and rectified under warranty. I am now (of course) out of warranty but I was not out of warranty when it was first raised with Honda. I will pursue this vigorously until I get a new ’startup clutch’ fitted for free. In addition the CD player stopped working at around 45K (maybe used it 20 times)…I was told this could not be fixed and the entire radio/cd/centre console would need to be replaced at my expense for a mere $1500. This is not good enough Honda Australia.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:38:21 +0000

I’ve had my Jazz CVI since the end of 2004. I noticed a couple of months ago that the car became noisier over 60kmph. I mentioned this at its next service, and Honda agreed to replace the rear bearings for free. Not trying to set a record here, but I\’ve hardly driven the thing – rear bearing failure at 17,000km!(And, for the record, I don\’t live near the ocean, nor do I use it as a lorry).
Apart from that it has had the radio replaced (display blanked out) and a bit of front pillar trim came loose. But each time the Honda people have been professional and helpful in dealing with these problems.
There is no perfect car – you can only judge a car by its competitors, and so far I think that Jazz is still on top.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:55:11 +0000

We’ve had our Jazz new since 2006, and done 50,000km.
Excellent city driving fuel consumption, most of the time
returning 5.5l/100km, down to 4.2l/100km is possible if
you’re not bothered being passed by bus and push-bike.
Nothing has broken, however needed new brakes recently.
Slight shuddering in transmission, required new fluid
after flushing. Done by dealer under warranty. The new
ones don’t have CVT anymore… Perhaps due to longevity
problems caused by traffic light sprint driving here
in Australia.

By: Aimee

Aimee — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:17:44 +0000

I have had my GLi manual Jazz for 5 years now and it still going strong. Best car in the world! I live in the territory, have given it some pretty rough treatment over the last couple of years and touch wood, no wheel bearing problems like some others have mentioned. My drivers side lock is starting to play up but I can accept that as it’s the only fault in 5 years. I have not met anyone with a more reliable car than me.

By: kim mc andrew

kim mc andrew — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:24:16 +0000

my jazz vtis auto juddered on acceleration had the transmission oil changed and it still juddered eventually after two oil changes and still juddering on take off I found the problem the cvt gearbox has a starter clutch which operates from 0 – 8kms and can cost from $2500 upwards to repair.so if you have one of these autos just beware I sold mine cheap just to get rid of it.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:49:38 +0000

Bought my Vti-S CVT in 2003. It has now travelled a bit under 140K kms to date, or about 27,000kms annually!

Travel mainly in the City with the occasionally long distance trip.

The only problem to date is that a new plastic engine mount was replaced as the original had worn and caused my car to vibrate excessively (it cost AU$150).

Other than this, great car, definitely best car in it’s category.

Space efficiency is awesome, fuel economy is great. And it’s a cute car in the Vti-S spec! Can’t wait for the 2009 brand new spanking model.

By: david baker

david baker — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:32:02 +0000

Ihave a four year old jazz and both rear wheel bearings failed at 24k,yes 24k.I was told it might be the way I drive or the sea air where I live.To be fair Honda paid for bearings,I had to pay for fitting.

By: Juraj

Juraj — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:22:10 +0000

I still have doubts with how well Honda suspensions hold up through time. I’ve owned a Civic and Corolla before and the latter’s chassis is just much sturdier. Honda engines are very good in power and reliability, and interior quality is alright, not quite Euro but not Korean either. The Jazz seems to have great showing – it has topped so many charts. Just about the whole world loves it, yes, including the US.

By: doug Howard

doug Howard — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:39:30 +0000

The radio is a bit narrow in bandwidth on the AM band which is all that we listen to. Australia and NZ have 9 kHz of crisp, high fidelity AM radio to hear, that the countries where the jazz will normally land only have 3 kHz.
It would be nice if it tuned above 1602 kHz as we listen to the station on 1701 kHz.
You cant exactly get a radio from repco and fit it to the dash!
Apart from that whinge, everything is great! Well done Honda!

By: doug Howard

doug Howard — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:33:48 +0000

Ours is less than 500km old now and has only used little more than half a tank of fuel.

By: Colin Scott

Colin Scott — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:32:18 +0000

You guys are so helpful

My Jazz is starting to sound more like a truck everyday. Sounds like rear wheel bearings are shot at 100,000k
Are Honda kidding. What wear would you get in rear wheel bearings with a front wheel drive car???

By: clare crain

clare crain — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:28:01 +0000

Have loved my Jazz until Iwas told that a bearing has gone at 54k miles. Looking at cost of approx £850 to fix. doesn’t seem alot of miles for amost reliable car!!!