Honda Jazz Review & Prices

For many years now, the Honda Jazz has been a great choice if you want something uncomplicated, reliable, and practical. This version of the Jazz might be more striking to look at than previous versions, but it’s still the same old dependable thing at heart. 

It’s no thriller to drive — a VW Polo, a Peugeot 208, and even a Skoda Fabia are more fun behind the wheel, but the Jazz just exudes good old common sense. Think of it as a sensible pair of slacks and comfy shoes, rather than a pair of skinny jeans and stilettos. 

The styling of this generation of Jazz is at least more interesting than before, and while it’s tall and roomy, Honda has carefully worked on the aerodynamics of its shape to ensure it’s frugal with its fuel. It also has a rather cute, expressive face. 

Inside, there’s a blend of different surfaces and materials so that the cabin doesn’t end up looking too plain, and it’s well-equipped too. The big windows and sense of space make the Jazz feel almost more like some kind of mobile living room than a car, and it’s very comfortable too.

The back seats are roomy enough for even tall adults to get comfy, with plenty of legroom and headroom. The seats have a clever trick, too — the cushions can flip up vertically, like cinema seats, to create a big, tall loadspace for carrying bulky items. 

The Jazz’s boot isn’t the biggest in its class, but augmented by those clever back seats, this is a very practical car overall, and the boot itself has a low load lip and a big, wide tailgate opening so that it’s easy to heft even big stuff in there. The Jazz’s extra bit of body height makes it more practical by far than the likes of a VW Polo or Vauxhall Corsa. There’s also a ‘Crosstar’ version which gets some stick-on plastic bits to try and make it look like a mini-4x4.

There’s only one engine option for the Jazz — it’s a 1.5-litre petrol hybrid, which actually works with two electric motors and a CVT gearbox to power the front wheels with 122hp. It’s a very slick system, and you have to really be paying attention to spot when the petrol engine kicks in and takes over from electric power. 

In-town is the Jazz’s natural habitat, and with those big windows, light power steering, and soft springs it’s ideal for navigating tight, bumpy city streets. At low speeds, the hybrid system spends a lot of time running on electric power, so the Jazz is smooth to accelerate, and there’s an adjustable regenerative braking mode to give you a little bit of electric car-style ‘one pedal’ driving. 

Get on the motorway, and the Jazz is still pretty good, with acceptable refinement and comfort levels, and radar-guided cruise control to take the strain out of longer journeys. The petrol engine does get a bit shouty when you need to accelerate hard, though. 

Sadly, the Jazz isn’t a lot of fun on a twisty road. It’s set up for comfort and refinement, not sharp cornering, and it ends up skipping too much over mid-corner bumps. A Peugeot 208 or Skoda Fabia are more fun to drive. 

Where the Honda Jazz scores is in being a roomy and useful family car, ideal for those who prioritise comfort and quality, rather than driving excitement or outright luxury. 

Check out Carwow’s latest Honda Jazz deals to get a great price on a new car, or browse used Jazz models from our network of trusted dealers. You can look through other used Hondas, and sell your car through Carwow, too.

The Honda Jazz is by far the most expensive car in its class, although you could make the argument that both its standard equipment levels, and its cabin space, mean that it technically sits half a class higher than the likes of the VW Polo, Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 208 and so on. 

Even so, a basic Jazz is a full £6,000 more expensive than a basic Polo. It’s £3,000 more than the hybrid-engined Peugeot 208, and a whopping £8,000 more than the cheapest MG 3 Hybrid. Even Toyota’s Yaris Hybrid, not noted for being a bargain model, undercuts the price of the Jazz by £4,000. 

There are some mitigating circumstances, such as the fact that the Jazz comes as standard with items such as radar cruise control, all-round parking sensors, and 16-inch alloy wheels, but there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s by far the priciest small car around. 

Comfort and refinement are the Honda Jazz’s strong points, but don’t go expecting thrills and excitement on a twisty road

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 the Crosstar Advance, 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 actual physical brake pedal to come to a complete stop, 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 alloy wheels only go up to 16 inches, 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 to stop you drifting out of your 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 that the Jazz in any way encourages you to want to do so.

While the suspension is great at soaking up bumps almost everywhere, if you’re cornering and hit a sizeable 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 Honda Jazz has plenty of space in the front and back seats, and clever storage solutions, but the boot is actually quite 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 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.

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 is 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 — Honda calls this the ‘Magic Seat’ function — 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 380 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.

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 – the biggest in class by about 100 litres – 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 Honda Jazz’s cabin is a bit monochrome, but it’s well-equipped and thoughtfully laid-out

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 every car is 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 one engine option with the Honda Jazz. 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 that don’t offer a full hybrid powertrain. Only the Toyota Yaris Hybrid and the MG 3 Hybrid can match the Jazz for frugality.

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.

The Jazz didn’t have enough responses to feature in the most recent Auto Express Driver Power survey, but Honda came 11th in the most reliable brands table.