Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £10,575 to £13,535
Roomy and versatile; nippy yet economical engines; simple and user-friendly; well-built and reliable.
Ride still a bit bouncy; only two engines to choose from; not the cheapest in class; rather dowdy image.
Not as much fun to drive as the new Fiesta, nor as youthful in character, but a lot more practical and versatile.
There's no diesel in the line-up, but who needs one when the 1.2 returns 55.4mpg and emits 120g/km of carbon dioxide, and the 1.4 54.3mpg and 123g/km? You'd have to be doing a very high annual mileage to make back money spent on more expensive diesel fuel and the extra cost of buying a diesel engine in the first place. And Honda helps you make the most of the economy, with manual models getting a gear-change indicator to advise on the optimum upshifts and downshifts.
Still not frugal enough? Hang on for the hybrid, joining the range late 2009 or 2010.
Servicing should be reasonably-priced, if not as cheap as for the Fiesta or Corsa, and insurance should also be quite low - the Jazz isn't a major temptation to joy-riders.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Honda Jazz
wrote on 06 04 2007
wrote on 16 11 2006
wrote on 15 10 2006