50,000 km with my Honda Jazz CVT: An honest list of likes & dislikes

Major pain point with AC controls is that they are touch screen and not physical controls.

BHPian pappyrohit recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I own a Honda Jazz V CVT (Model Year 2017) which has recently crossed the 50k km milestone. I would like to share my thoughts about its ownership.

A brief history of ownership

Jazz was our first family car, which we purchased in Bengaluru, back in 2017, a few weeks before my 18th birthday. Back in late 2016, we were on the lookout for a small family hatchback, with the main priority being automatic (comfort in BLR traffic).

We looked at Suzuki Celerio, but were disappointed with the jerky AMT transmission and lack of space in the back seat for a 6ft 1inch tall person like me. We moved onto the next segment, and the next car was Ford Figo, which we really liked and considered. It was compact, had better space than Celerio and had a solid build quality. While window shopping at Magnum Honda Showroom, we came across Jazz, and were impressed with the roomy cabin.

We decided to stick to premium hatchback segment and looked at other contenders.

The first was Hyundai Elite i20. It had better build quality and interiors than Jazz, but the automatic variant was pricey (costed over 11.5L OTR). We then moved to Suzuki Baleno. Baleno was as roomy as Jazz, had better features and being a Suzuki, we expected low maintenance. We skipped Baleno as it had a huge waiting period of 6+ months (according to Kalyani Nexa) and we couldn't wait that long, as we needed a car immediately.

We took delivery of Golden Brown metallic Jazz on Republic Day, 2017, right after my first semester in college.

During the first few years, till the end of 2019, the Jazz was barely used. It was parked during the weekdays as my parents preferred public transport to commute to work (convenient) and would take the car out only on weekends for short road trips. I would occasionally take the car for a spin, when I would go home during semester breaks. By the end of 2019, it had barely crossed 20k km mark, most of which was due to highway runs.

Between 2020-2022, I was at home, due to Work From Home, and we got more opportunities to drive the car in city and longer roadtrips. By mid 2023, Jazz had clocked 42000kms on the odometer

Post inheritance

In September 2023, I inherited the Jazz, from my parents after they upgraded to a new car, Grand Vitara Mild Hybrid. Since it was our first car, I am pretty emotionally attached to it. I drove the car, to Hyderabad, where I was posted for work. In the past six months, it had clocked almost 9000kms. The roads in the areas, where I live are pretty smooth and wide, and driving is a joy.

It recently crossed 50000km mark on it's 7th birthday, and here are the issues we faced with it, over seven years of ownership

• Had to fix engine wiring twice as rats chewed their way through, while it was parked in our basement parking. Weirdly, Honda does not have engine guard for Jazz, but does provide one for all other models like City and Amaze.
• Had to change entire set of tyres once at around 25000km mark and another two tyres, as they were brutally damaged when we kept taking it to our farmland. The roads were filled with sharp stones and the tyres were weak after getting punctured multiple times.
• Had to get the catalytic converter replaced once, as it was damaged when the car scraped over a monstrous bump on the road
• Had to replace the front bumper twice (once when I hit the curb to avoid a drunk guy on the street), (second time, when our driver misjudged a stone on an unpaved road and scraped over it, damaging the bumper)
• Had to replace the rear fender once after an autorickshaw rammed it, in Hyderabad.
• Had to replace front left suspension's arm as the ball joint was broken. Weirdly this was missed by our regular third party garage during three services, but was caught by Honda service. According to Honda service, the ball joint was broken a while ago, and wasn't a recent issue. The car still ran like a charm, even with a broken suspension arm.

Apart from these issues caused by accidents, our Jazz never had any issue. Legit, fuss free ownership.

Characteristics of the car

1. Engine: Peppy engine mated to CVT transmission. Faced no issues in city. Really smooth and silent drive, as long as you go easy on the gas pedal. CVT taught me how to drive patiently and I manage to squeeze good mileage too. On an average, I get 14-15kmpl in city and around 19kmpl on ORR or expressways. Sport mode unlocks a different characteristic in this car. The engine runs at a higher rpm, and there’s more than enough power to pull the car to triple digit speeds from city speeds quickly. It’s fun using sports mode on expressways with light traffic like ORR in Hyderabad. Managed to touch 150kph without breaking a sweat.
2. Handling: The suspension isn’t particularly extra ordinary. At city speeds it’s fine and does its job well. Potholes are usually absorbed but a mild thud is usually felt in the cabin. At high speeds, it doesn’t wallow much and you can drive with confidence. You wouldn’t feel confident pulling through a corner at high speeds though.
3. UX: The interiors are slightly driver oriented. - The dashboard is slightly inclined towards the driver. Perks of it- driver can feel all the airflow, very beneficial when driving alone during summers. The sad part is, co passengers might not get enough AC.
4. There are no rear AC vents and it does take time to cool the large cabin.
5. Major pain point with AC controls is that they are touch screen and not physical controls. It’s very distracting to set the controls while driving.
6. The V variant comes with a 5 inch non touch screen infotainment. It serves my purpose well. I use it to attend calls (no issues with call quality) and for listening to music (audio quality is good enough). I do not miss CarPlay Android Auto for Navigation due to the next point
7. Cup holder at driver AC vent : I find this to be a convenient phone holder, with added cooling. I pair my phone via Bluetooth and can quickly glance at directions. My phone tends to get hot with navigation on, especially on a hot summer day, and the AC vent keeps it cool. Really nifty hack.
8. Power windows work even after turning off the engine off. As long as, none of the doors are opened yet, you can use the power windows for a few minutes. Miss this feature on other cars.
9. No speed sensing locks: For some weird reason, a 10.5L car lacks this basic safety mechanism. The doors don’t auto lock themselves whatsoever while driving. There were times, when I had to centrally lock the car while driving at moderate city speeds, because I forgot to lock the doors in the start.
10. Spacious interiors : not gonna lie, but they are actually quite roomy. My cousins (6ft 5in, 6ft 3in, 6ft) and I (6ft 1inch tall) can comfortably travel without compromising on legroom. The rear bench does lack some under thigh support, but so far none of my rear passengers have complained.
11. Rear seatbelt’s: The buckle lock for the seat belts is recessed and sometimes get lost beneath the covers, especially for the middle passenger. It’s been 7 years and I still haven’t figured out a way to pull it back in place without unzipping the covers.

Photoshoot

The Jazz parked in our farm

50k kms mark right before it’s 7th birthday

Jazz parked outside Telangana Secretariat

Rear three quarters

LED detailing in the tail lamps

Spotted it’s doppelgänger in Orlando, Florida, USA

At the end of nearly 7.5 years of ownership , I am pleased with it. I plan on continuing to use it as my daily driver for at least another 6 years. I am sure my Jazz will soldier on for the next years.

Signing off.

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