Item: Honda Jazz 2015-2020
Rating: 3.5

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When it comes to superminis, you’re spoilt for choice: some are engaging and fun to drive, while others are well built and major on refinement.

But there’s one standout supermini that delivers on practicality and space like no other – and it’s a hard one to turn down now that prices have tumbled to a very accessible £4000. Forget the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and Seat Ibiza: for zipping around a city, you should consider a Mk3 Honda Jazz.

When you get to the rear you realise where this car’s USP resides
John Howell
Senior reviewer

What makes the Jazz so appealing, other than its price, is its clever packaging. The Mk3 – sold in the UK from 2015-2020 – has a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, which allowed Honda to increase the volume of the entire cabin.

Slide into the back of a Mk3 Jazz and you’ll be astounded by how much head and leg room there is, even if you’re tall. Two adults can sit comfortably in the back and they won’t grumble if you need to add a third person for a short journey.

It’s not just capacious, though: the rear cabin of the Jazz also has trick‘ Magic Seats’, whose bases flip up like cinema seats so you can fit bulky items across the rear passenger area without needing to fold the rear seats flat. And the Jazz is streets ahead for boot capacity too: with 354 litres to play with, it’s 62 litres bigger than that of the same-sized Mk6 Ford Fiesta.

Given all that function, there’s only a little room for form in this relatively conservative cabin, with gloss black and chrome trim doing only so much to liven things up – but fit and finish is suitably reassuring, and hard-wearing plastics on the main touchpoints mean it ages well.

Five trims were available from launch. S, SE and SE Navi have decent standard kit such as Bluetooth and cruise control, but we’d fork out an extra grand for an EX, which adds alloy wheels, a rear-view camera and, with the Navi package, in-built sat-nav.

All of the earlier versions have a 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 101bhp and 93lb ft of torque. It’s a leisurely lump, with 0 - 62mph taking a rather sedate 11.2sec, but you can have it with either a six-speed manual or a CVT gearbox. Its claimed combined economy is 56mpg, but the Jazz is more likely to achieve around 41-44mpg in real-world use. You’ll typically pay around £190 in tax annually, but it can be as little as £35 for some versions.

Such limited performance means you do have to up the ante on the motorway and it can get a bit unrefined when you do. Stick to urban environments, though, and the Jazz pootles around nicely in a hassle-free manner. We’d opt for the manual because it’s more fun to drive than the CVT. Just don’t expect the same level of engagement as a Fiesta.

If you’re after a touch more zip, there’s the 128bhp 1.5-litre Sport variant, which arrived with the facelift in 2018. Spec-wise, it’s the same as an SE but gets a slightly more purposeful-looking bodykit, as well as LED headlights, black a lloys and leather trimmings inside. It costs a little more than the 1.3-litre and is probably not worth the extra outlay because you still have to work it quite hard.

Still, the Jazz rides well and irons out lumps and bumps, the steering is accurate and linear and overall it’s a very easy car to ride around in.

Weedy engines aside, the uber-practical Jazz is just as polished as the Polos and Fiestas that dominate the urban jungle.

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Used Honda Jazz 2015-2020 review

A supermini that handles space better than NASA. The Jazz may not be big but it is very, very clever, especially on the inside…

Good

Masses of interior space

Strong reliability record

Bad

Not as competent on the motorway as some rivals

Not a driver's car

DESIGN & STYLING

Pros

Inoffensive to look at

Perhaps even cute in a bright colour

Cons

Never going to be as stylish as a less practical Mini

The Honda Jazz is something of a nonconformist in the small-car world. The Honda has always felt more like a mini-MPV rather than a traditional, zippy town car such as the Volkswagen Polo or Skoda Fabia. However, what it lacks in nimbleness, it makes up for with supreme cabin practicality.

This version was new from the ground up. There wass a new chassis using Honda’s Global Compact Platform, with new front suspension that improves both ride and refinement – a bugbear of the old 2008-2015 Jazz.

It also allows for a longer wheelbase, so the engineers eeked out even more interior space.

INTERIOR

Inside, at least from a lanky perspective, there isn’t quite enough rearward travel for the driver’s seat and it could do with more thigh support. That said, these things are to an extent subjective, and you may well find it as relaxing as a well-stuffed wingback.

In general the fit and finish is good, and the chrome accents and gloss-black surfaces help to, well, jazz up the Jazz’s interior. There are still some nail-breaking plastics thrown in, mind, and if you had to choose on cabin ambience alone, you’d vote Polo, every time.

The dash is well laid out, with clear dials that include a TFT screen next to the speedometer to display all your driving data. It’s operated via the standard steering wheel controls, which cover the phone and stereo as well. The only complaint is that the dash buttons for the climate and infotainment systems are all touch sensitive; apart from making you feel like you’ve travelled back to 1985, they’re trickier to hit than conventional buttons when you’re on the move.

There are five trim levels to choose from when speccing your Jazz – S, SE, SE Navi, EX and EX Navi. The entry-level trim comes with cruise control, Bluetooth, and Honda’s magic seat and active city braking systems.

Upgrade to SE and SE Navi and you get parking sensors, Honda’s Connect touchscreen infotainment system and drive assist pack, with the latter also including a Garmin-powered sat nav. The range-topping EX and EX Navi get alloy wheels, front fog lights and a rear view camera as standard, with the latter also getting sat nav as part of the bundle.

The Honda Connect infotainment system is decent enough, with all the menus easy enough to flick through, while programming a destination or pairing a phone is straightforward. The screen is fairly low-resolution, mind, and you have to be ultra-precise touching the on-screen icons, otherwise it’ll simply ignore your commands.

It’s genuinely astounding that a car with the external dimensions of a Ford Fiesta should have this much rear leg and head room. You’ll get two tall adults in easily, and squeeze a third in the back for short trips if needs be.

Then you’ve got those clever Magic Seat bases, which flip up and allow you to put bigger loads across the rear seats; or you can fold then down completely and leave yourself a fully flat extended load deck.

Even without folding the rear seats, the boot is still bigger than those of most rivals – the Skoda Fabia included. And it’s well designed, with useful under-floor storage, a low loading-height and a wide aperture.

All models other than entry S trim will help protect you with a standard safety package that includes a forward city alert, lane departure warning, automatic main beam and traffic sign recognition. Speaking of equipment, when you look at all the other toys you get beyond the safety package, the Jazz, while seeming expensive, is actually good value next to a Polo or Fiesta.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Pros

Not fast...

Or economical

Cons

Manual gearbox is nice to use

There are only 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre petrols to be had, but they are available with either a manual or automatic gearbox.

The naturally aspirated engines feel decidedly old-school by today’s standards.

Firstly, they're not very efficient, with higher CO2 emissions and poorer fuel consumption than the competition, but neither is it that quick. In fairness, none of these cars are, but the problem here is flexibility.

Look at the data and the i-VTEC doesn’t hit maximum torque until a peaky 5000rpm. By comparison, a Volkswagen Group 1.2 TSI engine produces more torque, and serves it up from just 1400rpm.

It makes a huge difference to the driving experience. You find yourself thrashing the Jazz to keep up with fast-moving traffic, and when you do, it’s not particularly smooth.

Still, it means you get the pleasure of the six-speed manual gearbox (a CVT automatic is also available), which has a lovely stubby lever and a positive gate. There’s a decent amount of clutch and brake pedal feel, too, although the accelerator is way too sensitive when you’re pulling away.

RIDE & HANDLING

Pros

Ride and handling are good enough

Cons

A Ford Fiesta is better

You certainly notice the dynamic changes made to this generation Jazz. It shows plenty of grip and balance and managed to keep body roll within acceptable limits on its leafy Surrey test route. The steering is accurate and linear, albeit without oodles of feel. It’s certainly no Fiesta, but it’s good enough.

The ride is improved, and even with the larger 16in alloys, it never crashed over bumps and shrugged off the challenge of a cobbled street. You feel the odd thud when the going gets really tough, while the dampers allow a bit too much vertical body movement off crests, but that’s about it. Again, not class-leading, but good enough.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Pros

MPG isn't class leading from the petrols

Cons

The hybrid wasn't officially sold here

For this generation of Jazz there was no hybrid officially available in the UK, however there are some grey imports (normally from Japan) knocking about. For city driving they add a good dose of economy and smoothness.

VERDICT

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Used Honda Jazz 2015-2020 review

A supermini that handles space better than NASA. The Jazz may not be big but it is very, very clever, especially on the inside…

Good

Masses of interior space

Strong reliability record

Bad

Not as competent on the motorway as some rivals

Not a driver's car

The Honda Jazz comes down to simple choices, really. If you want a car to entertain you on a B-road blast, buy a Fiesta.

If you want the most grown-up cabin in this class, buy a Volkswagen Polo. And, if you want the best value allied to a thoroughly charming little car, buy a Fabia. However, if you want a Tardis, buy a Honda Jazz.

It really is so ridiculously practical that if your situation dictates the need for small on the outside and big on the inside, there’s little else to touch it.

Sam Phillips

Title: Staff Writer

Sam joined the Autocar team in summer 2024 and has been a contributor since 2021. He is tasked with writing used reviews and first drives as well as updating top 10s and evergreen content on the Autocar website.

He previously led sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks. He is an expert in new car news, used cars, electric cars, microbility, classic cars and motorsport.

Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

John Howell

Title: Senior reviewer

John is a freelance automotive journalist with more than a decade of experience in the game. He’s written for most of the big car mags, not least as a road tester for Autocar and as deputy reviews editor for our sister brand, What Car?. He was also the features editor at PistonHeads and headed its YouTube channel.

Cars, driving and machines are in his blood. When he was barely a teenager he was creating race-bale racetracks on his family’s farm – to thrash an old Humber Sceptre around. It broke regularly, of course, which meant he got a taste (and love) for repairing cars. That’s why he eschewed university, choosing instead to do an apprenticeship with a Jaguar dealer. That’s where he built up his technical understanding.

After that he moved into high-end car sales, selling Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Ferraris and Maseratis through the franchised network. But it was a love of writing and appraising cars that, eventually, led him to use his industry experience to prise open the door of motoring journalism. He loves cars that exceed their brief in some way. So he finds as much pleasure in testing a great, but humble, hatchback as he does sampling the latest Ferrari on track. Honest.