The Honda Jazz has been a best seller for Honda Malaysia since the 1st model was introduced in the country. Its resale value has been strong and parts pricing has been very reasonable allowing for owners to keep running their Jazz year after year with minimal issues. Today, a 1st generation Jazz 1.4 will fetch between RM22,000 to RM29,000 depending on vehicle condition, mileage and overall wear and tear.
Now comes a 3rd generation Honda Jazz in 2 variants. A few months ago we took the high specification Jazz ‘V’ Variant for a test drive run and was duly impressed. Honda’s asking price of just RM72,800 for the ‘E’ Variant made us curious on how and what the average Malaysian on a budget could get for their money.
This Jazz is powered by the improved and same 1.5L SOHC i-VTEC engine found in the ‘V’ variant. It works seamlessly with a newly designed smooth shifting responsive CVT which was developed under Honda’s Earth Dreams Technology. Honda’s new global subcompact platform with a lightweight yet rigid structure further pushes the Jazz to new limits that emphasizes fuel efficiency without sacrificing dynamic performance. In the cabin you get the much-loved Versatile Magic Seats with four configuration modes. There is Smart Entry with Push Start Button and a decent sounding entertainment unit. Safety features are still good with 2 Airbags, Emergency Stop Signal, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), G-CON body and ISOFix equipped seats in the rear.
The Jazz delivers the same high levels of cabin quality, sophisticated exterior design and overall build quality that we’ve come to expect from Honda vehicles. Despite our personal performance driving the Jazz returned remarkably good fuel consumption. Even with the rear seats in use, boot space is very healthy and certainly beats many of its close rivals, while rear passengers get good head and legroom – the rear seats are certainly suitable for 3 full-sized adults.
The radio/CD unit is a easy to work after a few moments of familiarisation it all makes perfect sense, and the solidity of the switches and buttons make them a pleasure to use. It has even more features than before yet the dashboard itself seems even more uncluttered and clean, avoiding a busy looking dashboard yet retaining a strong ease of use. The cabin is textbook example of slick design and is executed with fine materials. The same goes for the outside with tight panel gaps and a flawless paint finish. The Jazz’s image is one of a desirable and accomplished family car and with the attractive pricing the additional monthly instalments over a lower priced competitor is of no relevance.
Honda Malaysia offers a 5-year warranty with unlimited mileage and service interval is 10,000 km, providing additional reasons for customers to make the Jazz the vehicle of their choice. With more than 75 authorized dealers nationwide, Honda customers can rest assured that their cars will be taken cared of with quality services.
Honda Jazz ‘E’ Specifications
Engine: Inline-4, SOHC, 16V, i-VTEC
Capacity: 1,497cc
Transmission: CVT
Max Power: 120PS@6600
Max Torque: 145@4600
Price: From RM72,800
