Because of the small budget, you'd be better opening up to other potential buys, especially so if it has to be auto.

Assuming you are interested in the Jazz because of the interior space (compared to most other supermini's), you should also look at the 1st gen (2005-2012) Nissan Note and the Ford Fusion 1.6 petrol (you did get an auto option on the 1.4, but it was an automated manual, the 1.6 uses a t/c auto).

I run a Jazz 2007 (model denoted GD by Honda) on my family fleet so feel able to talk about them.

Re Catalyst - the position is no different to many cars but from Honda they are ridiculously expenve to replace (as with many Honda parts generally). The only thing I can think makes them targets is maybe Honda are using more of the precious metals in the cat. They do run extraordinarily clean for the age of car which presumably is the cat doing its magic.
To a thief with a jack and a cordless saw, it really doesn't matter as they lift any car high enough from vids I've watched, so any car with a cat in the exhaust mid pipe is physically as easy as a Jazz so the thaft reason must be some Jazz cat specific thing.

Re Rust at rear - absolutely correct. If its not had any coating to reduce chances of rust, they are prone as madf indicates. I undersealed my fleet Jazz and keep an eye on it to recoat when necessary.

Re: insurance - my feeling on this is a media frenzy borne of the EV insurance hikes due to battery fears, JLR thefts and LV likely being more associated with older drivers who in turn have Jazz as a vehicle because of its benefits to older people, especially with mobility challenges. My fleet Jazz in fact is cheaper this year than last year for a 33 year old married couple / medium risk area / 4 years NCB. £490 last year, £470 this year.
It simply isn't true what the media are reporting about Jazz is uninsurable.

Of course insurance depends heavily on personal circumstances so always get a quote, but a Jazz, in my experience is no more or less insurable than anything else.

Re: CVT - as madf says, the iShift was Honda's attempt at an automated manual gearbox and it was notoriously unreliable. The CVT's pre iShift have a design problem with the idler clutch which makes pulling away a somewhat juddery affair. Even using the correct Honda fluid doesn't help this issue. However there is an additive that can normally reduce / remove the judder.
I won't mention it here for fear of breaking advertising rules but if you Google Jazz automatic judder it will pop up as an often used solution. Also quite a few YouTube videos about it.
Oh, and these gearboxes absolutely must have the correct Honda CVT fluid. Anything else simply doesn't work correctly despite what the bottle might say. In 40 years of motroing it's the only time I've found that the OEM part is the only part that works acceptably.

madf - my family Jazz user is aspiring to 2012 version when hers dies, so good to see the reliability continues on those versions.

Edited by VengaPete on 04/03/2024 at 20:37