As FB says, it's all down to personal choice. SWMBO had a Jazz for several years. Was pretty decent to drive around town apart from being a bit breathless at high rpm (the iDSI two valve two spark plug version), no rattles and the firmish suspension was good. There have been variations in settings over the years I think. Better than Yaris marshmallow. OP has driven one example so must know what they are like. Try one or two in the market to see if they are as good as her memory tells her.

SLO, the rating for that car on autotrader is 2.5 out of 5.

Alison has driven her mother's, likes it, so that's all that really matters! Some people are not overly bothered if suspension is firm. HJ likes it giving it 5 out of 5 and I believe liked it so much he owned one . Autocar magazine like it. www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/honda/jazz-2008-2015

A friend bought a Mokka, knows there are better cars, but likes it - thats all that matters.

Edited by SLO76 on 10/02/2017 at 11:20

The Yaris wasn't as good as the Jazz.

Not driven a Yaris but Dad had a Jazz followed by a Micra. We had a Micra and then inherited dads Micra when he stopped driving.

All I can say about the Jazz is it's a bit bigger, has a more flexible back seat folding setup and is possibly is a little more economical. But in every other respect the Micra is superior and that is the opinion of myself, wife, father and mother. The Micras seats are far more comfortable and the driving position is better. The ride of the Jazz was truly bad, the Micra is amazingly good for a small car. The Micra is also quieter on the motorway. Performance is similar but our Micras were 1.2's, the Jazz was a 1.4. A 1.2 Jazz would be without a doubt slower. No car in this bracket is going to be a beauty but the Micra offends my eyes far less, the Jazz looks awkward from several angles.

As for reliabilty the Jazz never went wrong in 5 years. The 2 Micras needed a new boot release (warranty) and a front spring in 10 years.

We know which we preferred.

We now have an E12 Nissan Note, the 2013 onwards model. We find it excellent but its not proven popular with buyers so prices are rock bottom. I cannot think of one single area where the Jazz is better. have a look and a drive one but make sure its the DiG-S petrol model. The diesels are unsuitable for town use and the standard petrols are slugs. Forget the auto's.

Edited by skidpan on 10/02/2017 at 14:15

Its best to get a car that's been used correctly, i.e. the engine has had time to fully warm up during the journey (preferably more than 10-15 minutes), mad use of all the gears and most of the rev range regularly. Cars (of any sort) don't like doing short trips under 5 miles from cold, and often leads to them becoming unreliable and other problems such as exhausts going early (the condesation you often see at start up may not burn off and thus corrodes the pipe).

That often (but not always) means a low mileage car (for the same age) isn't necessarily better. For example, my car (11yo) has only done 60,000 miles, but hasn't done short trips - just longer trips (for many years over its life) every week or two. As such, the engine and most of mechanical bits are in fine condition, but its suffered from binding brakes which now need fixing.

All in all, don't discount higher mileages, espcially if you cannot get proof of the previous owner(s)' driving patterns (very difficult to do). I would check to see (hopefully if whatever car(s) you're looking at are at main dealers, you can) the service and maintenance record (often digital, held by the dealership/manufacturer) to see that its been serviced when (and to the level) it was supposed to, and that it hasn't had any/much repair work done.

The test drive is VERY important though - you may find a car is comfortable to sit in in the showroom, but less so when actually driving it around. If you can, take it out on a variety of roads, not just in slow-moving town traffic, and perhaps, if possible, a regular route you do and do some parking manouvres to see what the rear visibility is like.

When you start it up for the test drive, give the engine (after a few seconds) full power in neutral and then off the gas, and see in your rear view mirror whether blue smoke can be seen - a very bad sign if so and should be rejected straight off. Unlikely these days on modern cars if well looked after.

By all means bring along someone with decent knowledge about the mechanicals and electrics of cars (if you can find one) if you feel you would like some extra reasurrance when looking at them if you don't feel confident to spot potential problems - most people are the same. The breakdown companies provide this service for a fee, but I would hope that just by buying from a main dealership, especially from a Japanese/Korean make, would negate the need for such paid-for assistance.

If you regularly carry certain odd-shaped or larger items in the boot, bring them along if you can to see if they fit in the boot ok (hopefully without the need to pull the back seats down), and if you need room for passengers, get the driver's seat (with the showroom car if the same general model) adjusted for you as best you can, then you or one of your passengers (or someone of the same height) sit in the back and see whether its all ok for room.

This might be a bit of a pain (especially if you look at a few cars from different makes), but in the long run, its worth the hassle as buying a car is your second most expensive purchase other than your home, and is something you have to be comfortable using on a very regular basis (especially for people like me who suffer from back problems).

The Jazz still sounds like a good bet if you already like it - owning a nice-looking car (or one that people consider 'cool' etc) is all well and good, owning one that you like to use and won't let you down is far more important. Most of the 'bad press' for cars like the Jazz come from (mostly male) 'journalists' who, to me, have serious inadequacy issues and who compensate by thinking owning flashy sports cars is the answer. It isn't - most people buy a car for more practical reasons.

Best of luck.

I would also consider a vauxhall corsa , had one as a hire car recently for a long journey and it was excellent in terms of comfort.

some great deals around on corsa's as well.