My wife wants a small, economical car that is well built and will last. The Jazz is very impressive, but I have posted views on the dreaded suspension issue before - swmbo found it too unforgiving.
We have looked at the new Panda, but I would prefer to buy Japanese (we have a Honda CR-V which has proved faultless so far)
The Yaris D4D appeals, but I have read reports of 'jiggly' suspension which is somewhat reminiscent of the Jazz.
I know that HJ sings the praises of the Yaris. Can any backroomers who have first hand experience of the Yaris give me any reassurance on the ride quality?
BTW, I understand that a new model is planned for 2005. Does anyone know anything about this as I intend to buy new or nearly new and worry about the effect a new model will have on residuals.
Thanks
HectorG
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My wife has just bought a new Mazda 2 for £7495. Looked at Yaris and Jazz but saving £2000 concentrated the mind tremendously. We got the base model, but it is a very impressively put together car and also managed to twist arms and get metallic paint thrown in (not literally!)
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[Yawn]
:: stretches ::
Morning!
Try these for starters:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18303
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23857
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=16817
If you look just about the Best4Cars logo to your right you will find a Forum Search tool. If you enter Yaris or Jazz in there you will find hundreds of posts. There are 79 posts where both cars are mentioned together, so a veritable compendium of small car opinion for you to feast your eyes on.
Happy reading :o)
No Dosh - Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
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In our house SWMBO looked at and test drove both the Yaris & Jazz. Found Jazz ride nowhere near as jiggly as reports suggest - must be a personal thing. Thought Yaris was a bit of a lightweight toy compared with the "real car" Jazz.
After buying the Jazz I found the town ride OK, but motorway ride v. jiggly. I checked the tyre presures and found they were about +5psi over recommended all round. Reduced pressure to minimum handbook and it's lovely. Fuel consumption is exactly half of the previous 5 year old VW Polo.
The engine is so smooth and quiet at tickover we have often thought it's stalled.
Just lovely.
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What type of use will the car have?
My wife has a Jazz and for bombing around Cheshire country lanes (often poorly surfaced) and some A road use (at quite low speeds due to traffic volumes) it's absolutley fine. I did take it on the M6 once and found it quite affected by sidewinds and by ruts in the road surface in lane 1.
The quality thing is not to be dismissed - I currently have a Peugeot 406 Exec (company car). I regularly thank God that it's not my own car.
My daughter is currently consdering a Seat Ibiza 1.2S. Basically a VW Polo (might not be a good thing). It's a very good package (for the money) and drives very well.
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My wife had a Jazz until a few weeks ago - one of the first (April 2002) amd we never found the ride a problem. Either they vary or some people have the tyre pressures too high.
We only changed it as she wanted something a bit faster and less buzzy on motorways - otherwise she loved it and nothing whatsoever went wrong.
Daughter has a new Yaris 1.3 T3 - £1000 cheaper than the Jazz but no aircon. Fine so far - again no problem with the ride.
Big difference - much more room in the Jazz, both back seat and boot. And the back seats fold flat in the Jazz, with the further option of folding the cushions upwards.
Either should be reliable - there will be more Yarises to choose from for your £9,000, but a 2002 Jazz SE should be possible and I'd say on balance worth it.
That Mazda 2 for £7500 sounds tempting, though.
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Thanks No Dosh - I did a search but didn't come up with all those threads - very useful!
Vista - use will be mainly A & B roads. We have ruled out any VAG cars as wife's experience with a Polo and 2 Golfs has been a 'nightmare'.
Don't need a lot of space as kids have left home and we have a Honda CR-V for our 2 dogs!
Although the Yaris is smaller it is cheaper than the Jazz and I would like to buy Japanese as it is safer. We thought about a Fiat Panda for about 5 minutes - it looks like a lot of car for the money, but Fiats do so badly in satisfaction surveys. We also briefly thought about a Citroen C2, but after 25 years of Citroen ownership I still have the scars.
From the above replies I think we will have to try to arrange a longer test in a Jazz. I wonder if the non Sport model with smaller wheels will have a better ride as we only tested the SE Sport with alloys, as these seem to be the only demos available.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
HectorG
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Blimey, is it morning again already?
Happy to help Hector.
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Last time I looked at one of these, the major differences between the Sport SE and SE was lack of CD (cassete only on SE) and steel wheels with slightly higer profile tyres. Should improve ride and make car quieter.
I drove the CVT auto with 7 artifical 'gears' and button controls on the steering wheel. Great fun.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I believe Jazz's from around May 03 onwards had a CD player as standard in all specs (S, SE, SE Sport)
mike
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I recently drove an updated Jazz SE Sport and found the ride quality quite acceptable as a town runabout. The ride is certainly firm and a little restless, but fine in stop-start traffic.
Yes, the engine is like a sewing machine, incredibly smooth and quiet - not much 'pull' though, but a wonderful mpg! That mpg is achieved through very light construction too, and the road and wind noise is absolutely horrendous - certainly the most unrefined car I have ever driven above 40mph :-(
That was a real shame as it's a fantastic package, quite funky interior, loads of space and very economical with good dealer reputation.
Refinement seems to be a major failing with small Jap cars - the city runabouts often are high-geared with all manner of jiggles and roars once on the dual carriageway.
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HectorG
When my new Corolla has been at the dealer for various issues (!), I have been given a Yaris courtesey car. It goes, but I would only want one as a simple run about. Anything more and the tinny-ness, poor refinement etc would wear you down.
The fact my new Corolla has been at the dealer so often suggests that Toyota may not be what they used to be.
On the other hand, having owned 2 Ibizas, a Cordoba and a Leon I only have praise for build and refinement of SEAT cars. Don't tar SEAT with a VW brush.......
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HectorG On the other hand, having owned 2 Ibizas, a Cordoba and a Leon I only have praise for build and refinement of SEAT cars. Don't tar SEAT with a VW brush.......
That's reassuring - we've just ordered the Ibiza. Not totally convinced by its looks (even the brochure hardly has any pictures of the car!), but it seemed the best overall package for the money.
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Strange how VW get a bad name fore reliabilty, when Skoda Seat and VW use the same parts bin, just wear different clothes.
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