Used Honda Jazz Hybrid review and buying guide (2011 to 2015): which one to buy and what to check

Which used Honda Jazz Hybrid should you buy?

There's no year of the Honda Jazz Hybrid, sold between 2011 and 2015, that you need to dodge, though that's because there's little evidence either way rather than a spotless record. It hasn't got a single known fault against it, and the handful of owner reports don't single out a year or a version. It's as easy to drive as the regular Jazz and keeps that car's flexible cabin.

Since the years don't split on reliability, choose the individual car on how it drives and what its paperwork shows. The two clearest fault reports came from a 2011 car and a 2012 car, but don't read that as later cars being better; there just aren't enough reports to tell. The steering and the dash display are the two things that decide whether a particular car's worth buying.

Which Jazz Hybrid engines and gearboxes are the safe choices?

Every Jazz Hybrid uses the same petrol-electric setup, so you're choosing a car rather than an engine. Nothing points to a weak engine or gearbox, but with so few reports that isn't proof it never goes wrong, and there's no service schedule to quote either. That's why the test drive and the checks below carry more weight than they would on a car with a long, well-documented track record.

Don't buy one that's been used for towing. Honda didn't build the Jazz Hybrid to pull a trailer of any kind, so a tow bar on the back means its drivetrain has been asked to do a job it wasn't designed for. That's the one firm reason to reject a car before you've even driven it, and it's easy to spot if you look at the rear before anything else.

What should you check when viewing a used Jazz Hybrid?

Steering is the first thing to test. One owner of a 2012 car with 54,000 miles on it had the steering go heavy and stop returning to the straight-ahead by itself, and that car has since needed three replacement racks. Turn the wheel from lock to lock standing still and on the move, feel for stiffness, and make sure it unwinds on its own coming out of a junction. If the rack's been changed, ask for the receipt.

Switch on and scroll through every page of the dash display. One 2011 car lost its total mileage reading, its trip readings, the outside temperature and the fuel consumption bars, and its distance to the next service switched to kilometres. A display that's dropped readouts like that needs explaining, and it makes the mileage harder to trust, so match the figure against the service stamps and old MOT certificates.

Get down and look under the back of the car. Check there's no tow bar and no mounting holes where one's been taken off, and see whether a clamp or lock has been fitted over the catalytic converter. That's a theft deterrent, so it's a small plus if a previous owner bothered to fit one.

Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.

What does a used Honda Jazz Hybrid cost to run?