Honda Jazz - family car?

strawb_shortcake

Hi, I have really patchy internet at the moment  and having to use my work lap top so struggling to do any research so hoping someone can help. I need to buy a new car when the lockdown is lifted, really unsure as to what to get. I've just seen two Honda Jazz's but was unable to get a feel for the size of them, both were around £3999 for a 60 plate with 60k miles and petrol - conscious this is when lots starts to go wrong
I do have 3 children, but one rarely comes out with us these days, mainly used for commute to work, 16 miles part motorway part a roads. then short distances typically with maybe a good run a few times a year. Do you think this would be suitable? If not any recommendations, was hoping to stick to around £5k but hoping I can negotiate a bit of a bargain. 
Thank you

AdrianC

A Jazz is small. Very small.

You don't say what age your kids or, or how tall you are (which will affect how far back you have your seat, so how much legroom there is behind you, but I'd say you're going to be borderline.

Four grand is also far from cheap for a 10yo car - in large part because Jazzs are perceived as being "very reliable". The truth is that anything can be reliable if it's maintained properly, and any abused shed can be utterly knackered.

[Deleted User]

The Jazz is plenty big enough and Japanese so should be reliable. 

4K does seem a lot for a 10 year old car though. 

Scrapit

Just to be piggy in the middle a jazz isn't that small but might be a bit too small.

strawb_shortcake

I'm a bit thick, it would have probably been easier to ask how it compares to a Meriva, our current car! I can't go smaller than that. 
Used cars in our area seemed to have doubled in the last two years, we are on the outskirts of Bristol to sure how much geography comes into prices of used cars. 
Children are 10, 15 and 16, I'm short and need to be as close to the pedals as possible. 

AdrianC

Smaller, definitely.

At least "short" means your seat is a long way forward, so more space behind you than there would be behind me (6'2", a rare car where I don't need the seat fully back). Did your kids take after your height?

The easiest solution is... try one! Yes, obvs Covid is meaning travelling to view at dealers is difficult, but that also means you don't need to be driving much, so can hold off on the purchase.

Yes, there can be geographical wrinkles in used car pricing - but the nice thing about cars is they're really very portable.

(BTW, as far as "Japanese" goes, a Jazz of the age you're looking at would have been built in Swindon.) 

strawb_shortcake

AdrianC said:

Smaller, definitely.

At least "short" means your seat is a long way forward, so more space behind you than there would be behind me (6'2", a rare car where I don't need the seat fully back). Did your kids take after your height?

The easiest solution is... try one! Yes, obvs Covid is meaning travelling to view at dealers is difficult, but that also means you don't need to be driving much, so can hold off on the purchase.

Yes, there can be geographical wrinkles in used car pricing - but the nice thing about cars is they're really very portable.

(BTW, as far as "Japanese" goes, a Jazz of the age you're looking at would have been built in Swindon.) 

Two of them much to their annoyance they do, though I think the 10 year old may shoot up before long like his Brother, his arms and legs look like they are meant for someone bigger. 
Well I'll have a look at the two I've seen and hopefully negotiate them down on price 
The last two cars I've had had been around the £2k mark both around 10 years old but now you are looking at £3.5k plus for a 10 year old car from a local garage and mileage is usually quite high. If I was happier to part with more money I'd go for a GLA. 
But I am quite enjoying this time without a car and not likely to be going back for quite some time, when we do it's likely to be max 1-2 days in office so time is on my side. 

We have 3 Bristol Street Motors relatively close, Cheltenham seems to have the best offers which surprised me a bit. My Sister has taken to travelling a distance to get a car the last few years

Ditzy_Mitzy

My friends have got one and apparently it's a nice car - they seem to like it anyway and have never mentioned any problems. The issue you might have is with two teenage-ish boys (don't think you've mentioned the sex of the third child) and legroom in the back. They might not have finished growing yet and adult sized males always seem to want room to spread out! I used to have a Ford Puma and any male who went in the back would complain bitterly about the lack of space. I imagine a Jazz is better, but it's not a big car by any means. 
Have you thought about going up a class to a Civic or similar? I wouldn't have thought there'd be much difference in price, although what you're quoting seems fiercely expensive for something that old. 

daveyjp

External dimensions of a car mean nothing, internal space can be deceptive.
My 2010 B class Mercedes had more rear legroom than an S class of the same era.  

strawb_shortcake

I'm really just looking at what's available, so very open to anything - though my Husband isn't keen on French cars!!
The children are 10(M) 15(F) and 16(M) he rarely comes out with us. The prices really are crazy at the moment, I think it stems back in some part to the scrappage scheme and low priced used cars disappeared and it's never really got any better, the local market seemed to be flooded with very high mileage cars. I do quite like the C-Max so that's a possibility. I get a lot of hire cars through work so been able to make a good view of what's nice to drive but not so much on internal space. Merc E220 is my favourite so far. 

Davejp - a lot of the cars I like are the Qashqai? or Tuscon, but you can see a lot of the inside space is taken up by the crumple zone. We had Nissan X-trail as a hire car 2 years back and the children were more comfortable in the back of the Meriva than that one

theoretica

Another thing to think about is will the 16 year old and maybe 15 year old be learning to drive on your car as soon as they can? Will choice have a large impact on insurance?