Right, we are looking at selling our MY'02 GX Wagon, and buy one of the following, either a Mini ONE or Honda Jazz 1.4 DSi Sport.

Main reason being servicing and insurance costs for my other half.

But, looked around at 1-2 year old Minis and found they are only about 1K cheaper than buying them new! Even at two years old!!

So, potentially makes no sense buying it second hand - and i doubt Mini's are discounted by dealers new?

So, the Jazz, by all accounts a good small car, but anyone tried them? There second hand value doesn't seem as strong as the mini, but thats good for us from a buying point of view... Although they are doing a deal on them currently, free insurance and stuff.

Anyone got anyother recommendations?

Cheers, Alex

 

I've got a Cooper for sale

I'm not helping am I ?

 

jazz is good. what is good about it is the bottoms of the back seat can fold up and give you an enormous cargo space.

 

What about one of them quick little skoda things? there was one in For Sale a couple of weeks back

 

Torus,

Not really, no.
Wish we could take it off your hands, but I think insurance for her would be 'interesting'.

Thanks anyway

Foreigner - thanks for the info.

Askew - she probably wouldn't like the badge...


[Edited by DrEvil - 11/20/2003 3:23:13 PM]

 

Quite different cars TBH.

The Mini will probably be more fun and interesting to drive.
The Jazz is very competent to drive although not 'fun' in the same way the Mini is. HOWEVER, if you want space and practicality the Jazz is FAR FAR FAR better.

 

I personally would not touch the mini. Work colleague has the Cooper S, and i have to say the space inside it is crap. In fact its shocking!!

Fabia would be my choice if looking at a small car.

 

I think there have been a lot of build quality issues with the Mini as well. However with the TLC pack and low depreciation it is going to be cheap motoring.

 

Honda Jazz is the best all day every day for what you describe. 10mpg more at the very least over the Mini, and if you are going from a wagon to the Jazz you'll not notice too much difference room wise in the interior. The boot wil be much smaller in the Jazz compared to the GX Wagon, but the cabin will be much closer, the Mini is just a p*ss take, its interior is pretty, with plenty of room for the driver and front passenger but that's it, no boot to speak of and no rear seat room.

Throw in the still high prices of the Mini that will have to come down in the next year or so, poor reliability of the first cars built, **** engines and the Honda just keeps looking better. The one thing is, the Honda does not drive aswell as the Mini, not even close to it. The Jazz has very MPV like tendencies, but it also has the better engine and gearbox.

At the end of the day, you pays your money, you take your choice.

 

Thanks again, some good info.
I s'pose the deciding factor will be cost..

Thanks, Alex

 

DrE

how old is 'tother half?

 

Scooby96,

She's 24, but had a couple of 'dinks', hence looking for a car with a low insurance rating.

Rgds, Alex

 

MINI has the advantage of badge prestige, image and low depreciation. Most people on here drive Subaru's and hence don't care about these things but for your average person Image and the badge on the front are the only things that matter about a car.

I get the impression you like to change your cars pretty frequently and you will definitely be pleased you went for the MINI come trade in time. The TLC pack which is basically 5 years serviceing for £100 is definitely worth taking out but be careful when it comes to options as the price can rapidly shoot up.

Given the choice I bet your girlfriend would go for the MINI over the Honda any day.

 

Mini has it on the handling any day. Plus, you could buy a Mini One, and have the engine ECU software updated to give you Mini Cooper power (the engines are mechanically identical, just different ECU software). Costs aroung £250, I think.

Only downside - don't expect to put shopping in the boot, or adults on the back seat!

 

I've not driven a Mini but can imagine they are more fun to drive. They look a bit better too IMO.

I've driven a Jazz for a day though and found it a fun little car. You can throw it about quite a bit and it's pretty pokey for a 1.4. Gearbox isn't bad either. My one had the full body kit on which looked pretty cool. Best going for the top of the range Sport as it has side airbags, alloys, sunroof and a few other minor features included. As said above space is fantastic and makes the car a really practical proposition. The downside for me though is that it's a bit plasticky and the upholstery is a little cheesy. Other than that though it's a pretty cool little car.

 

Yeah, the engine and gearbox in the Mini One/Cooper are nothing to write home about. In particular, the One is particularly lacking in low end torque, but also gets asthmatic above about 5000 RPM. The Cooper 'upgrade' makes a big diference to teh top end, but at the end of the day, it's still the cast iron lump out of a Chrysler Neon (albeit a 1.6, not a 2.0). Gearbox itself is ok, but the linkage is quite stiff and clunky.

The big grin comes when it comes to twisties, the Mini chassis is seriously stiff. Shod with decent wheels and tyres, it really is a hoot.

 

Cheers guys, food for thought.. the Mini looks like a winner in a lot of ways.. play on the http://www.mini.co.uk/ site right now

 

I bought my other half a mini cooper and haven tlooked back. OK the boot isnt that big but its wicked to drive with spot on handling. Fuel consumption on the cooper is OK but the TLC package for a small amount of money goes a long way. Depreciation is minimal as the dealer is offering us £300 less than what we bought it for back in feb 03 if we chop it in for an S. The interior is not bad as people might say. The plastics are not bmw but the fit definatley is. I would say its a brilliant little car with loads of tuning potential aswell.

Cheers

Gerry

 

The good thing about the Jazz is that its Japanese and there are lots of toys out for it.

Driven the Jazz Type R jap edition and is a superb mini car.

 

Driven the Jazz Type R jap edition

You sure about that

 

Seen the Spoon Jazz on a VCD, wikid bit of kit.

 

IMHO, Honda definately better build quality too. Still, Mini handling

 

Jazz is amazingly practical and well built though I do hope they improved the ride when they tweaked it recently as the early example I drove was extremely harsh.

 

Everyone talks about the low depreciation on a Mini but the used prices are going to fall in the over the next year. The first Mini's will have been bought two years ago, the original owners if they still have one will be looking to sell in the next year, which means many more use Mini's on the market.

Supply of used examples until now has been fairly limited, allied to having to wait for a new car to be built if you order new, has meant many people have bought the few used cars available at close to list prices. Now the waiting time on a new Mini is coming down, used car availability is going to increase substantially, there is only one thing that can happen, used prices will ease. The Mini is also now a regular sight on our roads, it is still a popular car, but it doesn't have the wow factor anymore, that made it the must have car for a year or so.

The one thing that will still be on the Mini's side though is that it will still be one of the lowest depreciators, but it will not command near list price for used examples seen up till now.

 

If you wanna try out a tuned n kitted up jazz type r then let me know

Im sure the toys will tempt you

 

Thanks Bob - but the key factor is low insurance rating and not a grey import.

I think we will get the Mini if possible, but as I said, cost and available finance will stipulate the outcome.

 

Hi Alex

Nearly got a Jazz for the Mrs but couldn't quite stretch to it financially in the end but I thought it was the best all round package of all the small cars we tried. Reasonably fun to drive, loads of space, excellent build and the dealer was very professional.

Never looked at the mini as it is only available as a 2 door (no good if you've got kids!).

Depends what your plans are after the wedding If you are thinking about kids in the future then the Jazz is the only way to go.......

 

Alex, we nearly bought a Jazz for a second car.

Extremely practical, quite cute in its own way, nice to drive and very cheap to run/insure, etc. Great visibility too

Will be more reliable, no doubt, and you don't have to deal with BMW service departments.

And they do one in that metallic pink nail polish colour, which is a sure winner with the laidies....

 

Honda all day long !!

 

Funnilly enough I suggested that colour for the Jazz - and got a slap!!

So, if it does end up being the Jazz, it won't be that colour..

Must admit, I find the local Honda dealer better than the local BMW dealer... Will have to wait and see...