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7-year glitch

We have owned a 2002 1.4 Jazz SE from new. The car has done 52,000 miles and is usually used by my wife for a 20 mile daily commute. Both my sons have learned to drive in it in the past three years. The air con has never worked satisfactorily, and has now given up completely. The rear wiper doesn't work, and I was quoted over £1000 for work required to get it through its recent MoT test. My eldest son has a summer job that requires an eighty mile round trip and requires daily reliable transport. The Jazz has developed a 'clakety-clack' knocking noise when turning left in second gear. The local Honda garage has been unable to trace the problem after one visit. I bought the Jazz for reliability and have been badly let down. Coincidently I have just put my 1959 Morris Minor through its MoT and it only cost me £100 for some minor brake work in order for it to pass. My Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI Elegance is going in for its first service tomorrow at an initial cost of £170. I have just bought a set of points, 4 spark plugs, a condenser, a rotor arm, an oil filter and air filter to carry out a service on the Morris Minor this weekend for under £25. I suspect the Minor would be more reliable than the Jazz for my son's daily commute. I would be interested to get your view.

Asked on 26 September 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Yes, Japanese cars (and indeed most modern cars) have a design life of 7 years. Which? doesn't seem to account for older Jazz and well-known problems like the manual transmission bearings. I had not heard of a problem with the a/c before. Nor rear wiper (might be washer fluid leaked into the motor). Having spent too much of my childhood in the back of various Morris Minors, I wouldn’t relish the idea of 80 miles a day in one
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