What do you think of the Honda i-Shift system?

We are looking to replace my wife's ageing runabout with a car that is under two years old. She needs a car with an autobox and rather likes the Honda Jazz. Within our price range the Jazz with the i-Shift transmission fits the bill, but we have heard that this box is disliked by many because of notchy gear changes. We have both driven cars with this transmission and found it to be quite acceptable. Is i-Shift reliable or should we steer clear of this type of transmission and opt for a car with a conventional auto box and torque converter? We would appreciate your comments.

Asked on 3 March 2012 by PC, Crickhowell, Powys

Answered by Honest John
An i-Shift is an automated manual transmission. Electric motors, electronics and solenoids actually change gear for you. They don't seem to have the life of a torque converter automatic or the CVT fitted to the Jazz before 2008 and since February 2011, but I have yet to hear of failure of any i-Shifts on either the Jazz or the Civic, and they have been fitted to Civics since 2006. Some Jazz i-Shift owners claim them to be more economical than Jazz CVT-7s.
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