I'm seriously looking at purchasing a Honda Jazz, hopefully the last of the previous model. I was looking at Civics but grim cutbacks at work mean fuel economy is going to be paramount now, as will long term reliability. I've been a bit put off by reports on here about gearbox problems on manual Jazz models. I wondered if getting a CVT-7 model would sidestep this issue.? Perhaps the gearbox problems are isolated and I'm worrying unecessarily? I'm guessing the CVT 'box will be complicated but if its reliable then that won't, in itself be a problem, will it?

I looked briefly at the new model; it looks great and seems to have better suspension but again gearbox probs reported plus its still new enough that I'd get stung for big depreciation. I've always tended to buy cars at the end of their production run, reasoning that most major problems will have been sorted out by then (another reason to avoid '09-'10 models).

I do about 16k miles/year, mostly built up A road commutes with weekend runs to the country and maybe 2-3 big 250 mile trips/yr each way. I am fairly good at adapting my driving style to the machinery I'm using (my wife less so) so if the CVT is "quirky" I could get used to it, if it behaves itself in normal use. My plan is to get a late 2007 or '08 1.4 iDSI SE, with 27k ish miles, hopefully for not much more than £7.5k

What would you do: CVT or manual? Thanks