Common problems

Honda Jazz common problems

What MOT testers find on the Honda Jazz: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 1,350,206 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 15 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=90,289)17.1

All cars at 15 years (n=5,591,675)19.5

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=90,289)33.7

All cars, same age (n=5,591,675)27.8

What stands out

Brakes fails show up on 13.1 of every 100 MOTs of a Honda Jazz at 15 years old (n=90,289), against 10.7 for all cars of that age (n=5,591,675).
Suspension fails are less common: 10.4 per 100 MOTs against 16.7 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 15 years: side/position light not working, on 6.8 per 100 MOTs (all cars 5.8).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 13.9 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 15 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Honda Jazz at 15 years (n=90,289) against all cars at 15 years (n=5,591,675). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	17.1	19.5	18.4	13.7
Brakes	13.1	10.7	33.7	27.8
Suspension	10.4	16.7	24.3	32.3
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	6.5	6.5	4.2	5.4
Tyres	5.5	7.5	26.8	28.5
Body and structure	3.6	6.7	6.6	11.2
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.6	5.7	1.8	11.0
Steering	1.2	3.3	4.1	4.3
Seat belts and airbags	1.0	1.7	0.7	1.0
Road wheels	0.4	0.6	0.3	1.5
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.5	4.2	4.3

What testers fail most on the Jazz at 15 years

Fail items on the Honda Jazz at 15 years (n=90,289), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	6.8	5.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	4.4	2.3
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	3.9	2.4	£15 to £30 per blade
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	3.6	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	2.5	2.5	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength	Suspension	2.3	1.1
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.2	3.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Service brake performance: excessively binding	Brakes	2.0	1.4	£55 to £267 per wheel (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	2.0	2.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	2.0	1.7	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 15 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Honda Jazz at 15 years (n=90,289), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=5,591,675).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	13.9	18.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	12.9	9.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.2	11.1	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	10.7	7.2	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	10.6	6.9	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	6.9	8.5	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Headlamp: lens slightly defective	Lights and electrics	6.2	2.0
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	6.1	5.9
Headlamp: has a product on the lens but not seriously reducing light output	Lights and electrics	5.6	1.7	£28 to £98 per lamp (rough guide)
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	5.0	7.0

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 15 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Brakes	Suspension
3 years	53,300	1.2	0.4	0.1
4 years	62,500	1.2	0.8	0.1
5 years	65,874	1.3	1.5	0.1
6 years	73,662	1.5	2.2	0.2
7 years	74,540	1.9	2.9	0.5
8 years	73,724	2.9	3.4	1.2
9 years	76,409	4.2	3.6	2.1
10 years	79,270	5.9	4.2	3.0
11 years	82,656	7.2	4.8	3.9
12 years	85,259	9.3	5.9	5.0
13 years	88,929	11.4	6.9	6.4
14 years	89,075	14.2	9.9	8.5
15 years	90,289	17.1	13.1	10.4
16 years	88,276	19.2	15.5	12.5
17 years	79,710	21.0	18.2	13.8
18 years	69,131	21.7	17.9	14.5
19 years	53,509	22.4	16.4	15.6
20 years	35,616	22.9	15.2	17.4
21 years	18,560	22.4	13.2	17.8
22 years	7,794	23.4	10.6	20.0
23 years	2,123	23.6	10.0	21.6

Mileage

At 15 years, Honda Jazz cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 18.1% of MOTs (n=3,888); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 49.0% (n=2,772). For pass and fail rates by age, see Honda Jazz MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Honda Jazz, testers most often record side/position light not working; handbrake too weak; wipers not clearing screen. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Honda Jazz?

At 15 years, the age with the most MOT tests (90,289), the fail items testers record most often on the Honda Jazz are side/position light not working (6.8 per 100 MOTs), handbrake too weak (4.4 per 100 MOTs), wipers not clearing screen (3.9 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (13.9) and tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing (12.9).

Which parts of the Honda Jazz fail more often than on other cars?

At 15 years: brakes (13.1 per 100 MOTs against 10.7 for all cars). Compared with 5,591,675 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Honda Jazz problems by area

Other Honda models

All Honda models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Honda Jazz?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources