I was driving from my home to church on Sunday 6 September 2015. A warning light - which I did not recognize - flashed on the screen. I pulled over and checked in the driver's manual: apparently one of my tyres had deflated. I got out to inspect the tyres but the valve on the rear passenger tyre shot out and almost blinded me. I had only purchased this Honda Jazz in April 2015. I could not believe that the valve would go like that: I had never seen such a thing in 44 years of driving!
To make matters worse, the Honda Jazz supplied in the UK does not have a spare wheel or jack. The car comes with a tyre repair kit. What use is a tyre repair kit for a tyre with no valve? I had to call out Honda roadside assistance, who turned up one hour later. They jacked up my car and took me to a KwikFit centre which managed to find the right valve and replaced it at a cost of UK£ 86. Of course, this is not covered by the 5 year service plan which I purchased from Honda. What really worried me was the thought that if I hadn't stopped the car immediately, the tyre could have blown in heavy traffic on the motorway. I really don't think that the car is roadworthy in this state so I have bought a Honda compact spare wheel, jack and toolkit for an additional UK£ 216.
It is alleged that Honda, together with many other car manufacturers, have removed spare wheels in order to reduce overall weight of their vehicles thereby circumventing EU emissions regulations. If that is true, it adds insult to injury. Passengers' safety is being put at risk in order to damage the environment. I bought a Honda Jazz because of its reputation for reliability. Am I alone in thinking this is just media hype? I would be interested to learn whether other users have encountered similar problems.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I was driving from my home to church on Sunday 6 September 2015. A warning light - which I did not recognize - flashed on the screen. I pulled over and checked in the driver's manual: apparently one of my tyres had deflated. I got out to inspect the tyres but the valve on the rear passenger tyre shot out and almost blinded me. I had only purchased this Honda Jazz in April 2015. I could not believe that the valve would go like that: I had never seen such a thing in 44 years of driving!
To make matters worse, the Honda Jazz supplied in the UK does not have a spare wheel or jack. The car comes with a tyre repair kit. What use is a tyre repair kit for a tyre with no valve? I had to call out Honda roadside assistance, who turned up one hour later. They jacked up my car and took me to a KwikFit centre which managed to find the right valve and replaced it at a cost of UK£ 86. Of course, this is not covered by the 5 year service plan which I purchased from Honda. What really worried me was the thought that if I hadn't stopped the car immediately, the tyre could have blown in heavy traffic on the motorway. I really don't think that the car is roadworthy in this state so I have bought a Honda compact spare wheel, jack and toolkit for an additional UK£ 216.
It is alleged that Honda, together with many other car manufacturers, have removed spare wheels in order to reduce overall weight of their vehicles thereby circumventing EU emissions regulations. If that is true, it adds insult to injury. Passengers' safety is being put at risk in order to damage the environment. I bought a Honda Jazz because of its reputation for reliability. Am I alone in thinking this is just media hype? I would be interested to learn whether other users have encountered similar problems.
- dorianp, Ogmore By Sea, UK