Choosing between two Hondas: A City and a Jazz

Hi, Botchi!

I'm a new driver and I'm planning to buy a new car. I was initially choosing between a Toyota Vios and a Honda City. My considerations are the price (a budget of not more than P800,000) and a decent cargo space for children's stuff (since I have two kids).

In your article "When His Girls Come Back" in the June issue of Top Gear Philippines magazine, you recommended the Honda Jazz. One phrase that caught me is that it has the "biggest cargo space." Are you comparing it with the Toyota Vios or the Honda City? How is this possible when, looking at the cars, the two sedans seem to have a larger trunk space? I hope you can enlighten me on this. It would truly help in my decision on what car to buy.

Thanks a lot.

Mark

Hi, Mark!

The Honda Jazz has a very big cargo space at the back because you can pile up your cargo higher in the back of the Jazz. In the Honda City, the trunk limits the amount of cargo you can put in the trunk. The City's opening might be bigger but there is less useable space compared to the Honda Jazz's rear space. 

If you fold the rear seats of the Honda Jazz, the cargo space becomes enormous--two people can sleep inside comfortably enough. That is why I like the Jazz with its ULT (utility, long and tall) seating configurations; it allows a lot of versatility inside the interior. Check out your nearest Honda dealership and have a sales agent demonstrate the various configurations of the ULT seats to get a better idea. But before you head off to the dealership, let me further illustrate the benefits of the Jazz's cargo space: With the seats down, I have loaded three big boxes, or two balikbayan boxes with some small bags. With the seats up, I have been able to load up three large check-in suitcases (the biggest size allowed for international trans-continental flights) and two small bags of clothes. So yes, there is a good amount of space inside the back of the Jazz, whether the seats up or down--that's more space which you can use compared to any regular B-segment three-box sedan like the Honda City or Toyota Vios. 

I own a Honda Jazz 1.5 AT myself and use it regularly to haul assorted car parts (like big 18-inch wheels and tires mounted). I play golf, too, with my buddies and I can load up three golfs bags (cart bags, no staff-sized bags here!) plus clothes bags and three big boys comfortably inside the Jazz. A big part of the reason why I bought the Jazz was because of the space available.

Hope that helps!

Botchi Santos
Consumer editor

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