2005 Honda Jazz 1.3L Petrol · OV05 VMC

A 21-year-old Honda Jazz with this MOT profile tells a largely positive roadworthiness story, but one tempered by a small cluster of recurring concerns that any prospective buyer should not dismiss. Across seven recorded tests since 2019, the vehicle has passed on six occasions, with the sole outright failure occurring in January 2023 when an offside rear tyre was found with tread depth below the legal 1.6mm minimum and was categorised as Dangerous. That failure has not recurred, and the most recent test on 26 March 2025 returned a Pass, albeit with advisories on both inner front tyres being on the legal wear limit and minor headlamp lens defects on both sides. The 2024 cycle is also worth noting: the car failed on 20 January 2024 on severely reduced headlamp output due to product contamination and a missing offside front road wheel fixing, then passed one week later on 27 January 2024 once those issues were resolved. The pattern points to a car that has remained fundamentally roadworthy through its MOT history, with isolated but genuine defects rather than systemic decline. Recorded mileage stands at 117,104 miles across approximately 21 years, equating to an average of roughly 5,576 miles per year, which is notably low for a vehicle of this vintage. The testing record shows a gap between July 2019 and January 2021, and again between January 2022 and January 2023, suggesting periods during which the vehicle may have been used sparingly, stored, or simply not presented for test. Such low annual accumulation reduces wear on major drivetrain components, but it can accelerate corrosion in less-used areas such as brake pipes, exhaust hangers, and underbody seams, and it can allow ageing rubber components to deteriorate without the benefit of regular loading cycles. The interplay between low mileage and the corrosion advisory recorded in 2023 is consistent with that mechanical reality, and any inspection should treat underbody condition as a priority rather than assuming low miles equates to a sound chassis. For a prospective buyer, the specific advisories on record dictate where attention should be concentrated during a physical inspection and test drive. The 2023 advisory regarding vehicle structure corrosion, noted as not compromising rigidity at that time, demands a close underbody examination with a torch and ideally a ramp, paying particular attention to suspension mounting points, sills, and the rear subframe area, as corrosion in an older Jazz commonly progresses around wheel arches and structural seams. The 2022 advisory on a nearside rear brake pipe being corroded or covered in material is a significant flag, as brake line corrosion is a safety-critical failure point that can lead to fluid loss under pressure; the pipework should be inspected for surface rust, pitting, or flaking, and the brake pedal should feel firm and progressive on test, with no sponginess or excessive travel. The rear exhaust minor leak advisory from 2023 should also be rechecked, as exhaust leaks near the rear section can worsen and may indicate a failing joint or corroded silencer body. From the 2019 test, the damaged offside front suspension arm mounting bracket and anti-roll bar linkage are both items that can produce audible clonks or knocks over uneven road surfaces and contribute to vague or wandering steering, so particular attention should be paid to any front-end noise or imprecise handling on a test drive. The tyre wear pattern recorded in 2025, with both inner front tyres flagged as worn close to the legal limit and worn on the edge, suggests an alignment or suspension geometry issue rather than simple age-related wear, and this is a worthwhile area to investigate further. Uneven inner-edge wear on the Jazz front axle is often linked to worn suspension bushes, droop or top mounts, or a tracking issue that has developed over time, and any knocking through the front suspension over bumps, vague steering on the motorway, or uneven tyre wear across an axle should be taken as direct corroboration that the original advisory was not fully resolved. The headlamp lens contamination flagged as a Major in 2024 and subsequently downgraded to Minor lens defects in 2025 indicates that the lenses have either been restored or replaced, but the buyer should verify that both headlamps now produce a clean, symmetrical beam pattern with no scattering or dull output at night. Finally, the missing wheel fixing recorded in 2024 is a serious safety lapse that should be discussed and confirmed as properly rectified, as a correctly torqued replacement stud or bolt should now be in place with no signs of distress in the surrounding hub area.