Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - Double Triumph for Honda in Auto Express Used Car Honours

Jazz and Civic continue to be used car favourites with Britain�s most popular weekly motoring title

Honda�s Jazz and Civic have established themselves as two of the finest small hatchbacks in the market. Both have won numerous awards and achieved great sales success � the Civic is the most popular British-built car in its class in this country, while the Jazz now ranks second in the 5-door supermini sector.

They are also great used car buys, as witnessed by their consistent success in the Auto Express Used car honours. This year the Jazz repeats last year�s success in the supermini sector, while the Civic wins the compact family class for the third year running.

Selections for the magazine�s used car awards are determined by a panel of experts which includes Glass�s Guide�s Jeff Patterson and Auto Express contributor, Mike Brewer. The experts consider many parameters including mpg, insurance group, spares and servicing costs, warranties, depreciation, pence per mile and overall residual value performance. A further selection process takes into account everything from driveability, suitability, reliability, durability and availability.

This year, both Hondas were up against stiff opponents as an increasing number of new models become available in the used market. And the short list comprised some of the strongest selling models of all in the UK car market, the Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.

Despite this, Honda�s dynamic duo continued to impress the Auto Express judges. Of the Jazz they said that the standout features were its amazing flexibility and reliability. "You might pay a little more for our winner, but it�s worth it � the best new supermini is also the best used," they said.

While acknowledging that there are hundreds of amazing deals out there at the moment on the old-shape Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus models, it was the Civic that took the top accolade in the compact family class.

"Neither the Ford or Vauxhall can beat the value, strong residuals, comfort or the impeccable reliability of our winner, the Honda Civic," said the judges.

Honda (UK)�s Used Car Development Manager, Simon Laughton was delighted by this latest result which coincides with one of the busiest periods for used car sales.

"Not only are the cars excellent, but they are backed up by one of the best manufacturer run used car programmes in the industry � which retails some 60,000 used Hondas each year," he said. "Honda Approved Used takes the risk out of buying, offering a comprehensive pre-delivery inspection, as well as a guarantee and breakdown cover similar to that offered with a new vehicle (new Hondas have a 3 year/90,000 mile manufacturer�s warranty, with a 6 year anti corrosion warranty and 3 years� comprehensive Hondacare assist).

"In addition we have a particularly advanced web-based car search facility that attracts over 100,000 searches per month � and Honda was the first car company to introduce on-line purchasing of used cars," he added.