Will the new Honda Jazz hybrid be suitable for my style of driving, which mainly consists of short journeys?

Once a week I do a journey of three miles each way in town. Three times a year I do 140 miles each way, mostly on the motorway, and about four times a year I do about 50 miles each way. You have written in your column that hybrid cars are good for urban motoring but I wonder if this would apply to my low mileage, which is not really enough to keep an ordinary petrol motor in tune. My wife has given up driving and I am thinking of changing our two cars for one new hatchback car. Would you think that a Honda Jazz hybrid, when it comes on the market next spring, is suitable for my sort of car usage?

Asked on 2 October 2010 by PS, Cambridge

Answered by Honest John
For this sort of use a hybrid car would be better and a Jazz hybrid probably the best. There is no sacrifice to the car’s exceptional practicality. A plug-in hybrid would be better still, but these are comparatively expensive (and aren't quite here yet). A diesel with a particulate filter is a total no-no.
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