Cheap and nasty
Continuous variable transmission failed. $5000 to replace. Ended up selling to the wreckers.
Not the prettiest car on the road.
Very cheap tinny feel.
Gutless up hills.
Good point: 2 gloveboxes.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 4th May, 2011
A surprisingly good all round vehicle
CVT (auto transmission) started to shudder on takeoff. Fixed at no cost by Honda in 2006 (at 40,000kms).
No other problems at all.
Quite a unique and endearing vehicle as it is a sensible size, economical and very quiet and smooth around town with the Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT).
Surprisingly roomy (the 5-door model), it has the good vision and higher hip height benefits of a 4WD/SUV without the antisocial downsides. Its pedestrian safety is particularly good (won an award for this aspect).
Handling, steering and braking is excellent, probably better than any other 4WD around town. The clearance and short wheelbase, even in the 5-door, means rough terrain can be tackled (at low speeds).
Ride is a mixture of very low road noise and rubbery insulation of small bumps with some pitching on short undulations. Feels light on rough roads, but is a whole lot tougher than it looks, a privately-entered Honda HR-V winning its class in The Daily Telegraph Sahara Challenge Trophy, part of the 2000 World Cup Rally, despite being a standard vehicle and being used as a camera car.
Luggage space is limited for families, but the vehicle is suprisingly capable of transporting 4 adults in comfort. Ideally, it is a 2-person car.
Performance is good, with the CVT adjusting automatically to the ideal ratio for the circumstance. It revs when pushed, especially in the Sport mode, but then settles into suprising quiet. Fuel consumption is quite good, partially due to the on-demand 4WD (it is normally just another front wheel drive).
Paint is average, certainly not as tough as the 2-pack paint on my VW Passat. No rust so far despite being outside all the time.
I could drive this around Australia with complete confidence.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 10th May, 2006
All show and no go
Rain water filled the driver's foot well after driving through puddles.
Seat stitching stretched and split within weeks of purchase.
Body panels dented incredibly easily- very thin gauge steel.
Central locking sometimes wouldn't respond.
Upholstery fabric very slippy and uninviting.
VTEC seldom cuts in as it is set at unusably high revs for UK motoring conditions, and the engine sounds very raucous and unpleasant at that point.
Its only saving grace is that it handles beautifully.
A surprisingly poor car from a company I assumed had a great reputation.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 26th February, 2004
Seriously reliable
Absolutely nothing with the car itself - not even a blown light bulb!
At more than 48k miles, its even still on its original set of brake pads!
The first Japanese car I've had possession of - but probably not the last!
Did have two damaged tyres, though - both with nails through them. They are a very unusual size in the UK - only Yokohama and Bridgestone make them, I discovered. The problem is that they are not generally stocked, and are difficult to get. This means they are expensive (£118 for the last one) and you may have to run a long way on the 50mph limited spacesaver spare.
We've enjoyed using the car enormously. It's worth saying it's a company car, so I only have to pay for the fuel - hard to say if I would have spent my own money on the servicing costs.
It is safe and secure - yesterday's journey was a 521 mile round trip, including motorways, the wilds of Wales and an old opencast coal mine! The old Hervy takes them all in its stride.
There are only a couple of niggles:
1. Visibility to the rear when reversing is limited due to the high back and smallish window.
2. The slightly odd tailgate makes fixing a cycle rack tricky - not impossible, just a challenge!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 4th February, 2003
I have had my Honda HRV for nearly two year from brand new. My wife and I both were over the moon when we went to collect the car from the dealer. It looked fab. And it still is. Never had any problems so far, touch wood. I still take pride in driving it. It does cost a bit on fuel, but it is worth it. The front two tyres are wearing out and I may have to replace them very soon. Other than that no trouble what so ever. I love my car and when it comes for renewal I don't know if I could let it go. I might go for another HRV I think.
Hi, me and the wife have 2 Hondas, the 2 door FWD HR-V and a CRX 1.5vxi, and all I can say is brill! I raced a Mondeo once of the lights and up to 60, it was all over it LOL, what was said about about tyres, we got Hankook ones this time round, and they cost 47 quid from Lobitos in Talacra, North Wales.
Going back to the car though, we just had the front suspension done, and for all the parts including shocks, mounts, bushes and springs (Monroe's) it cost £240 plus £100 labour.
I think that is well worth it, we live in an area that has bad roads and salt air, so they get worked every day, so you can guess at 134k miles they needed sorting. But no, all things said, I rate this little car 9/10 performance, 10/10 fuel economy, 8/10 body/looks, 9/10 chassis, 8/10 interior, 10/10 repairing/parts.
Hope this helps.
1st Oct 2004, 12:43
I fully agree about the ease of denting HR-V's. The side panel metal is very thin and my HR-V is covered in little dents caused by other car doors. A very expensive problem to fix which of course severely affects resale value.