Honda HR-V - Reliability & safety

Honda has long enjoyed a reputation for reliability, although it ended up with a fairly middling result in the most recent Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, coming in 18th place out of the top 32 manufacturers. That was just one sport behind rivals Hyundai, and Toyota came in 12th place and Kia in sixth. A good level of safety equipment is also included as standard, but the HR-V failed to achieve a top Euro NCAP rating, being awarded four stars.

Honda HR-V reliability

We didn’t receive enough responses on our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey for the HR-V itself to feature, but the closely related Honda Jazz did come in 32nd place out of the top 75 models. Importantly, it was ranked in 15th place in terms of reliability in the survey, and with its engine shared with the HR-V, this should bode well for the small SUV’s reliability. Honda owners as a general rule also reported a very good score for reliability, with just 15% of owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year.

Safety

The HR-V missed out on a five-star Euro NCAP rating, being marked down for its lack of a central airbag, which can help prevent occupants moving towards the centre of the vehicle in a side impact. It scored 82% and 75% for adult and child protection respectively.

All three trim levels come with Honda's 'Sensing' suite of safety technology as standard. This has been bolstered by a new forward-facing camera, with more computing power for improved autonomous emergency braking and steering. The new camera can also see more effectively at night and better spot pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles and oncoming cars crossing the car's path.

Adaptive cruise control has also been tweaked to make changing lanes and passing traffic a safer experience. The car will now accelerate earlier in the manoeuvres, making for a safer transition into a faster lane. Blind-spot warnings are also offered using improved radar sensors, increasing detection range from 3m to 25m, while cross-traffic monitoring can warn the driver before reversing into a stream of traffic.

Hill descent control is also available for the first time for the HR-V, providing control while descending steep or low-grip surfaces.