Fault File
All models / All cars / Small SUVs / Honda HR-V

Honda HR-V

All generations and engines together · 32,017 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 52k

Reliability verdict
ABy age
ABy miles

Graded against its peers

One of the best small SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and lights & electrics. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.

First-time failure at age 7
12.5%
Across 5,568 tests. The average for small SUVs is 20.5%.
First-time failure at 50-60k miles
14.0%
Across 4,105 tests. The average for small SUVs is 21.1%.
Rank in its class
3 of 52
1 = lowest failure rate among the 52 small SUVs we can rank.
Typical mileage at age 7
52k miles
How far the average car has gone by seven years old. Low-mileage models can look better by age than they are.

Generation

Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.

What owners report

Reported

Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.

Front-end knocks and rattles

Partly in the MOT data

The most persistent complaint across HR-V generations is creaking, clonking or rattling from the front suspension and surrounding trim. Some owners report it within weeks of buying a used car, others see it develop after 60,000 miles or more, and in a few Honest John cases it went unresolved despite repeated dealer visits. This lines up with the measured MOT data, where suspension is the stand-out fault category for small SUVs as a class, so a knocking HR-V front end is worth taking seriously rather than dismissing as loose trim.

Reported from new to 80k+ miles · sources: Honest John owner reports (HR-V 2015-2021 review)

Cold-start gearbox hesitation and whine

Disputed

A handful of owners on the 1.5-litre petrol Mk2 report a whine or hesitation from the manual gearbox just after a cold start, which some dealers initially wrote off as normal characteristic noise. In at least one documented case the cause turned out to be a missing piece of body insulation rather than a transmission fault, so it is not clear this is one single issue rather than several unrelated ones. Worth a listen on a cold test drive, but do not assume the worst from noise alone.

Reported soon after cold start, any age · sources: Honest John owner reports (HR-V 2015-2021 review)

Stop-start refusing to cut the engine

Emerging

Some owners find the automatic stop-start system won't switch the engine off at lights, usually traced to the 12V battery sitting below around 75% charge rather than to a battery that's actually failed. Honest John reports cases resolved by a dealer software update and system re-initialisation rather than a new battery, so it's worth ruling this out before paying for a replacement battery. No formal recall or TSB has been reported for it.

Reported at any age, tied to battery state of charge · sources: Honest John owner reports (HR-V 2015-2021 review)

DPF clogging and clutch wear on the 1.6 diesel

DisputedDiesel manual only

The 1.6 i-DTEC diesel fitted to the Mk2 HR-V is shared with the Honda Civic of the same era, where owners report DPF regeneration failures (one documented replacement around the £1,000 mark) and early clutch or dual-mass flywheel wear, sometimes with morning judder from moisture on the flywheel. Because this is drawn from Civic owner reports on the same engine rather than HR-V-specific cases, treat it as a real risk on diesel manuals rather than a confirmed HR-V pattern. Ask for diesel-specific service history including any DPF or clutch work.

Reported 35k-90k miles on the shared 1.6 i-DTEC engine · sources: Honest John (Civic 1.6 i-DTEC review, shared engine)

CVT "thump into Drive" on early automatics

Confirmed patternCVT automatics, Mk1 only (1999-2006)

On the original Mk1 HR-V's CVT automatic, owners and Honest John both note a rough or thumping engagement when selecting Drive, plus a need for fresh transmission fluid roughly annually to keep it smooth. Honda addressed this with a warranty replacement clutch starter kit at the time, which counts as a manufacturer-acknowledged fix rather than folklore alone. These cars are now well past 20 years old, so this matters mainly to buyers looking at cheap early automatics.

Reported from new, worsening with fluid age · sources: Honest John (HR-V 1999-2006 review)

Outdated sat-nav and jumpy safety alerts

Emerging

Buyers of the Mk2 HR-V have reported Garmin-based sat-nav that was already several years out of date from new, missing current speed cameras and limits. On the current hybrid HR-V, reviewers note the Honda Sensing lane-departure system can intervene when it isn't needed, which owners find intrusive rather than dangerous. Neither issue is a mechanical risk, but both are worth checking on a test drive since map updates and driver-assist tuning are easy to miss at a viewing.

Reported from new, all model years · sources: Honest John (HR-V 2015-2021 review), Auto Express (HR-V reliability review)

What to check on this car

Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.

Saveable checklist

From this model’s MOT record

The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.

Bushes and ball jointsRuns high on this model Drive slowly over broken tarmac with the windows down and listen for clonks from either end. Back at the car, have someone rock the steering wheel while you rest a hand on each front wheel; play you can feel through the tyre is a worn joint.Recorded on 8.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 5.9%
DampersRuns high on this model Look for oil misting on the damper body behind each wheel, then push down hard on each corner of the car. It should settle in one bounce. A floaty or crashy ride on the test drive is the same fault felt from the driver's seat.Recorded on 6.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 2.3%
Headlamp lensesRuns high on this model Check for condensation inside the headlamps and for cloudy or yellowed lenses. Both attract MOT trouble, and moisture inside a sealed LED unit generally means a whole new lamp.Recorded on 1.4% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.3%
Coil springs Look through the wheel spokes at the bottom coil of each spring; when springs snap it is usually there, and the break is visible. Step back and check the car sits level too. A dropped corner is often a broken spring.Recorded on 1.1% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.3%
Underneath, with a torch Get down and look at the sills, the subframes and the rear suspension mounting points. Flaking scale and bubbling matter; light surface rust does not. On older cars this is the one check that finds the fault that scraps them.Recorded on 1.0% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.7%
Rubber boots and gaiters On full steering lock, look in behind each front wheel at the concertina rubber boots on the driveshafts and steering rack. Splits, or grease flung around the arch, mean dirt is getting into a joint that costs far more than the boot protecting it.Recorded on 0.7% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.6%

Worth doing on any used car

These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.

Tyres, all four Check the tread across the full width of each tyre, inner edge included, and look for cracking and mismatched brands. A set of decent tyres is £500 or more on most cars, which makes this the easiest money to take off a price. If the pressure warning light is on, budget for sensors too.Recorded on 20.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 20.1%
Pads and discsRuns high on this model Look through the wheel spokes at the brake disc. A pronounced lip on its outer edge, or a rusty and scored face, means discs and pads are due all round, a few hundred pounds on most cars. A haggling point rather than a reason to walk away.Recorded on 14.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 8.7%
Windscreen and wipersRuns high on this model Scan the glass in daylight for chips, especially in the driver's line of sight where even a small one can fail the MOT. Run the washers and check the wipers clear without smearing.Recorded on 2.6% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.7%

Because of what owners report

Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.

Drive over speed bumps and lock the wheel fully both ways, listening for creaks or knocks from the front end. A clonk here is the most commonly reported HR-V fault and lines up with the model's measured MOT suspension data.
Start the car stone cold and pull away gently in first gear. Any whine or hesitation in the first minute is the reported cold-start gearbox issue, most notable on Mk2 petrol manuals.
Sit at idle with the engine warm, air con off, and check the stop-start system actually cuts the engine. If it won't engage, ask about recent battery health and whether a dealer software reset has been tried.
On a diesel manual, ask for DPF and clutch service history and feel for clutch judder pulling away from cold. No history of DPF regeneration or clutch checks means an unknown-cost repair could be due.
On an automatic CVT car, especially a pre-2006 Mk1, select Drive from a stop and note if there's a thump or delay. A rough engagement points to old or degraded CVT fluid, or a transmission nearing the end of its life.
Check the sat-nav map date and try the lane-keep assist on a real road during the test drive. A stale map or an over-eager lane-departure system isn't a fault, but it's a known annoyance worth knowing about before buying.
Read the full MOT history, not just the pass or fail line. The same suspension advisory appearing two or three years running means the underlying knock was never actually fixed.

Open the saveable checklist, tick it off at the car

The MOT data

Measured

Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.

How this model wears

Honda HR-VClass average, all tracked models

What testers flag

Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.

Faults with the car itself

The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 22,365 tests in this band.

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Advisory
8.8%class 5.9%
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
Advisory
6.8%class 2.3%
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
Fail
1.4%class 0.4%
Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective
Minor
1.4%class 0.3%
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Fail
1.2%class 0.9%
Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than whit
Advisory
1.2%class 0.2%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Advisory
1.1%class 1.3%
A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded
Advisory
1.0%class 0.7%
A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated
Minor
0.7%class 0.6%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Fail
0.6%class 1.4%

Wear, upkeep and luck

Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Advisory
23.3%class 22.9%
A tyre seriously damaged
Advisory
16.1%class 12.7%
A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
Advisory
14.3%class 8.7%
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured
Advisory
5.0%class 10.1%
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn
Advisory
3.8%class 3.4%
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt
Advisory
3.5%class 2.2%
A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
Fail
3.0%class 1.6%
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
Fail
2.6%class 1.7%

Others in its class

Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.

Volkswagen T-Roc11.7%Audi Q212.2%Skoda Karoq12.7%SEAT Ateca13.6%Volvo XC4014.1%Mazda CX-314.1%See all Small SUVsreliability ranked