All generations and engines together · 7,401 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 109k
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
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.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 7,336 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The nickel-metal-hydride IMA battery pack that sits behind the rear seats loses capacity with age, and on the first-generation two-seater (2000-2006) full failure is common once the car passes 7-13 years old, showing up as a flashing battery warning light, lost assist, and a big drop in economy. Honda itself has acknowledged the issue through service bulletins covering the IMA warning system on 2000-2004 cars. A genuine Honda pack replacement can run to £1,500-2,500, though reconditioned or aftermarket packs (fitted independently) are commonly used instead for a few hundred pounds.
Some 1.3 i-VTEC engines in the 2009-2014 car burn oil faster than they should, with owners reporting the level dropping below the dipstick mark in as little as a couple of thousand miles between services. Honda extended the warranty on the affected engines to 8 years in the US to cover piston ring replacement, and UK owners on Honest John have reported the same consumption pattern from around 35,000 miles onward. Repair, when it comes to a ring or short-engine rebuild, is a four-figure job.
Owners describe a noticeable judder pulling away from a dead stop that clears once the car is rolling, and in worse cases the CVT has gone into limp mode or failed outright well within what most owners would expect, in one Honest John owner-review case at 29,000 miles just after the warranty ran out. Regular CVT fluid changes (every couple of years) are widely recommended by owners to keep it healthy. Repair costs vary hugely depending on whether it is a sensor or the whole transmission, from a few hundred pounds to several thousand.
This model's measured MOT signature fault is lights and electrics, and there's a real owner-folklore version of it: a tired 12V auxiliary battery (separate from the hybrid pack) drops voltage low enough to confuse the sensors that feed the instrument cluster, lighting up warning lamps that have nothing to do with the actual fault. Owners on forums report fuses, relays and even sensors being replaced before someone finally swaps the 12V battery and the lights stop coming back. It's a cheap fix, usually under £100, but it gets misdiagnosed a lot first.
Reviewers and owners both note that cabin plastics on the 2009-2014 car feel a step down from typical Honda quality, and some owners describe the interior as "lightweight and rattly" even on cars in good condition. It's not a reliability fault as such, more a lived-with annoyance, and opinion is split on whether it's a real problem or just Honda's weight-saving design doing its job.
Some 2009-model-year cars were fitted with Dunlop tyres that developed cracking between the tread blocks, the same problem seen on the contemporary Jazz. Honda initially replaced affected tyres free of charge but later stopped doing so once tyres had worn down, leaving owners to buy replacements themselves. Only relevant if the car still wears its original tyres, which is unlikely on anything bought secondhand today.
Built from the two sections above.
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