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In-depth reviews

Honda HR-V hybrid reliability & safety rating

Honda’s solid reputation and the HR-V’s four-star Euro NCAP rating put the hybrid SUV in a good position here

Overall rating

4.0 out of 5

Reliability & safety rating rating

4.0 out of 5

Euro NCAPAdult protectionChild protectionSafety assistance
4 stars (2022)82%75%78%

The third generation HR-V went through Euro NCAP's crash-safety tests in early 2022, racking up four out of five stars for its performance. Constantly evolving crash safety standards means that's not directly comparable with the previous model’s five-star rating, but elsewhere, Honda’s solid reputation for reliability and build quality promise peace of mind.

Honda HR-V hybrid reliability & problems

This HR-V doesn't really sell in big enough numbers for us to get any model-specific reliability data. But while Honda has a good historical reputation in this regard, the maker slipped to 18th spot (out of 32) in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey – down from fifth the year before. The only Honda to appear in the top 75 cars to own was the Jazz supermini, which finished 32nd overall.

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Only 15% of Honda-owning respondents experienced a fault in the first year, but of those, a high proportion were electrical issues. Customers aren't a fan of their cars' powertrains, but practicality and flexibility were rated quite highly. Servicing costs and fuel economy scores were impressive, too.

Safety

In Euro NCAP crash-testing, the HR-V was awarded four stars out of five overall, along with individual scores of 82% for adult protection, 75% for child protection and 78% for safety assistance. Testers commented: "When it comes to safety, the HR-V is an all-round performer, but the restraint performance, in particular for children seated in the rear, was not as robust as expected. This dropped its score in this part of the assessment into the four-star band."

The HR-V comes as standard with a suite of active safety and driver assistance systems called 'Honda SENSING'. The latest version of this suite incorporates a pedestrian collision-mitigation steering system and the automatic emergency braking now works at night. 

The system can detect vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians crossing your path using a wide-angle camera and will initiate braking if necessary. The latest version in the HR-V also features hill-descent control for greater control on low-grip surfaces and steep slopes. A reversing camera, road-sign recognition and lane-departure warning also come as standard on all HR-Vs, too.

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Welcome one and all, I’m Ellis the news reporter on Auto Express, the brand’s former online reviews editor and contributor to DrivingElectric. I’m proud to say I cut my teeth reporting and reviewing all things EV as the content editor on DrivingElectric. I joined the team while completing my master’s degree in automotive journalism at Coventry University and since then I’ve driven just about every electric car and hybrid I could get my hands on.

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