Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Honda CR-V

What it says about you

Opinion

You did the research. You read the reliability data, you cross-checked the resale values, you test drove the RAV4 to be thorough, and you arrived at the correct answer. Nobody will ever ask you about your car. That is the trade you made and you would make it again. Somewhere in a drawer is the spreadsheet.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

22 model years on record, 13,653 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2018 (gasoline), 2017 (oil). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • steering 2022, 2023 peak 61% of that year's complaints
  • wheel 2021, 2022, 2023 peak 38.4% of that year's complaints
  • sticky 2021, 2022, 2023 peak 33.5% of that year's complaints
  • door 2007, 2008 peak 39.7% of that year's complaints
  • headlights 2005, 2006 peak 31.4% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 0 recalls 118 complaints
  2. 2025 1 recall 237 complaints
  3. 2024 2 recalls 374 complaints
  4. 2023 3 recalls 510 complaints
  5. 2022 3 recalls 248 complaints
  6. 2021 4 recalls 318 complaints
  7. 2020 7 recalls 344 complaints
  8. 2019 8 recalls 1,078 complaints
  9. 2018 gasoline 2,112 complaints
  10. 2017 oil 1,752 complaints
  11. 2016 3 recalls 389 complaints
  12. 2015 3 recalls 668 complaints
  13. 2014 1 recall 585 complaints
  14. 2013 2 recalls 381 complaints
  15. 2012 3 recalls 400 complaints
  16. 2011 13 recalls 551 complaints
  17. 2010 15 recalls 480 complaints
  18. 2009 12 recalls 386 complaints
  19. 2008 11 recalls 960 complaints
  20. 2007 12 recalls 885 complaints
  21. 2006 13 recalls 398 complaints
  22. 2005 14 recalls 479 complaints

What does a Honda CR-V say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.