2016 Honda HR-V
Complaints about this year name transmission far more often than the other years of this generation — 32% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 10.6%.
First year of a new generation. The Honda HR-V was redesigned for 2016. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 238 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 82 |
| Involving a crash | 13 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 29 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 32.4% of this year's complaints, against 10.6% across the other years of this generation (3.1×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- button — 10% of complaints, 8× usual
- honda dealership — 11% of complaints, 3× usual
- tire — 7% of complaints, 5× usual
What owners wrote
CVT FILL PLUG POPPED OUT ON ITS OWN; WAXY SMELL IN VEHICLE STARTING IN NOVEMBER, 2019 POST ROADTRIP FROM LOS ANGELES TO ARIZONA. HONDA DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THIS WAS NEGLECT ON BEHALF OF OIL CHANGE IN JUNE, 2019. ONLINE FORUMS (HTTPS://WWW.CIVICFORUMS.COM/FORUMS/3…
I had the push start button replaced approximately 2 years ago due to the part failing and the car being extremely hard to start. This was covered by Honda (not sure if it was an actual recall). Now I am having the exact same issue again. This is extremely dan…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V777000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 15V472000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Honda HR-V was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2016 Honda HR-V? What happened to yours?
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