Model-year matrix

Honda HR-V
which year?

Compare every Honda HR-V model year the EPA recorded, 2016 to 2027. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.

Evidence-led answer

Looking for the best Honda HR-V year—or years to avoid?

The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.

What is the best year for the Honda HR-V?

No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.

Which Honda HR-V years should you avoid?

The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.

01 · More reports to inspect2023

683 indexed complaint reports; visibility/wiper is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2023 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2016

238 indexed complaint reports; power train is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2016 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2019

224 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.

Open the 2019 dossier →

Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.

Read this as evidence, not a ranking.

Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.

Direct comparison

Compare two Honda HR-V model years.

Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.

First model year

2026 Honda HR-V

NHTSA complaint allegations: 12
Combined EPA economy: 27–28 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 2
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,200–2,300
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelselectrical system 4unknown or other 4forward collision avoidance 1

Open the 2026 evidence dossier →

Second model year

2027 Honda HR-V

NHTSA complaint allegations: 2
Combined EPA economy: 27–28 mpg/MPGe
EPA configurations: 2
Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate: $2,200–2,300
Fuel labels: Regular Gasoline

Most-reported component labelsengine 1fuel system, gasoline 1

Open the 2027 evidence dossier →

Observed complaint-record difference

2027 has 10 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2026.

This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.

Side by side

Honda HR-V by year.

Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.

Honda HR-V model years with NHTSA complaint totals, most-reported components, EPA fuel economy and configuration counts
Year	Complaints	Most-reported components	Combined MPG	EPA configs	Annual fuel cost	Dossier
2027	2	engine 1fuel system, gasoline 1	27–28	2	$2,200–2,300	Dossier →
2026	12	electrical system 4unknown or other 4forward collision avoidance 1	27–28	2	$2,200–2,300	Dossier →
2025	42	steering 13unknown or other 11forward collision avoidance 9	27–28	2	$2,200–2,300	Dossier →
2024	107	steering 51unknown or other 20electrical system 12	27–28	2	$2,200–2,300	Dossier →
2023	683	visibility/wiper 319unknown or other 213visibility 82	27–28	2	$2,200–2,300	Dossier →
2022	84	electrical system 26engine 18forward collision avoidance 16	28–30	4	$2,050–2,200	Dossier →
2021	62	air bags 21electrical system 15unknown or other 9	28–30	4	$2,050–2,200	Dossier →
2020	83	electrical system 20fuel system, gasoline 14power train 13	28–30	4	$2,050–2,200	Dossier →
2019	224	electrical system 63forward collision avoidance 52unknown or other 37	28–30	4	$2,050–2,200	Dossier →
2018	154	electrical system 46fuel system, gasoline 27unknown or other 22	28–31	5	$2,000–2,200	Dossier →
2017	120	power train 31electrical system 28unknown or other 27	28–31	5	$2,000–2,200	Dossier →
2016	238	power train 74electrical system 56unknown or other 44	28–31	5	$2,000–2,200	Dossier →

Evidence snapshot generated August 25, 2026. “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.