mmarshall

Any of you guys or ladies own or drive a new Honda HR-V? It was just released here in the U.S. a few weeks ago, so I'm not expecting a whole lot of responses, though CL has so many members that a good cross-section of the auto market in general is usually represented here in some form.

My brother, who lives locally here in the D.C. area near me, has need of (or will have need of next year) a nice small inexpensive reliable AWD crossover. I've looked closely at several of them lately (and wrote up formal reviews on the Sportage and Renegade). I won't bore you with all the details, as we have talked a lot by phone and in person discussing possible vehicles (and, of course, there is a very wide choice, with possibly more to come), but at present he seems smitten with the Honda HR-V. I went and looked at one myself a couple of weeks ago (didn't test-drive it), and was very impressed with its build quality and materials.....like a Swiss Watch. My brother was likewise impressed, looking at one at another dealership. He wants me to test-drive one, and I'm going to do that (possibly tomorrow) or as soon as I can find an unsold AWD version (all AWD versions have the same engine and CVT, though I would prefer if it had a conventional 6-speed auto).

In the meantime, do any of you have one? What's your experience been? Were you satisfied with the deal you got? Any early defects or teething problems in the car?........(hard to imagine on this one, with its excellent build quality, but problems do happen). I know there are many reviews available both on and off the Internet and Youtube, but some of the best sources come from actual owners.

Thanks And, as I say in my own reviews.............Happy Car Shopping.

MM

doge

I have no experience with the car however it sounds great. Fit chassis, civic motor, and awd drive. Sounds like a solid all around car:

Aron9000

I'm not impressed with a couple of aspects about this car.

1. Gas tank is under the driver's seat. Same place its at in a Honda Fit. I'd hate to be in a really nasty wreck in this thing, where they need to get the jaws of life and cut you out. You'd probably turn into bb-q if you couldn't get out.

2. Engine and CVT transmission. Its a 1.8 SOCH 4 cylinder with about 140hp and a very high torque peak like most Honda 4 cylinders. Honda's rev to the moon torqueless wonders are fun in light cars with manual transmissions, like the S2000, Civic, Prelude, etc. In something heavier and especially with the CVT, the lack of low end torque is sorely missed. This car is a dog, 0-60 in 9.5 seconds, anytime you mat the gas the rpms shoot up to 4-5k with the way the CVT is programmed, which is where this engine is rather loud and thrashy.

3. Price- Car and Driver's completely loaded HR-V was $27,000. Way too much $$$ for something this small and with a dog of an engine under the hood. Maybe the base version will be priced more aggressively.

TangoRed

My cousin just got one. I drove it to the grocery store when I visiting about a week ago.

1. I wouldn't worry about the gas tank under the driver's seat. They've extensively tested these and there haven't been widespread cases of people bbq'ing in Fits after accidents. We've come along way since accidents in the original Jeeps, which shared the same fuel tank location.

2. It's quite slow. Like loaded down with people and luggage it'd be struggling slow.

3. The space utilization is FANTASTIC. I was shocked at how much room was in there. Road/wind noise seemed Honda-normal and the interior was good for the price.

I'd heartily recommend one to anyone if they don't mind slowness.

mmarshall

Yes, he was a little concerned about that too....but figures that Honda engineers are usually pretty thorough about crash testing, as most of their vehicles get good NHTSA and IIHS ratings. Many hybrids, for example, have the large battery pack right over the fuel tank, back behind the rear seat, but you rarely if ever hear of sparks from a ruptured battery pack setting off a ruptured fuel tank in a major impact (which was something I was concerned about when hybrids first came out).

Yes, my brother, like me, is not an aggressive driver, but, of course, doesn't want an absolute dog either. 9.5 seconds, though, isn't that bad for simple everyday suburban driving...and the flip side, of course, like with small Subarus, is good mileage for an AWD vehicle.

Yes, the sunroof alone, which is standard on the top-line EX and EX-L models, rules out those versions for my brother. He's big and tall like me (actually an inch taller), and needs headroom. So he's looking at base LX AWD models, which run in the low 20s with options.


Thanks for the response.

mmarshall

Congratulations to your cousin. Hope he or she is enjoying it.

You may (?) also remember the controversy with the exterior side-mounted tanks on the full-size GM pickups, and how it turned out that NBC actually staged the explosions on their TV show from the impact. Still, that was potentially a hazardous design. At least with the HR-V, the tank is inside the vehicle, protected by part of the unibody structure.

Yeah...he drives alone most of the time....on fairly flat terrain. He and I together in the vehicle on a test drive (and maybe a salesman) is about the most weight it will ever see.

Yeah, he's used to space efficiency.....he had a Kia Soul, which s just about as boxy space-efficient as you can get.

Road noise is something I'm definitely going to be checking on the test drive, as a certain amount of it seems to plague almost all lower-priced Honda/Acura products. One thing which may help, though, is that HR-Vs, even in base models, come with high-quality Michelin all-seasons....they don't use junk-tires.

Thanks. I, of course, do my own reviews, but I welcome (and ask for) opinions from you guys as well....particularly when it comes to me and/or my own family.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

doubt he'll get much of a discount - they seem to be selling like mad!

evident

don't see the point of this vehicle when the CRV is not much more, but alot of people do. it's printing cash for honda.

mmarshall

Yes, we're aware of that....and Hondas usually don't sell with the incentives that some other brands have. Brand-new models, of course, also often command a premium because of hype and publicity. He's probably not in the immediate market right now, though, as his company isn't moving for more than a year yet. He's also looking at some other competitors, but has to start early because he doesn't have as much spare time as me to check vehicles out. He just seems to really like the HR-V, and I have to admit it's built like Swiss Watch....Honda/Acura, IMO, wrote the book on how to assemble a car at the factory, though Lexus seems to have just as good or better reliability in the long run.

mmarshall

He wanted a smaller crossover than the CR-V, with AWD, for easy parking. The Juke, Renegade, Fiat 500X, Mini Countryman, are not completely out, but currently not high on the list. The most likely alternative, behind the HR-V, is the Subaru XV Crosstrek, but there have been some oil-use issues with the 2010-2014 Subaru 2.5L non-turbo engines. It is unclear whether those issues have been solved or not on the latest 2015 models. Of course, with the excellent customer service he's gotten from the local Kia shop, a new Sportage is also a possibility, but it's larger and costs more than he was planning. There are rumors of an upcoming AWD Kia Soul (which he'd take in a heartbeat)...but Kia is mum on that.

I8ABMR

I test drove one with my mom a couple of weeks back. We were looking at the prius wagon or the HRV. It feels like a smaller CRV. Has no power but feels well made. I told my mom to stay away from first year models so I think she is leaning towards the bigger CRV or Prius wagon

mmarshall

Yes...definitely well-made. The one I static-reviewed was like a Swiss Watch, but I didn't (yet) drive it.

In general, avoiding first-year models used to be more necessary than it is now....especially from a company like Honda who knows how to build reliable products. But I would be somewhat leery of a first-year Jeep, Fiat, or Land Rover....in fact, I'd be leery of almost ANY Land Rover.

mmarshall

Thanks for the responses so far, everyone, BTW ...more than I expected. Some good points brought up. I guess this vehicle is turning out to be interesting enough (if maybe underpowered) that people are looking into it.

spwolf

indeed.... they sell like crazy... will sell more with better stock too.

Fizzboy7

The more I read about it, the more I like it. It really sounds like it hits all the marks. MT just finished off on a thorough review and they loved it. They even said it was peppy and had plenty of power, which was surprising. They estimated 9.0 seconds to 60, which isn't too bad, but I wouldn't call that peppy. Maybe the engine's tendency to rev makes it feel faster than it is. In any case, 9.0 seconds is plenty good for the average driver. I can easily see this eating into Civic and CRV sales.

As far as waiting for the fist model year to pass, that is not applicable to Honda products. Every first year Honda has been reliable pretty much since the beginning of the company (save for the Del Sol).