Overview & Reviews

Why are Honda vehicles so highly regarded by American drivers? Certainly, their excellent reputation for reliability and quality is a major factor. But it also has to do with the overall driving and owning experience. Read any Honda review and you'll likely notice common themes such as thoughtful design, a friendly nature, better-than-average fuel economy and attention to safety.

Japan-based Honda Motor Company was founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda. The company got its start making motorbikes. Japan had been rendered cash poor and fuel-starved after World War II, and its citizens were hurting for an inexpensive, fuel-efficient mode of transportation. Honda's first motorcycles mated engines with bicycles to create a motorbike that was cheap to make and operate.

Honda's bikes quickly evolved into vehicles far more sophisticated than small engines stuck into bicycle frames. The manufacturer's 1949 D-Type could reach speeds of up to 50 mph, and offered front and rear suspension. The 1950s saw the launch of the successful Juno scooter, built to steal market share from the Vespa knockoffs that were popular in Japan at that time. In the latter part of that decade, Honda introduced the ultra-successful C100 Super Cub. The motorbike was remarkably easy to operate and featured a crossbar-free frame that made it popular with women. It went on to become the first Honda motorbike sold in the U.S. via then-new American Honda Co. in 1959.

By the early 1960s, Honda had built its first automobiles for the Japanese home market and entered Formula One racing. But it wasn't until 1970 that it exported its first car, the diminutive N600, to the U.S. The automaker initially had a hard time sparking interest among American buyers, but that all changed in 1973 with the introduction of the Civic. The car was larger than Honda's previous models even though it was still very petite compared to compact American cars. The Civic's high fuel efficiency (an important selling point given that decade's energy crisis) and affordability made it Honda's first American success story. By 1976, the Civic had been joined by the Accord, which quickly became a favorite with U.S. consumers as well.

By the 1980s, Honda's success and its reputation as a maker of well-built reliable cars and motorcycles continued to grow. It began building Accords in the U.S. in 1982 and by 1989 had earned the distinction of making America's most popular car. This was also the decade in which Honda created the Acura brand as a way to sell more upscale and luxurious vehicles. Throughout this decade and into the 1990s, the Civic and Accord were huge sellers and considered class benchmarks. Also during this time, Honda continued to innovate through such technologies as variable valve timing, aluminum body construction and improved safety features.

Today, Honda's lineup runs the gamut. Included are fuel-sipping hybrids, a spacious minivan, reliable family sedans, practical SUVs and even a pickup. Although the latest Civic and Accord aren't quite the benchmarks they once were for their respective classes, Honda's brand as a whole continues to be one of the most well respected in the industry, with millions of loyal and satisfied customers.

User Reviews:

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  Dont Buy / Sell It, Customer Service is terrible - 2016 Honda Civic
  By Mark Stewart - October 25 - 11:20 am

  I bought the 2016 Civic Sedan EX-L before New Years and I have had nothing but headaches since. I have had multiple issues and made several calls to Honda about these issues. First issue, my radio display screen stopped working and showed a warning similar to an Internet browser Wait or Close Program. Im driving a new car which never should it close program for obvious safety reasons especially if you bought with Honda Sensing. Second problem I had was LaneWatch camera stopped working. When I turn on turn signal the radio would remain on the audio display. Third, an area button on my radio display space stopped responding to touch, which was not confirmed despite having a video of this. The Honda dealer could only verify my camera was not working and but could not address my other concerns which is ridiculous considering I have a video of my radio not working. Less than a month after buying my car several major service light turned on. These include power steering, braking system, parking brake system, up-hill assist, traction control error and tire pressure. My radio display audio button stopped working but was working so they could not verify an issue. The a different dealership was able to observe my radio display unit not work and decided to replace the information display unit. My camera has stopped working again but started before I could get it back in the shop. My major question is why my camera stopped working but the service department could not verify an issue. I attempted to put on my parking brake but the brake did not turn on the light blinked but did not engage. The service department could not replicate it was several days later and the car did not do that once I restarted the car. Except I have a brand new Honda Civic that has already taken a huge resale value hit because who wants a car with this many issue. The car has less than 1,500 miles on it and it has been anything but a turn-key experience. Dont trust the Honda Customer Care Hotline if they say no one has reported these issues because I have. I have made several calls to Honda Care Center and have received terrible service and some rude responses from the employees there granted I was rude and frustrated because it is a new car. I requested a new case manager be assigned but have since been contact by the same individual multiple times. They claim that they are unable to contact me through email and that I cant receive any communication other than telephone calls. I want to record the conversations with Honda Customer Care but was told if I state the call maybe recorded their policy is to not continue the call. Honda has given me no choice but to contact the NHTSA to report the problem with the eps unit, and parking brake problem. I will be contacting the necessary agencies to determine what I can do under state law.

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  2016 Pilot speedsUPwhen Stopping at intersections - 2016 Honda Pilot
  By John Barns - October 16 - 7:40 am

  I bought this 2016 Honda Pilot with around 100 miles on it. Almost after day one when you go to four way stop with foot off gas on on break it will take you into the intersection. This has happened too many times. The dealer would not comment on emails until I lowered their rating on dearerrater.com I took to a. Different dealer to check out three times. The touch screen radio also locks up. Tech said radio, breaks and gas to engine are all controlled by computer. It is thought to be throttle body censor and computer. I called American Honda customer sevice and they said checking into it. Reported to federal government safety agency, attorney general. Many with same issue online. This dealer may have too much knowable about auto before selling + not disclose anything.

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  Problems keep adding up - 2015 Honda CR-V
  By ncg - September 23 - 12:57 am

  Let me start by saying I am currently in arbitration with the National Center for Dispute Settlement http://ncdsusa.org/ and will move onto Lemon Law litigation. I have a 2015 Honda CRV AWD Touring currently over 13k miles and have experienced an array of problems which really has put a sour taste in my mouth because of the numerous problems with our CRV and the type of response from Honda. I have taken the car into service departments that have either took note of, tried numerous fixes or not at all, but in the end we are told that nothing can be done because this is a "characteristic of the vehicle" and no fix is needed . Ive even been told by my Honda dealer doing the warranty work that I can take my business to another dealer. I recommend you document all of your visits, even test drives with service advisors, log phone calls and make sure service records state what you reported, what work was done, what was noticed on test drives. I have met with District Parts and Service Manager, filed with Honda Customer Service, sent certified letters and all have resulted in the same response. This is a characteristic of the vehicle. Make sure to file these problems/complaints with Honda Customer Service 1-800-999-1009 and the NHTSA https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/ so the government takes notice. Here are some of the issues you may experience with the CRV. 1. Vibration issues for mode 1, 2 and 3 before and after TSB 15-046 -Driving Mode 1: While stopped with vehicle in gear. -Driving Mode 2: While between 1,000–1,200 rpm at takeoff. -Driving Mode 3: While driving between 1,800–2,200 rpm around 40–50 mph. 2. Vibration at highway speeds 70-80+ 3. Shudder, stall when in reverse 4. Steering issues -Pulls left under acceleration when wheel centered -Does not maintain center/neutral position or track straight down the road without excessive intervention. -Intermittently needs unexpected intervention through turns as the steering is not direct or does not reflect input from the driver. -The steering requires more input in one direction versus another. Intermittently steering becomes very heavy as if no power assist is given. 5. Car whines/whistles when driving These are the problems my car continues to have after taking them in to get "fixed".

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  Torture Chamber - 2015 Honda CR-V
  By Chuck - September 3 - 7:35 pm

  This is the tenth Honda weve owned, so you know we WERE loyal! Traded in a 2007 CR-V that we loved. Our 2015 CR-V was the most uncomfortable car weve ever owned or ridden in. Couldnt stand to be in it for a trip longer than 45 minutes. The seats were awful, and the front passenger legroom was terribly restricted compared to our 2007. It was so uncomfortable that we traded it in after nine months on a 2016 Ford Escape Titanium. We love the Escape! Its better in every way than the Honda: comfort, power, quiet, handling, technology. We havent missed anything about our Honda once since the day we drove away from it.

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  Like riding Indiana Jones at Disneyland - 2015 Honda CR-V
  By AlexC - August 28 - 10:39 am

  Seriously losing confidence in Hondas quality. Ive owned 2 cars in my lifetime.. both Hondas.. and both have glaring defaults within. (Previous car: 2001 Honda Accord, which came w/ a bad transmission) The 2015 Honda CRV came out of the dealership lot driving great. I thought I finally scored a great deal of a car! Then I started reading about the VIBRATION issues the car supposedly had. The car still drove well for another 10,000 miles.. But now, Im near nauseous at every stop light I find myself at. I look over at the passenger seat, which is shaking madly.. which means that the driver seat I"m sitting on is also shaking likewise. This shaking at idle reminds me of the transmission issue I dealt with in my previous Honda Accord, where the car constant risk of shaking and dying upon acceleration at eery red light. I certainly hope Honda does something about their problems with the 21015 CRV. They received incredible ratings and reviews upon initial release and rode it all the way to best seller. This is very unfortunate that the car does not deliver up to value and no has many (and priorly non-returning) customers. Very disapointing

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  First and last Honda - 2017 Honda Pilot
  By Channing - August 13 - 11:36 am

  It is apparent that Honda is living in the shadow of their reputation from the 90s and 2000s. We just purchased a fully loaded EX-L because of the bad reviews of the touring and elite having the 9 speed transmission. The suv had only 8 thousand miles, and was purchased from a very reputable dealer. After driving it for a few days, my wife noticed moisture in the front passenger floorboard. When I checked out the vehicle, the entire floorboard (All 4 doors)was completely saturated with water. The next thing we noticed was that the front passenger seatbelt was covered with mold. We took the vehicle to the Honda dealer to get it fixed. I called the service department after 24 hours to see what was going on. The service advisor said it was ready to go. I said wait, what was the issue? He said someone must have hit the button on the remote and made the windows go down in the rain. I told him that was impossible, because we would have seen water on the seats, door panels, and everywhere else. So they kept the car for a few more days and said they found some seepage on the top rail molding and put some filler in it. He said it was finished and ready to go. I said what about the mold on the seatbelt? He said they cleaned it off, and they would not replace it. I said I was in the mold remediation business for many years, and you cannot just clean mold from porous surfaces. So he said he would talk to his boss. I got a call later from the advisor saying he has never lied to his customers and he wasnt going to start. He said they found a significant amount of water inside the seatbelt retractor.and they were getting an engineer to take the vehicle to a rain machine to do tests, and he didnt know when we would get it back. So a few more days later they found some bad welds or seams under the vehicle, and said they repaired it and ordered new carpet. I ask what about the moldy seatbelt. They refused to replace the seatbelt, so I let him know that we were not going to take the vehicle back. We have a baby, and she would not be riding in a vehicle that we paid $35k for, and has mold and bad welds. We decided to try out a touring pilot since there were no others to choose from. As soon as we checked the carpet on the 2017 touring, it was soaked on the passenger side. That was the end of Honda for us. We traded for a 2017 Toyota Highlander and are very happy we are through with Hondas.

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  Previous Hondas Better - 2016 Honda HR-V
  By Bailey - July 24 - 1:44 am

  This is a poorly made vehicle made in Mexico. The horrific paint jobs that come through on these is a disgrace. Missing clear-coat, dirt in paint- panels dont fit flush, etc. Ive owned previous Hondas in the past-mainly made in Japan. Take my advice and dont buy these Mexican made junk piles. Ive regretted my purchase since day one. The selling dealer has been great however; they can only do so much. I cannot wait to trade in on better vehicle- and it wont be another Honda. Now six months later, the exhaust has a terrible rattle under certain speeds when accelerating. The overall quality of this vehicle leave a lot to be desired. Im looking for a change this Spring.

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  You call this a car - 2002 Honda Accord
  By WstCst - July 6 - 8:53 am

  I bought a Honda because people say they are great cars, are they ever wrong. The car feels very cheap and has to be taken into the shop every other week or so to fix some glitch. The interior quality is poor, not up to the standards of even the poorest domestic car. The gas milege, a measly 24 MPG quite frankly stinks. The price for this car was way to much for the car that you get. The pathetic engine can barely propel the car down the road, and the transmission has to down shift to even go around corners. Dont buy this vehicle

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  DO NOT BUY A HONDA PASSPORT - 1999 Honda Passport
  By MJA - July 3 - 2:00 am

  I HATE THE HONDA PASSPORT I SPENT MORE TIME AT THE HONDA DEALERSHIP GETTING IT FIXED AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM I WILL NEVER BUY A HONDA AGAIN

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  Disappointed - 2016 Honda Accord
  By Sherry - June 30 - 2:41 pm

  Im just making my 2nd payment today on my 2016 Accord and it is in the shop with electrical issues very disappointed. I really would like to return it now. I went from having a Nissan and wish I had went back to Nissan.