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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  Best car ever - 2001 Honda Civic
  By Seba - July 10 - 9:48 am

  My wife bought this car new back in 2001, it now has 136K miles, never any repairs just regular service like, spark plugs, timing belt, trans service, brake pads and regular oil change every 3-4K miles, great car for the money. Great gas mileage. It still fills like the fist day.

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  Nice looking car but very bad city MPG - 2009 Honda Civic
  By Joe - July 10 - 5:10 am

  I had purchased this vehicle after my friends told me it was good on gas. Well I got a civic 2009 EX and the MPG is horrible. I am getting 23 miles per gallon on this car. My tank is half empty with only 110 miles. I wish I can take it back for a more economical one. Not to mention the price. Too high for this car. Honda, youre going cheap to improve gas efficiency on brand new cars. People you will not be happy paying over 20,000 for this MPG. I am not a rough rider either.

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  Unique Truck With Lots To Like, But Not Perfect - 2017 Honda Ridgeline
  By chris - July 10 - 3:26 am

  UPDATED 3/20/17: Still like the vehicle, with a few disappointments. Acceleration is good when mashing the peddle, but low end responsiveness in day to day driving is weak. Transmission never seems to be in the gear I want making precise control of speed difficult. A manual mode or a performance mode to flip the computer to a more aggressive dynamic would alleviate, but alas the only option is a lone button to downshift to D4. Steering/handling remains a Honda strength and is exceptional, as the vehicle steers like a car. It also rides like a Honda, which is to say a bit on the stiff side, but tuning makes it handle great on uneven terrain and a worthwhile tradeoff. Storage is great, you really can fit a golf bag under the rear seat, and the rear trunk and bed are both wide and useful. I hate the touch screen interface, after 6 months I still get lost at times as it is not intuitive. The E trim also states "premium" sound, but the frequency dynamics leave something to be desired, as off the shelf components I installed on my old truck beats this new premium stereo (not by a lot, but by enough to note). MPG is underwhelming and exactly as stated on sticker, no more. Others have noted higher than advertised MPG (even up to 30), but that is a myth, as the average MPG calculator on this vehicle (as well as the 2016 Pilots) overstate by ~2 MPG. I have to wonder if Honda did that on purpose? Suggestion, verify your MPG using a calculator at the gas pump, as the info center gets it wrong on this vehicle. Lighting: I keep getting flashed by opposing drivers with dim headlights on. Not sure if they are aimed to too high or what, but never had that problem on any other vehicle. Instrument cluster is average and has the stuff youd expect on a modern vehicle. The real time MPG in info center is completely worthless though, not granular enough, and difficult to read. If anything should have been digital vs analog, its that. Interior lights are weak and narrow (like a spotlight). Cannot see a large portion of the storage areas of the car at night. Chimes from the cluster are tinny. Power rear sliding window and sunroof work great. Mirror defroster works great (less than a minute). Front seat headrests are poorly positioned (they lean too far forward). I actually had to remove my drivers head rest and swap it with a rear head rest (those are not tilted). Felt like my head was tilted forward 24/7. HVAC is strong, heats and cools quickly, and controls are easy to use. Front ground clearance is more light SUV than "truck", however, the front air dam is a flexible rubber instead of hard plastic, meaning you can scrape the ground and it bends instead of breaks. I tested this out through a creek bed and scraped the air dam (not on purpose, haha) and it came out with some grass on it, but no damage. The USB ports only work with car in ACC or ON. Come on Honda, I cant leave my phone in the car to charge without turning on all accessories? The spare tire (while not "full size") is in the trunk and away from the elements. This may not seem like a big deal until years down the road and you have a flat. Trust me when I tell you not being able to remove the spare tire on your rusted out undercarriage of a truck will have you saying a few choice words, been there, done that. Nice design Honda! Rear camera works and has 3 top down viewing angles to choose from which makes hitching up a trailer very easy, however, the resolution on the camera is poor, and, if its raining it gets wet and blurry. The vehicle tows Ok and pulls my 2500 lb boat easily. The driver assist technology is semi-useful, but a bit gimmicky at the same time. Lane keeper will drive the car for you on "level" pavement, even around moderate curves, however it doesnt work well on sloped pavement as it drifts all the way to the line before correcting. On level pavement, its dead true. It also only stays on for 15 seconds before it makes you touch/grab the wheel for a second (then the 15 seconds restarts). Blind spot detection works but not very useful, however, the backup warning of side traffic works great and has great range. This helps when backing out of spots where its hard to see, or if youre not paying attention. It actually helped me avoid a jogger wearing black at dusk when backing out of driveway one night! The single most useful feature is probably the adaptive cruise, which actually works, but I would like to see more configuration options on distance from preceding vehicle. Road departure not very helpful, comes on after youre already heading into the ditch (i.e. too late). Overall, after 6 months, Ive lowered my opinion of the vehicle slightly due it being advertised as a "truck", but missing key "truck" like features like enough ground clearance to hit a curb without damage, not enough low end torque, no "always on" power port, poor interior lighting, and no positive surprises in regards to MPG.

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  Transmission problems @ 41000 miles - 2002 Honda Odyssey
  By tmock13 - July 9 - 9:07 pm

  I purchased new back in Jan. 2002 and have faithfully followed the necessary scheduled maintenance. But guess what, with only 41200 miles, the transmission needs to be rebuilt. The check engine light came on and the code came up p0730 "incorrect gear ratio". Dealer told me that there is no extended warranty, as assumed by many people. The extended warranty applies only to 1999-2001 odyssey. The standard 3 year/36000 miles applies to my case which I no longer qualify. Dealer was quoting me $5000 to $6000 for a new transmission. I brought it to AAMCO and grudgingly handed over $3004 to rebuild transmission with a 12 months warranty. Again, what happen to Honda quality?!

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  Great Car! - 2007 Honda CR-V
  By Donna H. - July 9 - 6:03 pm

  After much research on the internet, I was torn between the new RAV-4 and the CR-V. My husband and I test drove both vehicles and immediately decided that we like the CR-V much better. In fact, my husband didnt even want to drive the RAV-4. We bought our CR-V after test-driving a total of 5 cars. We immediately took the car on a three hour trip and truly enjoyed the drive. The more I drive my new CR-V, the more I like it!

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  Good, Bad, Ugly - 2009 Honda Pilot
  By hondafan - July 9 - 4:22 pm

  Good - Honda Ride, Functionality, lot of space. Went on a 1000 mi trip on Jul 4th weekend. Loved the ride. Drives like Honda civic. Price - Lot of good deals around. Bad - Interior & Exterior Gaps. Wind noise on highway is a bit high (typical Honda product) Ugly- Cheap interior plastic material, & rear carpet. The plastic around the key area getting lot of scratches already.

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  Mixed review - 2003 Honda Civic
  By mixed review - July 9 - 3:21 pm

  Bought new in 9/03. Front passenger strut failed at approx 4k. Clutch started making squeaking noise at 25k. At 60k had clutched inspected, not an issue that has to be fixed but would cost $600 to eliminate the squeak. Driver door lock worn out at around 60k making it embarrassing when trying to get in the car if I actually locked the door. Cheap paint chips and scratches easy. Dents really easy. Not having ABS is a little dangerous, and the car for being so lite weight lacks breaking power.

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  Comfortable, tough, my favorite so far... - 1998 Honda Passport
  By themaninthemoon - July 9 - 1:57 pm

  I bought this vehicle almost 4 years now, and I gotta say it has been fantastic, no problems at all... I drive it to school and work all around the city. It is strong enough to take the continuous stop and go streets and comfortable enough for road trips. Amazing fuel mileage, as a college student I travel more than 30 miles a day and it is still up and running. This is my first car and my best so far. The only problem I had recently was the radiator, it broke but replaced it, and no other problems. Though make note that I took excellent care of the engine and the vehicle in general...

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  Affordable Luxury - 2006 Honda Accord
  By BILLYBOB - July 9 - 1:36 pm

  I looked at everything out there. I wanted leather, wood grain interior, dependability, and sharp looks. For my price range, it came down to a Certified Used Acura or a brand spanking new Accord (I tested Camry and Altima and they werent in the same class). Obviously I went with the Accord and have been very pleased for the last 2 months.

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  Awesome 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th Car - 1997 Honda Accord
  By tjak74 - July 9 - 12:02 pm

  Bought car from original owner with 195,500 miles and complete service records. Hit 200,000 on July 4th. 1st owner was rear-ended in 2002, the only major repair. Car is brand-new feeling. Drives VERY smooth @ 90 MPH. I have driven it on several long trips (550 miles one-way), in hot, cold, bright, dark, dry, and wet conditions, without any problems. Averaged 30MPG @ 80-90MPH on those trips. Only need to make ONE stop because car is so comfortable and good on gas mileage. Car is very reliable and fun-to- drive. Has good around-town and passing power and great brakes. I highly recommend this vehicle.