2021 Honda HR-V reliability

Is it reliable?

The 2021 Honda HR-V has 63 complaints with NHTSA after 6 years, or 4 per year. That is fewer complaints per year than most HR-V years here — under the median of the other years, which is 13. NHTSA has 4 recalls on file, including Front passenger seat weight sensor and Display.

Honda HR-V LX, 2016–2022 body — Photo by MercurySable99, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Complaints

Per year

Recalls

Years on the road

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Air bags (21 of 63), then Electrical system (15) and Forward collision avoidance (7). Complaints that include an odometer have a median of 24,500 miles, and the middle half falls between 6,969 and 61,100 miles. Those filings include 5 that report a crash and 5 that report an injury.

Next to 2020 and 2022

The 2020 HR-V has 83 complaints, 3 per year, and the 2022 has 87 complaints, 14 per year. The 2021 has more complaints per year than the 2020. The 2021 has fewer complaints per year than the 2022.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2021 Honda HR-V. How we count. Data as of 2026-10-16.

Recalls (4)

Recall Front passenger seat weight sensor 2026-05-21 · NHTSA campaign 26V332000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2021, 2023 Acura TLX, 2019-2024 RDX, 2017-2020, 2022-2026 MDX, 2017-2021, 2023, 2025 Honda Ridgeline, 2017-2022 Pilot, 2019-2021 Passport, 2018-2026 Odyssey, 2019-2022 Insight, 2019-2021 HR-V, 2018-2020 Fit, 2020-2022 CR-V Hybrid, 2017-2022 CR-V, 2017-2018, 2021 Civic Type R, 2017-2021 Civic hatchback, 2016-2020 Civic coupe, 2016-2022 Civic, 2017-2022 Accord Hybrid, and 2016-2022 Accord vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, which can cause the air bags to deploy unintentionally during a crash.

Remedy Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 7, 2026. Owners may contact Honda's customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are BOL, WO9, OOA, WOM, XOH, NOC, POD, BOE, UOF, POB, EOG, AOI, QO8, TOJ, DO7, and SOK. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall number 24V064. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning May 29, 2026.

Vehicles affected 98,892

Recall back-over prevention, display 2024-05-31 · NHTSA campaign 24V384000

Summary Honda (America Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Fit and 2019-2022 HR-V vehicles that were previously recalled under NHTSA recall number 23V-046. The rearview camera image may not display when the engine is started with a key, due to a design error in the audio display power circuit. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Remedy Dealers will update the display audio unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 8, 2024. Owners may contact Honda service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are TIQ and DIR. Vehicles previously repaired under recall 23V-046 will need to have the new remedy completed.

Vehicles affected 114,686

Recall Front passenger seat weight sensor 2024-02-01 · NHTSA campaign 24V064000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Pilot, Accord, Civic sedan, HR-V, Odyssey, 2020 Civic coupe, Fit, 2021-2022 Civic hatchback, 2021 Civic Type R, Insight, 2020-2021 CR-V, CR-V Hybrid, Passport, Ridgeline, Accord Hybrid, 2020 Acura MDX, 2022 Acura MDX, 2020-2022 Acura RDX, and 2020-2021 Acura TLX vehicles. The front passenger seat weight sensor may crack and short circuit, failing to suppress the air bag as intended.

Remedy Dealers will replace the seat weight sensors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 28, 2024. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for these recalls are XHP and VHQ.

Vehicles affected 750,114

Recall back-over prevention, display 2023-02-02 · NHTSA campaign 23V046000

Summary Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Fit and 2019-2022 HR-V vehicles. The rearview camera image may not display when the engine is started with a key, due to a design error in the audio display power circuit. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Remedy Dealers will update the display audio unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 13, 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is 6DW. This recall has been superseded by NHTSA recall number 24V-384. Vehicles previously repaired under recall 23V-046 will need to have the new remedy completed under recall 24V-384.

Vehicles affected 114,686

NHTSA's count is every vehicle in that campaign. A campaign can cover other model years and other models.

Complaints by component (63 total)

Air bags

Electrical system

Forward collision avoidance

Powertrain

Service brakes

Engine

Speed control

Steering

Lane departure

Seat belts

Seats

Exterior lighting

Fuel and propulsion system

Show 5 more Show less

Crash-flagged

Fire-flagged

Injury reports

Death reports

Of the 8 complaints that include an odometer reading, the median is 24,500 miles. The middle half fall between 6,969 and 61,100 miles.

Complaints filed per year

Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings

"I got in my vehicle to go to work, put the vehicle in drive and it would not move. The engine light came on, a large red flashing PARK on the dash and the tire light. I placed the car back in park. Checked to see if the…"
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance · filed 2026-08-31
"The contact owns a 2021 Honda HR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was contacted several…"
Air bags · filed 2026-08-11
"My cars had a clunking type noise coming from the front left of vehicle, sounds happens on both left and right turns, and sometimes the steering wheel STICKS. Making a knocking sound and sometimes feels difficult to…"
Steering · filed 2026-06-03
"Air bag sensor light is always off even when nobody is sitting in the passenger seat. The sensor has been recalled once before however it’s still having the same issue even after being replaced."
Air bags · filed 2026-06-01
"CVT transmission failed and vehicle lost power while on Interstate I-88 65 MPH speed zone. f Momentum allowed me to reach an exit at which point I needed to push the vehicle by myself off the roadway. Vehicle mileage…"
Powertrain · filed 2026-05-26

NHTSA crash ratings

Version	Overall	Front	Side	Rollover
2021 Honda HR-V SUV AWD	5 stars	4 stars	5 stars	4 stars
2021 Honda HR-V SUV FWD	5 stars	4 stars	5 stars	4 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Annual fuel cost
HR-V all-wheel drive	1.8L, 4-cyl	Automatic (AV-S7)	All-wheel drive	26	31	28 MPG	$2300
HR-V all-wheel drive	1.8L, 4-cyl	Automatic (variable gear ratios)	All-wheel drive	27	31	29 MPG	$2250
HR-V front-wheel drive	1.8L, 4-cyl	Automatic (AV-S7)	Front-wheel drive	28	34	30 MPG	$2150
HR-V front-wheel drive	1.8L, 4-cyl	Automatic (variable gear ratios)	Front-wheel drive	28	34	30 MPG	$2150

Specs and fitment

1st generation (U.S. market), 2016–2022

Body styles SUV

Oil 0W-20 , 3.9 qt capacity

Tire size 215/55R17

Known issues for this generation

NHTSA recall 23V-046 covers 2019-2022 HR-V vehicles together with the 2018-2020 Fit, which share the same display audio unit; the 114,686-vehicle figure is the total for that whole campaign across both models, not the HR-V alone. A design error in the audio display power circuit can keep the rearview camera image from appearing when the engine is started with a key, which fails Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111 for rear visibility and reduces the driver's rear view while backing up. Dealers update the display audio unit software free of charge, and owner letters went out March 13, 2023. That recall was later superseded by NHTSA recall 24V-384, so a vehicle already repaired under 23V-046 still needs the newer remedy; those owner letters were mailed July 8, 2024. Separately, Honda issued a technical service bulletin for 2016-2017 HR-V LX models whose Bluetooth HandsFreeLink system froze after a phone call and lost stored voice tags, fixed with an audio-unit software update.

Compare

Previous year 2020 Honda HR-V Next year 2022 Honda HR-V See every Honda HR-V model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2021 Honda HR-V reliable?

What are common problems with a 2021 Honda HR-V?

Is the 2021 Honda HR-V more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2020 HR-V has 83 complaints, 3 per year, and the 2022 has 87 complaints, 14 per year. The 2021 has more complaints per year than the 2020. The 2021 has fewer complaints per year than the 2022.

Has the 2021 Honda HR-V been recalled?

The 2021 Honda HR-V has 4 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2021 Honda HR-V?

Owners have filed 63 complaints about the 2021 Honda HR-V with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2021 Honda HR-V get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2021 Honda HR-V is 29.3 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

What oil does a Honda HR-V take?

US HR-V generations tracked here use 0W-20 (about 3.9 qt on 1st gen; about 4.4 qt on 2nd gen with filter).

Does recall 24V-744 cover the Honda HR-V?

Certain 2023-2025 HR-V vehicles are part of campaign 24V-744 (with Civic, CR-V, and Acura Integra): the steering gearbox may have excessive friction; dealers replace the worm-gear spring and add grease. The published unit count covers the whole multi-model campaign.

What generation is my Honda HR-V?

US 1st generation: 2016-2022. US 2nd generation: 2023 onward.