2018 Honda HR-V: What to check before buying

The right-side instrument display flickers, shows garbled characters, or goes blank, leaving no fuel gauge or odometer. It happens most in cold weather and usually clears once the car warms up. Dealers often can't reproduce it on demand and quote a full cluster replacement, with prices like $1,800 and $2,365. Other reports describe no-starts with a healthy battery, and lights or alarms switching on by themselves while parked until the battery dies, sometimes traced to the body control module. Two complaints involve crashes, including one where the dash went dark and the car shut off.

Most of these filings are about fuel pump recall 23V858000, not about breakdowns. Owners got the recall notice, but dealers had no parts, and many waited longer than they thought was reasonable. Where a failure is described, the car stalls with warning lights on, nearly stalls and loses power for a few seconds, or won't start right away, at around 22,000 to 28,000 miles. A few report check-fuel-cap messages that keep coming back, and gasoline smell on the oil dipstick of a nearly new car.

The fuel pump fails with no warning. The car stalls while driving, won't start properly, or starts and then refuses to move, and some owners need a tow. One failure came at about 43,000 miles. Much of this category is about recall repair delays. Owners say dealers had no parts for months, and one says almost 2 years. Others report dealers who never called back or didn't know about the recall. One owner noticed a strong smell inside the car after the new pump went in.

The CVT fails at highway speed. Warning lights come on, the car loses power and slows to as little as 15 to 30 mph, and sometimes drops into neutral or limp mode. Some owners feel shaking, jerking, or a surge-and-fade in speed on gentle hills first. Dealers report metal shavings in the fluid and replace the transmission, and one owner faced a $9,000 bill. Reported failures include cars at 68,314 and 95,861 miles. Several owners missed the 7 year/150,000 mile extended warranty, and one says the software update did not prevent failure.

The brakes fail to stop the car. The pedal goes to the floor, needs several pumps, or seems to give out over bumps. Three complaints involve crashes, including hitting a car in winter weather, hitting a house while backing up, and lurching forward instead of stopping while parking. Dealers sometimes can't reproduce the problem. Other reports mention uneven rear brake wear tied to rear caliper recall 18V777000, a shortage of parts for that recall, and stalling after hard braking.

Paint chips and peels, usually starting on the roof and spreading to the doors and side panels. White pearl cars come up most often. Dealers reject claims by blaming tree sap or bird droppings, and one body-shop repaint quote ran about $2,400. Owners worry the bare spots will rust. Separate reports describe water leaking into the trunk when it rains or snow melts, at about 17,000 miles, and one crash in heavy rain where a guy wire was hard to see.

No airbag deploys in several frontal crashes. Owners describe head-on and front-end impacts at about 27 to 30 mph where nothing fired, including crashes that totaled the car or jammed the driver's door. All four complaints involve crashes, and three report injuries, such as seat-belt bruising. One also describes the car accelerating on its own while being shifted into park, then hitting a pole. Dealers who looked at these cars couldn't diagnose a defect.

Stalling and sudden power loss while driving are the main complaints, sometimes at highway speed with the dashboard going dark. Some cars restart right away. Others won't restart for hours. Owners link the stalling to the fuel pump recall, though not every VIN is covered. Dealers often find no fault codes after several tows. Other reports describe a flashing park light and a red check-engine light, with the car jerking and lunging, and water pooling on the driver's side after rain.

The car loses power and slows while driving, then sometimes won't restart, which leaves owners waiting for roadside help. Other reports describe the car feeling sluggish with weak braking even after new pads and rotors. One owner had a differential lock up shortly after a 100k service, with rattling as the only warning. In one early report, the RPMs kept rising under firm braking at highway speed until the driver shifted into neutral.