2022 Honda HR-V: What to check before buying

Sudden power loss is the core pattern. The car stops responding to the gas or refuses to go past 40 to 45 mph, often without warning. Others report a dashboard full of warnings at once (power steering, stability assist, parking brake, emissions), no-starts despite a fully charged battery, and battery drain. Several reports involve the SRS light or an airbag deploying with no impact, which owners tie to Safety Recall 24-036 for the seat weight sensor. Dealers often cannot reproduce the faults. Two reports involve crashes, one a fire, and two injuries.

The transmission fails outright. The CVT stops sending power to the wheels while the engine revs freely, leaving the car stranded in traffic or on the highway. Most failures fall between 56,000 and 85,500 miles, with one dealer finding metal debris in the fluid and one replacement costing over $9000. A second pattern is repeated loss of acceleration at highway speeds of 70 mph and up, with no warning lights. Dealers frequently cannot replicate it. One report describes a seized rear differential from a leaking seal, with both rear CV axles broken.

Pressing the pedal fails to stop the car, with no warning light beforehand. Two reports involve crashes, one with injuries. Other complaints describe stalling at highway speed with an "Electric Emergency Brake Unavailable" message and loss of power steering and braking. Another pattern is a sudden flood of brake, collision system, and emissions warnings. In one case a dealer traced this to a clogged sunroof drain letting water into the front cabin and did not cover it under warranty. Front brakes are also said to grab when wet or iced.

Stiff wheel response that suddenly overcorrects pulls the car to the left. A clunking sound from the front driver's side came before one crash that caused injuries. Other reports file stalling and no-start problems here. Electronic steering and engine lights stay on and the car won't start, or the car stays running at a green light but won't move until it is restarted. In one case the no-start happened three times within 30 days at 18,000 miles. Dealers ran diagnostics and found nothing.

The car accelerates without driver input. Reports describe surging forward while the brake is pressed, often at very low speed while parking or stopping for a light. Two of these led to collisions. In another case the car sped from 65 mph to over 100 mph at about 29,000 miles while the brakes failed to stop it. The opposite also appears, with the car slowing sharply on its own at speed. No warning lights come on, and dealers have been unable to duplicate the problem.

Frontal crashes with heavy damage leave the bags undeployed. Three crash reports describe this, each with an injured occupant, and in one a seat belt also failed to hold the driver. Owners note there is no recall covering non-deployment. A separate complaint involves an airbag warning light on a car the dealer said was not included in the existing 2022 recall. That owner was quoted over $2000 for the repair at 60,000 miles, outside warranty.

The collision mitigation system brakes hard when no collision is coming, both in heavy city traffic and at highway speeds. One owner reports four such events. Another report describes the opposite: in a crash the system failed completely, the vehicle was totaled, and the driver was injured. With only two complaints filed, the pattern is thin. Both failure types carry loss-of-control risk.

Acceleration cuts out in traffic, sometimes in the middle of a left turn across oncoming lanes. Restarting usually clears it, but the problem returns. Other reports describe the car failing to shift into gear and stalling, with brake, check engine, and other warning lights on. Repeat dealer visits either find nothing or end in a software reset after earlier repairs failed. One case reached a fourth diagnosis at about 17,000 miles.