I Fell in Love With the New Honda CR-V Hybrid Until I Saw the Price

The Honda CR-V hybrid is a popular family SUV with plenty of space throughout and the bulletproof reliability we’ve come to expect from Japanese cars.

Born in the same year as me, it first appeared in 1995 to compete with the Toyota RAV4, and has since been one of the best-selling large SUVs in the world. But does that justify the price tag?

8.0/10

Based on

5 categories

Reviewed by Dylan Freeburn

Honda CRV Hybrid

The Honda CRV has been one of the best-selling SUVs in the world over the last 30 years. It's reliable, spacious, and brimming with standard tech and safety features, but standard four-wheel-drive impacts efficiency, and makes the CRV hybrid more expensive than most of its competitors.

Comfort 8

Technology 9

Performance 6

Quality 10

Price 7

Pros

• Spacious
• Generous tech
• Practical boot space

Cons

• Subpar infotainment
• Noisy at speed
• Expensive

I spent a week with this pricey Honda to find out if it’s still worth buying, or whether there are better value-for-money options out there. The model tested is the Honda CR-V Advance trim with premium Crystal Red Metallic paint, costing £51,515.

My First Thoughts

The latest Honda CR-V is boxy, but still stylish. Slim LED headlights and continuous chrome insert emphasize the width of this full-size SUV, while strong, straight lines define different sections and add a touch of elegance.

Moody grey alloys and a gloss black front grill are a beautiful contrast against this deep Crystal Red Metallic paint – a £1,045 option. Honestly, I love the design. It’s sophisticated and mature, with the right amount of aggression for a big presence on the road.

Best Features

• Silent electric-only driving
• Safest Honda Sensing yet
• Standard heated front seats
• Walk-away close tailgate
• Multi-view cameras

Continuing inside, a panoramic glass sunroof illuminates the black leather that covers the seats and steering wheel, and the soft padding surrounding the dashboard. There’s a generous amount of tech as standard, including a head-up display, a wireless phone charging cradle, keyless entry and start, plus front and rear parking sensors.

On top of that, the new Honda Sensing 360 brings a suite of advanced driving assistance systems that monitor hazards around the car. Features such as front cross-traffic alert and active lane change assist make this the safest Honda yet. Since these cameras do not record, I’d also advise you to buy a dash cam for extra security.

Honda CR-V Performance Specs

What I Liked About The Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V is a truly practical SUV that centres around family life. I appreciated the head and legroom throughout, and the wide-opening rear doors make getting in and out easy. They’re especially useful if you have a child seat installed to the ISOFIX points. A square opening and flat floor means you can use the full 579 litres of boot space, increasing to 1,643 litres with the rear seats folded.

As well as a reversing camera with guides, there’s a multi-view camera system for a 360-degrees look around the car. Honda Parking Pilot to park itself in suitable spaces. There are loads of nice creature comforts and advanced tech I enjoyed, but my favourites were a crisp Bose sound system and having physical climate controls.

What I Didn’t Like About The Honda CR-V

While there’s plenty of space here, the more affordable Kia Sportage gets a bigger boot. Also, the Honda Connect infotainment system isn’t the best, either. Don’t get me wrong, the 9-inch touchscreen has large icons that are easy to find, but it’s a bit slow, and the built-in navigation looks dated. Thankfully, you can connect your smartphone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto instead.

Perhaps my biggest complaint about the hybrid system is the engine noise at higher speeds. For the most part, the CR-V will drive using electricity, which is near silent. However, when you demand power, the petrol engine wakes up and grumbles about it. Maybe it’s just the sudden change from silence to engine noise, but I haven’t picked up on it in other hybrid cars.

Honda CR-V Price

The Honda CR-V starts from £47,350 for an Elegance trim. A plug-in hybrid costs £49,930, and this CR-V hybrid is the most expensive from £50,470.

Considering similar hybrid SUVs start from around £30,000 or less, Honda is asking a lot. That said, you get what you pay for with a tech-packed, spacious, safe and reliable vehicle with four-wheel drive as standard. Though, that proves costly in other aspects, like fuel economy.

Honda CR-V Hybrid Fuel Economy

Officially, Honda claims the CR-V hybrid will return 42.8 MPG combined. Again, other hybrid SUVs achieve more than that. This is partly because the hybrid is only available with four-wheel drive, which always consumes more than a front-wheel drive vehicle offered by most other manufacturers. It also explains why this SUV costs so much.

Verdict: Is the Honda CR-V Worth It?

The Honda CR-V hybrid is a brilliant family SUV. It’s reliable, spacious, and loaded with tech as standard. Though, its non-negotiable four-wheel drive system hinders efficiency and makes it more expensive than almost all of its competitors.

Still, I definitely would recommend the CR-V to friends and family, but I would advise them to strongly consider better value-for-money options, such as the Ford Kuga hybrid, Skoda Kodiaq, or the Kia Sorento.