Honda CR-V Hybrid vs Toyota C-HR: which is more reliable?

The Toyota C-HR is ahead of the Honda CR-V Hybrid on the federal record, 76/100 against 66/100 — a real but narrow gap that a bad model year on either side closes.

The record, side by side

Honda CR-V Hybrid

66/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 682 owner complaints on record
  • about 38 complaints per year on the road
  • 17 recall campaigns, 14 safety-critical
  • best year 2022 (81/100) · worst 2021 (38/100)
Toyota C-HR
Toyota C-HR · Wikimedia Commons

Toyota C-HR

76/100 mean
  • 5 model years scored
  • 517 owner complaints on record
  • about 14 complaints per year on the road
  • 6 recall campaigns, 3 safety-critical
  • best year 2022 (93/100) · worst 2018 (45/100)

Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.

Year by year: CR-V Hybrid against C-HR

The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.

YearCR-V HybridC-HR Gap
202366 CAUTION——
202281 BUY93 BUY-12
202138 AVOID91 BUY-53
202078 BUY83 BUY-5
2019—70 BUY—
2018—45 AVOID—

What owners actually complain about

Honda CR-V Hybrid

  • Steering — 194 complaints
  • Forward Collision Avoidance — 132 complaints
  • Electrical System — 101 complaints

Toyota C-HR

  • Power Train — 327 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 87 complaints
  • Engine — 52 complaints

They do not fail the same way: the CR-V Hybrid's complaints concentrate in Steering, the C-HR's in Power Train. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.

Years to avoid on each

Honda CR-V Hybrid — avoid: 2021.

Toyota C-HR — avoid: 2018.

A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.

What each costs today

A recent used Honda CR-V Hybrid prices at about $25,800 and a Toyota C-HR at about $23,700 — the Toyota C-HR is roughly $2,100 less, and they return 37.0 against 29.0 MPG combined.

Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.

FAQ

Is the Honda CR-V Hybrid or the Toyota C-HR more reliable?

On the NHTSA record the Toyota C-HR scores 76/100 against the Honda CR-V Hybrid's 66/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.

Which Honda CR-V Hybrid and Toyota C-HR years should I avoid?

Honda CR-V Hybrid: 2021. Toyota C-HR: 2018. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.

What goes wrong on the Honda CR-V Hybrid and the Toyota C-HR?

The largest complaint group on the Honda CR-V Hybrid is Steering (194 complaints); on the Toyota C-HR it is Power Train (327).

Is the Honda CR-V Hybrid or the Toyota C-HR cheaper to own?

A recent used Honda CR-V Hybrid prices at about $25,800 and a Toyota C-HR at about $23,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.

More head-to-heads