Subaru Forester vs Honda HR-V: which is more reliable?
The Subaru Forester and the Honda HR-V are level on the federal record — 71/100 against 70/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Subaru Forester
- 15 model years scored
- 4,756 owner complaints on record
- about 52 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 44 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (90/100) · worst 2019 (41/100)
Honda HR-V
- 10 model years scored
- 1,810 owner complaints on record
- about 46 complaints per year on the road
- 32 recall campaigns, 21 safety-critical
- best year 2017 (92/100) · worst 2023 (37/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Forester against HR-V
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.
What owners actually complain about
Subaru Forester
- Visibility/Wiper — 986 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 747 complaints
- Electrical System — 707 complaints
Honda HR-V
- Unknown Or Other — 399 complaints
- Visibility/Wiper — 333 complaints
- Electrical System — 304 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Forester's complaints concentrate in Visibility/Wiper, the HR-V's in Unknown Or Other. 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
Subaru Forester — avoid: 2019, 2020.
Honda HR-V — avoid: 2023, 2024.
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 Subaru Forester prices at about $32,900 and a Honda HR-V at about $30,500 — the Honda HR-V is roughly $2,400 less, and they return 29.0 against 27.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Subaru Forester or the Honda HR-V more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Forester scores 71/100 against the Honda HR-V's 70/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Subaru Forester and Honda HR-V years should I avoid?
Subaru Forester: 2019, 2020. Honda HR-V: 2023, 2024. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Subaru Forester and the Honda HR-V?
The largest complaint group on the Subaru Forester is Visibility/Wiper (986 complaints); on the Honda HR-V it is Unknown Or Other (399).
Is the Subaru Forester or the Honda HR-V cheaper to own?
A recent used Subaru Forester prices at about $32,900 and a Honda HR-V at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.