Honda ZR-V review - Reliability and safety
ZR-V just misses out on top Euro NCAP score, but standard safety kit remains very good
The ZR-V is too new to make an appearance in our Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, and the closely related Civic hatchback didn’t crack our top-75 list of the best cars to own. The only Honda that did this time around was the Jazz supermini, which finished in 32nd place. The Civic and larger CR-V SUV have been rated positively in the past at least.
Honda as a brand didn’t perform especially well in this year’s car manufacturer rankings either, falling from fifth place to 18th. But it did manage to trump premium makers such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi.
Euro NCAP tested the ZR-V in December 2023, but denied it a five-star safety rating - mainly due to the result of the side-impact test where the heads of the driver and front passenger hit each other. The report also noted that the driver monitoring system was able to detect driver fatigue but not distraction. The overall four-star score was broken down into four sections: Adult Occupant Safety, Child Passenger Safety, Vulnerable Road Users and Safety Assist, where respective percentage scores of 79, 86, 81 and 68 were recorded.
Every ZR-V comes as standard with Honda’s ‘Sensing’ range of safety and driver-assistance features, which includes lane departure warning, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, driver attention monitoring and ‘Traffic Jam Assist’. Adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, and a reversing camera are also standard-fit across the range.
Warranty
All new Hondas come with a three-year/90,000-mile warranty, which will provide plenty of cover for anyone planning to lease their car for that amount of time. However it’s not as extensive as five- and seven-year warranties from Hyundai and Kia, though Honda gives buyers the option to extend their coverage to five years.
Servicing
Honda offers 1-4 year service plans for its cars, which includes a service once a year or after 12,500 miles, whichever comes first. You can choose to pay for your plan in a single one-off payment or split the cost over several months.
