5 Of The Most Reliable Honda Cars Ever... 5 That Kept Falling Apart

2022-09-03 07:34:46 By : Ms. Anna Zou

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Honda is known for its reliable cars, but sometimes even they miss the mark.

The Honda Motor Company remains the largest manufacturer of motorcycles and engines in the world. The Japanese titan is one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the world today, and regardless of the machines they make, the one thing everybody expects from them is reliability. Perhaps the biggest selling point of any Honda car today is how reliable they are. Owners do not have to worry about having to take constant trips to the service station for parts that constantly keep giving out.

Throughout its 73-year-old history, Honda has produced some absolute gems in the automotive industry, which have cemented the Honda brand in the market. There's something about Japanese brands like Lexus, Toyota, and Honda, that has become synonymous with dependability over the years. Sadly, even though Honda has suffered a drop in reliability ratings lately, there are plenty of cars in the brand's history and lineup that can keep customers happy.

On the other hand, every big carmaker has faltered over time, and Honda is no different. The Japanese manufacturer has also come out with cars that simply couldn't have been depended on, and kept breaking down, proving to be a nightmare for customers. Here are 5 Honda cars that were extremely reliable, and 5 that kept falling apart.

The Honda Insight from last year made it to the top 10 most reliable cars according to the year-end consumer reports. If that is not enough, even the 2020 Honda Insight was near-faultless, with zero reported complaints about the lifestyle sedan. A hybrid with all the looks of a modern executive vehicle and great fuel economy to go with it, the Honda Insight is a fantastic choice.

The car's polished design is one of its biggest selling points, and owners also love it for its pleasant driving experience. With great safety systems that take the car at par with its contemporaries, there isn't much to fault about the Honda Insight, which is what makes it such a great car. Sadly, the sales of the Insight have never matched its quality, and Honda is going to discontinue this car from 2022 onwards.

The Civic is one of Honda's greatest nameplates ever, and it first saw the light of day in 1972. However, it wasn't the superb sedan we know it to be today, but rather a two-door hatchback. Part of the seventh generation through evolution over the years, the 2002 Civic Si surprised longtime Honda fans by being the first Civic to have troublesome handling.

The 2002 Civic Si had a noticeably cumbersome steering system, and if that wasn't all, owners ran into multiple problems with the car's terrible transmission. Even the exhaust manifold for the 2002 Civic Si was known to fracture easily. On the inside of the cabin, the hinge mechanism for the sun visors, something rather simple to get right, was downright abysmal, which didn't affect performance, but caused constant frustration among owners.

RELATED: Why The 2022 Honda Civic Si Is The Best Entry-Level Compact Sports Car For Enthusiasts

Labeled as one of the best, if not the absolute best roadster of all time, the Honda S2000 is a timeless car that has been loved by gearheads across generations. This was a sports car that performed impressively well while remaining high on comfort and even hitting the mark on the reliability front.

Named after its 2.0-liter displacement engine, the Honda S2000 remains a light roadster that is as much a daily driver as it is a highway weapon, and a capable track toy as well. To this day, owners of the car are quite happy with it, and fear parting ways with the S 2000. 13 years after the car ceased production, the Honda S2000 is sorely missed and is one of the most sought-after JDM cars today.

Honda had created a gem of a car with the original CRX. Thus, the 1992 CRX Del Sol had big shoes to fill, since it had the coveted CRX nameplate. That is also why many actually bought the car since the CRX Del Sol was replacing a great JDM icon, and naturally, people expected greatness from this car too. Sadly, the car let down gearheads, customers, and the CRX nameplate as well.

Both in terms of build quality and reliability, the Del Sol failed to live up to the mark. While the cabin being way too noisy even for 1992 could be looked over, the roof having leakage problems was a huge letdown. A major chunk of Del Sol owners got stuck with a faulty engine mount, which increased the engine harshness levels and vibrations to an unbearable level.

RELATED: Here Are 9 JDM Cars You Will Regret Buying

Another great Honda vehicle, the 2018 Ridgeline featured quite high on the list of rankings. It nearly outranked all its contemporary rivals four years ago. The Ridgeline pickup has always been considered one of the most reliable Honda machines, and its appeal has not diminished over the years.

Back in 2018, Honda came out with an industry-first in-bed trunk, and the Ridgeline's superior interiors helped its case even further. Both the 2018 and 2019 models of the Ridgeline have proven to be equally dependable over the years. For a sports utility truck that gets the job done and then some, one couldn't go wrong with this lifestyle pickup.

Honda was the very first Japanese car manufacturer who reached American shores with their cars. It was Honda's success that got other brands like Nissan and Toyota to follow. In 1996, Honda launched the Acura CL, and the nameplate lasted 7 years over two generations.

Its predecessor, the Acura Legend, had been quite successful, and people weren't wrong to expect the same of the CL. Sadly, it was plagued with the same issues that many Hondas of the time were, especially the faulty automatic transmission. Even the electrical mechanisms on the '97 Acura CL were problematic. To tackle these issues, Honda did attempt to extend the car's warranty to 7 years, but it failed to please buyers. Over time, the CL simply couldn't develop a following, and Honda killed the car three years into the new century.

The Honda Jazz has proven itself to be a great car over the years, and also one of the most reliable ones you get in the market. The 2017 model year of the Honda Jazz even got the Most Reliable Small Car award from WhatCar magazine. Also known as the Honda Fit, the Jazz is simply a no-brainer in the sup-compact car segment.

Sure, the Jazz might not be as thrilling to drive, but when it comes to owner satisfaction, it doesn't miss the mark at all. The car, throughout its lifespan, has had mostly great years, but the 2017 model was quite dependable, with barely any faults that customers complained about.

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The Honda Prelude was quite the looker, and there is simply no denying it. The JDM craze of the '90s ensured that the car created a buzz of interest, but for a car that looked so good, the Prelude came with plenty of problems. The biggest problem the Honda Prelude was ridden with was a common and total engine failure.

The engine wasn't the only problem, since the four-speed automatic transmission was prone to failure as well, which was consistent with other Hondas from the '90s. On some models, even the steering wheel leaked fluid, and a complete lack of ABS or airbags made it a bit of a dud in the American market.

The Odyssey has been one of the go-to names if you're in the market for a family-sized car, and the vehicle reached the end of its fourth generation with its 2017 model year. Naturally, this was going to be a year when Honda had worked out all the kink and problems and launched the best version of the fourth-gen Odyssey, which is exactly what happened.

The 2017 Odyssey received almost zero complaints from happy buyers and satisfied owners. Car Complaints reports that while the 2017 Odyssey received just a couple of complaints the entire model year, the next model, which was an all-new generation in 2018, received over 40 complaints! The Odyssey is a great car to have for a family, and it remains modern enough with amenities and features to not feel outdated half a decade later.

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Everyone knows that the mid-2000s were not a good time for the low-emission vehicle market. For some reason or another, low-emission, less-polluting vehicles simply couldn't make it on the market, and the Honda Accord Hybrid from 2005 suffered the same. Following up on the steps of the Insight and Civic Hybrid models, this HEV was touted as the new 'it' hybrid to have, loaded with Honda's iVTEC technology.

Sadly, the tech took a backseat in front of the car's multiple transmission glitches and even complete failure right from launch day. Not only did owners face the transmission problem, but they also faced massive repair bills. As a result, buyers didn't embrace the car and even though Honda replaced the transmission, the damage had been done, and the Accord Hybrid was phased out by 2007. It was only seven whole years later that a new generation of the Honda Accord Hybrid was launched, and today, the car is one of the best options on the market.

If it has wheels and an engine, Samarveer Singh is going to be obsessed with it. He is a budding Indian motorcycle racer, competing at the national level in his country in his very first year, chasing his dream around every corner of the racetrack. A touring enthusiast, Samarveer is forever stuck between the urge to constantly redline his bike, or save its clutch plates for longer.