Honda

Honda has a major recall on its hands. The automaker is pulling back more than 720,000 vehicles for an issue with the high-pressure fuel pump that can cause leaks and increase the risk of fire. Impacted models come from the 2023 through 2025 model years.

After spending the early days of its electrification plans partnered with other companies like GM and Sony, Honda is taking off on its own. The automaker recently held the “Honda 0 Tech Meeting 2024,” during which it announced a slew of new tech and design features it said would reach buyers through new EV models planned for release in the next few years.

The American Honda Motor Company sold the first-generation Accord in the United States from 1976 through 1981, and that car brought Honda success here far beyond that achieved by motorcycles and Civics. Today's Junkyard Find is one of those early Accords, found last year in a Colorado car graveyard.

A trio of insurance companies are suing a New York dealership and the American Honda Motor Company after over a million dollars in property damages were paid to a local homeowners association and the owners of a vehicle that caught fire while parked in their garage. Insurers are claiming that the fire was the result of botched maintenance and negligent vehicle design and are looking to recoup payments.

If you’re still driving around with an unresolved Takata airbag recall, it’s time to stop being lazy and get it done. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently reported another death tied to the defective Takata airbag inflators, bringing the total to 28 so far in the United States.

Honda and Nissan are reportedly interested in formally creating the EV and software alliance the duo hinted at earlier this year, with Mitsubishi apparently asking if it can come along for the ride.

Nissan and Honda signed a memorandum of understanding in March that confirmed the companies were actively considering joining forces on the development of electric vehicles and automotive software. That partnership now seems closer than ever, with sources claiming that Mitsubishi (34 percent of which is owned by Nissan) may also be getting in on the action.

The Honda Civic Si has long been a solid in-between point, filling the performance gap between the standard Civic and the much hotter Civic Type R. Honda gave the car an overhaul for the 2025 model year, giving it a revised exterior design, updated interior, and new tech features.

Late last year, Honda showed off a stunning Prelude concept that many initially expected to arrive as an EV. While many concepts never see the light of day as production vehicles, the automaker plans to release the car as a hybrid, but only in Europe – for now.

The second-generation (1982-1985) Accord made Soichiro Honda's company a sales colossus in the United States, doing away with any residual impression that it was a mere motorcycle manufacturer with a sideline in four-wheelers. The last time we saw a discarded example in this series was way back in 2016, so today we'll admire one found in Northern California with close to a half-million miles on the clock.

Japanese manufacturers are in the middle of a minor crisis after the nation’s transport ministry noticed irregularities in the certification process of several domestic models before launching a formal investigation. Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha Motor have all been faulted with submitting either incorrect or intentionally misleading information in regard to vehicle certifications.

Honda is refreshing the Civic for 2025, reviving the hybrid option and introducing a new Sport Touring Hybrid trim as the top option in the lineup. The automaker said its updates make the new car the most potent non-Type R Civic yet.

Piggybacking off our earlier match between the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, this week’s throw-down will be between the 2024 Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

While neither model sells quite like it used to, due to the popularity of their crossover equivalents, there are few mass-market rivalries as long lived as the Civic and Corolla. Be you someone in the market for basic transportation on a budget or an individual that wants something more sporting than the character-free CUVs that currently dominate the market, Japanese automakers still have your back.

Honda is said to be changing the naming of its electric cars after customers, particularly those in China, found its name to be exceptionally difficult to pronounce. However, they weren’t the only ones. Europeans likewise didn’t appreciate the name, nor the odd choice of punctuation and capitalization that seems to plague some all-electric vehicles.

Today we bring you a clean 2016 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L.

Earlier today we reported on Honda's plan to invest in EV manufacturing in Canada.

Will it pay off?

Like Toyota, Honda has been slower than most to jump into the EV pool with both feet, but it now appears the automaker is ready to take a dive. It recently announced a significant investment in four new EV facilities in Canada that will deliver almost a quarter-million new EVs each year.

Yes, we’re crafting a post focused on the choice of its manufacturer to display the thing in a different color. But, given the nameplate history, there’s good reason for doing so.

We’re introducing a new segment where we intentionally pit two vehicles against each other that are exceedingly difficult to choose between. The idea is to create a would-you-rather situation where we compare the strengths and weaknesses of both models and take input from our readers.

Our first match-up is an incredibly tough one, because these are some of the best-selling vehicles in all of North America that aren’t pickup trucks — the Honda CR-V vs the Toyota RAV4.

Dealers are often the first group to sound concerns when something changes in the auto industry, whether they’re justified in their complaints or not. Most recently, a state dealer association created an ad asking Volkswagen Group and Sony Honda Mobility not to sell their upcoming EVs outside of the existing dealer network over concerns the new divisions could follow Tesla and Rivian in selling directly to buyers.

Honda is facing an NHTSA investigation looking at almost three million vehicles to review safety issues with unexpected emergency braking system activation. The agency opened a preliminary investigation in 2022 after receiving reports related to the Honda Accord and CR-V.

I'm a sucker for a good Honda Accord coupe -- even owned a '97 for a while -- and this 2002 Honda Accord Coupe reminds me of how cool these cars could be.

Honda’s partnership with General Motors yielded the Prologue EV and Acura ZDX, and the Japanese automaker is now looking to team up with Nissan to do more of the same. The pair announced their fresh collaboration at a news conference earlier today.

Honda Accord coupes get a lot of love around these parts, for good reason.

Honda leaned on General Motors to help get its EV program off the ground here in the U.S., and it appears that the partnership is paying off in other ways. The automaker recently announced that its upcoming Prologue EV would be eligible for federal tax credits of $7,500, meaning buyers can get around 15 percent off the SUV’s purchase price at the point of sale.

The Honda Pilot has always been a family-friendly SUV with plenty of room, but the automaker has been pushing it toward more rugged styling and an adventurous personality in recent years. Honda recently introduced the TrailSport variant with all-terrain tires and an off-road look, and for 2025, the SUV is getting a new Black Edition that brings 20-inch wheels and dark exterior trim for an aggressive look.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles offer a unique EV experience, and their ability to completely refuel in just a few minutes makes them more convenient than their battery-powered counterparts. That said, they’re only sold in California, and there are only two models available. Honda was a player in the hydrogen game but stopped selling the Clarity in 2022. That’s about to change, however, as the automaker recently announced the CR-V e:FCEV, the first plug-in hydrogen vehicle in the United States.

Today's UCOTD is clearly a project car. I just want to make that clear from jump. Remember, we run the gamut here -- we're not just looking for trailer queens or clean used cars that present a value.

So, today, we bring you a 1987 Honda CRX Si.

Looking ahead to the 2024 calendar year, Honda has laid out some of its plans for the forthcoming 12 months. While we’re sure they’ve still a few things up their sleeve (after all, the phrase “We can’t comment on future product” is a PR mainstay), the news does give us a good idea as to what’s in store – plus a shot of the 2025 Civic Hybrid.

Honda used CES 2024 to reveal a couple of purely conceptual automobiles and then announced that one of them would serve as the basis for its new EV line coming in 2026. They’ll even have their own logo, which the company also teased this week.

It certainly seemed like the fabled Honda-Sony EV would stay a rumor, but the pair announced a formal joint venture in 2022 that put the speculation to rest. Sony Honda Mobility unveiled its Afeela EV in early 2023, and at this year’s CES, the car rolled on stage, driven by a Playstation 5 controller.

The Honda Motor Company has reportedly been going over prospective plans to build a $13.83 billion facility in Canada that would focus on the production of electric vehicles. Japan's Nikkei news group broke the story over the weekend, suggesting the site could include on-site battery production that would help the manufacturer with regional content requirements tied to U.S. incentives.

It may have been cuter than a first-generation Civic but Honda’s entirely electric supermini didn’t last very long. Introduced in 2020, the Honda e is being pulled from the European market just one year after it was discontinued in its native Japan.

We're going a bit more mainstream than usual today with our UCOTD pick. Today it's a 2013 Honda Fit in a eye-scorching blue/green color combo.

Honda has not been the fastest automaker to the EV table, but it’s slowly announcing new models. The Prologue SUV developed in partnership with GM will be first, but Honda also has vehicles in the works with Sony and others in-house. The automaker recently announced a new EV to be shown at next year’s CES show in January, and what we can see of the design suggests a radical shape.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expanding a probe into over 500,000 late-model Hondas that could be suffering from a steering defect. Reports indicate that 2023 Honda CR-Vs, 2023 Acura Integras, and 2022-2023 Honda Civics could be affected. However, no formal recall announcement has been made and likely won’t be until the investigation has concluded.

Today we bring you one of the original hot hatches -- a 1991 Honda CRX Si.

In any urbanized area, parking sucks. City planners hate dealing with parking because those spaces use up land that could be productively used for housing or commercial use. Drivers hate parking in town due to the hassles of finding a scarce spot, as well as the risk of vehicle damage due to the cramped quarters. Fun fact - nearly every automaker, when signing over vehicles for testing to journalists, forbids urban street parking due to the risk of damage.

So much talk has gone into “last mile solutions” within the urban planning space. It’s the idea that commuters might drive to a decentralized parking location, disembark, and find a better way into town. Right now, the idea seems far-fetched, but a stroll through any big city reveals scores of rental scooters and bicycles mixed in with privately owned two-wheelers. There is a market there, but it remains to be seen how big the market is.

It’s perhaps not surprising then that Honda is the automaker stepping up to give this new market a try. After all, the company came here first as a purveyor of small, friendly motorcycles long before four-wheelers entered the chat. With the new Honda Motocompacto, the company is banking on the idea that individualized urban transport can possibly be cool.

Sitting as Honda’s entrant into the brutally competitive midsize two-row crossover game, the Passport walks a decent line between the smaller CR-V and three-row Pilot. For 2024, its prices creep slightly northward – except for one trim which will force customers to open their wallets just a little bit further.

Honda is gearing up to release its first mass-market EV in the U.S. with the new Prologue, but the rest of the automaker’s electric roadmap is still in flux. It initially announced plans to work with GM and others to develop smaller, more affordable electric crossovers, but the company recently confirmed that it was stepping away from that initiative due to shifting business priorities.

Score one for the gearheads. At this year’s Japan Mobility Show (yes, it – like many other auto shows – has changed its name to include that irritating catch-all word), Honda president Toshihiro Mibe rolled out a two-door coupe called the Prelude. It’s a concept for now, of course, but our hopes are buoyed by one phrase uttered by Mibe during the car’s introduction.

Appealing to customers who’d like a dose of electrons with their new Civic – or, perhaps more likely, appeasing dealers whining about the existence of a Corolla Hybrid, the crew at Honda is rolling out an electrified variant of the popular Civic next year.

How do you make your citified large crossover seem a bit more rugged to appeal to consumers who either spend their weekends playing outdoors or those who plan to play outdoors but never actually do? You play a little dress-up.

Honda has formally unveiled the all-electric Prologue, indicating that the brand hasn’t given up on electrification. The midsize crossover boasts an agreeable estimated range of (up to) 300 miles and is designed to cater to more mainstream tastes.

As a preeminent manufacturer of modestly sized combustion engines, it makes sense that the company would want to stick to what it knows best. Like several other Japanese brands, Honda has been hesitant to embrace electric vehicles with the same zeal as its European or American rivals. However, external pressures are beginning to force the issue, and this seemed an agreeable solution for the company.

Among the TTAC team, we’ve long joked that we could easily maintain our readership if we limited our daily coverage to one or two makes and models. While virtually everyone reading and commenting on our daily stories is an enthusiast of some persuasion, we can generally count on our readers to be pragmatic and practical when it comes to either buying a new car or recommending a new car to others. While exotic sports cars are fun to think about, most of you just need something to get back and forth every day without worry.

One of those pragmatic and practical cars that seems to be the darling of our loyal readership is in front of you today, the 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid. Except for that one guy in the comments frantically mashing out the name of a certain EV maker in every statement in all caps as if afflicted with some sort of digital Tourettes’, I’ve got to believe that a solid percentage of our readership would list the Accord at the top of their most-recommended vehicles. Indeed, your author has happily owned a few Accords in his lifetime, and others around the virtual office have done so as well. Let’s see if the latest lives up to expectations.

Ford, Honda, and BMW have announced plans to create a new “vehicle-to-grid company” that’s aimed at standardizing vehicle charging via a singular platform. The service also seeks to return excess energy to the electrical grid, effectively converting EVs into publicly shared batteries.

The business will be known as ChargeScape and, according to the automakers' press release, seeks to “create a single platform that will seamlessly connect electric utilities, automakers and their interested EV customers to manage energy usage for a broad pool of EVs.” The scheme could be one way of addressing concerns that modern power grids couldn’t endure widespread electric vehicle usage while helping to position the involved companies in an industry that’s being heavily incentivized by the government.

Believe it or not, Honda’s been around in the U.S. for decades, and to Celebrate, the automaker opened the American Honda Collection Hall to show some of its most iconic models. The display will be open during regular "Cars and Coffee" events starting in October.

Last month, we reported that Honda and Acura would join Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The Japanese automakers rely on General Motors’ EV technology for some new models, and the U.S. company committed to Tesla’s standard early on, so it wasn’t a surprising development that Honda would follow suit. Yesterday, the automakers confirmed the reports and put a timeline on the commitment, stating that they would implement the plugs in new EVs starting in 2025. 

Honda and Acura leaned on General Motors’ Ultium technology to accelerate electric vehicle development, so it’s unsurprising to see the Japanese automakers following their American counterpart’s lead in some areas. GM announced that its new EVs would move to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), and American Honda Motor Company’s CEO recently confirmed that the Japanese automaker would follow suit.

A handful of Honda models, and one from Acura, are under recall over a defect that could limit braking functionality. Impacted vehicles include the 2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, and 2020 Acura MDX. 

Once upon a time, the Honda HR-V was a nice little affordable urban runabout with a cramped interior, unremarkable dynamics, and boring styling.

The 2023 Honda HR-V is a much nicer package, with a roomier, nicer cabin and styling that will get noticed – though not necessarily in a good way.

Honda says their first volume electric vehicle, the Prologue, will play nicely with wireless Google built-in plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Why are we mentioning a seemingly trivial item? Because alert readers know Prologue is baked using General Motors ingredients – and GM recently indicated it plans to swear off smartphone integration in favor of its own interface.

Honda released an updated CR-V in 2023 with refined styling, a much-improved interior, and better tech. More changes are in store for 2024, as Honda plans to release a new hybrid Sport-L trim that slots in between the EX-L and Sport Touring trims. 

Ahhh the Honda CRX. This little sportster powered more than a few sport-compact dreams back in the day.

Today's used car of the day is a 2018 Honda Civic Type R that's priced higher than a new one.

Honda raised the curtain for its second all-electric model for the European market this week. The e:Ny1 is an atrociously named battery-powered crossover that serves as the electrified counterpart to the Euro-spec HR-V. While not a formal debut, the Japanese manufacturer is teasing the EV’s design language and offering up some relevant details — perhaps foreshadowing things to come in North America.

Modern car seats are notoriously uncomfortable. We can blame manufacturers for cutting costs while seeking to standardize snazzier equipment elsewhere. Buyers often don’t consider the importance of seat comfort, especially when they’re only spending 10 minutes on a test drive. However, worsening road conditions have made us long for prior decades when car companies went overboard with the springs and foam. 

The industry knows this and the phenomenon may even help explain the popularity of crossover vehicles, which often have softer suspensions than their sedan counterparts. But Honda is working on something that would bring the buffering inside the cabin. 

Honda has sent us a brief on its hopes and plans for the near future.

Not surprisingly, there's a fair amount of optimism and some gestures toward EV plans.

We've covered the Honda Civic Type R's Nurburgring time twice already because we find it pretty interesting to see what a FWD sports car can do.

That said, we also know that manufacturers love to tout the 'Ring times whenever they can.

We're wondering, do you care?