Item: Used Honda CR-Z 2010-2015
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

The CR-Z is a tricky one to button down for rivals because being both an economical hybrid and a sports car at the same time, it occupies its own niche. There wasn’t anything like it when it was new, and due to the fact that <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> hasn't replaced it, there isn’t anything currently on sale that matches it either.

For those looking for something of an all-rounder, then we'd suggest that the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/tt/coupe/used-review/n246">Audi TT</a> provides much of what the CR-Z offers while having a bigger boot and greater long-distance comfort. It won’t be as economical or as cheap to run or buy, though.

Ford’s <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/fiesta/hatchback/review/n140">Fiesta ST</a> is both small and fun. Great fun, actually: it is one of our favourite hot hatches. It doesn’t look as distinctive as the CR-Z, mind you, especially as it’s based on the ubiquitous Fiesta.

<a href="http://www.whatcar.com/classifieds/used-cars/honda/cr-z">Find a used Honda CR-Z in the What Car? Classifieds here</a>

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

The rear visibility of the CR-Z isn’t great, as the back window has two screens. The first part matches the curve of the roof to aid the car's aerodynamics and also help clear rain water at speed. The second is a strip of glass that stands almost upright with the rear of the car and will collect road grime. There is no rear wiper to help clear it.

Other complaints have been to do with wind and road noise. There isn’t much to be done on either front as the CR-Z had these characteristics when new. You could try fitting tyres that have a lower road noise rating to try to combat the tyre roar. You can find this information on the European Union tyre table that all new tyres are sold with. If you feel that wind noise is excessive, then we recommend an inspection from a Honda technician to determine if there is a problem.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> has been known to score well in reliability surveys and the CR-Z does nothing to change that. According to our own latest reliability survey, the CR-Z puts in a near-perfect score.

This shouldn’t be a surprise since the Honda brand as a whole comfortably finished within the top 10 out of 32 manufacturers surveyed. It does show that, despite the extra engineering involved in the production of a hybrid system, there is nothing to fear about the long-term reliability of it. In fact, because the electric motor acts as the starter motor for the engine most of the time, it should prove more reliable than a normal start-stop system.

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Coupe

Honda is a company that doesn’t like to follow the crowd. So, while it competes in most of the traditional sectors of the car market, in each case it does something a little bit different.

The Jazz, for example, might look like just another rival to Britain’s best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta, but it’s actually much more practical than its rivals, with a flexible boot and Tardis-like interior.

The bigger Civic is also a practical choice, but it’s mainly distinguished by having eye-catching, love-it-or-hate-it styling, despite competing in a sector of the market that’s usually more conservative than a blue rosette.

And while it may not seem so radical now, Honda’s large SUV, the CR-V, was one of the first to forego any pretence of being an off-roader and instead focus on on-road driving dynamics.

HONDA

CR-Z

The Honda CR-Z is as a fun-to-drive hybrid, but it’s compromised as a practical runaround

Used Honda CR-Z 2010-2015

Happily, the CR-Z has a small petrol engine to go with its hybrid assistant, meaning that while it provides the performance of a larger-capacity engine, it doesn’t have the thirst of one. That said, you will need to stick with the Sport trim level if you are to get the cheapest-to-run CR-Z at 56.5mpg and £30 to tax. If you are looking at a GT trim car, its larger 17in alloy wheels mean there is a slight drop in fuel economy to 54.3mpg and tax goes up to £115 per year. Honda did manage to keep the fuel economy and emissions figures the same between the post-facelift and facelifted CR-Z, however, despite the later car being more powerful.

Servicing costs will be slightly higher than rivals, but not hugely so. One thing to mention is that we have heard of a case where a smaller garage refused to service a reader’s CR-Z because it is a hybrid. This seems odd when you consider the growing popularity of hybrid vehicles. If you go to a Honda specialist or your main Honda dealer, you shouldn’t have this problem, and they will know the ins and outs of your car and be able to apply any software updates too.

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The Honda CR-Z is as a fun-to-drive hybrid, but it’s compromised as a practical runaround

Despite being on sale for a relatively short space of time, the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> CR-Z can still be found quite easily on the used car market, both from private sellers and Honda’s approved used scheme. Early cars with 100,000 miles or more have fallen to around £4500. The later facelifted CR-Zs from 2013 onwards have upgraded battery and motor system that are quite rare, therefore are more expensive at around £7000.

It will be much harder to fill this section with words than it will be to pick the right CR-Z, because there is only one engine and transmission choice. The real differences came between the different versions in the range. That, and the colour of course.

There were four models: S, Sport, GT and GT Nav. Of them, we’d stick with the mid-level Sport trim as it comes with all the things you'd really need; parking sensors, 16in alloy wheels, climate control, cruise control, automatic wipers and a USB socket are the main highlights.

GT-spec cars add larger alloy wheels that will have an impact on the ride, dent fuel economy and increase road tax.

Our favourite <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> CR-V Sport

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Strong performance</li> <li>Good balance between ride and handling</li> <li>Excellent build quality</li> <li>Decent practicality</li> <li>Sophisticated interior</li></ul>

Coupés are all about style, but while practicality undoubtedly takes a back seat to aesthetics, these cars still need to be easy to live with on a daily basis. It’s this that distinguishes a coupé from an out-and-out sports car.

Fortunately, there’s a wide range of style-focused models available, and you don’t even need to spend silly money to buy or run one.

For a blend of&nbsp;rock-solid resale values, punchy engines and an interior to die for,&nbsp;the Audi TT is a brilliant option. But the Mercedes CLA offers plenty of style and substance to match, while the Aston Martin DB11 will give you serious performance.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> fitted the CR-Z with rear parking sensors as standard on mid-spec Sport trim and above. Even so, check the rear bumper for any glancing blows. Also, make sure the parking sensors work when you engage reverse.

The interior is pretty tough in typical Honda fashion and the seat fabric is usually quite resistant to showing marks and stains, but it’s worth examining them thoroughly, as there were some light-colour trims on offer.

Alloy wheels can be kerbed quite easily. If your prospective purchase spends most of its time parallel parking in the city, examine those rims.

It might seem like an oxymoron to describe a car as being a fun hybrid – at least it is when talking about traditional hybrids. They often take too much of the driving experience away because the computer decides which motor to use to save fuel. Not so the Honda CR-Z.

For starters, this hybrid is a manual, whereas its contemporaries usually use automatics – or, rather, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/which-type-of-automatic-gearbox-should-i-buy/n17022">constantly variable transmissions</a>, or CVT for short – as a way of getting the engine’s power to the wheels.

But the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/honda">Honda</a> CR-Z hybrid system is different because the electric motor is more of an assistant to the engine. The battery pack beneath the boot floor is charged by regenerative braking and then sends power to the integrated electric motor that provides an extra bit of shove to the wheels when you need it. It’s a lightweight, compact system, which means it can be made to fit in a small car like the CR-Z. The engine also utilises a start-stop system to switch off the engine in traffic to cut emissions and help increase fuel economy. There are three driving modes, which alter the throttle mapping and driving characteristics depending on your mood. And there’s an Eco assist gauge that helps to coach you into better, more economically minded driving habits.

The hybrid motor’s compactness means the CR-Z can retain its manual gearbox. This gives the car an added layer of driver involvement missing from its peers. The problem is, while some of its hybrid rivals can run on electric power alone, the compact design of the CR-Z's drivetrain means it doesn’t have this ability.

But the CR-Z isn’t just a hybrid. First and foremost, it’s a sports car – and, in that regard, the CR-Z makes much more sense. Thanks to its compact size and neat handling, the CR-Z can be quite good fun to hussle down a country lane. The trade-off is a rather firm ride, which also doesn’t help things on the motorway as it can feel nervous at speed, and you will also be bombarded by wind and road noise. It’s not a car suited to a long-distance road trip, unlike some of its sports car rivals such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/tt/coupe/used-review/n246">Audi TT</a>, which manages to keep a foot in both camps by being both enjoyable to drive when you want it to be and hushed in everyday situations. But what the CR-Z does do is bring the around-town fuel economy and eco-friendly nature of a hybrid to a car with a huge dollop of character.

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Used Honda CR-Z 2010-2015 review

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Alternatives

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