Honda Civic review

Sometimes when you’re caught up in the whirlwind of family life, it pays to keep things simple – and that's something the Honda Civic does very well indeed.

You see, the latest Civic has just one engine option, one bodystyle (a five-door hatchback) and three trim levels to choose from. That might sound rather restrictive, but what you do get covers all the family car bases very well.

A recent facelift might have updated the styling and improved some interior materials, but you still get all the best bits from before, including an efficient 2.0-litre petrol hybrid engine, lots of standard equipment and a big boot. 

Honda Civic video review

But the Honda Civic is far from the only talented family car, so how does it stack up against the Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla and VW Golf?

The e:HEV hybrid set-up is the only engine available for the Honda Civic and produces a healthy 181bhp. That should be enough performance for most buyers: we managed 0-60mph in 6.8sec during our tests, which is comfortably quicker than any Toyota Corolla.

The Civic can run on battery power alone at low speeds, driven by its electric motor. When the 2.0-litre petrol engine kicks in it mainly acts as a generator, feeding electricity to the motor that drives the wheels. However, because electric motors aren't very efficient at faster speeds, the petrol engine does drive the wheels directly at times, such as when you're cruising on the motorway.

The petrol engine can be heard revving away when you put your foot down hard, but thankfully it isn't as rowdy as the 1.5-litre engine in the hybrid Honda HR-V family SUV. Wind noise is well muted at faster speeds, but unfortunately there is a fair amount of tyre noise. As a result, the Civic isn't as hushed as an equivalent Corolla or VW Golf at a 70mph cruise.

When fitted with 17in alloy wheels (Elegance trim), the Civic matches the Corolla and Golf for ride comfort, finding a great balance between soaking up potholes and staying neatly controlled along undulating roads. 

All other trim levels come with larger 18in wheels, which result in a slightly firmer ride but one that's still more supple than you'd experience in a Seat Leon FR Sport fitted with the same size wheels.

While not quite as enthusiastic about turning into corners as the Leon, the Civic is still fairly good fun to drive because it grips well and the precise, naturally weighted steering allows you to place the car on the road with confidence.

Meanwhile, the hot hatch version of the Civic, which is no longer on sale, is an absolutely brilliant used buy – for more information about that, see our Honda Civic Type R review.

"I enjoyed driving the Civic along a winding road, but my passengers remarked on how comfortable it was. It's a good balance." — Dan Jones, Reviewer

You sit fairly low down in the Honda Civic, which gives it a sporty feel, and the comfortable driver's seat has adjustable lumbar support as standard. All trims except the top-spec Advance come with manually-adjustable front seats and, while there’s plenty of adjustment, we found changing the angle of the backrest is a bit more fiddly than in most rivals. That's because you need to pull a lever and shift your weight back or forth.

Your view straight down the road ahead is good because the windscreen pillars are slim and the dashboard is set low. Over-the-shoulder visibility is impressive, too, thanks to the narrow, sloping rear pillars and large side windows minimising blind spots.

True, the Civic’s boot sticks out further than many rivals', but all versions have a rear-view camera and front and rear parking sensors to help mitigate this.

Powerful LED headlights are standard across the range, with top-spec Advance trim bringing an adaptive set-up that can automatically adjust the light output so you can on main beams without dazzling other road users.

While the entry-level Elegance trim comes with a 7.0in digital display behind the steering wheel accompanied by an analogue speedometer, every other Civic comes with a larger 10.2in display. It has sufficient clarity but can't show you a full-width sat-nav map like the equivalent in the VW Golf can.

All Civics come with a 9.0in infotainment touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard. This isn't as user-friendly as the system in the BMW 1 Series and Mazda 3, but it's more intuitive than the Toyota Corolla and Golf systems.

There are plenty of standard features, including built-in sat-nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, wireless phone charging, and an eight-speaker sound system. The top-spec Advance adds a punchier 12-speaker Bose stereo.

Meanwhile, it's easy to operate the Civic’s air-conditioning system because there are proper physical knobs and switches, rather than fiddly touch-sensitive controls like you get in the Seat Leon and Golf. 

The Civic isn’t quite as plush inside as the 1 Series or Mazda 3, but it's still has a very upmarket interior by the standards of the family car class. There are lots of soft-touch materials and attractive trim finishes, with hard plastics kept lower down and out of sight.

Furthermore, the knobs and buttons feel reassuringly expensive, and the honeycomb-look air vent across the dashboard is a smart touch.

"I found the physical buttons and rocker switches on the steering wheel to be particularly easy to locate and operate by feel without looking away from the road" – Mark Pearson, Used car editor

There's plenty of space in the front of the Honda Civic, so even those measuring more than six feet tall won’t need to worry about head or leg room. The wide interior also ensures that even a pair of broad rugby players won't rub shoulders.

The Civic's glovebox is a decent size, and the front door bins can easily hold a large bottle of water. The centre console contains a pair of cupholders, a large storage box and a tray that's ideal for phones.

Two six-footers sitting behind similarly tall front-seat occupants won’t have any complaints about rear leg room, but they might wish they had more head room. If you regularly carry tall adults in the back, you might want to consider the Seat Leon or Skoda Octavia – both cars have higher ceilings.

Three adults sitting abreast in the rear will find shoulder room a bit of a squeeze and, while the Civic offers more foot room than in the Corolla, the middle seat passenger will still have to straddle a large hump in the floor, as is the case in most petrol and diesel family cars.

The Civic has more boot space (415 litres) than the Toyota Corolla and VW Golf, and we managed to fit six carry-on suitcases below the retractable load cover that pulls out from the wall of the boot. If you need an even bigger load bay, check out the Octavia.

There's a useful 12V power socket and side-mounted hooks in the Civic's boot and the wide boot aperture gives decent access, but the lip at the boot entrance is quite high, which is a pain if you need to lift heavy items in.

It’s worth noting that going for Advance trim reduces boot space to 409 litres, due to the upgraded stereo system. Either way, seating flexibility is nothing special, with 60/40 split-folding rear seatback the only feature of note.

"When I carried two six-foot passengers in the back of a Civic, they found leg room fine but head room a little tight." – Lawrence Cheung, New cars editor

As an outright cash buy, the Honda Civic sits towards the pricier end of the family car class, costing more than the entry-level Toyota Corolla, VW Golf or even BMW 1 Series. 

Mind you, the Civic is predicted to hold onto its value well, depreciating slower than most of its rivals – especially those without a premium badge. That's one of the reasons that PCP finance deals on the Civic are usually very competitive.

Then there's the efficiency. In entry-level Elegance trim, the hybrid tech helped the Civic officially average 60.1mpg, while the bigger wheels fitted to the higher trim levels drop that figure to a still-impressive 56.5mpg. Just bear in mind that the Toyota Corolla promises to be even more frugal, while plug-in hybrid (PHEV) rivals can travel much further on battery power alone, and usually offer cheaper company car tax, too.

Even if you go for the most basic Elegance trim (our favourite), the Civic comes with a decent equipment list that includes dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, heated front seats and privacy glass. That’s all along with the 17in alloys, parking sensors and the touchscreen infotainment system that we mentioned earlier. 

Upgrading to mid-spec Sport trim gets you those bigger 18in wheels and synthetic leather and fabric interior trim, plus a heated steering wheel, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and the larger driver display behind the steering wheel. 

At the top of the tree sits Advance trim, which includes all the bells and whistles. Its equipment list includes full synthetic leather upholstery, an upgraded sound system and an opening panoramic glass roof. It's too pricey for us to recommend, though.

Honda took the top spot in the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey, beating 29 other manufacturers, including Toyota. The Civic itself also claimed a top-three position in the family car category.

Every Civic comes with a three-year/90,000-mile warranty, which is slightly better than average (most brands cover you for 60,000 miles) but can’t match Toyota’s 10-year/100,000-mile warranty (if you regularly service your car at a Toyota dealer). Meanwhile, the Civic’s hybrid system comes with its own five-year/90,000-mile warranty.

Every Civic comes with an impressive list of safety equipment, including 11 airbags, automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance, traffic-sign recognition, cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring. A pop-up bonnet is fitted to minimise the risk to pedestrians.

The Civic scored five stars (out of five) for safety when it was tested by Euro NCAP in 2022 – comprehensively beating the Peugeot 308 and Vauxhall Astra (both got four stars). It’s worth noting that the A3 and Golf also scored five stars, but in 2025’s stricter tests, making it impossible to directly compare them to the Civic’s score. 

"Honda traditionally fares well in our reliability surveys, but I can't help thinking the Civic's three-year warranty is a little stingy, especially when the Toyota Corolla has a warranty that lasts up to 10 years." — Claire Evans, Consumer Editor

Buy it if...

- You want a family car that’s easy on petrol

- Reliability is crucial

- You like cars that are nice to drive and well-equipped

Don’t buy it if…

- You need lots of head room in the rear

- You want the biggest boot in the family car class

- You’re after the cheapest family car

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