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Honda FR-V, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

4,559 Honda FR-Vs are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 54.2% of initial MOT tests, 18.1 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific FR-V? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Honda FR-V at the MOT

54.2% of 5,964 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the FR-V 546th of 575 models.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Honda FR-V54.2%
  • All Honda modelsThe FR-V is 18.3 pts behind72.5%
  • All cars72.3%

Where FR-Vs fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Honda FR-V tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment27.6%
  • Suspension25.4%
  • Brakes11.1%
  • Body, chassis, structure9.7%
  • Tyres8.9%

The items testers recorded most often were component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (8.1%), position lamp not working (7.9%) and linkage ball joint excessively worn (4.7%).

The MOT page lists every common FR-V MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Honda FR-V MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The FR-V's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.

  1. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

    Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting.27.6% of FR-V failure items

  2. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.25.4% of FR-V failure items

  3. Brakes

    Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing.11.1% of FR-V failure items

Honda FR-Vs in the UK

4,559 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 67% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−67%from 13,790 licensed
Typical year of first use
2007half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2007 or earlier
Declared off the road
1,01118% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Honda FR-Vs since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201413,790
End of 201513,603
End of 201613,399
End of 201713,062
End of 201812,527
End of 201911,729
End of 202010,842
End of 20219,774
End of 20228,542
End of 20237,380
End of 20246,150
End of 20255,106
End of June 20264,559

How old they are

Licensed Honda FR-Vs by year of first use.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025
201063
20091,006
20081,271
20071,200
2006852
2005602
200463

FR-V engines and fuel

1.8 litre engines made up 43% of Honda FR-V MOT tests in 2025, followed by 2.2 litre at 35%. Petrol accounts for 65% of licensed FR-Vs and diesel for 34%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 5,957 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.8 litre42.7%
  • 2.2 litre35.4%
  • 2.0 litre17.1%
  • 1.7 litre4.8%

Fuel type, licensed FR-Vs

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol2,97665%
Diesel1,55834%
Gas250.5%

Honda FR-V recalls

2 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Honda FR-V. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every FR-V is affected.

  1. May 2016 R/2016/045

    Drivers airbag inflator may rupture if deployed

    FR-Vs built Mar 2004 to May 2015 · 252,174 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Abnormal deployment pressure may lead to rupture of the driver's air bag inflator case. In the event of an inflator rupture metal fragments could be propelled into the passenger compartment.
    Remedy
    On affected vehicles replace the inflator inside the driver's air bag module.

  2. Jul 2013 R/2013/075

    Brake efficiency may be reduced

    FR-Vs built Jan 2006 to Nov 2006 · 2,042 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Brake assistance may be reduced or lost due to a manufacturing nonconformance. This could lead to longer stopping distances than the driver would normally expect.
    Remedy
    Recall the vehicles that are likely to be affected to check the servo and where necessary replace the servo unit.
How to check a specific FR-V for recalls

Other Honda models

The most-tested Honda models in 2025, against the FR-V's 54.2% MOT pass rate.

All 12 Honda models

Honda FR-V FAQs

How many Honda FR-Vs are there in the UK?

4,559 Honda FR-Vs were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 1,011 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Honda FR-V reliable?

MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 54.2% first-time pass rate for the Honda FR-V across 5,964 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Honda FR-V had any recalls?

2 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Honda FR-V. The most recent was published in May 2016. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Honda FR-V?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and brakes. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check a Honda FR-V's history?

Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.

Already found an FR-V?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Across the 1,389 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Honda history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Honda VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to July 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.