Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Honda CR-V 2020: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 92 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2020 Honda CR-V were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Windscreen wipers (front).

Summary

The 2020 Honda CR-V follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 5,389 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
92 in every 100
Did not pass first time
8 in every 100433 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
5 yearsabout 34,546 miles
First tests counted
5,389

What failed most often

  1. Windscreen wipers (front)19 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2020 Honda CR-V vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Tyres

One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 433 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Tyre tread depth (rear)

Failed on 36 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 82 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
92in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
5in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 92.0% of 5,389 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 95.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 5 not fixed make the 8 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Hybrid3,99634,869 miles9393
Petrol1,39333,594 miles9090

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

40608010020002005201020152020
406080100200020102020

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 93 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199952 in every 100343
200052 in every 100531
200155 in every 100891
200249 in every 1002,508
200350 in every 1003,782
200449 in every 1004,876
200553 in every 1006,998
200654 in every 1007,920
200757 in every 10011,743
200860 in every 1008,890
200964 in every 1008,492
201069 in every 1009,230
201171 in every 1009,222
201274 in every 10011,907
201380 in every 10013,543
201482 in every 10014,223
201583 in every 10013,859
201685 in every 10013,724
201786 in every 10011,531
201888 in every 1008,968
201991 in every 1008,055
2020 This car92 in every 1005,389
202192 in every 1005,635
202293 in every 1005,014

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2020 CR-V.

Of 2020 CR-V vehicles with under 23,000 miles, 94 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 49,000 miles or more, 90 in every 100 did.

Under 23,0001,042 tests
94
23,000–31,0001,134 tests
91
31,000–38,000 Typical car990 tests
91
38,000–49,0001,145 tests
93
49,000 and over1,077 tests
90

Which fuel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Hybrid34,869 miles9393
Petrol33,594 miles9090

Figures are in every 100 first tests. At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 23,00031,000–38,00049,000 and over
Windscreen wipers (front)2.11.71.3

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2020 Honda CR-V follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Windscreen wipers (front), about 19 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 92.0% of 5,389 first MOTs on the 2020 Honda CR-V passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 95.2%. Among 433 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Windscreen wipers (front) appears more often than on similar cars (18.9% of those tests; 82 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2020 Honda CR-V at the first attempt were Windscreen wipers (front) (18.9%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Windscreen wipers (front) (18.9% of those tests; 82 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Windscreen wipers (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (18.9% of those tests; 82 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2020 Honda CR-V include Windscreen wipers (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2020 Honda CR-V (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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