Honda HR-V (2015 - 2020) 1.6 i-DTEC EX 5d Owner Review

Had a civic for a few years before it was written off in an accident. Loved the civic and with nearly 50000 trouble free miles, looked to honda again. Don't like the look of the new civic and wanted the 'magic seats' in the rear also. Great idea these, that I use to put the seats in the up position so that my dog can have the rear floor to sit and lie in whilst having a seat belt on. The HRV is a great practical car. As many gadgets for the techno geek but without going too far with them. The 1.6 engine is my biggest let down, performance wise it is ok. I spens a lot of time on the motorway and after having the brilliant 2.2 before the 1.6 does not compare. You have to work the gearbox when you want to speed up and the mpg does not get anywhere near the claimed figures on a 450mile clear run I average around 50mpg at 70mph. Granted there were some hills. In my civic on the same journey I averages 65mpg. So the greener engine likes to burn more fuel..... Round town it's brilliant on fuel, however I do little journeys round town and anyone who buys a diesel should not be doing short journeys either. This is why so many diesels chuff like I dont' know what. Auto wipers, are a backwards step. I can't seem to find the sensitivity that works. The civics were brilliant. Seems Honda have gone for a more sensitive sensor that is either to active or not at all if you turn the sensitivity right down. Auto headlights are on when it's day light also. Get they're LED bulbs now so last longer and use little wattage, but there is no need these to be on in broad day light. Garmin sat nav traffic updates are seriously lacking in comparison to the tomtom. Garmin need to move away from trafficmaster and develop there own traffic updates. Because of this on some journeys I still use the tomtom sat nav. Climate control doesn't seem to get warm also. I feel I have to have the temp higher than any other car I've drove. Put it on full heat and it doesn't make you sweat or feel uncomfortable and I get hot very easily. Above may sound negative, and rightly so. However with it being Honda I've already done 4000 miles in just over a month and had no troubles. No rattles nothing. Car is comfortable on long journeys, practical with a large boot and the magic seats too. Would I buy another, I don't know. All depends how 'green' the manufacturers want to be seen as. This could be so much a better car with the 2.2 diesel inserted which is better on fuel anyway. Also miss the digital speedo. My rather large dog loves to still sit in the rear without being in the boot so it's a paws up from him. For me, right now I'd probably look at mazda who still offer the 2.2 if I were to swap.