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Honda Civic vs Toyota Corolla

Which one, and which years, drew fewer problems per car sold

The short answer

Across the 2012 to 2022 model years, the Toyota Corolla drew fewer owner complaints per car sold: 76 per 100,000 against 167 for the Honda Civic, or 54% fewer. The gap holds for the newer 2019 to 2022 cars too. The best years to target are 2020 and 2021 for the Civic and 2018 and 2022 for the Corolla.

2019 Honda Civic LX sedan, front left

Honda Civic

Complaints per 100k sold167
Recalls since 201223
Average crash rating5 of 5
'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Best2020, 2021
Avoid2016, 2022
2020 Toyota Corolla SE 2.0L sedan, 12.28.19

Toyota Corolla

Complaints per 100k sold76
Recalls since 201221
Average crash rating4.8 of 5
'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Best2018, 2022
Avoidnone stand out

By age group

Model yearsCivicCorollaFewer problems
Older (2012 to 2015)11488Corolla
Middle (2016 to 2018)21455Corolla
Newer (2019 to 2022)18680Corolla

Owner complaints per 100,000 cars sold, pooled across the years in each group. Lower is better. A model counts as ahead only when it is at least 10% lower.

Year by year

YearCivicCorolla
2012149153
20139867
20149180
201511761
201629559
201716257
201818547
201914268
202092132
20216276
202271848
2023Too newToo new
2024Too newToo new

Complaints per 100,000 sold for each model year. Green is a good year for that model, amber average, red a year to watch out for.

Most reported problems

Questions

Is the Civic or Corolla more reliable?

Across the 2012 to 2022 model years, the Toyota Corolla drew fewer owner complaints per car sold: 76 per 100,000 against 167 for the Honda Civic, or 54% fewer. The gap holds for the newer 2019 to 2022 cars too. The best years to target are 2020 and 2021 for the Civic and 2018 and 2022 for the Corolla.

Which Civic and Corolla years should I avoid?

For the Civic: 2016, 2022. For the Corolla: none stand out.

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