Where each one leads
Honda Civic
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Honda Civic uses 4.9 l/100 km, the 2013 Volkswagen GTI 8.9.
Volkswagen GTI
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Too close to call: new York safety inspections failed, against cars of the same year.
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Honda Civic | Volkswagen GTI | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1981–2026 | 1985–2025 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 419,820 (2010–2022) | — |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 252,016 | — |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 24,648 | — |
| In traffic in Finland | 19,230 | — |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Honda Civic | Volkswagen GTI | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 67% | — |
| … against cars of the same age | +2% | — |
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.7% | 2.3% |
| … against cars of the same year | −3% | −5% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 6.0% | — |
| US owner complaints | 16,237 | 1,405 |
| Most complaints about | Air bags | Engine |
| Model year with most complaints | 2006 (1,403) | 2019 (179) |
| US recall campaigns | 74 | 34 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 4,345 | 10,583 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 59 | 33 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Honda Civic | Volkswagen GTI | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 5★ (2022) | — |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Honda Civic | Volkswagen GTI | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 4.9 l/100 km (2026) | 8.9 l/100 km (2013) |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid | 5.5 l/100 km | — |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | 7.1 l/100 km | — |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 124 g/km | — |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 109 kW (146 hp) | — |
| Average mass in running order | 1,469 kg | — |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €28,025 | — |
| Average odometer in Finland | 193,000 km | — |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).