Honda Civic Saloon (2018 – 2020) Review

Once upon a time, the four-door saloon was king of the company car park and suburban driveway. SUVs have taken over now, but the Honda Civic Saloon arrived in 2018 to cater for traditionalists. During its brief time on sale, it showed it was more than able to take on the likes of the Audi A3 Saloon, another premium German offering, the Mercedes A-Class Saloon, plus more mainstream options such as the Volkswagen Passat. Read on for our full Honda Civic Saloon review.

When sales of the Honda Accord stopped in the UK, it didn’t spell the end of a decent-sized four-door model with a boot from the Japanese company.

The Honda Civic Saloon effectively replaced it in the firm’s line-up, and offers a surprising amount of room for a car based on a family hatchback.

The four-door Honda Civic is similar in size to a Skoda Octavia and is usefully practical for a saloon with a bigger boot than the Honda Civic hatchback – the capacity is close to 520 litres.

Obviously, there is less versatility though, which is not helped by a high boot lip.

On the plus side, there’s good legroom in the back, even if headroom is compromised by that swooping roofline.

It was designed more for comfort than the hatchback, with a softer suspension set-up that will appeal to drivers spending hours on the motorway.

As a result, it deals better with poor road surfaces, yet still handles more than capably, with little roll in corners and impressive levels of grip. 

There’s a simple engine line-up, with the 1.0-litre VTEC Turbo – our choice for most buyers – available with either a manual or CVT gearbox. There’s no 1.5 VTEC Turbo, but the 1.6 i-DTEC was available as a manual or with a new nine-speed automatic designed to improve economy.

Around town, the Honda Civic Saloon is easy to manoeuvre, although rear visibility isn’t the best due to the thick rear pillars.

Fortunately, parking sensors front and back are standard on all models, while SR and EX models get a rear view camera.

The fit and finish of the Honda Civic is excellent, but one thing that lets the interior down is the infotainment system. It’s long been a criticism of Honda models and that’s the case here, too.

It’s fiddly to use, doesn’t look great, and just isn’t user-friendly. 

While most people will stick with the standard Honda Civic hatchback, the saloon does have appeal and is a very good used car option.

Fancy a second opinion? Read heycar’s Honda Civic Saloon review here.

The Honda Civic Saloon is a more comfortable choice than the more common hatchback.

The softer suspension set-up means it deals better with rough roads and uneven surfaces. Where the hatchback tends to thump over potholes, the Honda Civic Saloon is a bit more composed.

Impressively, this doesn’t come at the expense of handling. True, it’s not quite as sharp as the hatchback, but in isolation you’re unlikely to notice this.

It corners tidily, with good body control, and the steering is precise and responsive.

This is helped by the rear multi-link suspension set-up, which is shared with the hatchback, along with a rigid subframe.

What the Honda Civic Saloon doesn’t have are the adaptive dampers from higher-spec hatchback models.

Despite that, the standard set-up is well balanced. It makes for an enjoyable and easy car to drive, but its real forte is as a long-distance car.

When fitted with the 1.6 i-DTEC engine, which should return mpg figures in the mid-50s in real-world driving, you can happily cover long distances in comfort in the Honda Civic Saloon.

The diesel performs well enough and is quiet once up to speed, too, although it can get a little noisy if you push it hard. But the six-speed manual is precise, with a snappy shift.

The good news is that if you don’t need a diesel, Honda’s petrol VTEC engine is one of the best around.

The 1.5 VTEC Turbo isn’t available in the Honda Civic Saloon, but we’ve always rated the 1.0-litre as the better choice anyway.

With strong performance and impressive refinement for a three-cylinder engine, the 1.0 VTEC is only matched by Ford’s 1.0 EcoBoost in our opinion.

While 129PS may not be much to write home about, the engine always feels eager and the turbocharger means it pulls really well in-gear.

We’d avoid the CVT automatic, though, unless it’s essential you have a self-shifting auto. The six-speed manual is far better.

You don’t want for much safety kit in the Honda Civic Saloon.

All versions come with automatic emergency braking, lane keep and departure assistance, a speed limiter, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition.

The Honda Civic Saloon EX adds blind spot assist and cross traffic monitoring to the tally.

The Honda Civic Saloon is not the most obvious tow car, but it can pull an unbraked trailer of up to 500kg.

With a braked trailer hitched up, it can pull a maximum of 1400kg.

With a low driving position and plenty of adjustment for the seat and steering wheel, the Honda Civic Saloon is easy to get comfortable in.

Available room in the back isn’t so good, though. While there’s plenty of legroom, head space is tight for taller passengers, due to the sloping roofline, and the middle seat is narrow and firm.

That said, for two children or teenagers, the back seats should prove more than adequate.

The boot is, of course, what sets this car apart from the hatchback. It actually offers more overall space thanks to a 519-litre capacity (compared to 478 litres), with a good length and a fairly wide opening.

It’s not as practical as the hatch, and the high boot lip is annoying, but you can still fit the likes of a pushchair in there.

The interior of the Honda Civic Saloon is well finished, with a solid touch to all the controls and switches. It feels like a car that’s designed to last. 

There’s plenty of handy storage, too, with big door pockets and a huge box under the centre armrest that you can throw everything into.

There’s more hidden storage under the centre console, plus a hard-to-find USB socket.

One thing that really frustrates in the Honda is its Connect infotainment system. And as time passes, it’s not getting better with age. It’s slow to respond, looks dated and is all a bit clunky.

Compare it to what was on offer in a Volkswagen of the same period and it’s far from user-friendly. On the plus side, it does have a seven-inch touchscreen and gets Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

It’s the small things that are annoying - there’s no dial for turning the volume down, for instance. Instead, it’s a touch button on the screen, which is fiddly to use.

Meanwhile, changing the fan speed has to be done via a menu in the touchscreen.

You can pick up a used Honda Civic Saloon from £13,500, if you don’t mind a model with a higher than average mileage.

A five-year-old model with around 20,000 miles will require a budget of £16,500, which will bag you a car from a Honda dealer.

The Japanese company’s petrol engines are noted for their technical sophistication, and the unit in the Honda Civic Saloon impresses.

When paired with a manual gearbox, it turns in a claimed official fuel economy of 48.7mpg. That’s close to many diesel rivals, and the Honda gets near that figure in the real world.

With the automatic gearbox, the figure drops to 46.3mpg.

For even greater economy, the 1.6-litre diesel engine delivers a claimed 64.2mpg when attached to the manual gearbox. The auto comes in at 56.4mpg, so it compares well with key rivals.

Honda’s general reliability should mean maintenance costs are kept low, while road tax for all models is paid at the flat rate of £180 per year.

Insurance shouldn’t be too worrying, either, as the Honda Civic Saloon sits in groups 15 to 16 as a 1.0-litre petrol, or groups 18 and 19 with the diesel motor.

The range starts with the Honda Civic Saloon SE, which has Honda SENSING safety features. There’s a collision mitigation braking system, forward collision warning, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition.

The petrol CVT and diesel automatic models both come with low speed following.

On top of that lot, the Honda Civic Saloon SE has 16-inch alloy wheels, remote central locking, LED daytime running lights, climate control, five-inch touchscreen infotainment and eight speakers for the stereo.

The Honda Civic Saloon SR adds rain-sensing auto wipers, dual climate control, air-conditioning, parking sensors, Honda CONNECT (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) and a rear parking camera.

It also has 17-inch alloys, all-round parking sensors, a reversing camera and electric lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat.

With the Honda Civic Saloon EX, you get leather seats, smart entry and start, LED headlights with washers, LED foglights, wireless phone charging and heated rear seats.

It also has a sunroof and 10 speakers for the stereo.