2023 Honda Civic Hatchback Review: 2 Years and 20,000 Miles

A simple selection process

In the spring of 2023, I began my search for a new car that wouldn’t break the bank or end up recalled time and time again. We already had a Toyota RAV4, otherwise known as our child transport, so a hatchback seemed like an excellent compromise between another crossover and a sedan. My wife was going to drive this vehicle as well, so it had to meet several other criteria. 

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First and foremost, it had to be safe and efficient. Second, it had to fit at least one car seat comfortably. Finally, it had to be at least somewhat fun to drive. To put it simply, there aren’t that many hatchbacks on the market these days, and even fewer meet that final requirement. Through a couple of test drives and elimination rounds, we landed on the 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L with a turbo four under the hood.

There’s a lot to love

Slick design: The 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback features a fresh design with smooth lines and an ever-so-slight touch of aggression amid an otherwise minimalist aesthetic. The hatchback rides on 17-inch wheels that are both athletic and add to the Civic’s simplicity. It’s far from an upscale model, but the Civic does have plenty going for it. 

Inside, the honeycomb mesh design spans the dashboard, hiding the air vents and looking great at the same time. The touchscreen display is home to most of the infotainment system’s controls, but the presence of physical buttons for the climate system is a welcome addition. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard, and we make use of the former on a daily basis. 

Comfort and space: Look, this is a Honda Civic, not a luxury sedan. The seats are comfortable enough – they won’t win any awards, but my back isn’t killing me after an hour or two on the road. There’s plenty of room in the front, and while neither my wife nor I is particularly tall, even our taller passengers haven’t been uncomfortable. 

We’re able to easily fit a single car seat in the middle of the back row, thanks in part to the hatchback making it easy to access anchor points. For the record, you can fit at least two seats in the back row, but we’ve only needed to do so once or twice. Adult passengers can fit in the rear row as well, but if you’re over 6’ 2”, you might find things getting a little cramped.

Driving experience: Our 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L features a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that delivers 180 horsepower. That’s lively enough for a compact car and tops most competing cars. I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t a lot of road noise, something I can’t say about every other model we took for a test drive.

The Civic Hatchback EX-L is responsive enough on the road, easily taking tight curves with some haste behind it. The CVT is the only transmission option, but it does fairly well handling the engine’s power. Switching to sport mode gets the hatchback to highway speeds with a bit of a thrill, as well. While it’s no sports car, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly vehicle that’s good on gas and offers responsive driving dynamics, the 11th-generation Honda Civic is a great pick, provided the turbo four is under the hood.

Fuel economy wasn’t really a major concern of ours. Our pool of candidates was mostly made up of compact cars, all of which landed above our required fuel efficiency standards. For the record, though, the EPA rates the Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L at 35 mpg in combined city/highway driving. Over roughly 21,000 miles, we’ve averaged 34.2 mpg. Close enough.

Safety: All Honda vehicles come stocked with plenty of safety features, and the 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L is no exception. It was named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and earned a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA. While our particular vehicle came with a Blind Spot Detection system, not all 2023 Civic Hatchback EX-L models did due to the microchip shortage. We had one recall regarding potential steering gearbox damage, which was resolved by replacing the worm gear spring and adding grease.

There’s one annoying ‘feature’ that stands out

Engine start-stop system: If there’s one standout ‘feature’ that annoys us to no end, it’s the engine start-stop system. I’ve driven plenty of vehicles with start-stop systems, but the Civic’s lands near the bottom of the tier list. Once it stops the engine, the system takes several seconds to restart the engine, whereas other models have a faster engine start time. It becomes a pain in stop-and-go traffic, which is unfortunately exactly where it’s most useful. 

On the bright side, we can turn the system off at the push of a button, but that’s a temporary fix. There are aftermarket workarounds, but I’m not willing to void warranties at this point, so an OEM way to permanently turn off the engine start-stop system would basically resolve our only real issue with the car. Interestingly, every single salesperson I’ve talked to about engine start-stop systems has blatantly told me they tell customers to just turn it off, and that it isn’t worth the hassle.

Final thoughts

To be clear, the 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L isn’t a sleeper by any means, but it is one of the more engaging compact cars on the market. The model’s refined styling and interior offer plenty of character while staying true to its practical nature. It’s also comfortable and efficient enough that we aren’t complaining. Add in the affordable annual insurance rate, and the Honda Civic Hatchback EX-L has proven to be a good choice, all things considered.