Honda HR-V review

There are five trim levels – Elegance is the entry-level HR-V, followed by a word salad of Advance-badged models: Advance, Advance Plus, Advance Style and Advance Style Plus.

Elegance starts the bidding at £31,495, then it’s another £2k to get into the Advance. £36,995 gets you the Plus, £37,195 for Style, and Style Plus tops out at £37,995.

Perhaps the latest strategy is just to confuse you into buying a more expensive model.

What do I get on each of those?

The HR-V comes as standard with 18in alloys, keyless go, LED headlights, heated front seats, 9in touchscreen with satnav, front and rear parking sensors with rearview camera, plus Apple and Android connectivity (wireless in Apple’s case).

The Advance comes with dual-zone aircon, heated steering wheel and windscreen, extra USB plugs in the back and power opening tailgate, while the Advance Plus gets a fancier sound system, wireless phone charging and LED cornering headlights.

The Advance Style model is essentially the same as the Plus, but comes with a two-tone paint job, upgraded sound system, fancier parking cameras and roof rails.

The range-topping Advance Style Plus combines the two previous cars and raises you a panoramic glass roof and leather interior.

Which one should I go for? 

You won’t feel shortchanged in the entry car, and there’s not actually a great spread across the HR-V range. We’d probably go for the Advance model for the heated windscreen and cutting out any arguments up front about what to set the air temperature at.

The Advance car will cost just over £400 a month on a three-year/30,000-mile PCP, if you put a 10 percent deposit down.