Birmingham

Birmingham is the second-most popular city in the UK, located in the Midlands with a population of over 4.3million.

Originally a market town in the medieval period, Birmingham is now an international commercial centre and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub.

A centre for culture, Birmingham is home to the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Birmingham has also played its part in sporting history; home to Aston Villa FC and Birmingham City FC, it was Birmingham resident and Aston Villa director William McGregor who founded the Football League.

Birmingham will also be the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, expected to take place in July and August 2022.

The most popular cars in Birmingham

Possibly due to the rise in industry and commerce, and its handy functionality in city traffic, the Mercedes A-Class is estimated to be the most popular car in Birmingham, according to data provided between 2012 to 2018 by ownership and postcode.

Close on its heels—and in order of popularity—are the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Golf, Nissan Qashqai and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Vehicle numbers in Birmingham

There are approximately 3 million licensed vehicles in the Birmingham area, with some of the most popular models including the Mini, Kia Sportage and the Ford Focus.

Fixter garages in Birmingham

There are a total of 49 Fixter garages in the Birmingham area, all ready and waiting to provide you with a fantastic quote for your car service, MOT and a wide range of vehicle repairs.

Fixter garages service the following postcodes and more, in and around the Birmingham area:

• B1, B2, B3 & B4: City Centre, Birmingham
• B6: Aston & Witton, Birmingham
• B10: Small Heath, Birmingham
• B15: Edgbaston, Birmingham
• B8: Washwood Heath, Birmingham
• B13: Moseley, Birmingham

Honda

The Honda Motor Company is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate corporation—to give them their full title. Primarily a motorcycle manufacturer (since 1959) and engine producer (producing more than 14million each year), Honda became the 8th largest automobile manufacturer in the world in 2015.

How popular is Honda in the United Kingdom?

With around 800k Honda cars on the roads in the UK, this marque is a popular and trusted household name.

Long lasting sensibly-priced cars

On the surface, Honda cars look fairly traditional, but this is a brand that doesn’t necessarily follow the pack; they often provide something unique to each of their models.

For example, the Jazz pitched against the most popular car in the UK, the Ford Fiesta, is actually a more practical option than most of its rivals. For a small car, it has an abundance of interior space and very flexible and practical boot.

The Civic is brave enough to make a strong style in design statement in a market where other brands are edging towards conservative. And the CR-V was the first of the SUV models to stop pretending it was an off-road vehicle and focused its priorities on its road based driving dynamics despite its off-road styling.

Honda motorsports: A long-standing history in Formula One

Honda’s first appearance in Formula One racing as a constructor came in 1964 at the German Grand Prix.

After a mixed introduction, marred by tragedy with the death of driver Jo Schlesser in the French Grand Prix of 1968 Honda took a back seat until their return in 1983 to power the Williams team, where they won 6 consecutive Constructors Championships.

Following the successes with Williams, they partnered with McLaren in 1988, going on to win titles in 4 different seasons.

Their return in 2013, again providing engines for the McLaren team, was met with much less success. After 3 seasons without a single podium finish, Honda was dropped in favour of a Renault built engine.

Honda’s reliability and reputation

Honda ranked 15th place out of 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Their placing could be considered a little lower down the list than expected, given that it was mostly Japanese and Asian manufacturers to lead the field (Suzuki, Lexus and Toyota taking the top spots).

Recent Honda recalls and reliability issues

Various recalls have been made on Honda models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.

04/05/2019 – Honda Civic (2001–2005), Honda Accord (2004–2006) and Honda Odyssey (2004)

Replacement service parts from the previous recall may be defective

30/03/2019 – Honda Odyssey (2017–2018)

The locking system may become jammed

20/01/2019 – Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Honda City, Honda Jazz, Honda Insight, Honda CR-V and Honda Pilot (2010–2015)

Defect in the gas generator of the front-seat passenger airbag

31/08/2018 – Honda HR-V (2014–2018)

The cabin wiring harness might not be correctly secured on the front left chassis rail

22/06/2018 – Honda Civic (2016–2017)

There is no side vent in the backrest of the front seat

22/02/2018 – Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Jazz and Honda Insight (2009–2010)

In the event of airbag deployment, the internal pressure of the airbag may be excessive

03/02/2018 – Honda Odyssey (2010–2017)

The second row of the outboard seats is not properly secured

12/11/2017 – Honda Accord (2013–2016)

The battery sensor’s plastic housing may not be resistant to the penetration of moisture

All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.