Is a Honda Civic Type R expensive to maintain?

Workshop labour costs vary between different dealerships (and various non-OEM service centers), so this factor is a variable for which this article cannot account. However, there’s one element of a car’s maintenance costs that can be reliably compared to its competitors, and that is the price of its spare parts.

To obtain this data, as well as comparisons with the Type R’s market rivals, we consulted the , as issued in September 2021. In this report, various market segments, and the vehicles which compete in them, were evaluated on a like-for-like basis. 

As luck would have it, the Honda Civic Type R featured in the “Sport Executive” category of this survey, along with such luminaries as the Mercedes-AMG A35, Audi S3, and Renault Megane RS300 Trophy. We looked at the parts price data for these cars, with a particular emphasis on the “Maintenance Parts” sub-section, to get a clear idea of longer-term running costs.

We then tabulated this data, and compared it to those of two acclaimed opponents in this category. This should give an indication of the relative cost of Honda Civic Type R maintenance, even if we can’t pin-point the labour variable.

Related: Shop for new and used Honda Civic Type R cars for sale here.

 

Sport Executive Cars

	Honda Civic Type R	Mercedes-AMG A35 Hatch	Audi S3 quattro Sedan
Maintenance Repair Parts Basket	R 130 923.34	R 34 574.23	R 66 715.53
Maintenance Parts Basket as % of New Car Price	16.59 %	3.77 %	8.24 %

While the Audi S3 and Mercedes-AMG A35 both derive their mechanical hardware from other models in their manufacturers’ ranges, the Civic Type R is largely bespoke. As an example, the A35 and S3 both have engines and drivetrains that closely mirror their mass-market siblings, while the Civic Type R sports a unique power plant and drivetrain. 

The same applies across the board, really, because the Type R also has unique body panels, control electronics, brakes, cabin trim, seats, and suspension system – all of these components are different from the normal Civic’s, leaving less scope for economies of scale to apply to this special Civic. This reflected in its maintenance spare parts basket price, which is twice as expensive as that of the Audi S3, and almost four times as expensive as that of the Mercedes A35.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon isn’t exclusive to the maintenance parts basket, either, because the service- and body parts baskets are also on the (very) pricey side. As a result, the Honda’s total spares parts basket (the sum of service-, maintenance-, and body parts baskets) are by far the most expensive in this category.

The total parts basket comes to 60.58 % of a new Civic Type R’s retail value, as opposed to the Audi S3’s 35.3 % (the second-highest in its group) and the Mercedes-AMG A35’s 28.14 % (the lowest in this group).

 

Verdict

Is a Honda Civic Type R expensive to maintain? Undoubtedly, yes. Very much so!

Much of the blame for this can be laid at the Type R’s “factory-built racer” status: its (standard, adaptive) shock absorbers are particularly expensive at almost R 60 000 per axle (compared to the Audi’s ~R 28 000 for a front set and ~R 22 000 for the rears), mainly because no other Honda uses these components. And this applies to everything that makes the Civic Type R as special as it is...

What about other Honda Civics? The jury is still out on those, but it’s well-known that many spare parts for mainstream Hondas are more expensive than their market equivalents’. That famous Honda engineering and quality has to come at a price, right?