2023 Honda CR-V price increased $550, base LX trim returns

On Mar 21, 2023

Honda raised prices of the redesigned 2023 Honda CR-V at the end of February, and brought back the base LX trim as a more affordable entry point for the brand’s bestseller. The $500 price increase comes with no change in content, and a $50 increase in the destination fee brings the total increase to $550 across the board from when pricing was originally announced on Sept. 13, 2022.

The mandatory destination fee increased from $1,245 in September to $1,295 at the end of February. The EX trim increased from $32,355 to $32,905, and the $550 increase remained constant throughout the lineup to the range-topping Sport Touring grade that now costs $40,395. In September, Honda was keen to keep that number under $40,000 at $39,845. All-wheel drive is standard on the Sport Touring, but remains a $1,500 upcharge on LX, EX, Sport, and EX-L grades.

The only difference for the 2023 Honda CR-V is the return of the LX base trim. It comes with driver-assist tech such as automatic emergency braking (now with a wider field of view), adaptive cruise control that works down to a stop, active lane control, and blind-spot monitors. It’s the only CR-V to ride on 17-inch wheels, and it comes with a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. It gives Honda a marketing edge with a price less than $30,000 at $29,705.

The $32,405 EX takes a relatively big price step for heated front seats and a power driver seat, as well as dual-zone climate control and more stylish 18-inch wheels, but the true value lies in the Sport trim that comes standard as a hybrid for $34,245.

2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid

A 2023 Best Car To Buy finalist, the 2023 CR-V Hybrid outperforms the 190-hp 1.5-liter turbo-4 in LX, EX, and EX-L grades. The Sport Hybrid models use a new 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and a pair of electric motors that boost total output to 204 hp and 247 lb-ft of torque, an improvement of 3 hp and 15 lb-ft over the outgoing CR-V Hybrid.

Under 15 mph and with a light throttle foot, the 1.4-kwh battery pack feeds the motors for electric drive. Beyond that, the transfer between engine and motor power is so quiet in Eco and Normal modes that it takes a trained ear to catch it, and the simulated gear shifts drop revs after “changing” gears like a conventional automatic. It’s quicker off the line, more responsive, smoother, quieter, and has an EPA combined rating of 40 mpg, compared to 30 mpg combined for the turbo-4. All-wheel drive drops the Hybrid down to 37 mpg combined.

Price increases without any significant changes from model year to model year have become commonplace, but a mid-year increase, however small, is unusual especially now that inflation has somewhat cooled from a high in 2021.

While the annual inflation rate of 6.0% at the end of February 2023 is still historically high, it dropped since the 6.5% rate in 2022 and the 7.0% rate in 2021, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and USinflationratecalculator.com.