Compare the2023 Honda CR-VVS 2023 Volkswagen Taos

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Volkswagen Taos doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the CR-V are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Taos doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda CR-V has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Taos doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The CR-V’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Taos.

The CR-V EX-L has standard Parking Sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The Taos doesn’t offer a front parking aid.

The CR-V’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Taos doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the CR-V and the Taos have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CR-V its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Taos is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the CR-V 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Taos. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Taos ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The CR-V’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Taos’ (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 67 percent more Honda dealers than there are Volkswagen dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the CR-V’s warranty.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the CR-V’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Taos’ camshafts. If the Taos’ belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the CR-V’s reliability 69 points higher than the Taos.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 47 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 18 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The CR-V’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 32 more horsepower (190 vs. 158) than the Taos’ 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Honda CR-V is faster than the Volkswagen Taos:

On the EPA test cycle the CR-V AWD gets better fuel mileage than the Taos 4Motion (27 city/32 hwy vs. 25 city/32 hwy).

The CR-V has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Taos doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The CR-V has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Taos doesn’t offer a CVT.

The CR-V stops shorter than the Taos:

For better traction, the CR-V has larger tires than the Taos (235/60R18 vs. 215/50R18). The CR-V’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Taos (235/60R18 vs. 225/45R19).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the CR-V has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Taos S.

For superior ride and handling, the Honda CR-V has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Taos 4x2 has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The CR-V has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the CR-V flat and controlled during cornering. The Taos 4x2 suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the CR-V is 1.5 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Taos.

The CR-V EX-L AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the Taos SEL pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The front grille of the CR-V uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Taos doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The CR-V uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Taos doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The CR-V has 4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Taos (103.5 vs. 99.5).

The CR-V has 1.2 inches more front legroom, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, 2.5 inches more rear legroom and .7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Taos.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the CR-V’s rear seats recline. The Taos’ rear seats don’t recline.

The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Taos with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 27.9 cubic feet). The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Taos with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 65.9 cubic feet).

The CR-V’s cargo area is larger than the Taos’ in every dimension:

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the CR-V. The Taos doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the CR-V EX-L has a standard power liftgate, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button. The Taos doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

The CR-V has a 1500 lbs. towing capacity. The Taos has no towing capacity.

The CR-V uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Taos uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

When two different drivers share the CR-V EX-L, the memory seats make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position. The Taos doesn’t offer memory seats.

The CR-V EX-L’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Taos doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The CR-V’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Taos’ passenger power window switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The CR-V’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Taos’ standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the CR-V has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Taos only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The CR-V’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Volkswagen charges extra for heated mirrors on the Taos.

The CR-V has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Taos SEL.

Both the CR-V and the Taos offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the CR-V has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Taos doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda CR-V, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Volkswagen Taos isn't recommended.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Taos has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Volkswagen Taos by over four to one during 2022.