Honda CRV - opinions?

squarehead94

squarehead94

squarehead94

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Cumbria, United Kingdom
Seen a few around the £1500 mark. 03 plates usually with 100-130k on, 2 litre petrol, with full leather and nav in a couple. How are they to drive? Heard they are bullet proof reliable being a 2.0 VTEC motor, just wondered if they are as reliable as most Hondas, and if they are a pleasant drive.

Edit: in manual form by the way.

Cheers
 
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We had one years ago - was fine really.

Engine wise reliable enough, few problems with the rear diff but nothing major just seals and the likes. 25mpg at best and slow as a heavy slow thing, though it did try

Rear seats slid back/forward from memory which was useful and the passenger seat will tip flat into a makeshift table
 
rodenal said:
We had one years ago - was fine really.

Engine wise reliable enough, few problems with the rear diff but nothing major just seals and the likes. 25mpg at best and slow as a heavy slow thing, though it did try

Rear seats slid back/forward from memory which was useful and the passenger seat will tip flat into a makeshift table
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I'm fully expecting it to be a slow barge really - assumed however being a honda it would be refined and comfortable, and a good motorway cruiser? Howd you find it on the motorways? Comfort is crucial really.thanks
 
Comfortable enough, but fairly high revving due to the gearing if that bothers you. Wouldn't really call it refined either, typical late 90's tinny jap motor - tolerable but not in the same league as say a Volvo or even Saab estate for refinement

Come to think of it we had an old accord 2.0 estate for a while too which was a far better motorway car
 
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Do_Not_Bump_The_Bumpers!

If you have the models with the pop up headlight washers. Bumped Bumpers will break them!

Replacements are about £250 a pop! :eek:
 
If it's the same 2.0 engine that's in my dad's 05 Accord then it's a very, very nice unit. Excellent power throughout the rev range, wonderfully smooth, and it's quite economical for what it is, too. Not sure how much of this will translate into the heavier, boxier, 4WD CRV but still. It'll be faultlessly reliable.
 
I rented one in Georgia last month with a mere 230k kilometres on the clock. It had a whiney automatic gearbox and was rather slow, but it wasn't uncomfortable to drive at all. The AWD system coped fairly well with the terrible roads, and the boot was also quite impressive and swallowed a lot of luggage despite being relatively shallow.

I think you could do far worse for £1500.
 
Generic SUV type thing. Same as all the others basically. Not as comfortable as people expect and aren't very economical due to their weight.
 
The Mrs has one. An 08 2.0i VTEC Executive. It's well equipped and robust. We've covered 70k miles in ours since we bought it and all we've done is put fuel in it, service it, and buy tyres. It's been faultlessly reliable. Dull as ditchwater but I'm glad of it when I have a large load I need to move.
 
What are they like for parking? Never driven anything you'd consider long wheel base, I've driven Volvo s60s, Saab 9-3s, suppose the other alternative I'm looking at at that price point is a 9-3 1.9 tid estate. I've had a saloon Saab and liked it mind. I just fancied something quite high up with a nice road position. High revving and 25mpg is fine, I've had a Corsa redtop in the past which was both of those, but a polar opposite of comfort and refined motorway drive lol.
 
The same 2L in our 03 Accord, its now on 153k miles and still running great, engine is bullet proof, heck the whole car is bullet proof, the only major thing that's gone wrong which is now is there's a leak coming from the brake master cylinder, £200 ish to replace.
 
squarehead94 said:
What are they like for parking?
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Very easy. Because you are high up and the car is essentially a box with a wheel at each corner it's very easy to place. Ours has a reversing camera which makes it doubly easy.
Personally, I don't think the 2.0 petrol engine suits the car as you have to rev it quite hard to make decent progress but the 2.2 diesel - especially at the mileages you're looking at - could throw some expensive bills that the 2.0 will avoid.
Personally, I think it's a good, honest motor. It doesn't try to be anything more than a Civic on stilts and if you treat it as such it will do you well.
 
Rilot said:
Very easy. Because you are high up and the car is essentially a box with a wheel at each corner it's very easy to place. Ours has a reversing camera which makes it doubly easy.
Personally, I don't think the 2.0 petrol engine suits the car as you have to rev it quite hard to make decent progress but the 2.2 diesel - especially at the mileages you're looking at - could throw some expensive bills that the 2.0 will avoid.
Personally, I think it's a good, honest motor. It doesn't try to be anything more than a Civic on stilts and if you treat it as such it will do you well.
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Yeah, was avoiding diesel because at the price point it's going to be trouble from what I have heard, and reading about the CR-V in 2.0 petrol form is probably the most reliable 4x4 going. I don't want it for power. I want to do the shopping, town run and trips up to the airport and down the motorway in comfort and in a car that's probably going to be better off in a crash than my corsa would be.
 
Clutch is around £500 ish fitted. Brakes are the same as any other mid-sized car. I just did the front pads on ours and they were £30 from ECP for both wheels.
 
Rilot said:
Clutch is around £500 ish fitted. Brakes are the same as any other mid-sized car. I just did the front pads on ours and they were £30 from ECP for both wheels.
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awesome thanks for the response! I've usually just used mates rates on servicing and stuff on my previous cars but id have to be taking this to a garage for bigger jobs (brake pads and discs and stuff ill continue going to mates with £20 here and there)
Was just worried there was any horror stories of major failures costing thousands, im looking at an 03 plate with 120k on the clock at the moment, small scrape to a back door, but its only £1000 (reduced from £1400) so just want to make sure they are reliable tough machines that wont eat away at my bank balance! haha. thanks!
 
They are solid cars. Most of the weak points seem to be related to the diesel models.
At that age and mileage it's just going to be the normal things like suspension bushes, dampers, drive-shafts etc that will be on their way out. None of which are going to break the bank.
 
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