Honda CRV

Lakeland

Lakeland

Lakeland

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Joined
1 Nov 2005
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I'm being dragged out with the mrs to look at some 2010 - 2011 CRVs, are there any issues I should be looking out for during a test drive or during ownership?

She's set on the 2.2 diesel but not sure whether to go with the automatic or manual. Other than the lower mpg is there any reason to avoid an automatic assuming she prefers the way it drives?
 
2010 should mean the newer i-DTEC engine over the older CDTi engine. The DTEC is a bit quieter, bit more go, and a bit nicer to drive. However, it has all sorts of stuff like DPF's that will undoubtedly explode within seconds of leaving the forecourt (slight exaggeration).

I believe 2010 in general was a facelift year (I think this brought USB input in the glovebox and a few other bits and pieces), but I can't remember the entire list.

Unsure what budget you are looking at, but we took out quite a few CRV's earlier in the year before deciding there wasn't one in the condition we wanted available. Now the new model has been established for a while, the prices should have come down a bit since then. The EX model is actually a reasonably nice place to be. The split level rear boot is a nice idea too.

I'll go on record and say I think both engines (CDTi and DTEC) were nice enough, and actually... the CRV drives really nicely considering its size.
 
We went out in a 2011 EX spec this afternoon. I love the exterior and the grey colour scheme, sometimes the rear quadrant style windows look a bit out of place but all in all I think it is very attractive.

I've been in a few new hondas and I get the impression the interior was designed by the same people who design mobile phones (to last 12months).. the plastic trim in key areas like the door handle are seriously poor quality, why do they do this? Anything older than 12months is just covered in scratches or the thin layer of paint has wore through to the base plastic which is a different colour!

I also noticed on a 2011 model with 40k miles the fake leather on the gear gator had cracked, the quality is almost shocking in places.

The ride itself was excellent, very little body roll, brakes were really good from 60 and just as good in town when braking gently. The engine had power but didn't really have any 'kick', it certainly wasn't underpowered but it wouldn't give me any excitement, I think a auto box would be better suited to the wafty engine. I'm used to driving a 2.5l 5cyl van which has a fantastic engine so maybe that's not a fair comparison.

If it were my choice I think I'd prefer to have something like a 5series bmw which has a great interior/exterior and lots of space, perhaps the estate with the huge boot and 2.5/3l petrol engine which would have less to go wrong than a modern diesel. We reset the avg mpg before we set off (on the very cold morning) and we only got 35.5mpg out of the (pre warmed) crv over about 10 miles, so not the best especially for a diesel.
 
I had an accrod with the D-tec and my Dad had the previous gen Accord with the CDTI, the CDTI was a tad smoother and was better for economy in our experience. The D-tec was a bit free'er revving for a diesel, but I had 2 DPF filters on it in 3 years (80k miles), this simply do not like short journeys.

The CRV is a nice car, typically honda with too much plastic inside, but its all very well put together and they do drive well for a 4*4.
 
Lakeland said:
We went out in a 2011 EX spec this afternoon. I love the exterior and the grey colour scheme, sometimes the rear quadrant style windows look a bit out of place but all in all I think it is very attractive.

I've been in a few new hondas and I get the impression the interior was designed by the same people who design mobile phones (to last 12months).. the plastic trim in key areas like the door handle are seriously poor quality, why do they do this? Anything older than 12months is just covered in scratches or the thin layer of paint has wore through to the base plastic which is a different colour!

I also noticed on a 2011 model with 40k miles the fake leather on the gear gator had cracked, the quality is almost shocking in places.

The ride itself was excellent, very little body roll, brakes were really good from 60 and just as good in town when braking gently. The engine had power but didn't really have any 'kick', it certainly wasn't underpowered but it wouldn't give me any excitement, I think a auto box would be better suited to the wafty engine. I'm used to driving a 2.5l 5cyl van which has a fantastic engine so maybe that's not a fair comparison.

If it were my choice I think I'd prefer to have something like a 5series bmw which has a great interior/exterior and lots of space, perhaps the estate with the huge boot and 2.5/3l petrol engine which would have less to go wrong than a modern diesel. We reset the avg mpg before we set off (on the very cold morning) and we only got 35.5mpg out of the (pre warmed) crv over about 10 miles, so not the best especially for a diesel.
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Must admit my accord was faultless over 80k/years, well apart from the DPF. Its not got the soft touch falseness of a VAG car, but it was a more solid feeling car than my A4 Avant.
 
New Swindon made tat have issues. DPF's etc have issues as they are IIRC the same German made tat found in most other cars. Hopefully they will change to Made in Japan parts next time like they will do with the new Turbo engines... I hope.
 
2010 don't all have DPF. I think it was only 2011 they were fitted as standard.

My 2010 civic has no dpf
 
We bought a 2008 CR-V recently. A petrol model so not really relevant to you. We're pretty happy with it but yeah, I agree on the quality of the interior plastics. Not a soft-touch surface in sight. It's all rock-hard plastic everywhere.
It seems to wear reasonably well though.
 
We have a 2007 EX, had for a year or so... No problems at all. Like said you could say plastics feel hard and cheap, but I have better things to do than rub face all over my dashboard. Everything else about the car is spot on, no problems. It's a nice SUV, perfect for family dutys.
 
Rilot said:
We bought a 2008 CR-V recently. A petrol model so not really relevant to you. We're pretty happy with it but yeah, I agree on the quality of the interior plastics. Not a soft-touch surface in sight. It's all rock-hard plastic everywhere.
It seems to wear reasonably well though.
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How are you getting on with your petrol one?

I drove one immediately before an iCDTi engine'd one and it felt slower (no idea if it was) but it was a lot quieter. No surprises that you had to rev it to make progress, but it just seemed to get louder opposed to providing more power. They are a decent amount cheaper than diesel models, which makes them quite tempting if one in good condition appears.

I'm a bit gutted the 2.4 Petrol isn't available here, I think we'd have bought one if it did.

I kind of feel like getting a good condition CDTi EX and remapping it is the way forward if we do go for one. With close to 200 BHP available with some of the better maps I think you'd have all the power you need for real world driving.
 
I dunno, if you are thinking of remaps on a CRV I think it's possibly not the right kind of car for you :-)

We have a the petrol auto, and I must admit at 55-60 overtaking briskly doesn't really happen, but then again... You should t be overtaking 55-60mph traffic on a B road... It wafts on motorway fine and will sit at speed limit all day.

It does raise a smile though... Auto box kicks down, and you can hear VTEC yo mode, but not much happens. It's like engine gives up and says, nope just too heavy not gonna happen. Accelerates fine off the line though
 
Flukester said:
I dunno, if you are thinking of remaps on a CRV I think it's possibly not the right kind of car for you :-)

We have a the petrol auto, and I must admit at 55-60 overtaking briskly doesn't really happen, but then again... You should t be overtaking 55-60mph traffic on a B road... It wafts on motorway fine and will sit at speed limit all day.

It does raise a smile though... Auto box kicks down, and you can hear VTEC yo mode, but not much happens. It's like engine gives up and says, nope just too heavy not gonna happen. Accelerates fine off the line though
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I don't think that just because I fancy a remap on a diesel to extract more economy and more power when I want it is a bad thing.

I've been used to 'quicker' cars, and I like to be able to overtake safely. If it's going to shave seconds off the 30-60 speed, that can't be a bad thing (I'd imagine it could, I've not measured it)

http://www.celtictuning.co.uk/pages/publications/Honda_Civic_2.2 iCTDi Stage 3.pdf

that covers off at the bottom the difference just the straight remap does. 10 seconds off 0-100 is going to help with overtakes. Granted that is a Civic, so the CRV probably won't benefit as much, but it certainly won't hurt. Stage 3 figures look nice, but probably thats the point when you say the CRV diesel isn't for you ;)

Edit - sorry, 10 seconds is the stage 3 results and its labelled wrong on the PDF.

http://www.celtictuning.co.uk/pages/publications/Honda_Civic_2.2 iCTDi Stage 1.pdf

Still, 5 seconds isn't bad.
 
I still disagree... I understand diesel remaps work, but it just seems wrong on a lardy CRV. Next thing on CRV ads we'll see 'mature owner, not tracked, stock'
 
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