Buying a 10 year old Honda CRV
Discussion
Good morning all,
my Volvo V90 lease finishes in 2 weeks time. I am moving house around the same time. I need a fairly large reliable vehicle to help carry quantities of furniture and 2 dogs over the coming weeks so I thought that a diesel CRV would be the ideal vehicle. Could I please have some pointers as to what to look out for/avoid ? The more recent 1.6 engine looks underpowered to me so I am thinking about the 2.2. What is the best year/trim to look for please ? Many thanks in advance, Charles
my Volvo V90 lease finishes in 2 weeks time. I am moving house around the same time. I need a fairly large reliable vehicle to help carry quantities of furniture and 2 dogs over the coming weeks so I thought that a diesel CRV would be the ideal vehicle. Could I please have some pointers as to what to look out for/avoid ? The more recent 1.6 engine looks underpowered to me so I am thinking about the 2.2. What is the best year/trim to look for please ? Many thanks in advance, Charles
Overall a good car but often blighted by severe underside corrosion, especially if they have resided near the coast
or further north you go (more salt on the roads) so check the underside . Brakes need good regular servicing as the
sliders are prone to seizing and pads stuck on the carriers.
or further north you go (more salt on the roads) so check the underside . Brakes need good regular servicing as the
sliders are prone to seizing and pads stuck on the carriers.
Interested in replies to this as also considering ~10yr old CRVs for the OH.
Worth noting that DTEC comes with DPF and associated potential borkage.
Cant speak of CRVs directly, but the 2.2 DTEC and CTDI lumps in mine and OHs Accord and Civic have both been great @ 150k+, wouldn't worry there. Dealing with A/C issues with both currently though, but that'll be the case in any car of this vintage. Both also beginning to show signs of corrosion around wheel arches, again likely more an age thing rather than Honda specific.
Worth noting that DTEC comes with DPF and associated potential borkage.
Cant speak of CRVs directly, but the 2.2 DTEC and CTDI lumps in mine and OHs Accord and Civic have both been great @ 150k+, wouldn't worry there. Dealing with A/C issues with both currently though, but that'll be the case in any car of this vintage. Both also beginning to show signs of corrosion around wheel arches, again likely more an age thing rather than Honda specific.
I drive and help maintain my sister's 2009 CR-V EX 2.2 CTDI and as long as the car's been looked after the only obvious problems I can remember off the top of my head are the diffs can wear (and break?) evident by a grinding noise on full lock and underside rust as mentioned above. Make extra sure to listen for the diffs on 4x4 models. A remap on both CDTI and DTECs works wonders bringing them to just under 200hp but wears the clutches quite fast so an LUK clutch is recommended on remapped cars.
edit: My sister's just come home and said make sure it's had a diff flush at 50k, fsh and minimal/no rust. Other than that they're bomb proof!
edit: My sister's just come home and said make sure it's had a diff flush at 50k, fsh and minimal/no rust. Other than that they're bomb proof!
Maybe the 10 year old ones are better than the newer ones? We have a MK4 from 2016 with the 1.6 iDTEC. It is our first Honda and it will be our last, mainly because of the attitude of Honda/and lack of help from our dealer in pushing Honda for a resolution to an ongoing issue. We bought it used from Honda a couple of years ago and took out an extended warranty and service plan to cover for most eventualities.
First it lost half its coolant a couple of times, our local dealer clearly didn’t find the leak the first time round. My guess is that it was there when it was sold to us and not spotted then either. Secondly it has the worst clutch of any car I’ve driven, including those with multiples of the mileage. Every morning there is clutch judder which makes it impossible to pull away smoothly. The worst case being that the vibration is so severe that you stall, potentially whilst halfway across a junction. This judder continues for the first five to ten minutes or so until it has ‘warmed up’. Honda say this is due to moisture on the clutch plate and are not interested. I’m sure this issue wasn’t there for the first few months of ownership but now occurs every day.
I wish I’d done my homework before buying this car. Honda seem to have lost their way. Perhaps I should have bought the automatic? My homework following experiencing this issue tells me that I’m far from alone and lots of other owners with CRVs and Civics have the same problem. It makes me wince when we experience the judder through the drivetrain as I wonder what other damage it may be causing. I don’t understand how Honda can get other less important things right and a fundamental like this so wrong?
First it lost half its coolant a couple of times, our local dealer clearly didn’t find the leak the first time round. My guess is that it was there when it was sold to us and not spotted then either. Secondly it has the worst clutch of any car I’ve driven, including those with multiples of the mileage. Every morning there is clutch judder which makes it impossible to pull away smoothly. The worst case being that the vibration is so severe that you stall, potentially whilst halfway across a junction. This judder continues for the first five to ten minutes or so until it has ‘warmed up’. Honda say this is due to moisture on the clutch plate and are not interested. I’m sure this issue wasn’t there for the first few months of ownership but now occurs every day.
I wish I’d done my homework before buying this car. Honda seem to have lost their way. Perhaps I should have bought the automatic? My homework following experiencing this issue tells me that I’m far from alone and lots of other owners with CRVs and Civics have the same problem. It makes me wince when we experience the judder through the drivetrain as I wonder what other damage it may be causing. I don’t understand how Honda can get other less important things right and a fundamental like this so wrong?
I had an 07 plate I got rid of last March 2.2 cdti manual mk 3. 106000m so not big miles, a bloomin good car and I regret selling it for a lease Q5. Clutch and DMF needed replaced at 90 000 which seems common , it slipped when hot and working, maybe I could have lived with it but I had it fixed (£1k DMF Clutch fitted)
No rust on mine, it's a very robust car with a hard wearing interior, mine had a hard life but cleaned up well when I came to sell it. Wiper motors seem to go, my wipers stuck on on a very wet day, lashings of WD40 resolved that, good strong understretched engines (140 bhp from 2.2l)#Good visibility. I changed the oil on mine as well as flushed, changed the rear diff oil all of which was simple to do. Shocks/springs were knackered on the front so I got Monroes from Autodoc.
It was a 13 yr old car but didnt feel like a snotter.
I'm kicking myself for getting rid of it.
No rust on mine, it's a very robust car with a hard wearing interior, mine had a hard life but cleaned up well when I came to sell it. Wiper motors seem to go, my wipers stuck on on a very wet day, lashings of WD40 resolved that, good strong understretched engines (140 bhp from 2.2l)#Good visibility. I changed the oil on mine as well as flushed, changed the rear diff oil all of which was simple to do. Shocks/springs were knackered on the front so I got Monroes from Autodoc.
It was a 13 yr old car but didnt feel like a snotter.
I'm kicking myself for getting rid of it.
We have a 2.2 icdti.. Gearbox is nice enough but 1st is so short it's like driving a van sometimes. The early diesels don't come in auto.
Itll keep up with motorway traffic just fine, but never feels particularly powerful. In fact, it feels quite under powered against other similarly powered cars (especially for a 2.2).
Rear seats are plenty big, can pretty much stick 3 people back there. Boot is huge especially with the split shelf on the EX models.
Radar cruise is not amazing, but it's a pretty old system. Bluetooth is so poorly implemented we've never used it.
Other than that it's a solid car. We had an issue with the alternator clutch making a loud clicking sound and I had a garage replace the unit as its not easy to remove due to clearance. Only other issue has been a chuffing injector, wasn't too hard to DIY the o-ring as long as you catch the issue early.
The grinding diff is a common issue and will return even after an oil change so get used to having to flush and refill now and again. There's also a knock from the rear which I've never figured out.. Must be a bush somewhere, another common issue on the Facebook group but no one seems to be able to figure it out.
Itll keep up with motorway traffic just fine, but never feels particularly powerful. In fact, it feels quite under powered against other similarly powered cars (especially for a 2.2).
Rear seats are plenty big, can pretty much stick 3 people back there. Boot is huge especially with the split shelf on the EX models.
Radar cruise is not amazing, but it's a pretty old system. Bluetooth is so poorly implemented we've never used it.
Other than that it's a solid car. We had an issue with the alternator clutch making a loud clicking sound and I had a garage replace the unit as its not easy to remove due to clearance. Only other issue has been a chuffing injector, wasn't too hard to DIY the o-ring as long as you catch the issue early.
The grinding diff is a common issue and will return even after an oil change so get used to having to flush and refill now and again. There's also a knock from the rear which I've never figured out.. Must be a bush somewhere, another common issue on the Facebook group but no one seems to be able to figure it out.
Interesting to suddenly come across. My ex wife has been gifted her mother's CRV.
A 2004 Auto petrol with 130k miles on the clock. I had a look at the MOT history. Lots of fails each year but the work done for a pass.
Anyone know why when I look it up for MOT and Tax that it comes up as a Civic?
A 2004 Auto petrol with 130k miles on the clock. I had a look at the MOT history. Lots of fails each year but the work done for a pass.
Anyone know why when I look it up for MOT and Tax that it comes up as a Civic?
F20CN16 said:
The 1.6 i-DTEC is better than you might think. Still has almost the same torque as the 2.2 (300Nm at 2000rpm). It weighs 47kg less than the 2.2 too.
My sister also had a 2016 mk4 with the 120hp 1.6 DTEC and my dad had a 2016 auto with the 1.6 DTEC bi-turbo (oh yeah!) 160hp variant (I've driven both extensively). The single turbo was just underpowered at 120hp, way too little for a big CR-V but it did get stupid mpg, in the range of 60-70 on a motorway. Ultimately she sold it because it was too slow and the depreciation with putting miles on a 3 year old car wasn't what she wanted. A remap to 150hp+ might fix this but I wouldn't count on it, the engine just didn't seem to fit the car, especially compared to a mapped 2.2 at 200hp.
The bi-turbo (oh yeah!) had decent power and mpg (although my dad does his best to ruin the mpg figure). It does feel and sound a bit like a fast lawnmower but I guess that's just a honda thing at this point. Can't really fault the car but I still prefer the powerful, tractor-ish 2.2, especially as the cars are cheaper and the mk3s have more interior room.
F20CN16 makes a good point, especially in regards to mpg but unless you want the top engine in a post 2016 car they're really not comparable to the 2.2
I had a 2009 2.2 CDti Ex which I traded in earlier this year. Got £2100 for it then spotted it up for sale elsewhere soon after for £4500. Do regret selling it.
I had it for 7 years and covered 100,000 miles. The only faults were a leaking power steering hose and a leaky fuel pipe. Both replaced with no further issues. Likely down to damage from a stone as I used the car off road on rough tracks for work.
Great car, one of the best I’ve ever had. Would easily return 45 mpg on a run down the motorway but could get me up a snow covered forest road when required. Saw 52 mpg once on a rural run.
Was looking a bit tired underneath and rather worn inside but probably had a few years left in it. Still on original exhaust and clutch at 130k.
I serviced it myself every year using genuine Honda parts bought from Cox motor factors (great service
In summary a great car and probably the sweet spot in Crv models
I had it for 7 years and covered 100,000 miles. The only faults were a leaking power steering hose and a leaky fuel pipe. Both replaced with no further issues. Likely down to damage from a stone as I used the car off road on rough tracks for work.
Great car, one of the best I’ve ever had. Would easily return 45 mpg on a run down the motorway but could get me up a snow covered forest road when required. Saw 52 mpg once on a rural run.
Was looking a bit tired underneath and rather worn inside but probably had a few years left in it. Still on original exhaust and clutch at 130k.
I serviced it myself every year using genuine Honda parts bought from Cox motor factors (great service
In summary a great car and probably the sweet spot in Crv models
I'm keeping my eye on this age of CRV as we have a 17yo FRV sitting on 127k miles that just keeps plodding on but will need replacing at some point.
We need an occasional tow car, and whilst I'd prefer the diesel CRV for towing we only do 8k miles pa so I would rather suck up the lower fuel economy of the petrol and not worry about DPFs, DMFs, EGRs and any other expensive-to-replace items on a 10yo diesel.
I've been really impressed with the Honda build quality and reliability of the FRV, nothing has needed replacing other than consumables and a clutch, and it has never broken down or given any reliability issues.
+1 for Cox Motor Spares mentioned up the thread who supply OEM service parts at very competitive prices.
We need an occasional tow car, and whilst I'd prefer the diesel CRV for towing we only do 8k miles pa so I would rather suck up the lower fuel economy of the petrol and not worry about DPFs, DMFs, EGRs and any other expensive-to-replace items on a 10yo diesel.
I've been really impressed with the Honda build quality and reliability of the FRV, nothing has needed replacing other than consumables and a clutch, and it has never broken down or given any reliability issues.
+1 for Cox Motor Spares mentioned up the thread who supply OEM service parts at very competitive prices.
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