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But the best guy I know that can relate to this topic the best is a guy down in south Texas who has a '97 CR-V; I had the pleasure of meeting him two summers ago. He is an agricultural consultant who drives this vehicle over dusty and muddy fields on a daily basis . . . with the A/C running constantly . . . while towing a small trailer. The only unexpected maintenance he has had done was replacement of a CV boot after a corn stalk tore through it. The silly car is closing in on 190k-mi. His results are probably atypical, but it's fun to see what is possible.
How would I calculate this number? if it 2% of msrp?
Thank.
Here are a couple of questions on this subject:
1) I live in Northern California: what percentage would the charges be?
2)Are these negotiable or simply mandatory?
I just want to make sure that I am being charged a fair price when I purchase my car.
Thanks for the advice.
I'm looking to trade in my 97CR-V (I'm not in a rush). I will again be looking at the CRV & Forester. The reason I selected the CRV last time was the lack of leg room in the Forester, especially the back seats. Any preliminary info on the 2003 Forester regarding this?
Keep your fingers crossed. The new Forester is scheduled for a "world introduction" at the NY Auto Show in the spring, and be in dealers in June.
Bob
back to your question, i guess i will have to touch it today when i drive it, but it looks like the headliner in my 99 civic, which is kind of hard felt material. much better than the vynil headliner i had in my 85 civic :-)
My 97 CRV has cheap vinyl sun visors and hard felt material for a headliner. Again @ 127,000 miles it has never stop running strong. The head liner and cheap sun visor have never made me late for work. The New 2002 CRV interior has better materials, maybe cause of the strong dollar against the weak yen. Interiors is much of a factor why I always buy Honda its reliability that sell me.
Your best best may be to beg Nissan to bring the X-Trail over here. The X-Trail is a much more capable off-roader and is not as "heavy" as the Liberty.
The pictures from the roadtrip section of what people have put their CRVs through is amazing. I'm sold!
Can ABS be added after market? Hah, I'm just joking. But I am really irritated that I'd have to get an EX with a Sunroof and 6 cd player I don't want in order to get ABS (what I really want). Also, the center console is an atrocity. What was Honda thinking? Honda certainly could have thought harder about the design of the center console if the missing navigation system wasn't going to be an option for everyone.
Mechanically, I'm leaning Honda. Aesthetically, I'm leaning Saturn. Ironic, isn't it.
That's just my 2 pennies.
Back in 2000, I knew that I could have met my driving needs with a 2WD LX. (Here in metro Houston where it's flat and it never snows, 8 out of every 10 CR-V's are 2WD!) But I felt that ABS was important enough to spend extra for. Over time, I've come to appreciate the looks of the alloy wheels too. So, I don't really have any regrets over paying more.
I suspect that Honda will start putting ABS in the LX trim when people stop buying those models. The CR-V LX and EX trim levels have always been similar to the other Civic-based models in the US. When it becomes a market problem, they'll be forced to correct it. My guess is, it hasn't been a problem. Typically we don't hear from them on the internet, but there are people out there who think that ABS is bad mojo. Some of us here may recall the infamous Large Marge who debated the subject for several days over at the CR-V IX.
I would like to see it as part of a saftey option. Maybe they could combine ABS and the side air bags into a combined package for the LX.
I agree that ABS isn't just for the rich; it should be at least optional on lesser models. Folks with a $20k price limit can't get ABS, basically. But Hyundai and Toyota are guilty of this too.
Too bad about the Liberty issues, it's also been getting bad press about rollovers (Autoweek, and now a 2nd case with a European magazine). I really liked the one I test drove.
Theodore: I'll suggest you hop over to the Forester thread for more info on the 2003 update. Comparisons are OK, but we should take pure Subie discussion over there.
On the AWD debate, a new-for-2002 item has crept up: torque steer. At least one review I read mentioned the new CR-V tugged at the wheel under acceleration. This wasn't a real problem with the older models because there wasn't nearly as much torque. I haven't driven one yet so I have not experienced this first-hand, and I imagine it's not nearly as bad as, say, an Altima, but it is a factor for some people when choosing between different AWD systems.
-juice
I'm actually more interested to see if there is an improvement in the IIHS offset crash test, which is much tougher. Santa Fe and Forester did well on that one; will the CR-V join them? We'll see.
-juice
So far Honda has predicted a five star front rating (both seats I would assume) for the NHTSA test. They are also predicting a rating of "Good" for the IIHS. No word on the NHTSA side impact tests, though. I'm not about to put my first born into the ante, but I don't see any reason to doubt it either.
I just thought I would post my pricing experience in case anyone else in the Sacramento area might be able to use it! I used a fellow Edmunds Town Hall poster's idea of mass-emailing all the dealers in the area with my offer of $500 over invoice. I sent about 14 emails in all, both north and south of Sacramento and several Bay Area locations. The dealers closest to Sacramento all stuck to MSRP (Auburn, Roseville, Mel Rapton) while Fairfield went $700 under MSRP, lots of them haven't replied yet. However, Yuba City Honda 45 minutes north of Sacramento accepted my offer of $500 over invoice ($21540, including destination charge for EX with Automatic) I won't be buying there because by coincidence one of the other dealers even farther north happens to be an old friend who will sell to me at the same price in the color I want right away. Yuba City currently has Mojave Mist and Green colors according to their email.
I hope this helps someone That mass email strategy really paid off, thanks to the person who posted it!
Rebecca
You're right, though, in that newer Hondas have improved and so should the CR-V.
-juice
1-the prices come down (it won't take as long as some think) This is the biggest strength of the CR-V - what you get for the money, compared to its rivals
2- I see the actual crash tests results
Also on a dealer lot I drove by today there were no 2002's but they had 4 2001's out in front. Guess they havn't sold them all yet.
How much discount were you able to get? How about dealer installed options?
- Quite satisfied with the power with the manual trans; I thought the auto was a little wimpy, but the 5 speed is good. The only caveat is that it revs high in 5th (3500 rpm at 120 km/h or ~75mph) whereas the auto revs lower. Nice broad torque curve and the VTEC portion of the i-VTEC allows it to keep pulling strongly over 5000 rpm (you can feel it kick in).
- Motor is smooth and quiet which makes the high revving top gear acceptable.
- Wind noise is good and overall is noticeably more quiet than the Escape.
- Does have a bit of torque steer - you really have to pay attention when you stomp on it coming out of a corner.
- No dead pedal (correct term?) which I find annoying. Also no center arm rests in manual trans. with no accessory add-ons available for 2002 yet. Hopefully can add some later.
- Stereo quality is nothing to write home about but good enough for me. The CD changer is slow and I don't think there is a random feature across disks (only on the selected disk).
- Climate controls are funky but solid feeling. They are much easier to interpret at night when they are lit.
- Brakes seem better on my delivered vehicle then the test drive. They probably cleaned off some shipping coating or something like that.
- Handling is good although not quite as sharp as the Escape's (but close).
- I do prefer the center console in the Escape; time will tell how much this will bug me.
- I normally never buy a first year model but I really wanted to get one built in Japan vs. the UK.
Overall I am impressed. I bought the CR-V over the Escape purely for quality and reliability. I rented an Escape for a weekend and enjoyed driving it much more that the CR-V I took on a test drive (which was an auto). But my 5 speed CR-V is much closer on the performance front while smoking the Escape on build quality and wind noise.
BTW, it seems us Canucks have better trim packages for once. The only things the EX here really adds are alloy wheels, side airbags, CD changer/better speakers, privacy glass and keyless. The Canadian LX has ABS and such. Our EX does not get the moonroof (which is fine with me). We also have the EX-L which adds leather and the roof. Basically the EX was perfect for my needs as is. Honda does nickel and dime you on accessories, however, e.g, roof rack, tonneau cover, cargo net, etc.
So, between LX & EX in Canada, all you get is alloys, 6-disc changer, coloured-heated mirrors, rear window tint, keyless entry, and side air bags....
Hmmm... I went with the LX b/c I don't mind the steel wheels (my friend's thought they were alloys at first). I added keyless as an option. The better deal, IMO.
I know that with the 1st gen CR-V's you can simply bolt in a different foot rest. I've toyed with the idea of making a larger one for my big feet, but I dunno about the '02 models.
-juice
XL-7 touring trim has 7 seats (if you need them ever), std V6 (183 hp), 3000 lbs towing, std fog lights, std DRL, std roof rack, std rear AC, 16 inch wheels, 3/36 roadside assistance, etc.
Down side (v/s CRV EX auto) is no rear disc brakes, no side impact airbags, no rear flip-up windshield, no CD changer :-(
Any thoughts or comments ?
Peter
on the carpet issue, a salesman said that the thicker carpeting on the ex actually makes a big difference in cabin noise as it adds sound insulation. hmmm...
Peterclaver - Depends on what you are going to do with it. If you're staying on paved roads, I'd recommend the CR-V. If not, then the XL-7 may be a good choice.
Canadiancl - Yep. There is a rubber spot on the carpet directly over a "lump" in the floor.
In 2.5 years with Ohio built Accord I have had 1 problem (heated seat). In 1.5 yrs with CRV, my wife has had to refill the washer fluid when empty, change oil and nada else. I would trade for another Japanese CR-V in a minute, but am dubious over the English one.
Anyone know if that English plant is new? My brother is a quality control engineer in the industry and claims that Honda intends to have the same build quality worldwide. Is this really possible?