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Comments
This is not my first Honda. It is my 3rd. The first was a '89 Accord Lxi that I bought new and owned for 12 years and put over 270,000 miles on it. Sold it last spring for nearly $3,000. Could have drove it in the river & still been money ahead, but the $3k was nice to get.
Right before I sold it I purchased a new 2001 Accord & have been extremely happy with it. It is a much bigger car than the '89. Hopefully I will get the same service from this one as the last.
I was in the market for a new SUV & ran across the picture of the new 2002 CR-V several months back. I though that I would wait for it to come out before I made my decision considering that I liked the appearance much better than the old body style. Well I waited & actually test drove some of the first lots to make it to some of the local dealers in Birmingham & Tuscaloosa.
I was impressed by this vehicle from the outset. The fit & finish is the best in class. I am sold on Honda quality & knew that I could not go wrong by buying the Honda.
Well, I did my homework & e-mailed several dealers within a 150 mile radius. I offered $500 over cost & got 2 to 3 bites. The one that I went with was within 120 miles. The dealer was Sunny King Honda in Anniston, AL. I was impressed by the salesman, Howard Reid. He shot me straight from the "get go". Something that I felt the others were not doing. This guy took care of me from beginning to end. Very sincere & I would highly recommend him to anyone in the Alabama/Georgia area. I believe they have 30 CR-V's about to land.
From the time that we agreed on the price to the time that the vehicle came in was 6 weeks or so. I actually took delivery of it today & I am quite satisfied with it. It is the black on black LX and matches the silver Accord quite nicely. Well they're tucked in for the night & so am I. Thanks again to all!
the only think the five speed will hurt is the resale a bit when you go to sell it.
If that's what you like, go for it!
www.weiserhonda.com
arnd. 1.5 hours drive(south) from St. Louis. The guy I spoke to was Chris Brown, their Internet Contact.
Test Drive. Drove an EX auto, nice mini ute. Fit and finish Honda quality, quick off the line but really have to rev it to get up and go at higher speeds. Good brakes, road noise/engine noise, transmits lots of bumps. Really have to think about it if I could get one. Comming out of a Grand Cherokee lease, the GC is better by far, but of course it cost more,much worse gas mileage,not as reliable. Have to think hard about this one. Mike
can't wait!!!!!!! I had to go out of the county to get it. I went on there web site and made a bid for $300 over invoice and they gave me for $600. I will let you know where I got it if you give me your e-mail.
Things I like - the space - carting around dogs and people. Handles great in the minimal snowfall received in my area of the country (8 inches last week). Also did well the one time we took it up a fire trail (not heavy off-roading).
Things I hate - the engine is LOUD - especially on the highway. The seats are UNCOMFORTABLE!!! I am young and healthy and 2 hours in this vehicle is enough to make me an old woman. I formerly owned a '91 CRX and the seats were great.
I bought this vehicle because I'm a sucker for value, long-term reliability and resale value, and have always driven Toyotas or Hondas. but I can't wait to unload this soon and would not buy another.
If the 2002 hasn't changed a heck of a lot since the '98 model, definately spend some time in it before you decide. My husband's new Nissan Frontier p-up truck is now our vehicle of choice because of the lack of comfort of the CRX.
No offense to those loving their new one's - just wanted to give the perspective of a 3-year owner.
The engine delivers a good balance between getting good acceleration when needed and getting good MPG on my 25 mile commute to work.
Of course, these are things that I pretty much expected based on reading specs. What I didn't expect was well it would handle and how much fun it is to drive. From a stand still on wet pavement my old Accord would almost always spin out when when I punched the gas, whereas the CR-V immediately jumps off the line and is going 30 mph in no time, and we're talking 4 speed AUTO, which surprised me.
Everyone is different, but for me, it's the perfect car for me right now. I plan to drive this for 10 years or until my mid-life crisis, which ever comes first. ;-) At that point it will be time to get the S2000!
billherm2000@netscape.net
The things you liked have been improved and the things you hate have been fixed. It's a very quite ride in terms of engine noise and road noise. I find the seats perfectly fine on long trips. I don't have any complaints about the 2002. I haven't owned a 1st gen CRV but I have driven them on a few occasions so I'm aware of how different they actually are.
Why would you say "I can't wait to unload this soon and would not buy another" if you've never driven a 2002? Try it. I'm sure you'll be surprised.
Does any of the veteran CRV users have an opinion on this? I'm considering getting a blanket that's roughly sized 9' x 10', then putting grommets on the sides which would be used to hold the sides up.
Rob
Regarding the 5 speed question. I love the 5 speed and wouldn't have an automatic in this type of vehicle. I get fantastic tourqe out of the 5 speed and fantastic control. They got more HP out of the engine for the 2002 but with the 5 speed it really hauls great.
We first drove the CRV, and both of our comments were "well it drives like a honda" meaning good acceleration for a 4 cylinder, good handling, solid but not overly impressive interior, plain jane exterior styling. Basically a honda. We did notice, though that you could feel the bumps on the road quite easily, and it fely knid of light. Over all we both thought it would make a great little purchase, and my wife really liked it. Then we drove the Santa Fe.
It was obvious just from looking at the interior, that there was much more to the Santa Fe than the Honda. I found it drove even better than it looked. The V6 got it off the line very well, and got up to and maintained hiway speeds well. It felt like a much more substantial vehicle on the road, and I would compare the ride to many of the luxury SUV's on the market. If you were blind-folded and put into it for a ride, it would be very comparable to a Lexus RX300. I was convinced that this was a much better vehicle for the price than tha Honda. The surprising part, was that my wife completly agreed. I could tell by the grin on her face that she was impressed. She told me later, she didn't want to like the Santa Fe, but it just drove and felt so much better than the Honda, she couldn't help but like it. She also said it felt more like a $40000 luxury SUV than a 23k Hundai. She said it drove like her Mom's Acura, and was just as quiet.
So although the Honda is a good, quality mini-ute, my wife decided she would be crazy to get the CRV over the Santa Fe at the same price. Also we found out there is NO dealing on the CRV MSRP and up. The Santa Fe we can deal a little, but still not much.
Thanks for the feedback on my previous question. Now we have to sell our accord, that will hurt, its been a great car. Good luck with your CRV's although you won't need it.
INKY
BTW--you guys who are getting those great deals are lucky. I wasn't good at dealing and paid 19K for an LX auto with keyless. Also got taken on the trade-in. But love the car. I'll learn from this and make a better deal next time.
40psi was probably to prevent flat spotting. The dealer is supposed to air them down during the pre-delivery inspection, but that's common.
-juice
Note; tire prssure changes with anbient temperature. On 35F days I read 26 psi but when it warms to 65 F the pressure rises to 29 psi.
One thing I don't know for sure since I no longer have my '01 Accord but if I remember correctly they use a chart to show you what other weights can be used depending on ambient temperature expected. That's why I say 5W30 can "most likely" be used without an issue.
It's funny how things change (and sometimes don't). The manual for my '89 Accord recommends 10W30 for most applications yet I have always used 5W30 (at least that is what I request). I have had several people over the years tell me I am using the wrong oil. The 153K miles says I probably didn't hurt things too badly.
Deals:
For those new to the board, you can buy any CRV from Mark Roberts Honda, Bartlesville, OK for $316 over invoice (about $1,400 off EX. $22,740.00 MSRP ($21,356.00 selling price everyday). I am forbidden from giving phone # but policy clear posted at www.autoinvoice.com. Ask for John Page if interested.
INKY
I do think Honda was guilty of some cost-cutting in the mid-90s, and I'm not sure they've added everything back since then. But for the most part it's industry-wide.
-juice
My Miata is hyper-sensitive to tire pressures. 28 psi is good, but 30 psi yields a really rough ride, vibrations above 65mph, and a CD player that skips repeatedly.
-juice
When it's cold out, air "shrinks". When the temp comes up, the air in the tires expands. So if you inflate your tires during cold weather, be prepared to let some back out when the weather warms up. The reverse is true.
As long as we're on tires, I just got a flat last week. Now I'm looking at replacing the stock tires with 215s (one size up). I want quiet tires that still provide good all season traction. I do go offroad and I see my share of snow. So far, I'm leaning toward Goodyear Aquatred 3's. Any other suggestions?
Does this mean you are pursuing a moving target? Yes. This is why recommendations are made for "cold" pressure. Edmunds.com has a good story that will help explain what to do:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/43792/article.html
The bigger problem is there isn't much selection for good tires with a 70 series profile, but consider Yoko Avid T4s. Michelin MXV4s are good but pricey. BFG Touring T/A SR4 tires are a good value. Pirelli P4000 Super Touring are 320AA. Look at TireRack and DiscountTireDirect.com.
But have you considered a Plus One? When you go to 215/60 or 225/60 on 16" rims that opens up a whole bunch of better tire options. You could probably even sell your 15" rims to recoup some of the cost.
For example, I got a set of rims that were on special for $300 (for 4), but recovered $100 by selling my steel rims the buyer will use with snow tires. Net cost was just $200.
-juice
I've been an owner for nearly two years, and I can barely even tell the engine is running while I'm on the freeway. Any noise it is making is being heavily drowned out by wind and road noise. I can clearly hear the engine rev while driving around town, however. But somehow I never hear a complaint about the CR-V engine being too noisy in the city . . . only on the highway. Weird.
And I hereby claim this milestone post of #5000.
-juice
Don't want to go into the quality thing......got my knuckles rapped several times in the Accord QC thread....l have my opinions but others seem to have statistics, so......