2002 Honda CR-V review from North America

Driver's seat belt retractor is very weak. A lot of the time, the seat belt gets caught in the door. Dealer supposedly replaced it, but it's no better.

Also, the fake leather on the side of the driver's seat has started to disintegrate from ingress / egress.

OVERALL, this is a good vehicle. It has its' annoyances, though.

For instance, the dash area beneath the steering wheel protrudes out far enough, where I manage to bang my knee on it nearly every time I get into the driver's seat. I'm only 5'7", so it can only be worse for a taller person.

For some reason, Honda thinks that cruise control should be an afterthought when designing a car. The cruise buttons on the steering wheel are not back-lit, so you have to fumble at night for the right button. Also, the master on / off switch for the cruise is located down low and to the left, forcing you to take your eyes off of the road to activate it.

The tilt steering doesn't tilt like a GM vehicle. Rather, it drops the whole column down, so the angle at which your hands and wrists grab the wheel is the same, which may be slightly uncomfortable.

Finally, I do my own oil changes. With this car, they started off with a filter that was about the normal size for a small 4 cylinder engine. For some reason, they've officially changed to a new smaller filter, about the diameter of a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls - small!

This new size means you have to buy their filter wrench for $30, unless you can find an aftermarket one. Thirty bucks for a cup wrench is highway robbery.