2000 Honda CR-V from North America - Comments

Hmm...where to start...

Head gasket soon after I bought it.

The Radio would only play AM.

Transmission slipped, sometimes would totally skip second gear.

Sometimes the Engine would Crank, but not start.

Something kept killing the battery, never could figure out what.

Leaked oil.

Burned Oil.

Tons of little odds and ends that I won't mention, such as the horn only working 20% of the time and the headlights flicking off at random.

Well, where should I start?

The Engine in this thing was pathetic in the power department, It wasn't even AWD and it wouldn't even slip the tires on pavement. I've got a 1300LB boat I hook behind my 87 Ranger with a 2.9L and almost 410,000 miles, and it pulls it with ease, the typical Japanese lack of anything resembling Torque was very apparent with this Vehicle. When I was pulling it up boat ramps, I would floor it and pray. Most of the time just Bogging down as the tinny little Asian motor pulled with every shread of tiny guts it had.

The cockpit...Cramped, Spartan, and cheap. Typical Asian Car. The plastic controls we're hard to grab, and the seat was the most uncomfortable thing this side of a buckboard. The gas pedal must of been designed for small people, because my size 14 foot had trouble finding the gas pedal.

The driving experience was awful. With the A\C on I had to floor it to go with traffic off of a red-light. It handled like a Sports car... which is NOT a good thing in my book... unless it is a sports car. It was hard to park for being so small, it rode harder than my much tougher and stouter built little BII I have.

Besides that... this thing was awful in the snow... I have a old 77 Lead Sled LTD II that goes better than this thing, can you imagine my embarrassment when in the winter time I was in a "SUV" and had to get pulled out by a Chevy Caprice?

The only reason I bought this thing was because my wife liked it better than the Expedition I used to have, well, she bought a Ranger, and I'm in the process of getting another Expedition... a REAL SUV. With a Full Frame, V8, and true 4wd. Big Deal if it sucks more gas and emits more smog...it's a better Vehicle.

I thought cars built over in Japan we're supposed to be better than domestic cars?...I guess not. NEVER will I buy another foreign vehicle.

I own a 1999 CR-V and have had no problems thus far. How hard have you been driving this vehicle? The mention of a starting problem like you have described points to a simple earth fault. Please feel free to email myself if you need any ownership advice.rtaylor-bradsword@hotmail.com.

I rented a Honda CRV for nearly a week and was very disappointed as well. It was flimsy, slow, cheaply made, and boring.

I think I would have enjoyed a Civic more. The CRV felt like what it is: an economy car with a tall wagon body.

I own a Jeep Liberty and I cannot understand why anyone would buy a CRV over a Liberty.

The Liberty is solid, well-made, powerful and has been extremely reliable.

I totally disagree with the main comment. I have used my CR-V in the uk for over two years with no problems. During winter 2001 we had heavy snow and ice and the CR-V just breezed past stranded cars. The auto four wheel drive worked perfectly. Interior amazing all my family and friends love the legroom in there. Top spec inc A/C, headlamp wash, alloys, CD etc.. all standard.

As for Japanese reliability this is the best car I have owned and would never buy a American motor especially a Ford or GM beacause of poor quality...

Was your CR-V properly serviced? Also Honda tell you up front this is not a permanent 4x4 or offroader!!

I love my 1999 Honda CRV. I think the first person who left the negative comments may of had the two wheel drive model (he stated it didn't have AWD) and I agree those are not an SUV! They are more of a station wagon. I have the AWD EX with 190,000 miles and just love it. In fact my husband is driving it today because his 2003 Jeep Liberty is in the repair shop again for electrical work (third time this year)! I live in the Finger Lakes area of New York which is loaded with hills and snow. My CRV never has left me stranded. I have a company car which is the Ford Escape 2004. The CRV is much more comfortable to drive, and the handling is tighter than the Ford. I prefer the visibility and find it much easier to park. I am secretly hoping that something will go wrong with my CRV so I can get the new SE model, but no such luck... My last Honda had 275,000 when I got rid of it (it was a 95 Accord EX). I sold it for $1800 and I still see it around town.When my husband went to sell his 1995 Ford with half the mileage he could barely get $500. The CRV is not for everyone. If your looking to tow, are a large person, or looking for six cylinder performance it may not work for you. After driving the 2003 with the V-Tech engine I did note that the engine is quiter and there is more initial horsepower. Honda also has no problem selling the CRV either. They have never offered a dealer or customer rebate since they first arrived in 1997. I work in finance as a regional loan supervisor. Our bank is very happy with the high re-sale of the CRV. Negative equity situations come across my desk almost daily with domestic cars and trucks, but never with a Honda. I just wanted to put in my two cents.

All the jeep people get a life this thing is a big civic/integra with a sophisicated front wheel drive system that shunts power to the rear to correct under steer and wheel slip. It's not a truck so stop crying that it doesn't perform like a truck or a jeep. honda markets this thing like an outdoorsy 4wd with more ground clearance and space than a car, but it's still a car, and more reliable than a jeep.

If it is marketed as an outdoorsy 4x4, that's a total lie, mine doesn't have enough power to climb a hill led alone anything else!

80% of the homemakers who own a giant SUV will be ready to climb up any hill at any given time...

We bought our first CR-V, with AWD, in 1998 while living in Austria. We drove all over the Alps, rain, snow, ice and shine, with never a problem. It cruised easily at the Austrian speed limit of 81 mph (130 kph), took the Alps in stride, and we cried when we sold it before returning stateside. I am 6'4" tall and fit in it fine, lots of headroom in the CR-V, which was one reason we bought it. Jeeps on the other hand do not have good headroom and terrible lumbar support; the CR-V's adjustable lumbar support is a godsend for those of us with bad backs. We bought our second CR-V in 2000 and have driven it in the U.S., also in ice, snow, rain and shine, nary a problem, and now have it in Moscow, Russia, where we have traversed Russia's infamously bad rural roads, including mud up to the hubs, and driven in very icy and snowy conditions, with never a problem. Of course, we aren't trying to tow 1300-lb trailers with a car sporting a 2-liter engine, either.

CR-Vs are basically a bigger uglier Civic. Not really all that good for off-road capabilities and what not, but should be fairly reliable.

I used to have a CR-V, and never had any problems getting stuck in any weather, and it could take light off roading... just don't put it in any situation where the wheels will get stuck in a crevice, or something is going to drag across the bottom. To tell you the truth, about 90% of any SUV never goes off road, so to complain about how it can't go off road is an over statement.

Also with the 1997-2001 CRV it is important to have the valves adjusted, because my sister did not do any maintenance on it, and what do you know... Valve number three had to be replaced at 102,000 miles. This is the only problem we really ever had on it since it was new, and that we had to pay out of pocket.

The CR-V is pretty much just an all-wheel-drive station wagon. Like some have said, its purpose is for getting you around in inclement weather with an extra margin of safety, maybe driving through a couple inches of snow. Driving over a hayfield at the county fair, or up a rutted driveway in the country is about the extent of off-road driving that they should do. They are not off-road vehicles, and are not "real 4x4's", and that should be totally obvious by looking at one. They're fine for what most people use an "SUV" for, but even at that, the CR-V should never leave the garage if there's more than 6 inches of snow on the road.