2006 Honda CR-V Sport Luxury from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Nothing.

After years of buying second-hand cars that were not always the bargains they seemed to be, we decided it was time to invest in something new. Honda Australia had a good deal on new CR-V's and after a great deal of research, we decided that the CR-V was the right vehicle for us.

We were needed to transport our three young children in a safe, reliable vehicle. We wanted something that wouldn't cost a fortune to run and that be backed by a company that actually took customer service seriously.

The CR-V has been faultless. The longer we have it, the more we like it. We spent the extra money to get the top of the line model with easy to clean leather seats. The wide flat rear seat allows us to fit in three child seats, which was of crucial importance. The height of the vehicle makes getting the children in and out easy. There is enough room in the rear for both our Labradors or a large baby buggy.

Customer service from Honda has been excellent. Lots of phone calls to make sure we are happy. They come out to us to service the car which is very convenient as we live some distance from the dealer.

All in all, it's the perfect vehicle for us and was money well spent.

Hi, I am also considering a CR-V (or any other similarly-sized SUV), and have one major requirement: it must easily accommodate 3 child seats in the back! I see you said it can - what type of seats are they? I will have to be able to fit one of the smaller back-facing "carry handle" types for a few months old baby, then one of the big front-facing chairs for my 2 year old, and the third being a "booster" chair for my 4 year old. I can barely squeeze these three into the back of my current car, a Peugeot 307 SW, but it is very uncomfortable, especially for my 4 year old son (no elbow room) so I need substantially more width.

Is yours' the latest model CR-V?

One more question: I've read road tests complaining about a very harsh ride when driving on slower, poor surface roads (whereas it is superb at higher speeds on smooth surfaces, with car-like handling) - do you find the same?

With reference to the last post, I had this problem, too. My kids are 1, 3 and 5. All are in child restraints. I spent a while trying to find a vehicle that would accommodate the child seats we owned and realised that I would end up with something like a Ford Falcon station wagon, which I didn't want (large Australian family wagon of questionable quality).

I went to a local baby store and bought 3 new child restraints that were both narrower and safer. It cost me a few hundred dollars, but it gave me a much wider choice of vehicles. My 1 year old faces the rear in a child seat that can be turned forward and adjusted as she grows. The other two sit in full booster seats, not just the cushion type.

The 2006 CR-V we have has a flat rear seat, which is crucial for child restraints. It's about 130 cm across. We also opted for leather which is great when the kids spill something. Being higher off the ground, it's much easier getting them in and out as you don't have to bend down!

The 2006 CR-V received 4 stars in crash tests, which was also important to us. I think the Hyundai Tuscon got 5 stars and is a similar size, but I felt the Honda quality was better. Hope this helps!