Faults:

When I bought the car second hand, it looked great but it turned out the head gasket was gone and the head was cracked as a result. Got it fixed with recon head, timing chain, water pump kit etc which cost around twelve hundred quid. Sued the dealer that sold it who promptly went bust owing 77k.

However, since then, brilliant! We do car boots. Loads of room. Been to France. Used it as a van. Having owned a supercharged Jag, the performance will always be erm sluggish but adequate. Quite frankly as an all round world beater, I reckon you will go some to better these.

Performance: 30

Space: 100

Reliability: 100

Interior: 80. I put a sat nav thing in mine

Cost of ownership: 100. Cost me 0 over the last 3 years

ULez: Yep!

Buy again? Yep

General Comments:

Perfect.

Faults:

A plastic clip holding in the passenger indicator repeater light must have snapped causing the light to hang out of the wing. Was replaced on warranty by dealer.

General Comments:

On rough roads there are some annoying squeaks from the interior trim. Also some noise from rear door. Silent on good roads or motorways though.

Love the performance of the diesel engine. Performs as well as any petrol engine I've driven. On start-stop trips of 1 to 3 miles fuel economy is only 33 mpg. On longer runs it averages 42 mpg, but if you simply cruise at 55 to 57 mph on runs of 100 miles or more, I've managed to get 51 mpg. Simple rule here, if you want the mpg DON'T thrash it!!

My parents love the ease of access in and out of the car. They don't have to bend knees etc to get in.

Because the rear seats are slightly higher than front. Rear seat passengers have commented on how nice the extended views are while traveling.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This is my second CR-V so I like these cars.

Interior space is very good, no problems with rear legroom. However you cannot plant your feet against the bulkhead in the front passenger seat in the diesel as there is some extra heater system gubbins in the space below the dash.

Only comfort factor missing for me is reach adjustment on the steering wheel.

Overtaking power is excellent with big torque at 2000rpm.

Difficult to achieve the combined cycle 42mpg, though it can be done with gentle driving and by not exceeding 70-75 mph when the fuel consumption rises markedly. Short trips and normal usage are returning about 37mpg at present, hoping this will improve as he engine loosens up.

Road noise can be obtrusive on rough/concrete surfaces.

Faults:

Nothing so far, but the car is only a few weeks old.

General Comments:

Traded up to this from a Honda Accord, which had given faultless service.

The CR-V for 2005 (in the UK at least) comes with a number of improvements, for example, revised multi-pod headlamps, additional curtain airbags, 'drive by wire' throttle.

The car has so far proved to be more economical than I feared - expected 25mpg, but getting nearer 28 mpg, in a mix of town/motorway driving.

My kids love the extra space in the back, and shopping trips to the supermarket no longer involve squashed groceries - there is acres of space all round.

The 2.0 litre petrol engine has a lot of metal to shift, but the car still has a good turn of speed. There is an excellent 2.2 litre diesel out in March (as used in the latest Accord) but although mpg and and performance is much improved, for my motoring needs, I could not justify the price premium. Even Honda state that you need to drive in excess of 20,000 miles a year to recoup the higher price tag.

Overall build quality seems fantastic. It seems much better than my old Accord, and that proved very durable. Some of the motoring press say the interior is too dark and plain gloomy. I would admit that it is hardly exciting, but everything is well laid out and very easy to use.

Final selling point for me, is my local Honda dealer. The service they provide is just so much more friendly and efficient than those of other manufacturers that I've tried.