Faults:

AC needed to be recharged a couple of times.

Timing belt gets changed every 70-90k miles.

General Comments:

This is the most reliable car I have ever owned. I live in snow country on a dirt road with some decent hills, and even after 20+ inches of snow, this little car starts up looking for adventure. My husband has been able to do almost all the maintenance on this car (except for the timing belt).

It's not luxurious or fancy, but it has never once not started, and never once left me stuck in the snow.

It gets around 25mpg driving around town, closer to 30 on the highway, and the only reason we are looking for another one is that this one is getting up in miles.

If you can get your hands on a low mile 99 CRV, grab it. We're looking around now for a worthy successor, knowing it will be hard to replace it.

Faults:

Timing belt replaced around 100,000 miles.

Differential noise.

General Comments:

I inherited this car from my parents, who bought it new in 2000. It was incredibly reliable... all it ever needed was regular maintenance.

The headroom was great.

Visibility was top-notch.

Body construction was solid. Rust was beginning to form here and there, but I live in an extremely snowy area where road salt is heavily used.

Acceleration, though, was quite poor. The car struggled while going uphill, and it took quite a while to get up to speed when entering a thruway. That's basically my only complaint.

If I hadn't wrecked it in an accident, I would've run it into the ground. It was a very well-rounded vehicle.

Faults:

Burned valve at 89,000 miles.

Rear trailing arm bushings need replacing at 93,000 miles.

General Comments:

I bought a Honda because of its superior reliability reputation, which is why I was so disappointed when I had to pay $2000 for a valve job at 89,000 miles.

The B20 engine, which is standard on this generation of CR-Vs does not have hydraulic self-adjusting valves like most cars. Thus, they have a tendency to get tight if they are not routinely adjusted. Unlike when valves get loose, they will not make a noise.

Honda is well aware of this problem, as many people have reported it to them. They have even issued a Tech Service Bulletin to address it. On certain occasions they have even offered to help pay for the repair.

The reason why they offer this is because they have provided incorrect information in the manual. Instead of stating the correct valve adjustment interval of 30K miles, they list 105K miles. In fact, this is what is listed in the European manuals. Why might they have done this? Some have speculated that they felt that this short interval would be a turn off for potential buyers. Regardless, in my mind, it is a crime.