10th Jul 2011, 10:40

Original Reviewer again.

My CR-V has about 73,000 miles on it. No problems with it to speak of.

It got it's first taste of real off-roading recently. Took it through some serious terrain. 3 foot puddles, mud up to your knee caps, steep, rocky hills, and just all around tough terrain. After that, it was more of a muddy brown color rather than black.

How did it perform you ask? Flawlessly. For a car that Honda designed to be used in mainly on road conditions, there aren't many places this little truck can't go. A friend of mine joined me on my excursion in his lifted Toyota 4Runner (something actually designed for what we were doing), and despite putting his truck into 4-low, he still could not reach the top of probably the biggest, rockiest hill I've ever seen. Yet my CR-V scurried right up it without issue (Was on 3 wheels most of the time too.) It unfortunately (for my friend) didn't have the muscle to pull out his 4Runner though. I never got stuck even once. It just keeps surprising me every time I drive it! Hell of a vehicle Honda.

10th Sep 2011, 18:46

Original Reviewer.

77,000 miles. Changed my oil today and replaced my rear brakes. The rear pads were most definitely the originals. I replaced the rotors at the same time, because it ended up being cheaper to replace them then to have them resurfaced. No issues to speak of.

27th Oct 2011, 14:27

Original Reviewer.

80,000 miles now. Had some fun last weekend. Met up with some friends and headed out on the trails. I went down a new trail I've never been down before (and probably wouldn't have gone down if I had known how bad it was!) Let's just say the hill was so steep and rocky that I was usually on 3 wheels most of the way down. The CR-V handled it a lot better than I would have expected. My friends both went in their trucks, an '88 Ford F-250 and a '98 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins diesel.

We met other wheelers on the way. Their reactions were pretty predictable, "Is that a Honda? How many times have you been stuck today?" My answer was always the same: not even once.

The only vehicles to make it out of the trail under their own power? The Dodge Cummins and the CR-V. The Ford quit half way through and had to be towed out by the Dodge (my CR-V is pretty good, but its 2.4L Accord engine isn't gonna pull an F-250.)

No issues since my last report or after the trail run. Still drives like the day I drove it off the lot.

22nd Jan 2012, 20:05

Original Reviewer.

83,000 miles now. Had only one problem since my last report. My battery died. Found that it was the original battery, and replaced it with a new Interstate battery, and haven't had any problems since.

Also started getting a peculiar smell when I turned the heater on. Brought it into the dealer, and they found that 2 of the 3 cabin air filters were filled with dried leaves and pine needles (as well as some rodent droppings, YUCK!). But the new filters took care of the smell.

Still averaging 25-26 MPG, and no complaints.

24th Mar 2012, 21:15

Original Reviewer.

87,000 miles now. No issues to report. Used the CR-V to pull down my old shed today. It performed amazingly. The top part of the shed had already fallen down, but the foundation (just your typical double 2x8 frame on cinder blocks with a plywood floor) was still very much intact and very heavy. It pulled the foundation off the blocks with almost no struggle, over to the middle of the yard where I cut it into sections. 2 hours of cutting floorboards and support trusses later, it dragged 4 sections of foundation across the yard and down into the woods.

I knew it was capable of this, but I didn't think it would perform as well as it did. It really didn't break a sweat. I just shut off the traction control, put it in low, gave it just a touch of throttle to get it moving, and it just basically idled the foundation across the yard from there. This thing never ceases to amaze me.

Still getting around 26-27 MPG, but it will be time for a tune-up soon at 90K. Also, I will be putting new tires on it next week. The originals (the ones I bought it with anyway) have worn evenly, and have lasted me 50,000 miles and I didn't always rotate them on time. I liked the Bridgestone Duelers it has on it, but they were just too expensive to buy again. So I got a set of General Altimax RT's. I've used these tires before and have always liked them, so I expect them to perform well.

25th Jun 2012, 17:17

I'm glad you love your CR-V, but really, isn't that a little extreme? Any Jeep product would have easily handled that trip, as would many SUV's. To say that your CR-V "saved your house" is a little bit extreme.

Also, it's difficult to fathom the trail prowess you describe from your CR-V - it's not even designed to go off road, and sorry, but it couldn't hold a candle to a vehicle designed to go off road.

As for pulling sheds off foundations etc - it sounds like you're looking to kill your CR-V, because it was not made for that kind of use/abuse.

Finally, having to replace a front axle at only 53,000 miles doesn't speak well for its build quality if you ask me. But then it appears someone needs to tell you that your CR-V isn't built to take the punishment you are subjecting it to.

16th Aug 2013, 20:51

Well if I was looking to kill it, I guess I did. The A/C that is. Compressor died. No other issues with it.

At 110,000 miles I traded it in though. Didn't feel like dishing out a few thousand to replace the A/C compressor.

And also to the above commenter, thank you. I do in fact realize that in serious off road conditions it would easily be outperformed by a more purpose built vehicle. However, since you weren't with me during my off road excursions, I fail to see how you really know how it performed. No stupid situations were ever really entered in my CR-V. Mud as high as the center caps was about the most it took. Larger rock outcrops were handled easily. Sure, it went on 3 wheels at times, but never slipped off anything or seemed to really have much trouble with it. Speed is the key factor. Jeeps blew by me on the trails, their off road suspensions capable of more abuse. I just bumped along at essentially a walking pace. It crawled up and over nearly anything at that speed, and I think I bottomed out maybe once.

You might also like to know that right in the owner's manual, it stated that the vehicle was in fact intended for use in off road conditions. Of course, nothing terribly serious. I get over zealous with my stories, I'll admit.

It never pulled a shed down. Just the lower foundation piece (after it had been cut into 4 pieces). Each piece was light enough for me and a friend to slide, but the distance to the woods was far greater than we could cope with. The car IDLED those pieces to the woods. Really not that abusive.

But hey, considering it never had any sort of alignment issue or tire wear problem, I'd say it fared quite well.

I bought the car with 50,000 miles on it. The axle failed at 53,000. The warranty took care of that, so who cares. Never had the issue again.

At 110,000 miles, the A/C compressor let go. That was the ONLY problem it had when I traded it in. The suspension made no noise, the transmission shifted fine and the car was returning 25-27 MPG. The "check engine" light never came on even once during the time I owned the car. The majority of the car's driving was on pavement. Off roading? Maybe once every few months. Didn't happen all that often.

So maybe I did abuse it. Seems like it handled it just fine. Trade-in value was $6,000. Couldn't have been that banged up!

I'll post my review for my new car, a 2013 Toyota RAV-4 soon. Now that we're moving away from our rural home and I'm headed towards retirement, I don't expect to have to "abuse" the RAV off road or pull anything with it. Of course, with a four-wheel-drive locker and again a statement in the owners manual that off road situations are in fact possible, who knows what the future holds?