As I mentioned in my previous installment, it was 2005 and with my son’s return to our home after his service, our four vehicle home fleet was once again one car short. It was time to go car shopping one more time.
On this occasion, my wife settled on a ’94 Taurus wagon which was in good condition, but very high (100k) miles. Based on my mom’s experience with her Taurus we negotiated sharply, got a good deal, and were pleasantly surprised for the first year. However, after Barbara put another forty thousand miles on it, the Taurus quickly turned into a money pit.
1995 Taurus wagon image from the Cohort by canadiancatgreen
To begin with, we took the Taurus up north for a visit during winter and the heater stopped working halfway between Georgia and New York. We were forced to drive with no heat in below zero temperatures and I reluctantly took it to my mother’s Ford dealer to have it fixed, which turned out to be a new control module for over $500. The heat now at least worked, but it was not adequate enough for the northern climate and we were mighty glad to get back to Georgia without further trouble.
Around that time I was working long days and little problems kept coming up with the car, proving to be a bothersome distraction. Some brought up in dumb fashion; when a coffee cup overturned on the console, a sensor in the brake interlock switch got soaked and failed. Time to take the car into the shop. Then the brake pedal switch that interlocked the shift linkage burned out. I was very frustrated with the $100 repair bills for replacing $10 switches but I just had to suck it up since all our cars were used constantly.
A mechanic friend warned me about putting too much more money in the Taurus claiming that they were disposable cars; “trouble-free products for the first 100k miles or so, but that the design life of most of the parts won’t last much beyond that”. The wagon was making an effort to prove his point, with constant failures of minor parts that were apparently not expected to last longer than the first owner’s experience.
2005 Honda CR-V image from the brochure.
Soon after I threw in the towel on the Taurus and we traded it for a 2004 Honda CR-V, a model we had passed on back in 1997 when shopping for our Civics. Until the ‘02 models, I considered the CR-Vs small, tinny, and really four passenger vehicles. However, the 2004 was a true five passenger station wagon; there was plenty of room in the cargo area for luggage and with the rear seats folded down it was handy for large items.
The 2.4 liter four was not smooth like the Civic’s, but powerful enough at highway speeds to make long trips to see family up north easy ones. The high, upright seating position was a revelation to my wife who appreciated being able to see over cars ahead and anticipate traffic situations with ease. On our near-base model, the seats were stiff but well designed for support. I appreciated Honda’s adoption of a timing chain on this engine since the timing belts on the Civic were a regular service item every 120k miles. Our CR-V returned 24 mpg around town and up to 30 mpg on highway trips if we didn’t push it over 80 mph.
In the end, as much as I had appreciated the Civics, I felt the CR-V was a home run and it was trouble-free for a long time. In short order after purchase, I was confident Barbara had a reliable vehicle.
As the CR-V aged and built up miles, I replaced the wipers, changed fluids as recommended, and did the front brakes once. In the first 10 years of ownership, we had only one major repair: a bird got lodged in the air conditioner’s inlet and caused the compressor to overheat and seize, taking out the evaporator.
That incident taught me that our CR-V had been built in the UK and that there were many parts unique to units built by that plant. The compressor was one among those and there was a week’s wait for the OEM replacement (no aftermarket manufacturers bothered to tool up for a limited run to support these UK-built units). The compressor failed under warranty a year later, and was replaced for free.
Another issue came up in 2015 when my wife struck some item on the interstate that put a hole in the plastic gas tank and bent the guard that protected it. Again a UK Honda-only part. My mechanic finally sourced one in a South Carolina wrecking yard and for a fraction of the cost and delay, we were back on the road in a week.
However, as good as the CR-V was, no car is indestructible and time takes its toll on all. Hondas included. In 2016 Barbara had been commuting 55 miles each way to work for two years and the CR-V had 264k miles. It was at this point that a catalytic converter failure code came on and once the shop had it on the lift I got the bad news. While most CR-Vs could do with a standard $250 replacement, ours was special with no aftermarket unit available. The OEM-only part was quoted at $500 and would take two weeks to arrive.
As good as the CR-V had been, with over 260k miles on it, the vehicle was not getting any younger. I put a for sale sign on the CR-V but got no reasonable offers in over a month and I donated it to a local charity. A sad ending for what had been a faithful machine.
Would the data plate or VIN have revealed a UK origin? My own rather extensive experience with Jags, MGs and TRs was an education that revealed that vehicles from Old Blighty are barely usable even as collector cars… barely. It would appear that UK-built but Japanese designed autos fare somewhat better, though the parts situation would seem to be a problem. We must ask Richard Bucket (“it’s Boo-kay!” sheesh!) about his Rover/Civic.
The magic of the Internet…
On the VIN number…
The letters from A to H are Africa.
Letters from J to R – Asia (including the Middle East).
Letters from S to Z are Europe (cars that are assembled in Russia have the letter X in the first digit).
Numbers from 1 to 5 – North America.
Numbers 6 and 7 – the Australian continent (New Zealand).
Numbers 8 and 9 – South America.
SA – SM indicated UK
I had one of “those” Capris and was intrigued that my VIN started with a “6”, had never seen that before.
I strongly considered this generation of CR-V as a used car before buying a new VW instead in 2006, for many of the same reasons stated here. I was unaware of its UK manufacture; the only British-built Hondas I knew were sold in the US were some Civic hatchbacks.
Another here who did not know these were imported from the UK.
Those early CR-Vs inspired quite a bit of loyalty. I have a co-worker with a 2008 CR-V and a brand new Honda Pilot. His wife still prefers her old CR-V and the Pilot sits in the garage.
I also never knew about UK-built CRV-s.
Getting rid of the Taurus in favor of the Honda was a good move, and one that’s probably been repeated by thousands of families in the same position. Who knows how many customers Ford turned off forever by selling cars that turn into wallet-draining moneypits after just a few years.
I would call 260k of mostly trouble free miles a big win. Outside of the UK-only parts and self-inflicted problems (birds, road debris), there doesn’t seem much there that was less than optimal.
Our 2020 CRV base model also has the “stiff but supportive” seats that took a bit of getting used to.
I’d call it a win too!
Huh, that’s a new one. I hope my wife’s 2011 CRV goes that long. It’s given us good service with routine driveway upkeep for It’s 170K miles. Fuel pump failure was the only major issue. Both our Honda’s are Japanese made -my son’s 2003 Accord just pasted 260K – and it too still runs strong. A/C clutch failed at 240K, he replaced it, compressor and condenser(fins turned to dust). Cools like an Artic breeze now!
Yes, a significant number of this generation CRVs were built at their Swindon plant in the UK. Their rep for reliability is generally considered equal to those made in Japan (none were made in the US, due to capacity constraints. The Civic hatchback Si was also made in the UK at around this time.
One question: In your article, you said new timing belts every 120K. I’m confused. I worked at a dealership that sold Honda’s and they required a new timing belt every 60K. I was at that dealership from 1988 till 1995 and again from 2007 to 2010. I don’t recall when they stopped requiring the manual valve adjustments, but that was always a costly thing every 15K.
So I also noticed you said it had the timing chain instead of the belt. Is that why 120K?
I worked at a dealership that sold Honda’s and they required a new timing belt every 60K.
That’s typical “stealership” practice. The factory recommended interval for replacing the timing belt on these older Civics was 105,000 miles, not the 120k miles he stated in this post.
This is a topic of glorious variability and truths, and can depend upon perceptions and on where you live.
You see, on CC, I have constantly to adjust miles to kms in my head because we’re metric, so when someone writes ‘it did 264K miles’, I’ll think ‘Well, that’s a good effort, often towards the end of what most cars do’ until the mental penny drops that it’s 420K kms, which is massive! And so it is with these cursed belts. Honda here would definitely tell you 100,000 kms for a belt change – 62K-odd miles. And, mentally, that seems reasonable, about a third of expectable km life, but is it?
Honest mechanics will tell you which cars will last and which won’t: old Camrys, just don’t bother, they do not fail. Other cars, just the opposite. My Brit-built Astra has 80K km recommendeds (a mere 49K miles) and i was twice told 70Kms is the real-world limit. Others again are very strict on time: 8 years even if under the mile limit for some, and it WILL fail if you ignore that. Of course, if it’s French, do it weekly.
As an aside, yet again, I ask why it is that the famed Euro brands are so crap at something so basic? Generally low-distance belts, much more prone to failure than those dull old Japanese?
We looked at a new one in 2007, right as that generation was winding up. It was a little bigger than the Fit inside, but not enough bigger to choose it as our main family runner. We opted for the smaller car that could seat 5 in a pinch.
I thought these were awfully bland then, but I like them a lot now. And wow, I had no idea that some of these had UK-specific parts!
I will testify: these are excellent vehicles. Mine is a Swindon-built 2006 model with a stick, and 160K miles. They will take the keys from my cold dead hands. We’ve only had a few minor issues: the A/C unit went up one summer, a victim of the dreaded Black Death (look it up); peeling clearcoat on the hood, which was fixed with a $75 used junkyard replacement, and a stolen catalytic converter which was a costly replacement six years ago.
It’s now throwing a knock sensor code and the clutch is due for a replacement; I’ve got to find someone who’s willing to tackle this job, as most of the shops around here won’t touch an 18-year-old manual transmission.
“As good as the CR-V had been, with over 260k miles on it, the vehicle was not getting any younger.”
EXACTLY why I gave up on my ’05 Chevrolet Astro. Just this past year it would’ve been 20 years old (October 2004) with no guarantee to get new parts for it when more stuff began to fail (my ’96 Aerostar was 22!). And as I’ve mentioned before, it had already needed several repairs during my 5-year ownership and reached 286k miles before the ECM failed. Considering its age & condition it did well, but sometimes you have to learn when it’s time to let go…
I would definitely consider one of this generation CRV, or the gen. immediately succeeding it, if the mileage and overall condition were good. EX trim with a moonroof.
They probably felt more in touch with the road than newer versions of CRV.