Honda CRV - is petrol that bad?
Discussion
Hi, new to the forum. I spent a while yesterday searching for answers and there's some great stuff in here, but I think I'm over thinking this and getting confused. I'm in the market for a used CRV - lowish mileage 09/10 era I suspect. Diesel always seems to be the recommended choice and there's a huge amount online about how thirsty the petrol version is. At my budget, it seems to be petrol versions with 30-40k on the clock or diesel with 60-80 on the clock. We do about 10-12k a year, mainly on A and B roads (country lanes) with the odd motorway trip - maybe a couple a month. I've never really paid attention to mpg figures before, but all the mentions of poor fuel economy for the CRV and all the govt diesel stuff in the news got me looking. With the official mpg figures on both, it looks like a petrol version would cost £3-400pa more in the tank, but guessing it's not as simple as that. We'd plan to run the car for as many years as we can, so less worried about resale. Is all the online 'go for the diesel' stuff in the reviews correct for me? Seems to be a fairly even split of them on the second hand market, so someone is buying petrol. Also can't seem to find much on the differences between the Honda diesel engines. It looks like they changed in 2010 from the iDCI to iDTEC? All input very grateful received.
I'll be interested to read the replies to this. I'm thinking about changing my 11th old Lexus is200 for a ~08 CRV, I do 12k a year just commuting and when the time comes it'll be the family wagon aswell so mileage will go up a bit. My Lexus returns about 28mpg average so most things should be better but I was hoping to offset the finance a bit with improved mpg. And like you I'll be keeping keeping it for a good few years so resale is less important but reliability and long term running costs more important. Another reason for trying to get a bit better mpg is to try and keep hold of swmbo Mx5 foot as long as possible after mini mes start appearing.
The CR-V is a reasonably heavy car and the increased torque of the diesel engine (or, more importantly, the inferior torque of the vtec unit) is noticeable.
I'm sure the petrol car is fine unless you're planning on towing, economy will be worse (34.7 against 39.7 if the figures from the Honest John real mpg section are accurate) compared to the diesel. My old 57 plate CR-V diesel averaged around 37mpg.
Of course you should drive both and see which you prefer.
I'm sure the petrol car is fine unless you're planning on towing, economy will be worse (34.7 against 39.7 if the figures from the Honest John real mpg section are accurate) compared to the diesel. My old 57 plate CR-V diesel averaged around 37mpg.
Of course you should drive both and see which you prefer.
Thanks. I'll try to get a drive in both and see. I'm switching from a diesel estate that returns a very good mpg, but always taken it for granted. Doing all the sums can only take you so far, I'm trying to gauge whether I'll wince every time I fill up - petrol or diesel. 10mpg difference looks a lot on paper! Any more for any more?
There's a few posts, such as this one http://www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&a... on another forum I use. You can search for the model.
We've had a few Honda Jazz in the family, and I considered CRV, but my impression is the one thing Honda does have issues with is diesel engines. We had diesel Accords at work and the MPG was way lower than we expected. So if you can live with the petrol MPG then that's probably a safer bet - high pressure pump or injector failure would produce a hefty bill. They also went through a phase of the manifolds cracking.
We've had a few Honda Jazz in the family, and I considered CRV, but my impression is the one thing Honda does have issues with is diesel engines. We had diesel Accords at work and the MPG was way lower than we expected. So if you can live with the petrol MPG then that's probably a safer bet - high pressure pump or injector failure would produce a hefty bill. They also went through a phase of the manifolds cracking.
My dad has had an auto petrol (08/09ish I think?) from new, and had a previous boxy-shape auto petrol for a few years before that. He really likes them.
Averages about 28-29mpg but he tends to not do really short journeys in it. I've driven it quite a few times and it's pleasant enough - not quick but absolutely fine. If I was wanting to keep it for many years, I'd go petrol any day, it's a very reliable unit.
The i-CTDI engine is good (and no DPF to worry about), although I had a Civic with that 2.2 diesel and even in a lighter smaller car was usually in the mid-40s over a tank. I didn't keep it long enough to worry about turbos, injectors and the like though. i-DTEC is more efficient but adds more complex emissions-lowering stuff to go wrong later.
10-12k miles a year, absolutely get the petrol.
Averages about 28-29mpg but he tends to not do really short journeys in it. I've driven it quite a few times and it's pleasant enough - not quick but absolutely fine. If I was wanting to keep it for many years, I'd go petrol any day, it's a very reliable unit.
The i-CTDI engine is good (and no DPF to worry about), although I had a Civic with that 2.2 diesel and even in a lighter smaller car was usually in the mid-40s over a tank. I didn't keep it long enough to worry about turbos, injectors and the like though. i-DTEC is more efficient but adds more complex emissions-lowering stuff to go wrong later.
10-12k miles a year, absolutely get the petrol.
I asked this question... ish about 9 months ago. Link below.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
From further research it seems the diesel will do 10mpg more than the petrol. So if the petrol does 27 expect the diesel to do 37. (this very much depends on the driving your going to do).
Later this month I will be lined up to purchase a CR-V and am still completely unsure on which to go for but edging to the petrol.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
From further research it seems the diesel will do 10mpg more than the petrol. So if the petrol does 27 expect the diesel to do 37. (this very much depends on the driving your going to do).
Later this month I will be lined up to purchase a CR-V and am still completely unsure on which to go for but edging to the petrol.
I have a 57 plate petrol auto - live in the country, not a lot of town driving, get 32mpg consistent.
One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
grumpyscot said:
I have a 57 plate petrol auto - live in the country, not a lot of town driving, get 32mpg consistent.
One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
A note from me to say thank you for the info and link on the A/C.One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
bracken78 said:
A note from me to say thank you for the info and link on the A/C.
My pleasure - I take it you have the same problem! Honda a bit reticent at first - the car needs to be booked in for two days to assess, but they keep it hanging to get the OK from Honda then proceed straight away. If they find that the fault is not their's (unlikely if you're assertive enough - but they might try to fight it!) then you have to pay the strip down fee. I went armed with the documentation which they found hard to dispute!Thanks for all the input everyone. So I've taken the plunge and picking up a 2010 manual petrol tomorrow. Drove it on Saturday and all seemed fine - the aircon worked and no strange noises from under the hood. Guessing then that there's no need to be unduly worrying about the aircon fault. It sounds like its something to be aware of should the situation arise, as opposed to something I need to go and get checked?
Looking forward to getting to know the car (although can't say it's an 'exciting' drive!). The trip computer was giving an average reading of 35mpg. Let's see how that pans out in the real world.
Thanks again.
Looking forward to getting to know the car (although can't say it's an 'exciting' drive!). The trip computer was giving an average reading of 35mpg. Let's see how that pans out in the real world.
Thanks again.
Wanted to add another perspective here - we recently picked up a 2013 CR-V EX petrol auto, and whilst it's no rocket, unlike our old CX-7, it's certainly a very competent family car.
We've done a couple of thousand miles since July and see a combined figure of 30 mpg - which is actually pretty reasonable. Yearly mileage isn't that huge so massive mpg figures were not critically important.
As a previous poster said, there is very little low end torque, so you do end up revving it, but it will make pretty decent progress. It's very refined at speed and is more like driving around in a living room than a car. Not sure if that means I have to surrender my PH credentials, but it certainly is a relaxing place to be on a grind round the M25.
Plus, as petrol, there are no DPF issues, fuel contamination problems or pretty much anything else related to a diesel engine. Thoroughly well engineered car.
We've done a couple of thousand miles since July and see a combined figure of 30 mpg - which is actually pretty reasonable. Yearly mileage isn't that huge so massive mpg figures were not critically important.
As a previous poster said, there is very little low end torque, so you do end up revving it, but it will make pretty decent progress. It's very refined at speed and is more like driving around in a living room than a car. Not sure if that means I have to surrender my PH credentials, but it certainly is a relaxing place to be on a grind round the M25.
Plus, as petrol, there are no DPF issues, fuel contamination problems or pretty much anything else related to a diesel engine. Thoroughly well engineered car.
Luke. said:
V8V12VTECwoollie said:
We have a 59 plate petrol CR-V which my wife uses mainly for school runs and local trips and we're lucky if we see 20-25 mpg.
Really? Wow. I get 22-23mpg in my 4.8i X5. Though admittedly that's on the motorway..grumpyscot said:
I have a 57 plate petrol auto - live in the country, not a lot of town driving, get 32mpg consistent.
One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
Just had the aircon failure after the service a few weeks ago. Was told it would be a £2K fix. Then got a call to say the good news is that Honda extended the warranty and we would get it fixed FOC. That was a relief!One bit of advice though - if you're looking at a 59 plate - or any 2007 - 2011 petrol, then get the air-con system checked. They are prone to failure but Honda issued a Tech Service Bulleting extending warranty to 100,000 miles. Cost of replacement / repair is about........ £1,500
Mine has just gone at 47,000 miles. Thank god I found the advice - Honda are coughing up!
http://hondakarma.com/threads/cr-v-air-conditionin...
V8V12VTECwoollie said:
We have a 59 plate petrol CR-V which my wife uses mainly for school runs and local trips and we're lucky if we see 20-25 mpg.
That's rubbish.. I'm getting about 12-15mpg on my old nail..You should try harder next week at Snetterton..
Edited by NeinFondue on Friday 12th September 14:27
Edited by NeinFondue on Friday 12th September 14:28
AMDBSNick said:
V8V12VTECwoollie said:
Mixture of heavy car, auto box and short runs. We get nearer 30-32mpg on a motorway run.
Ignore this bloke, he is a complete Bell End and makes a f
king nuisance of himself on the Aston Martin forum. Troll if ever there was one 
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