2003 CRV?

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MIL has owned one since new, and is looking to get a new CRV. I've never been a fan of Honda's, nor automatics, and this one has both. But well maintained and all that. Might make a good first vehicle for my son, but unfortunately that is a good 2 years away... Wife wonders if I get rid of my Camry, take her Camry, and she drives this instead, then in two years she can get something else. I don't like that idea as this CRV only gets like 25mpg and I know my wife will hate the transmission, but we're pragmatic people. At the same time, her Camry is getting old and surely is getting to the point of being problematic.

[We'd give her whatever trade-in value is.]

Anyhow, I think it is around 120 to 150,000 miles on the clock, always garaged, and last time I looked it wasn't rusty underneath. What might be problem areas on this? If they are known for a/c problems that might be enough to sink the deal--wife won't put up with that. It does have AWD. And a six CD changer.
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I don't know if I would want to buy it and sit on it for 2 years--driving occasionally that is--until my son is driving. That doesn't seem to make sense to me. It seems like it should make a nice runabout for the wife, and she did comment that it wasn't bad on the highway.
 
One thing in your favor is that you know the history of this car and how it was maintained. Two years will go by quickly.

Another question would be insurance etc.
 
Not worth changing practice to accommodate, drive what you got into the ground. There will be plenty of sixteen year old cars to buy in 2021.

If you want to collect old heaps, then do it. There is nothing pragmatic about it, that's just a humblebrag.
 
I would do the first plan, get rid of your old camry, keep the crv and the new camry. The CRV has been regarded as one of the all time best small SUV's and has considerably less miles vs your older camry. You will get many more years/miles out of it and it will be safer for you child to drive in a few years as well.
 
What issues are you facing with the old Camry? 99 camry wont get much for it but at that age, ur plan sounds reasonable. I would vote against the CRV based on its age, but considering u know the maintenance history and lack of rust, makes it not a bad thing to consider.
 
Get it and drive it and the Camry around. In two years you'll have enough data to know which one to get rid of...

Or she might just like it and you give the kid the Camry....
 
Spoke with the wife about it. Turns out that she likes the CRV, just not the trans programming on hills. I think that might be something she can adapt to. But I got the impression she might like it more than the Camry!

All said and done, I think we would go forward with it, but it would become her second vehicle. Throw on snows for winter, drive when she needs space or ground clearance. In the meantime we can start looking for another car for her, one that she will like better than her Camry. Eventually I wind up with her Camry or something that gets better mpg.

My Camry? That just has been on a rough patch lately, needing something every weekend. And has an exhaust leak I can't find—exhaust or something, I just can't figure out what it's matter is. Plus it is an automatic and I kinda want more mpg—but mostly I think I am getting bored with it. Lousy reason I know, and not enough for me, but always tempting.
 
I bought my oldest daughter a 97' w/110k mi when she was in H.S. It was a good car for her. Went to 300k mi before we sold the car. I'd get it. Hers needed a new timing belt. Struts should still be good. Easy to drain the tranny. Engine is on the weak side and will slow down on hills. ( The 2.4L should have more power.) There's many on the road, although I'm starting to see not as many as I used to. They hold up well. What what I remember, the later years of this model had an issue w/the air conditioner compressor. Do not believe the 03' had this issue. Should serve you well...
 
Originally Posted by supton
Spoke with the wife about it. Turns out that she likes the CRV, just not the trans programming on hills. I think that might be something she can adapt to. But I got the impression she might like it more than the Camry!

All said and done, I think we would go forward with it, but it would become her second vehicle. Throw on snows for winter, drive when she needs space or ground clearance. In the meantime we can start looking for another car for her, one that she will like better than her Camry. Eventually I wind up with her Camry or something that gets better mpg.

My Camry? That just has been on a rough patch lately, needing something every weekend. And has an exhaust leak I can't find—exhaust or something, I just can't figure out what it's matter is. Plus it is an automatic and I kinda want more mpg—but mostly I think I am getting bored with it. Lousy reason I know, and not enough for me, but always tempting.

You can find a 2-3 year old Sonata with 70k-80k miles for $8k-$9k
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Wife's friend had one. 230k. Had a weird thump/ thud that was probably the rear driveshaft. Needed a ball joint and a trans temp sensor-- threw a 3rd gear code of some sort.

I wasn't too impressed underneath-- lots of wasted space. High floorpan, low rockers. Just tall for the sake of being tall.

Interior had leather and was pimp-tastic.

I did both sintered iron gaskets on my 02 prizm exhaust-- they're a wear item and were ready.
 
I'll have to keep it in mind, Sonata for $8k might work ok. I did the rear brakes on a friend's and now know how to remove rotors on those.
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Originally Posted by supton
I'll have to keep it in mind, Sonata for $8k might work ok. I did the rear brakes on a friend's and now know how to remove rotors on those.
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Actually I've been meaning to tell you, I just did brakes all around on mine, the rears were a piece of cake. They must have changed it for 2015
 
I had a 2004 for about a year and a half. It actually came from NH, where you are. It was severely rusty. I really should've inspected it a little closer before buying it. Mine had a 5 speed manual. It had 155k miles when I bought it. The A.C. compressor died, as they're known to do, and I never got around to fixing it. I had to replace the whole exhaust system due to rust, and some power steering lines. A u-joint broke. They're supposed to be non-serviceable and you're supposed to replace the whole driveshaft, but I was able to replace just the u-joints. The stereo sounded god-awful and I installed an aftermarket stereo and speakers. The worst part was the rotted out subframe mount. The subframe wasn't bolted to the body in one corner anymore because the mount was so rotted. The car still drove fine though. That was the reason I decided to sell it this spring, but it got totaled in am accident back in January, which was the best thing that could've happened to it. Insurance gave me more money than I was planning on selling it for. I liked the way the car drive, and it was very practical. I wouldn't have sold it if it was just in better condition (and it hadn't gotten totaled). The 5 speed is what made it fun to drive. I'd imagine it would've been really boring to drive if it had an automatic.
 
Series from 2002 thru 2009 are well documented for AC problems on these, so called Black Death

my friend of mine had 2008 model in with AC died out of nowhere;

however, these have well paired engine and transmission 2002-2006 model; they just refuse to die
 
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