2008 Honda CR-V: 1 Year Report

[Hokiefyd]

I got a "happy one year anniversary" email the other day from Sanford Honda, reminding me that we bought our 2008 CR-V exactly one year ago. I spent some time in it this week on an overnight business trip to Savannah, and thought back on how good of a purchase this vehicle was. I drive it daily, and it's probably the vehicle that I've most enjoyed owning. I've owned a lot of "nice" cars and a few "cool" cars, but this one does the best job of combining everything I want in a vehicle and wrapping it into a pretty fun-to-drive and efficient package.

A few photos from my recent trip:

Honda has a huge facility just down the road in South Carolina where they make all sorts of powersport equipment, including ATVs and PWCs. They also export engines to other powersport manufacturing facilities. I figured that this trip would one of the very few times that I was by myself and had time to stop and smell the proverbial roses, so I at least pulled off exit 153 on I-95 to take a picture of the CR-V in front of one of its namesake's manufacturing plants.

If you haven't been to Savannah, I strongly encourage a visit. The old south charm runs thick (as does the humidity in the summer), and life takes on a slower pace. The old ballast stone- and brick-paved streets contrast with tons of oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss to make this one of the most picturesque towns you'll ever encounter.

Took this picture on the way back home. I had the cruise set on 77 mph the whole way, and achieved a fine 27.2 mpg on the entire trip. The engine acts like it'd cruise at 2400 rpm for days straight; it sounds so effortless at this speed. The car feels sure-footed and stable on the road (even through a rainstorm at 65 mph), but it's a frisky-handling machine compared with our MDX. Flick the wheel and you ARE in the next lane. What makes it easy and fun to drive around town takes just a hair more concentration when on the open road.

I'm as happy with this vehicle now as I ever have been. The valve adjustment a few weeks ago didn't seem to impact the engine noise, but the Valvoline MaxLife NextGen certainly did, and for the better. The engine also has a slightly softer feel than it did with the Mobil 1 0W-20 (meaning less raspy). Honda's K-series engines are known for their refined feel anyway, but the Valvoline has certainly felt and sounded the best in it. Startup rattle doesn't really exist anymore, and cold piston slap is mostly gone as well. The transmission is also perfect right now with a recent change of fluid.

I feel blessed to own this vehicle, and feel blessed to be able to have something that we enjoy driving so much. I hope to pass this down to our nearly seven year old daughter in another 10 years.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd


I feel blessed to own this vehicle, and feel blessed to be able to have something that we enjoy driving so much. I hope to pass this down to our nearly seven year old daughter in another 10 years.


A friend of mine had similar thoughts about her 2002 CRV when she bought it. She has since decided "what was I thinking?". Junior is now driving an '04 Cavalier, and she's hanging onto the V. Total repairs since she's owned the car: 1 oxygen sensor. Not bad!

I'm not a fan of some of their product decisions, but this strikes me as one car they've always gotten right.

 

[ARB1977]

We love ours too. The wife drives it every day. I love it because its easy to maintain. Recently took it in for the transmission software upgrade.

 

[Joseph_S37]

Looks like a very clean, happy vehicle! Thanks for sharing your little review and pictures!

Savannah does look like a place I'd like to visit some day! Beautiful!

 

[eagle23]

Thanks for the pix at the River Street Inn, too

I stay there when in Savannah on business.

You're right, Savannah is an utterly charming town.

Glad you like the CRV, too

I feel similarly to my 07 Accord V6: the best I've owned, all around.

 

[Mr Nice]

Looks nice... but I'm not that crazy about the color.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Yes, River Street Inn is a fantastic hotel. We stay there every time.

The color is Green Tea Metallic, and the poor cell phone pictures don't do it justice. It's a fairly light green with a deep metallic flake. It really pops in the sunlight. This photo from the brochure captures what it looks like to the naked eye.

 

[01rangerxl]

Looks good, and that's really good mileage from any kind of SUV. My roommate's dad has an '08 CRV too. It's a nice vehicle...comfortable and well put together. It will be interesting to see how long he keeps it because he buys new and drives cars until they are spent, which could be over 300K miles (that's about where his '98 B4000 is at and still going).

Nice Savannah backdrop too. I love that town. I need to make another trip down there sometime. I always end up passing through the [censored] hole known as Atlanta when I go through GA instead of the coast.

 

[JHZR2]

Nice. Looks just like the one our friends have.

There are some cheap aspects to the interior that I dont like, but overall it really is one of the best values for mixing a lot of good aspects.

I know Ive said it before, but we were really bummed with the '12 models, like it was a step backwards. The version like yours really combined a lot of nice features.

Love the color too!

 

[supton]

Nice! MIL has an '04 I think, prior generation to yours, which I find is kinda truck like and perhaps a bit underpowered (4spd auto, so even less mpg too?). But she has kept it garaged, and it's rather mint. 27mpg at 77mph is quite good, makes me think it'd easily break 30mpg at 65 or so. That's pretty good for a "utility" vehicle.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: supton
27mpg at 77mph is quite good, makes me think it'd easily break 30mpg at 65 or so.


It would close. We recently went to a wedding in Wilmington, NC, and drove the CR-V. The 200 mile trip there and back was 29.6 mpg, but that's driveway to driveway, including traffic signals, small towns, etc. I figure we averaged about 50 mph for most of the trip; driving at about 60 mph with a few small towns and slow-downs sprinkled in.

The 2007 model was rated 22/24/28, and the 2008 model (with identical power train) was rated 20/22/26 with the then-new EPA rating system. Ours gets closer to the old ratings, even when bombing down the interstate at close to 80 mph for hours on end. Our overall average with it is about what the old combined rating is.

 

[BrianWC]

I bought mine new in July 2002 and still have it 10 years later. It served as my daily driver for about a year, my wife's (once we had kids) for 7 years, and our 3rd car for our nanny to pickup and drop off the kids for the last few. I blew up the a/c by overcharging (those compressors were notoriously weak, anyway) and replaced the cat even though I didn't try just an o2 sensor first. Other than that, it's just been fluid changes and tires. If I had the option to use it as my daily driver again, I'd gladly do so without worry, ten years on.

 

[cptbarkey]

had a 2008 crv also until popping out 3 children. didnt care for the touchy / jumpy throttle, and the seats were uncomfortable, but otherwise was an OK vehicle. i'm sure yours will last a long time.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I added something to my 2008 CR-V that any owner of a 2007-2009 model can do: the armrests from a 2010-2011.

As shown below, the newer armrests are significantly wider than the older ones, and a touch longer as well.

And here are the before/after pictures. It's a simple 14mm bolt to remove and replace these armrests.

It may not appear so in the very low-light photo (I forgot that I had the flash locked off), but the color is exactly the same. This is best 100 bucks I've spent in a long time; the new style armrests are 100% more comfortable and supportive than the old ones.

The part numbers I used (for Pearl Ivory in leather) are:

81180-SXT-A22ZC (passenger side)
81580-SXT-A22ZC (driver side)

MSRP on each is $104.75. Majestic Honda sold them for $47.13 each. I ordered some other stuff, so the shipping charge of about $21 would be a little less, but still, a bang-up deal for these. Saved 50% over parts counter retail.