When there are no vehicles you want to buy..
- Thread starter AZjeff
- Start date
Other than the Infotainment System it's been great, probably keeping it after the lease is up unless she really wants a bigger vehicle.
No. I only looked at vehicles with carfax history showing all the oil changes were done often enough.
Mine had 19,788 miles on it.
If it has more than 30,000 in a hilly or city stop and go reigon then give the vehicle an extensive test drive paying close attention to how the cvt runs. It should be smooth and quiet. And when you put it in the S Mode it should feel like it wants to really get up and go. If it was owned in a flat area where there's a lot of highway driving then I would be looking for one with less than 50,000 miles instead of less than 30,000 miles, but still give it that extensive test drive paying attention to the transmission. Honda makes a good CVT if people change the fluid on it but very few people do. And you have to use only Honda fluid.
Nowadays, a low mileage 2016 CRV in good condition it's probably going to cost more than $20,000
And don't forget that ultra low idle thing that Honda has only occurs if you're running the engine with no extra electrical load such the headlights are turned off and the air conditioning is turned off. Only in those conditions might it go into the low RPM idle and then possibly have a little bit of vibration to it. It's not really a significant problem and I wouldn't discount seriously considering any vehicle if that was the only fault that you saw with it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 2,487
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
In your suspension sure. In your frame maybe not so much.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 2,487
Your frame has to give. Everything flexes - unibody, frame, etc. Laddered frame is intended to flex and then go back to its original position. If you flex a unibody too much you can kink the subframe, or where the subframe is tied to the unibody, then the vehicle is ruined. Either when flexing over obstacles while loaded or even while being extracted from being stuck.
There is a reason off-roaders want 4Runners, Wranglers and Xterra's, and not Grand Cherokee's and the frame is the reason.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2023
I will just re-LS the Caprice and Trans Am when required. I let the wife pick what she wants to drive.
I will probably buy one more truck in my lifetime and that will be the last one.
I will probably buy one more truck in my lifetime and that will be the last one.
Not exactly. Ease of modification is generally the reason, and the ability to run larger tires. The Jeep Cherokee XJ is one of the most popular off-road vehicles to modify, and it has a unibody. The solid front axle is key to it being easy to modify. The 4Runners are a bit tougher to modify with their front IFS, but many either do solid axle swaps, or there is a lot of aftermarket support for them. Any Grand Cherokee after 2004 is much more complicated to modify for offroad due to their suspension and axle setups, but the 1993-2004 are still popular to modify and they have unibodies.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 2,487
Suspension is a secondary considertation. XJ's are somewhat popular, but were more popular for a time becaause they were available and cheap.
WJ's were never that popular because the subframe made it difficult to lift very far.
You can get away with a unibody if you don't torque it to hard, but since the entire body flexes when pushed you end up with doors that won't shut, etc. Push too hard and a weak point will give out.
A ladder frame can twist. When its not twisting all the force is in the frame rails. When twisted the ladder rungs transfer the up torque from one side to the down toque on the other side and balances the load.
Don't trust me - google for a minute.
"The other disadvantage isn’t as important for most drivers, but unibody cars are worse at off-roading and towing. Even with AWD or 4WD systems, their design isn’t well-suited for the torquing and twisting forces of off-road driving. "
"The great thing about body-on-frame vehicles is that they allow for some flex between the frame and the body. The frame takes the majority of the stress, so the body will not wear out over time"
This Is What Makes A Vehicle Unstoppable Off-Road
So you've got a huge truck with big tires and truck nuts hangin' off the hitch. You figure it must be the bee's knees when it comes to off-roading. That tiny Suzuki Samurai's got nothing on your Goliath, right? Not so fast. Let's break down what really makes a car capable when the going gets tough.
jalopnik.com
Unibody vs. Body-On-Frame: What's It Mean & What's the Difference?
As car buyers begin to do their research while looking for their next car, they're bound to come across innumerable car lingo terms. ABS, CVT, drivetrain, PHEV, torque, and RPM are just a few of these words on the long list. Two common car terms referring to a vehicle's design are bound to pop...
autoreviewhub.com
Unibody vs. Body-on-Frame SUVs and Trucks: Which Is Better?
All SUVs and pickup trucks come with some type of underbody construction that the rest of the vehicle is built off of.
www.motorbiscuit.com
If you flex a uni body that's the least of your concerns
The point being is for 99.9% of owners don't need a ladder on frame. Guys doing anything that's going to stress a ladder frame that much have a " built" truck.Or ignoring a vehicles payload/ towing numbers. Yes you need a ladder frame for towing- and not much else. Not for a CUV/ SUV grocery getter.Suspension is a secondary considertation. XJ's are somewhat popular, but were more popular for a time becaause they were available and cheap.
WJ's were never that popular because the subframe made it difficult to lift very far.
You can get away with a unibody if you don't torque it to hard, but since the entire body flexes when pushed you end up with doors that won't shut, etc. Push too hard and a weak point will give out.
A ladder frame can twist. When its not twisting all the force is in the frame rails. When twisted the ladder rungs transfer the up torque from one side to the down toque on the other side and balances the load.
Don't trust me - google for a minute.
"The other disadvantage isn’t as important for most drivers, but unibody cars are worse at off-roading and towing. Even with AWD or 4WD systems, their design isn’t well-suited for the torquing and twisting forces of off-road driving. "
"The great thing about body-on-frame vehicles is that they allow for some flex between the frame and the body. The frame takes the majority of the stress, so the body will not wear out over time"
" The vehicle is able to more easily flex and yield to these differing terrain heights."This Is What Makes A Vehicle Unstoppable Off-Road
So you've got a huge truck with big tires and truck nuts hangin' off the hitch. You figure it must be the bee's knees when it comes to off-roading. That tiny Suzuki Samurai's got nothing on your Goliath, right? Not so fast. Let's break down what really makes a car capable when the going gets tough.
"Body-on-frame construction will withstand twisting forces, "Unibody vs. Body-On-Frame: What's It Mean & What's the Difference?
As car buyers begin to do their research while looking for their next car, they're bound to come across innumerable car lingo terms. ABS, CVT, drivetrain, PHEV, torque, and RPM are just a few of these words on the long list. Two common car terms referring to a vehicle's design are bound to pop...
Unibody vs. Body-on-Frame SUVs and Trucks: Which Is Better?
All SUVs and pickup trucks come with some type of underbody construction that the rest of the vehicle is built off of.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 2,487
I also looked at the Mazda 3 HB manual but did you see the price? My jaw dropped. Over $30K for a tiny hatchback, wow. Manual is only available with Premium trim.
Yes. It is outrageous they don’t offer the manual in the base trim.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
In this example of frame flex the trucks are empty with a wheel off the ground. Read down the comments to Bow Hunter.
Another one with a load featuring Howie Long.
Over the years manufacturers have advertised things like "this year's hydro-formed frame is 300% stiffer that the previous year" and the like. None have ever said this year's frame is 50% flexier than last years. Nothing I've ever been involved with from street & dirt bikes to Jeeps to rock crawlers to trucks to dirt and pavement race cars to sand cars wanted flex in the frame/body. It's always been stiffen up the structure and let the suspension flex. In everyday use within design parameters not a big deal. I've always thought frames flex because makers didn't want to spend the extra money to make them stiff. Just saying my experience has been different concerning frame flex.
I remember back in earlier days someone having the bed touch the cab when hauling a load of firewood out of the woods and it wasn't a junk truck.
Last edited:
By the way when the Honda CRVs get up around 100,000 miles there's a whole list of things that should be done to them. But if you do all those things they're good for another hundred thousand. But that list is pretty big. If you bought all the parts from an online Honda parts supplier you're probably looking at right around $2,000 worth of parts. If you pay a non dealer mechanic to install all those parts you're probably looking at another 2 to $3,000 worth of work. So basically that's one of the reasons that people get rid of these vehicles when they get around 100,000 because they don't want to sink four to five thousand into it to make it reliable for the next hundred thousand.
You mean the Pentastar V6? I'd run away from that as fast as I could.
Love to see a video.
