Right folks, my wife and I have been planning to get a car for a while now and finally the bank balance has risen enough that we can start looking. My mate recently bought a new CRV and mywife fell in love with it immediately. Now she wants a 2004 or 2005 model as it’s the one within our budget and while it’s not the same as the new one she has it in her head now that we have to get one! To be honest I don’t care what I drive once it’s not a march or that suzuki box looking thingy so CRV 2004 is fine by me.
I just want to know if anyone has any advice on stuff to look out for. It’s just going to be a family car so no worries about the nonexistent offroad capabilities. And does anyone know what kind of mileage I’ll get out of it?
When I first drove my gf’s X-Trail I thought it was okay but I recently had to drive it for the best part of a week and grew to hate it. It’s a horrible drive and never feels completely secure on the road. I happened to take a spin in my buddy’s CRV soon after and the difference was immense. The 2.0 engine feels about the same as the 2.5 X-Trail with a better ride and much better fuel economy. I’m more impressed with the CRV now after this experience, but that said I personally wouldn’t buy another SUV as a daily driver. They are a pain in the ass to drive in busy areas, they guzzle down the gas and I’m not convinced they’re any safer or even as safe as a large sedan. It was fun for a while but I have since rediscovered the joys of a regular car and $1000 for a Taichung-Taipei round trip.
Yes, the Honda CRV is perhaps the best of all of the urbanite SUVs and yes, an SUV is not as good as many other types of cars, especially when fighting in the cramped conditions of Taiwan’s roads. Another blow that SUVs take here is that they are all too tall to fit in many of the convenient elevator/lift style of car park, and so sometimes cause a lot of frustration when parking in certain areas of town.
The Honda CRV is the most fuel efficient of all the SUVs, but that doesn’t make it good, it just makes it better than other SUVs, and it should be considered completely useless off road, not that it will ever see mud I’m guessing.
So many women love SUVs as they make them feel safer with a commanding ride height and view, but reality is far from close, with a much greater chance of tipping and rolling, greater breaking distances, and poorer crash protection than any other style of car.
I have mentioned this in many other posts, but it boils down to this.
If you absolutely must purchase an SUV, then make it a Honda CRV, it’s the only one I would have, if I were forced at gunpoint to buy one. They aren’t roomier than smaller vehicles, and may be much more cramped for their size. They are more dangerous to drive than saloons or some small hatches. The residuals are higher on the Honda CRV than any other SUV on the market, so prepare about 450,000nt for a good example of a 2004 model. As with many 4 wheel drive cars on the markets, there are more things to potentially go wrong with them, so make sure you check the transmission for signs of wear or stress, as well as the rest of the car for signs of crash damage etc. Check out taiwanmotorfind.com/ for an idea of what to look out for.
Yesterday I drove my brother-in-law’s CRV to the Huashan coffee district. It was a nice ride. I like the side mirrors because it gives you excellent vision on the sides. It’s easier to back up than my Golf. We had 5 adults and 3 kids inside, and nobody complained. I bought a VW Golf about a year ago, and I test drove one then. The reason I didn’t get it was that it is too big to park in Taiwan. The CRV is about a foot longer and a foot higher than the Golf.
[quote=“llary”]When I first drove my gf’s X-Trail I thought it was okay but I recently had to drive it for the best part of a week and grew to hate it. It’s a horrible drive and never feels completely secure on the road. I happened to take a spin in my buddy’s CRV soon after and the difference was immense. The 2.0 engine feels about the same as the 2.5 X-Trail with a better ride and much better fuel economy. I’m more impressed with the CRV now after this experience, but that said I personally wouldn’t buy another SUV as a daily driver. They are a pain in the ass to drive in busy areas, they guzzle down the gas and I’m not convinced they’re any safer or even as safe as a large sedan. It was fun for a while but I have since rediscovered the joys of a regular car and $1000 for a Taichung-Taipei round trip.
Nice one. This car will only be for out of town trips as my job is a 10 min scoot from home so most of the driving will hopefully be on open road or what should be open road. Personally I would rather get a golf or something else german but you know what wives are like once the idea is in the head.
[quote]I have mentioned this in many other posts, but it boils down to this.
If you absolutely must purchase an SUV, then make it a Honda CRV, it’s the only one I would have, if I were forced at gunpoint to buy one. They aren’t roomier than smaller vehicles, and may be much more cramped for their size. They are more dangerous to drive than saloons or some small hatches. The residuals are higher on the Honda CRV than any other SUV on the market, so prepare about 450,000nt for a good example of a 2004 model. As with many 4 wheel drive cars on the markets, there are more things to potentially go wrong with them, so make sure you check the transmission for signs of wear or stress, as well as the rest of the car for signs of crash damage etc. Check out taiwanmotorfind.com/ for an idea of what to look out for. [/quote]
I’ll be getting you guys to take a peek at whatever I’m thinking of getting.
Cheers mate