Auto Review : 2000 Honda CR-V

Reviewed vehicle : 2000 Honda CR-V automatic 4WD SUV
Approximate mileage : 55,000 miles
Relationship to vehicle : Owned from July 2000 thru March 2004

As soon as I got rid of this car, I learned on Consumer Reports that small SUVs (such as the CR-V, and Toyota RAV4) are the most reliable cars on the road. And that most of them get better with age (to a point of course).

I would definitely have to agree with that assessment. My CR-V never required any service that wasn't scheduled maintanence. It never had anything come loose, no annoying rattles, or anything that required me to take it into the dealer. In fact, I don't think I even had to replace a headlight bulb in the nearly 4 years I owned it.

The only reason I got rid of it was to get a more "client-friendly" vehicle. And it's an Acura so I expect that to be reliable as well.

If you're a 1-car kind of person, a mini-SUV is perfect if you live in Washington. You can take it up to the mountains (which I did plenty of times with this vehicle) with 4 people inside, 4 skis/snowboards on top and all the gear in the back. It was great in the snow and it was small enough for me to parallel park anywhere (and it even fit in compact parking spaces).

And for as long as I had it, I always got between 22 to 24 miles per gallon, and I couldn't complain about that.

The only downside to the CR-V is that it was very lacking in power (it was a 4 cylinder with about 160 horsepower). But I think the newer ones have improved this problem slightly.

Another great thing about this Honda was the resale value. I paid about $22,500 for it brand new, and nearly 4 years later, I traded it in for $13,000. It was in such great shape, I probably could have sold it for at least $14,500 if I listed it on Autotrader or the Seattle Times Classifieds.

Would I buy it again? As much as I loved it, probably not. I've got a pickup truck and a sedan now, so those 2 do a good job of filling in for the CR-V. I do miss the 4 wheel drive though.

Pics of the new pad - Pine Ridge Issaquah

Finally found the pictures I took of the new house. It's been about a month and a half since we moved in. We're pretty much done unpacking, but we're still waiting for Comcast TV and internet. There was no cable line hooked up to the house when we moved in, but it's all set now and they'll be at the house next week to finallize the setup (cable boxes and internet modem calibrating).

The best parts of the home are definitely the theater room, workout room, my office, and my bedroom. But none of those are pictured here. Also, these pictures can be seen at Pine Ridge's website (www.pineridgeissaquah.com).

The best part of the neighborhood is the fact that you can see Squak Mountain, Tiger Mountain, and Lake Sammamish from it, and it's located at the base of Cougar Mountain so access to the freeways and shopping can't be beat. Unfortunately, there's a lot of construction happening right now and a lot of lookie-loos driving onto our driveway as well. Those would be the only downsides.

Acura TL Navigation hacked

Using several helpful hints from the internet and my relatively novice programming ability, I was able to customize the navigation display on my Acura. The image on the nav display shows an Acura TL with "jin lee" printed on the lower right. I'm still looking for the perfect image to display on there, but used that one just so I knew it would work correctly.

I'm not one to do a whole lot to my cars, but I like the personal touch of having my own image show up.

An aftermarket kit to play DVD movies (the stock setup already plays DVD audio discs) on the nav screen is tempting, but not worth the price tag.

Taking the dogs to Snoqualmie Pass

Took Brian and Buster up to the pass, just past Snoqualmie Pass and let them run around on the trails. They loved it up there. Probably shoulda left them on a leash, but didn't since there were plenty of other "bigger" dogs off leash and ours do a good job of staying close.

It was snowing lightly, and the ski area was PACKED. Alpental, Summit West, and Summit Central all had full parking lots. People were actually parking at Hyak (Summit East) and taking shuttles over to the other areas.

I've thought about investing in a winter home up at Snoqualmie Pass, but I personally don't think it's worth the pricetag that I've seen for some of those homes. There was one for sale at $600K, and I'm sure it's a nice home and all, but I would only be there a few months out of the year. I know that some people who live up there commute to the Seattle or Eastside area. I wouldn't be able to handle all those gasoline bills.

Anyway, enjoy the pics!