Mrs Monkey's parents are getting rid of their two cars to go down to one. One of said cars is a Honda F-RV, which I've always been impressed with, and we might be able to get for a decent price.
We've talked about getting something a bit bigger and younger than our battered 150k mile Focus, but we've not really needed it enough to risk buying something cheap that might be a money pit or spend a lot on something newer. The Honda is a 2009, but it's on around 80k and sounds like it has a full dealer history.
Has anyone had one? Any thoughts? I like the idea of putting MiniMonkey in the middle front seat (apparently they have Isofix) so she can see out the window and the extra space all round would be handy.
What engine is it?
Honda are generally mechanically reliable IME.
1.8 petrol i-Vtec I think. Looks like it's chain driven and probably due a replacement which is worth considering.
Cam chain typically isn't a service item
I wouldn’t touch a car from my in-laws with bargepole.
how good is a good price.
Never heard anything bad about the R series engines but then they were all rather new at the time I had a Honda. Plenty of old petrol civics of that age kicking about so wouldn't be overly concerned in that respect. They tend to be good to live with and plenty of thought goes into utilising every bit of free space. Only negative is a lack of quick clear if you use yours lots, otherwise it sounds good.
I've got the 2.2 Diesel 2009 exec model been faultless apart from the drivers window button breaking (common problem if pressed too hard).
Middle front doesn't have ISOfix in mine and you will need to slide the seat back which takes the middle back seat out of action.
Massive inside for a relative small car with plenty of seat options to put kids and bikes in.
Actually got me thinking now, an FR-V would work better as a single car for us than my present monstrosity if you can remove or flatten the second row. What's the load space like?
Waiting to hear through the chain of command exact details re price etc. It's also just about to go in for a service / MOT so that might throw up potential issues.
2.5k has been mentioned which sounds good going by Auto trader. Nothing similar seems to have sold on ebay recently, mostly older high mileage 2.0s.
*edit* that's interesting about the isofix, it would definitely be nice to have in the middle front, though not essential.
The boot isn't massive, it's not a huge car but iirc the back row all fold flat individually, if you do that it's a pretty massive space.
I would wait to the kid is older to have them in the front middle when they can sit in a booster chair. We moved ours into the back as she thought it was funny to kick my arm or try and pull the gear stick out whilst driving.
Rear seats can be individually collapsed so you can put some big items in with kids still in the back. I can get a medium size dog in the boot and the other half filled up with bags.
My brother has that car and engine, out in NZ.
They've had it a decade and are yet to have any bills outside of servicing and general wear. I think they're up to about 250,000km.
For four of them it's great, although they rarely use the middle front seat as it's not big. The boot isn't that big either.
Cam chain typically isn’t a service item
Although atypically, the oil pump can fail, which instantly knackers the tensioner, which turns the chain into a rather urgent and quite major service item. So I was told after our one unexpected mechanical on the C-RV... low oil pump pressure.
I had one for 13 years (2.0 petrol 'sport'). It was absolutely faultless during that time. The most practical car I've ever owned.
We love ours (2008 1.8 petrol) and wouldn't know what to replace it with. With 3 of us it solves any fighting about who sits up front - and still no issue with daughter now 12 years old still enough shoulder room (and can always slide her backwards if required).
One quite large issue - failure of air con compressor.... something had seized. I got the impression that it's not uncommon as it sits at the bottom of the engine bay picking up all the crud from the road. I was also told it wasn't possible to bypass. Honda wanted about £1300 but an independent did it for about half - having a honda specialist is worthwhile as I found a 'regular' garage pretty useless in part finding anything other than the official, highly priced, honda parts.
Further thought... 1.8 petrol mpg not fantastic (but worth it for us)... on a long run think most I've seen is about 44mpg on the computer (so less in real life) and local runs between 36 and 40mpg.
p.s. if you don't buy it and they are selling, feel free to message me the details... I might be tempted by a slightly newer / lower mileage one (if petrol)
Dunno where you are but I can recommend a good Honda/Mini Specialist in Glasgow if you need one.
^That would be Gerry I'm guessing, nice guy and good service^
I love Honda's, I always upgrade to another! We had a 2.0l petrol about 9 years ago for a few years. Of course it was faultless 😀 the 6 seats was very useful on occasion and plenty big enough for our small family (3 at the time). Once the lad had a ride in the front middle, he always wanted to ride there! But being young, I felt he was more secure in the back.
The reason we changed cars (to a diesel civic) was the mpg. It was giving about 30mpg, whereas the 2.2 diesel was 45.
That would be Gerry I’m guessing, nice guy and good service
The one and only!