I liked the look of the CX7 till I clocked the tax on them- £490 a year!

2x CRV owner here. For 4K a year i’d choose a petrol. Our diesels have been thirsty, but oh so practical and oh so reliable.

Two road bikes in the back with both wheels on. Two mountain bikes with front wheels off.

Look and see how many R and S reg mk1 CRVS you see on the roads still.

And I miss the picnic table in the mk3. Used ours many times.

We’ve currently got a 54 plate 1.8 petrol c-max and a 52 plate 2.0 petrol crv. I’m getting a new yeti soon and we’re part-exing the c-max. This has only 68k miles, full dealership service history, and has been the worst car we’ve ever owned.

We struggle to get above 30mpg, it costs about £800 per year to get it through the mot, And compared to the older crv feels crude and cheap. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to say the crv is refined, but should be seen as an indicator of how crap the ford is. Don’t touch one.

The crv has been a pleasure to own; it gets 40+mpg on a long run and swallows our camping kit. The elevated seating position is nice and always sails through the mot. It’s relatively low mileage at 80k and we’ve run out of pages in the service book. The vtec engine is ok, but not really designed for going quick. It drinks fuel if you Rev it but it’s got decent enough torque so you don’t need to. Servicing has been on par with ford, tons cheaper than my last car – Volvo 850 estate. We’ll keep this until it dies. That said, it need a clutch soon and at £700 (dealer price), I’m not looking forward to that. Very robust car.

I had a Forester, loved it… but pricey when bits fell off (which they did quite often). The Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.9DDIS was really quite a nice place to be that came along some time later – my only issue with it was the rate at which it ate a full set of tyres! There was an Outlander (previous version) which was absolutely lovely – Company Car Tax saw it off in the end though.

Had a couple of pickups – but don’t go there!

For your mileage I would be tempted by the Grand Vitara I think. 4k a year should see a set of tyres do a few years (I was running through a full set a year)

Petrol CRV would be my choice with your low mileage. My dad is on his 2nd now, his last was a Y reg which cost him nothing but servicing and tyres, his ‘new’ one he bought last year is an 06 with 45k on it, lovely car which does 30mpg running around on short journeys. Honda petrol cars do seem very reliable.

I have an 07 CRV had it a year been a great car, its diesel I do 12k a year and have averaged around 42mpg in that time, it swallows bikes rear seats slide forward and back its very practical and no dpf. Driving pisition is brill and its sooooo comfortable, got great kit sat nav, leather, adaptive cuise, auto light and wipers blah blah blah the list goes on. 4k a year though I would go for petrol.

Repairs on Subarus can be expensive though, can’t they ?

Every Subaru I’ve had has needed a rear driver side wheel bearing at £170 a pop. Nothing else, other than the present one needing a new exhaust centre pipe and silencers. 😯 Nothing has “dropped off” my five, and nothing has given up the will to live, even on the 17 year old workhorse Forester. Everything still worked as it did when it left the factory.

They’re actually very simple cars and euro car parts sell all the consumables.
They’re no more expensive to maintain than any other car.

Repairs on Subarus can be expensive though, can’t they ?

Depends- the Legacy I had was due to a air/fuel sensor and a new cat-back exhaust.

The Foresters- No. The first one I should have known it’d have issues. The seller, a Cop from Rochdale drove up two kerbs on the nearside front on our testdrive. A few months later that driveshaft and CV boot needed replacing. A breakers/indie Subaru place in Calderdale sorted that very cheapily. Apart from that? Nothing on either Subaru and both weren’t treated kindly by me at all. Through the two harsh winters 5yrs ago one was out daily in all conditions out in the sticks. In the second I helped rescue stuck people over the tops of Delph/Saddleworth last winter. I took the second one I owned from Manchester-France-Germany-Bruge over Xmas/NY too. Utterly fantastic cars with soul.

Would consider a c max, are they roomy enough in the back for 3 kids?

That’s where that recommendation falls over! Middle seat in the back isn’t as wide as the other two so its a squeeze for three.

As you’re not ruling out small mpv’s have you considered a Honda fr-v? After 10 years mine is still going strong (2.0 petrol and I get low 30’s to the gallon). Massively practical vehicle with 3 full size seats in the front and back. If they were still making it I’d probably just buy another once this one dies as it’s been amazingly reliable.

Utterly fantastic cars with soul.

You either “get” them or you don’t.

If I’d bought a leggy/outback as my first Subaru it would have been my only Subaru. They’re OK cars but nowt special. I’ve yet to own a Leggy/ob for more than a year, but the two Foresters we had for 8 and 10 years. They did everything that was needed, and they’re a lot of fun
I don’t know why I’m bigging them up. I’m looking for another and they’re hard enough to find as it is.

Not sure where older Dacia Dusters are on price, but I love mine.
Great to drive on road, capable enough off-road.

Been all over the internet and found that theres not many CRVs that have done under 100000 miles for this money. Shame as really love these. I have also found that i should be able to get something for £4000 ish if I am going for petrol so that could save a good chunk. The Grand Vitara is still the current favourite and I am now considering petrol after reading comments on here – very helpful cheers. I really loved the look of the Mazda but as someone mentioned the yearly tax is a bit much at nearly £500. Still looking at Ford C-Max as they get good write ups and they seem just about big enough. They are a bit dull though but a seem like the sensible option if I want something cheap to run so I would still consider an MPV so any suggestions welcome. Thanks for the advice so far.

Subaru Outback Legacy 3.0 or 2.5 petrol or 2.0 diesel.

That’s where I would be looking. 🙂

Another vote for CRV – been pretty happy with ours. Don’t get the ‘small boot’ or ‘massive turning circle’ comments, the boot is the size of a big estate and the turning circle is pretty good. You’ll never get 40mpg out the petrol though. Reliable lumps so the slightly higher fuel cost isn’t that much of an issue IMO.

Wrong time of year to get a bargain one though petrol for £4k there will be a few around. FWIW ours is an ’03 Exec bought last summer for £3.5k on 65k miles.

We’ve currently got a 54 plate 1.8 petrol c-max and a 52 plate 2.0 petrol crv. I’m getting a new yeti soon and we’re part-exing the c-max. This has only 68k miles, full dealership service history, and has been the worst car we’ve ever owned.

We struggle to get above 30mpg, it costs about £800 per year to get it through the mot, And compared to the older crv feels crude and cheap. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to say the crv is refined, but should be seen as an indicator of how crap the ford is. Don’t touch one.

Weird.

The 06 Focus estate – which the cmax is based on – I had was one of the best cars I’ve owned. Cost about £0 per year in the mot, got 50mpg and compared to the older crv felt nicely refined. Plus it had a bundle of electric toys and precisely one thing went wrong (alternator, known weak spot on the diesel) over the course of six years.

It depends upon what you mean by best…
for a laugh my mates (one an ex semi-pro off-roader) took a couple of £1K Jimny’s to the Tuareg Rallye.
The vid of him toasting the £100K Porsche off-roader is classic 🙂

Look at this beauty! If only I was a bit nearer Somerset.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CR-V-2-0-i-VTEC-Sport-/151948658646?hash=item2360d887d6:g:G3oAAOSwUuFWuay7

Look at this beauty! If only I was a bit nearer Somerset.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CR-V-2-0-i-VTEC-Sport-/151948658646?hash=item2360d887d6:g:G3oAAOSwUuFWuay7

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

12 pics and not one of the interior…

^ that’s really odd because I clicked that link not two hours ago and I’m sure there were a good half dozen images of the interior…

If the OP’s brief included towing a caravan, how would these petrol models fair ?
Looking at whether to chop in my Galaxy. Needs a bit spending on it but it’s such a practical old bus.

If the OP’s brief included towing a caravan, how would these petrol models fair ?

The Forester was Practical Caravan’s towcar of the year for 6 years on the trot!
IIRC the turbo has about 80% of max torque available everywhere between 1500 and 6000RPM. They are very torquey engines.

Funny that. You either get Subaru’s or you dont. The interiors look poverty spec to most yet to me it looks japtastic. The frameless doors, the way it feels if you press the accelerator a certain way mid-end, the turbine-type noise/engine/transmission naked noise, the way a tracteur beam pulls it through/towards the exit on a roundabout..

There ARE faster cars, faster turbo diesels but in the right hands boy they shine 🙂

Saying that..
My Legacy was almost insipid to drive compared though. It was smooth, fussless, planted, quick but abit dull. I even managed to average 50mpg on the motorway once but boy it was meh.

If the OP’s brief included towing a caravan, how would these petrol models fair ?

I don’t think a CX-7 would struggle to tow a caravan.

If you are going the high (ish) mileage route on a petrol Crv – google timing chain issues, it is a fairly costly problem.

Saying that..
My Legacy was almost insipid to drive compared though. It was smooth, fussless, planted, quick but abit dull. I even managed to average 50mpg on the motorway once but boy it was meh.

You should have got a spec b then 🙂

I treat drove a diesel legacy yesterday and was quite impressed (a bit slow), but felt proper Subaru. When did they sort our the apparent breaking crankshafts, a potential 6k bill is a bit off-putting.

Re: towing a caravan I can only go with what I know, my Dad tows an Eldiss Avante 550 with his manual petrol CRV, he has had no problems. He also towed a Bailey for years with his old auto petrol CRV.

Tom200 without googing I think it was 08-10?/11 even diesels

What about the Hyundai Tucson/Kia Sport age?

Decent cars with good kit, reliable engines and priced lower than the Japanese cars.

I’d recommend a mk1 Santa Fe, but they are pretty ugly, but are an amazing value vehicle.

When did they sort our the apparent breaking crankshafts, a potential 6k bill is a bit off-putting.

Late 2010/ early 2011, I think…

Repairs on Subarus can be expensive though, can’t they ?

They’re actually very simple cars and euro car parts sell all the consumables.
They’re no more expensive to maintain than any other car.

Consumables are ok – availability and lead times for anything damaged rather than ‘consumed’ less so. My sister in laws Legacy was broken in to quite clumsily – damage to the lock barrel and steering column. There weren’t any spares in the uk and lead time was months and months for getting them during which time she couldn’t drive it or secure it – she ended up having to scrap it.

Well finally got the new car. After looking at a lot of different options including rav 4 (no bargains about) Suzuki Vitara (only ones I could see were tatty) Mazda 6 estate (slightly too pricy) and very nearly getting an Alfa 159 sport wagon (too high miles in my price range, heart ruling head) went for the safe option. Honda CR-V with 74000 miles in 2.0 petrol (cheers for advice hora) for £3800 which I think is a bargain. It’s in great condition and drives really well, much more solid than my Zafira and the alfas I’ve had in the past. Nice of the snow to arrive on the day I bought it to test it on the slippy roads in the Peak District on my drive home. Anyone else got any experiences of CR-Vs? Anything I should look out for?

Seems like a very good price! Hope it’s a good spec. A nice specced Jap car always seems so different from a peasant spec version (inside)

great stuff. has it got appropriate tyres on? 4×4 minimal benefit in snow unless all weather or winter tyres.

It’s the sport se so climate control, electric sunroof, up graded alloys etc. Got everything we need but would have loved a Bluetooth stereo but we’ll manage.

Tyres are brand new high spec ones apparently, giugaro something or other, feel very grippy

Vredestein tyres by the sound of it. Certainly not a budget option.

Vredestien were my first snow tyres lots of years ago. Bloody good tyres.