The ongoing repair to the mothership’s steering rack has led to the generous offer of a replacement from my aunt.

It’s a one owner ’98 Honda HRV. My aunt is in her seventies and she only used it for jaunts to the golf club and back.

I’ve never driven it before, nor have I ever owned a Honda before. I feel a bit like the top gear guys trying to keep my car going to avoid driving the Allegro back home. If the worst comes to the worst and the mothership dies and I have to use the Honda permanently what should I expect to go wrong with it?

HRV? Very little to go wrong and i seem to recall there was a website that listed warranty repairs, the HRV was the least likely to go wrong.

I had one for a few years and i didn’t spend a penny on it. My mum bought one and its been the same for her. The body panels are a bit thin, in an effort to keep the overall weight down i suspect. Mid 30’s to 40 mpg from the VTEC engine, not quick but its not designed for that. I have heard (friend of a friend of a friend, who heard it down the pub…etc) that the clutch which engages the rear wheels when the fronts spin is a weak point, but i have found little to back this up. The engine looks fairly low-tech and is easy to maintain.

I loved mine and to this day no other car has given me so little cause for concern. Whenever i go to start a car, there a little moment of “will it start?”. I never thought that with HRV though.

I never owned one but toyed with getting one a few years ago, the thing that put me off in the end was the fact that it only has 2 seats in the back (no middle lap belt).

that the clutch which engages the rear wheels when the fronts spin is a weak point

Wasn’t that feature only on the CRV? IIRC, the FRV was two wheel drive only.

Incidentally, I had a 1998 CRV for 12 years and nothing went wrong. At all. A great car.

Nah, HRV deffo had the option of the same sort of ‘sort of 4×4’ as a CRV, if I recall. Funny looking car, a little like a small old school Volvo on stilts.

From http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/honda/hr-v-1999/:

30-11-2012: Rated by Warranty Direct as the joint 5th Most Reliable Car of the past 15 years based on Warranty Direct claims statistics.

That’s good news, if the mothership is on death row it’ll be a keeper.

Wasn’t that feature only on the CRV? IIRC, the FRV was two wheel drive only.

Yes, the FRV is front wheel drive only, however the HRV comes with 4 wheel drive on certain models.

I picked it up yesterday from Banchory and drove it back to Fife. It feels tight and together. I need to check out it’s off road capabilities 😛