We're Trading In Our Echo

July 11, 2004

We decided to trade in the Echo... with a kid in a cubikat, and another one arriving in February, it's getting just a bit too cramped inside (it makes me think that European and Japanese baby seats must be smaller, but even our Britax seat is pretty bulky.)

Anyway, we found a 2001 Honda CR-V with only 27,000 miles on the odometer, only 3000 more than the Echo. We'll be picking it up tomorrow. It's a forest green 4 wheel drive, with all the power doodads that my wife wants. And, even though it's a bit larger than the Echo was, it's still quite tidy in size for good maneuverability, at least on US streets. And, unlike the other SUV's that interested my wife, its relatively frugal at 22/25 mpg city/highway. THe only thing that concerns me is that the tiny 2.0L engine won't be able haul all of its weight around as quickly as we're used to in the 1.5L Echo. Oh well, with kids, I guess racing is out of the question anyway.

July 11, 2004

Haven't I replied to this already? Oh, on another site! :)

That's the thing with familes. You have to make sensible decisions. Good luck with your new car mate. :thumbsup:

July 14, 2004

We picked up the CR-V yesterday. It's a 2001 4WD LX with 27500 miles.

-=- BASIC STATS -=-

Clover Green-Pearl (metallic dark-green), dark gray interior.

2.0L DOHC I-4 (146hp at 6200 rpm, 132 ft-lbs at 4500 rpm)

4spd Automatic Transmission (<_<)

Full time fully-automatic AWD.

A/C

Power windows

Power mirrors

Power doorlocks

Tilt-wheel

Cruise control

8-way adjustable driver's seat

AM/FM/CD/Cassette

Rear wiper/washer/defroster

Maplights

Tachometer

Passenger side underseat drawer.

Wet-well under cargo floor (for storing wet items, clothing, etc)

Foldout picnic table.

Cargo area 12-volt power-point.

-=- DRIVING EXPERIENCE -=-

On the road

It drives nicely, but tends to feel a bit soft on corners. When going over bumps, it soaks them up with pleasure, but it feels a bit mushy. All lines of visibility are excellent, except to the rear; this is likely more a personal issue, as I haven't driven an SUV of any kind in about 4 years, save for a Jeep Wrangler with a far shofter wheelbase and no roof to block my view (at least when I was driving it. Wifey didn't like the wind to mess up her hair :D ). If you've ever driven a minivan, you know exactly what it feels like: soft suspension, with generally mushy responses, but a very pleasant ride over rough roads.

Power

This is probably the CR-V's weakest point. It's not terribly powerful. The engine feels as though it would likely be much more at home back in a Civic, but when called upon, it does its job without too much complaining. The engine doesn't have much low end torque at all, and revs high for more power in classic Honda fashion. It's not necessarily better or worse than a comparably powerful pushrod, definately different. The transmission does an okay job, but its somewhat jerky and downshift-happy.

- note: I have always owned manual transmission cars, and have only driven an automatic car once since 2002, so I notice EVERY downshift or upshift as a quite unnatural feeling event.

Interior

Well, it looks like a small SUV from the outside. It's not. No matter what the appearance says, its a 5 seat minivan. The dash looks like a minivan, it drives like a minivan, it's got little nooks and crannies EVERYWHERE like a minivan, it's got a goofy column shifter like a minivan, its even got a flat-floor with captains chairs like a minivan. Overall, the interior is well executed, but a bit quirky. While most compact SUV's have a center console of some type, with a shifter on the floor, as well as cupholders, and a central driveshaft hump, the CRV has neither. The floor is flat, with enough open space that one can move from one front seat to a back seat with ease. There is a passthrough between the front seats where one could also concievably walk to the back, though the parking brake is strangely a handbrake mounted waaay down there on the floor, under the snack tray and armrest.

With the layout of the interior, it's really to our advantage that it has an automatic. The stick would rob space from the interior, and having to engage the parking brake EVERY time would become quite tedious. There is plenty of front legroom, and the driving position is in general comfortable. The ergonomics are a bit strange though. First and most glaring is the floor-mounted hand-brake. Adding to this are power-mirror and window controls mounted on the dashboard instead of the door, two levers on the right side of the steering column (transmission selector and wiper stalk), and a rather van-like driving position. The wheel could use to be a bit more vertical. On the plus side, the driver's seat is 8-way adjustable, it has tilt-wheel, and it has Honda's awesome cruise button setup (between the two right steering wheel spokes... it's probably just that this is what I grew up on, but it seems more intuitive than stalk mounted switches).

The rear seat is very comfortable... The rear seats have adjustable headrests, two flip-down center armrests, and reclining seatbacks... again, there is a minivan feel to it. There are heater ducts in the rear, along with a cupholder in each door. The windows roll completely down into the doors unlike some POS Ford products in recent years.

The interior materials are in the nice-but-not-spectacular category. The dash and door panels are soft padded vinyl, and the floors have soft carpeting. The seats are covered in pleasant feeling cloth, but the seats could use a bit more bolstering on the sides... The seats in the 2001 Civic were about as close to perfect as any sub-20K car has ever gotten, in my honest opinion, and these don't come near living up to that.

The sound insulation seems to be very good. Road noise isn't transmitted at great volume, though engine noise can get a bit boomy at high RPMs. Surprisingly, even with 27,000 miles, the interior is completely rattle free. I've gotten used to driving the Sonoma which began to rattle after about 20 miles, and loudly protests every expansion joint and road patch it crosses. I heard a faint rattle tonight, but careful inspection showed it to be the cheap plastic tag frame that the dealership put on the back.

As with most other Hondas I've driven (this is my 3rd, so I'm pretty familiar with them), there's a solid feeling to it. The sound of the doors closing approaches perfection. The switches, levers, and knobs feel very solid and strong. This is probably the one area where the Sonoma has disappointed me the most. There is a smooth, solid movement to the signal stalk in the CR-V, as opposed to the cheap feeling one in the Sonoma. The Sonoma doesn't have cruise, and its appearsthat GM put a cheaper version of their Swiss-Army-Knife style stalk in there, so this may be the issue. Other pars such as the seat-recline levers in the Sonoma are light years behind the CR-V. I can't imagine anyone choosing one car over a different one because of the feel of the levers, but its just one of those things you notice when you own both.

Cargo

This vehicle was designed for the Japanese market originally, and has the typical Japanese market plethora of storage spaces. There is a slideout drawer under the passenger seat, a large glovebox, and several nooks and crannies across the dash and center stack. The cargo area seems to be about the usual size for a small SUV (my parents ALWAYS had a Cherokee when I was a kid, so the dimensions back there seem just right. The spare tire is mounted in "I swear I'm an SUV" fasion on the back door, so that space is freed up in the interior. The cargo floor can be removed and set up as a small table, and there is a waterproof compartment under the floor in which wet items can be stowed. The back door also has a storage compartment, apparently the right size for a fire-extinguisher.

Bottom Line

This is not an enthusiasts car by a long shot, but it is the perfect ticket for our growing family. It gets better mileage than most small SUVs, and with its low mileage for its model year and excellent condition, should last us a good while. I really didn't want an automatic, but its something I suppose I can learn to live with... we still have the 03 Sonoma, which is my daily to/from work vehicle, and will keep my desire to shift gears satiated for the forseeable future. And, at just 13,900 dollars, the price is definately right.

-=- OUTSIDE -=-

-=- DASHBOARD -=-

This is the dash area. I'm still gettng used to the column shifter. It seems like a wierd place to put the shift lever, but I suppose it makes sense here since it leaves space between the seats free. Still, it's not the most intuitive place to put the shifter, especially since the usual honda wiper stalk is on the right side of the column too. I've already hit the washer several times trying to shift out of drive, and I've hit my wrist on the snack tray in the center several times trying to shift gears.

-=- BACKSEAT -=-

Here's the backseat area. Note that in this picture the front seats are pushed to all the way to the rear and reclined slightly. Even in this setting, I can sit in the back behind the seats. There is a good bit more space for the baby seat than there was in the Echo, and with the higher seating, it's easier to get Becca in and out.

-=- CARGO AREA -=-

Here's the cargo area. Like every other CR-V on earth, it has the strange top + side hinged rear door. The rear mounted tire is kinda corny, but it opens up space in the cargo area instead of being stuck inside as in a Jeep Cherokee, or under the cargo floor like most other SUV's (and pickups). It has a 12-volt cigarette lighter style power-point, as well as two other small compartments to hold small items, and a small compartment just large enough to hold a fire extinguisher on the inside of the rear door. It's got lots of room for junk... strollers, luggage, etc, something we did NOT want to give up after having the Echo.

:D