The old Honda CRV

[rayinpenn]

It has been part of the family for nearly 12 years. It has putted along for 120,000 miles spending the last 4 as a parking lot queen at State U.. In all that time it has only asked for a generator, brakes, tires and oil changes. Even though it is an inanimate object its reliability has earned my loyalty. Today I took her in for a leaky tire and the tire place wanted $1000 for upper and lower tie rods. I've decided to take her to Honda and see what the real damage is and to decide her fate Unless it's over $1500 I'll likely save her for a year or two more duty as a parking lot queen at a different State U. This one thankfully is half as far away and shouldn't see all that snow and battery killing cold.

When she was new she was my my daily driver, then my daughter's long distance hauler. Today she is my sons ride. I can't say exactly why but I'll have a hard time letting her go.

Some cars are just like that...eh?

 

[dvalley]

May be upper and lower control arms? Tie rods are inner and outer not upper and lower and much less expensive. I replaced the complete front suspension (bought a complete package on Amazon for around $450 if I remember correctly) on my Honda not long ago took a solid 3/4 day. To be fair to other DIYers I have the same tools (or more lol) as most of the professional shops though so your mileage may vary.

 

[Rich]

Before letting go of what still might be a perfectly good automobile, I'd calculate how much a "newer" car will run you as opposed to paying the costs of continuing to maintain this car.

Due to our "snowbirding" between Cape Cod and AZ, we have to maintain two autos. My 2000 Rav4 needs four tires and a new timing and accessories belt. A cool (plus or minus) $1,000 dollars. Car has 105,000 trouble free miles on it. To me, it's a no brainer. Fix up the old Rav and it'll probably go quite a few more years before giving up the ghost. Or spend around $20,000 dollars for a decent used car.

Rich

 

[Just_Steve]

Before letting go of what still might be a perfectly good automobile, I'd calculate how much a "newer" car will run you as opposed to paying the costs of continuing to maintain this car.

Due to our "snowbirding" between Cape Cod and AZ, we have to maintain two autos. My 2000 Rav4 needs four tires and a new timing and accessories belt. A cool (plus or minus) $1,000 dollars. Car has 105,000 trouble free miles on it. To me, it's a no brainer. Fix up the old Rav and it'll probably go quite a few more years before giving up the ghost. Or spend around $20,000 dollars for a decent used car.

Rich

105,000......not even broken in yet.

 

[Rich]

105,000......not even broken in yet.

Exactly!!

Rich

 

[Bamaman]

I would strongly suggest you find a good independent alignment shop to do the work on your suspension. A Honda dealer will do like the first estimate--eat your lunch.

You might want to look on RockAuto.com to see what suspension components cost. Tie Rod ends are incredibly cheap. A set of struts are pretty expensive--just over $500 for four strut cartridges.

There are honest shops out there. Good luck finding one.

 

[aja8888]

I replaced the suspension in my 2003 Jetta last year (DIY) and the parts were ~ $600. That included Bilstien struts and shocks, new ball joints, lower control arm bushings, tie rod ends and sway bar bushings. The car had 286,000 on it and the OE was still in place.

Today I changed the oil and fuel filter at 311,000.

Good car, still runs like a top. Looks good too!

Your CRV could do way more than you have on it now. I'm surprised the suspension components are going out so soon in its life.

 

[easysurfer]

12 years is in car age is just middle age in my book. Last car I had after many many repairs I kept for about 18 years.

Gotta admit though, may have kept too long though . The end of the line was after the transmission gave out (again) and the engine started leaking oil.

 

[rayinpenn]

Before letting go of what still might be a perfectly good automobile, I'd calculate how much a "newer" car will run you as opposed to paying the costs of continuing to maintain this car.

Rich

Always a challenge - deciding just how much do you put into an old car? My first instinct is the college is a little under 2 hours away all easy highway miles. Most of the time she will be a parking lot queen..sitting. I'll probably have to remind him to start the old gal. A reliable old car with a new battery, solid tires and brakes should be fine. A decent replacement will probably be $15k... ok the repair limit is now $2k let's see what happens. I've seen these car with 160k mikes...

 

[davismills]

If you do decide to get rid of the CRV, I would suggest marketing to RV owners. The CRV is a favorite among RVers because of its four wheel down tow-ability. The new CRV will NOT allow towing because of a change of transmission model. An older CRV is very desirable right now among RVers.

 

[samclem]

Unless salt and rust have taken their toll in a major way, I would vote for keeping the old girl on the road even if the bill comes to $1K. She's still giving you good $/month service, and there aren't many miles on her clock.

We have a 2011 CRV, and it is a good vehicle. I do prefer the more "squarish" body styling of the older CR-Vs (Gen 1 and Gen 2), though I do prefer the flip-up, tire-free tailgate of the newer versions.

Good luck. I finally sold the 1986 Camry that I bought from my FIL about 17 years ago. It was really a great car and still reliable. It was hard to sell her: Lightweight and lacking air bags, ABS, etc, I wouldn't feel right selling her to a kid. But my barber needed a cheap car that gets good mileage, and also likes to fix things up. He even had a family tie to it, as his dad had owned a similar model. I sold it to him for $100, and he loves it and he's addressing all the little things I had neglected.

Funny how we get attached to inanimate objects. We name all our cars.

 

[euro]

Funny how we get attached to inanimate objects. We name all our cars.

I'm the opposite - never thought of naming a car or a boat. Even the cat is mostly "the cat", although he DOES have a name on his tag... responds just as well ( or NOT) to either version

 

[W2R]

It has been part of the family for nearly 12 years. It has putted along for 120,000 miles [...] the tire place wanted $1000 for upper and lower tie rods. [...]I can't say exactly why but I'll have a hard time letting her go.

No need to put yourself through an emotional crisis over this at this time. At the age and mileage you cite, I doubt your CRV needs replacing just yet unless you simply want a new car. Apparently, you don't. Just pay the $1,000 and get the car fixed.

 

[Nightcap]

Funny how we get attached to inanimate objects. We name all our cars.

Don't anthropomorphize your cars. They hate it when you do that.

Seriously, cars and computers get names around our house.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have a thirteen-year-old MDX with 118k miles on it and we had an eight-year-old Civic with 101k miles on it. We replaced the Civic with an Accord last week as I was getting nervous having two "middle-aged" cars. The MDX is the better car and nice to have for hauling big stuff and not worth much to anyone but us so we kept it. So impressed with all the technology on cars today vs the Civic, which had a single USB port, no bluetooth, no backup camera, etc.

We call our cars "the big car" and "the little car." They've never objected.

If the OP's old CRV isn't at risk of breaking down en route between college and home, I'd keep it too.

 

[Bamaman]

We have a thirteen-year-old MDX with 118k miles on it and we had an eight-year-old Civic with 101k miles on it. We replaced the Civic with an Accord last week as I was getting nervous having two "middle-aged" cars. . . . . . .

When you are retired and pretty much on a fixed income, you do need to pay close attention to aging assets. Things like automobiles and trucks need to be rotated out from time to time even though there may be more miles in them--so you don't have to replace two expensive items at one time.

I had a pontoon boat with a blown engine and a travel trailer that was 18 years old. My kid's Sea Doo was 18 years old. Then MegaCorp retired me (and my company car) and I had to buy a car. It was just too much to have to replace at one time. But I got over it and am back to staging out asset replacements.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Ex-coworker has a 1994 CR/V which he kept when he bought a new Acura RDX. He kept the Honda as the value was so low, and continues to drive it daily.

DW is driving a 2006 CR/V which we plan to keep as long as possible.

Good cars.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

My 2003 CRV has 184,000 miles and is mechanically sound. The "upper and lower tie rods" needing replacement story is nonsense talk - there is misunderstanding or deception going on here. Unless the car has seen unusually harsh treatment, some maintenance could be required, nothing more.
At 170,000 miles I did a thorough bumper to bumper assessment of my car going through every major component. In short, these are well built vehicles.
What I found concerning the front suspension - 1) the Macpherson struts were leaking, I replaced the shock units only with original KYB's as they are integral to the front suspension and critical for good alignment. 2) replaced the front control arm bushing, often called "compliance bushing" - these are prone to cracking. 3) replaced the outer tie rod end rubber boots - they were cracked but not to the point of water intrusion. The tie rod bearings are fine and original.
That's it, I expect to keep this car past 250,000. YMMV

 

[Red Badger]

I had an older CRV. There was some front end work needed and it was covered under a safety recall. You might want to Google that topic for your model year. Loved mine

Good luck!

 

[samclem]

When you are retired and pretty much on a fixed income, you do need to pay close attention to aging assets. Things like automobiles and trucks need to be rotated out from time to time even though there may be more miles in them--so you don't have to replace two expensive items at one time.

From my perspective, one of the nice things about living from a portfolio (compared to a paycheck) is the ability to dig deeper if needed to pay for multiple unexpected expenses that life lumps together. The down-side is a possible tax hit if the withdrawals (from IRAs or sale of appreciated assets) drive us into a higher bracket. That's one reason we got a HELOC set up while I'm still w*rking. At today's low rates, it would be better for us to use the HELOC to spread the payments (and necessary withdrawals) over a few years rather than go into a higher bracket and lose the "tax-free" LTCG withdrawals.

 

[rayinpenn]

My 2003 CRV has 184,000 miles and is mechanically sound. The "upper and lower tie rods" needing replacement story is nonsense talk - there is misunderstanding or deception going on here.

As pointed out by another poster I believe they said control arms.. but in truth I'd never trust them with more then a flat or new tires...
I watched a couple of YouTube videos and the control arms have two bushings on them that are a bear to replace (and beyond my ability - he used an air wrench, bushing kit and press to break them free) so I suppose they generally replace the whole control arm which no doubt is pricey. I priced them in the auto zone for $130 each so $260 and $740 labor hmmm

I will ask Honda just to check out the front suspension and see what they say...

 

[target2019]

It sounds like you're attached to the old CRV as I was to my 2002 Toyota Highlander. I wanted to keep her, but 4 cars on insurance for 3 drivers made no sense. I sold her to my brother for use in very short drives to various non-profits he runs. He needed some cargo space, so I walked away with $500, he got a car that was running fine.

I've donated several cars to various non-profits. You don't net much, but it is very convenient, vs. trying to sell or repair.

 

[Breedlove]

Honda , is known as a great car 120,000 miles is nothing . Sometimes you must do repairs . It is part of owning a car. drive a 2006 Honda Ridgeline 125,000 miles I repair stuff when needed . The Honda dealer near me is not cheap but always has coupons and other savings for retired people .

 

[bjorn2bwild]

As pointed out by another poster I believe they said control arms.. but in truth I'd never trust them with more then a flat or new tires...
I watched a couple of YouTube videos and the control arms have two bushings on them that are a bear to replace (and beyond my ability - he used an air wrench, bushing kit and press to break them free) so I suppose they generally replace the whole control arm which no doubt is pricey. I priced them in the auto zone for $130 each so $260 and $740 labor hmmm

I will ask Honda just to check out the front suspension and see what they say...

No need to replace the whole control arm. Bushing removal/replacement will be routine for a decent mechanic. It is unlikely that the rear bushing will need replacement @120,000 miles/12 years. The front bushing takes torsional stress and is a known problem with many Hondas. So much so that there is a special tool that can R/R the bushing without removing the control arm. This is a 1-2 hour job max with the tool. Note - I am a westerner, harsh salty roads back east may shift emphasis.

 

[Koolau]

I'm the opposite - never thought of naming a car or a boat. Even the cat is mostly "the cat", although he DOES have a name on his tag... responds just as well ( or NOT) to either version

My favorite dog name is D-O-G (pronounced dee-OH'-gee.)