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Has anyone here owned a CRV? I am also looking at an 03 Avalon

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SAWYER

Lifer
I just bought an 05 SE model, it seems like it has been taken care of. It is almost due for an oil change, what kind of oil would you recommend? Any other services I should perform on it right off the bat?

Tomorrow I might be going to look at an 03 Avalon XLS, it seems to be good shape but the ac isn't working. The guy wants $3400 for it, I am seeing 2000/01's for that price or more locally. I had an older Avalon and loved it, I was hoping to get some input on this generation. They seem to be pretty solid from what i have been reading online
 
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My step-mom had a CRV and ran it for close to 300k with very little issues, just wear and tear items. Was still running good when she traded it in for a new one. Was a first ten whenever that was.
 
My dad has an 04 ex manual with somewhere around 150k or so on it. Its had some problems here and there, but AFAIK nothing show stopping. He tends to be a little hard on cars so its not unsurprising, but from what I recall any major problem has only shown up within the past few years and north of 100k. AFAIK this was a pretty reliable model so I'd just do normal maintenance on it. I've read somewhere of HVAC issues that can be hugely expensive, but nothing firm. Possibly some issue with the rear diff as well, but again no details.
 
That generation Avalon was known to suffer from the sludge issues other Toyotas equipped with 3.0 faced. Timely oil changes are very important on that engine.

Otherwise, I thought they were really nice cars at the time. Tried to talk my inlaws into getting one way back in 2000.
 
Seems like it was taken care of? You didn't buy a car without papers and documentation, did you? Ugh.
 
Good luck with that. I document stuff by writing it down. Generally, if the car looks well taken care of, it probably is. If its dirty, beat up and stinks...well, most likely the mechanical condition matches.
 
Maybe I'm the oddball for always keeping every scrap of paper relating to my car's service history in a folder.
 
05 CR-V uses the K24 engine, which is also found in Accords and some other Honda/Acura vehicles. It's one of the most bulletproof 4-cylinder engines out there, and it uses a timing chain which does not need to be changed like a timing belt. That same engine debuted in 2002 and a very similar variant is still being used in Accords and CR-Vs today!

As for oil, any name brand conventional or synthetic blend will work fine. No need to use full synthetic. For oil changes, 5,000-7,500 miles is a good range to go by. If you want to use an oil that's widely available and similar to the "Honda-brand" oil dealerships use, look for Ford Motorcraft Synthetic Blend 5W-20 at Walmart and other places. It's made by ConocoPhilips, just like the OEM oil, and it's cheap at about $16 for 5 quarts.


Maintenance items to do if they have not been done:

-Change air filter if it is dirty. Same with cabin air filter (if the SE has one).
-Change rear differential fluid if your CRV is AWD. I did this on a 09 CRV and it used Honda Dual Pump II fluid. The 2005 should use the same stuff. This is very important to do every 20-30k miles. Honda really over-stretched the diff fluid change interval on early CR-Vs and reduced the interval on later years to a more reasonable one.
-Change the automatic transmission fluid. Make sure to use Honda DW-1. Do not use any kind of power-flushing procedure; only drain and refill is recommend by Honda. A single drain and refill will replace about 50% of the old fluid due to fluid being stuck in the torque converter. 3x drain and refill will swap out about 90% of the old fluid. I recommend doing a single drain and refill every 30-40k miles.
-(Optional) Change the ATF filter. Most dealerships don't even know that there is a filter for the ATF, but it's pretty easy to change on Accords and CR-Vs. I did it on my Accord and it was a 20-minute preocedure. My philosophy is that if you are going to change the ATF, you might as well change the ATF filter along with it since the part is under 20 bucks and relatively easy to change. The part # should be 25430-PLR-003, but double check this yourself to make sure.
-Change coolant and spark plugs if the car has more than 100k miles and has not had those done.
-Change brake fluid if it has not been done in the past 3 years. Honda recommends to do this every 3 years because brake fluid is hygroscopic and absorbs water over time.
 
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Thanks

I just drove it a abou 150-200 miles today and it did good, I will do all that maintenance this coming week. I went and drive the Avalon today, it drove pretty good. I was limited on time so I will check it out later this coming week.
 
One more thing, the correct spark plug to use is NGK IZFR6K11. You can get a pack of 4 from Advance Auto Parts for about $30 with a coupon code. No need to replace distributor cap or anything like that because the K24 engine uses individual coil packs.

I just did the plugs last year on my Accord and plan to do them this summer on the CRV so I still have the part #s fresh in memory 😉
 
SAWYER said:
Is it pretty easy on the CRV?
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The spark plugs? As easy as it gets. 20 minute job if you've got some previous experience working on cars, 30-40 minutes if you're new to it.

Make sure to do the plugs with the engine 100% cold.
 
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