I guess the question for me is, "Does a Honda age better than a Toyota?" My Toyota Corolla was 18 years old when I felt it was time to trade it in (owed $1,200 in repairs on it when I had the AC fail and the motor mounts start to fail). It only had 152,000 miles on it, a disappointment. I think that the killing factor was not mileage, but age in the years of winter and boiling summer. Nothing human-made will last forever, and you eventually have to replace everything, maybe except the glass if you're lucky. The question is, "Can I reasonably expect a CR-V to last 40 years if I only drive it 5,000 miles a year, or will it start falling apart quickly due to atmospheric conditions and weather exposure at a certain point in time no matter whether I drive it 1,000 miles a year or 200,000 miles a year?"
I have averaged about 5,000 miles a year for the last 8 years I had the Toyota. I had a lot of things done to the car even though I was always on top of maintenance, like a differential replaced, engine block broke, instrument panel replaced (!), entire steering system overhauled, distributor nodal replaced, radiator replaced, water pump replaced, all within the last 7 years. My door handles on the left side were breaking on me, headliner starting to separate, plastic parts in the interior cracking on me, and the headlights were getting so dim that on the trip up to Columbus, I had to use the high beams to see, and I never received a high-beam flash back in the opposite direction to dim mine! I never realized how bad the headlights were getting, having stayed in Houston under very good street lights for a long time. It just reached the end of its service life. If I'm going to have a Honda, I want it for life. The CR-V is growing on me very quickly. I didn't think it would because of my preference for the Element, but I see its advantages in how it drives and having a bit more ground clearance than the Element.
The mileage per year may not change much, since I'm about to receive a 1977 International Harvester Scout II when it comes out of restoration. What am I going to do with 10,000 miles of travel? I may stretch it out to 15,000 miles total for next year when I go back to see my aunt and family in OH. The drive out to OH recently would bump the miles to about 8,000 miles for 2010. It's NICE to get out of Houston for a change!
Stephanie