Nice to be a Honda owner [Archive] - Honda CR-V Owners Club Forums

JeffsFirstCRV

08-05-2008, 06:05 AM

I signed the papers for my 2008 CR-V last night; don't even have the vehicle yet (dealer has to prep) and I'm already excited. I've never owned a Honda vehicle.

If I remember correctly, the mpg rating is 20 city/26 highway for the 4WD. Is this about what everyone's getting? I'm trading in a 2000 Nissan Xterra which was rated 15/19; that's just about what I was getting. The CR-V will be a breath of fresh air.

tcturner

08-05-2008, 06:10 AM

Welcome to the club,that is about the mpg. I am getting on my 06.

Honda 367

08-05-2008, 07:05 AM

Welcome to the Forum! I am sure your mileage will get better as you put miles on your new CR-V. Honda seems to be more conservative than some other manufacturers in regards to their MPG stats. On a recent highway trip of 460 miles, I averaged around 30 MPG and that's driving at 60-65 mph. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Black Pearl

08-05-2008, 08:06 AM

The hills of western Pennsylvania are not kind to gas mileage, but I do better than the advertised figures. I do little truly city driving. Most of my driving is in Monroeville and the north hills of Pittsburgh and I generally get 22 to 24. If I take it out into the country I can get 27 to 28. True interstate driving 28 to 29 keeping below 70 mph.

Welcome to the club and good luck with your new V!

CRaVeBacon

08-05-2008, 09:25 AM

Welcome & Congrats on your purchase. Would love to see pics when she arrives.
I am waiting to pick up mine tomorrow!

jpod

08-05-2008, 10:09 AM

Welcome. Should be lots of fun cruising the hills and dales of western PA in your CRV.

Some new owners (myself included) have seen some pretty low indicated average MPGs. I don't why this occurs but if it happens to you, if for example your see an indicated average MPG of around 17MPG at highway speeds during the first 1000 or so miles of ownership, don't be discouraged. Keep the faith. In the long run you will probably be getting mileage that exceeds the EPA estimates.

There are several very helpful threads on this forum concerning gas mileage. I think the best one is "08 mpg". Another has a title something like "disappointing mileage"

Again, welcome. Post some pics when you have chance.

JPO

JeffsFirstCRV

08-05-2008, 11:10 AM

Wow, I see I'm in good company here. So many responses in such a short time, and all the nice welcomes. I really appreciate the feedback!

I also see that I'm not alone in tackling the hills of western PA. As suggested by other people who have posted, I won't hold my breath for the first 1000 miles or so, but it sounds like even in the evil terrain of where I live, I can expect to see mileage exceeding the estimates.

Thanks for your helpful answers! And thank you for the invitation to post a picture. I will do so.

Jeff

TKCRV08

08-05-2008, 11:38 AM

:D Congrats on your purchase! WELCOME to the HONDA family and The CRV Family! :-) We're happy to have you!

I have almost the same V as you but mine is 2wd ;) . We just put the first 1,000 miles in it this weekend and here in NC we've been averaging 23-24mpg city. I don't do much highway driving but I will be taking her next weekend on a trip so I"ll let ya know how that goes MPG wise.

Again, Congrats and post pictures as soon as you pick her up!:)

mycle1000@yahoo.com

08-05-2008, 01:45 PM

always glad to see a new owner here. the mileage will get better as the parts get to know each other (break in). we almost always average 27-28 hiway/interstate.
follow the maintenance minder for that first oil change. the break in oil should stay in for a while.
look around this site for forums to find out what everyone else knows that can come in handy.
enjoy!

NELSON WILLIAM BELLINGHAM

08-05-2008, 03:36 PM

this is my 2nd honda, first was 78ex civix my new 08 cr-v ex is just a beaut. , my milage is 28 city, 30 highy, depends, on your right foot!!!.

JeffsFirstCRV

08-06-2008, 05:52 AM

Many, many thanks to all of you who took the time to respond and make me feel welcome. I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

I picked up the new vehicle last night. An intermittent rattle somewhere drove me out of my mind. Same thing this morning; until I discovered that it stopped as soon as I removed my cell phone from the cup holder compartment in the center tray between the front seats! Talk about discouragement quickly turning to relief...

The vehicle now has 26 miles on it. Let me mention that the dealer took delivery of it on August 4, 2008. I bought it fresh off the truck. Anyway, I checked the average MPG so far just for giggles: the display showed 20. Now if I'm honestly getting 20 MPG after the vehicle's first 26 miles of all city driving, I CAN'T WAIT to see what I'll be gettting later.

I have never owned a Honda vehicle. My wife has owned many through the years, from CRX to Accord to Civic. Having watched her enjoy the benefits of Honda ownership with those reliable, cost-friendly vehicles, I finally came to my senses and treated myself to what I expect to be a great driving experience for many years to come.

I'm glad I found this forum.

Black Pearl

08-06-2008, 07:12 AM

The dash displayed MPG averages over the mileage since you last reset the odometer. I use odometer B for gas mileage and A for trips. About a month ago I bought gas and drove basically down hill for 4.3 miles. I had 51.3 MPG displayed. I then drove up a couple of long hills and voila right back down to the low 20s. I have driven up hill and had 9 MPG soon after a reset. As you get close to the end of the tank, the mileage (presuming you reset it when the tank is filled) will be averaged over the number of miles driven and will be closer to the actual truth. I think most people find the dash display to be somewhat optimistic usually indicating a 1/2 to 1 mpg higher than actual (dividing the number of miles on the tank by the number of gallons refilled).

The other thing you will note is the range indicator below a 1/4 tank becomes extremely pessimistic. I often fill up with 9 miles left on the range and only put about 13 1/2 gallons in the tank. That should leave me nearly 2 gallons in the tank or 40 to 50 miles range left. So you may find the range indicator almost useless below 1/4 tank. Don't push that, you really want to avoid running out of gas. If you get the low tank icon on the dash be sure to get gas as soon as possible, but don't lose your mind over the range display.

Good luck with your V!

Honda 367

08-06-2008, 07:35 AM

JeffsFirstCRV

08-06-2008, 11:41 AM

Black Pearl: The points you make are understood and well taken. Thank you.

Honda 367: It looks like you have plenty of company when it comes to being a believer in Honda.

TKCRV08

08-07-2008, 07:30 PM

I have never owned a Honda vehicle. My wife has owned many through the years, from CRX to Accord to Civic. Having watched her enjoy the benefits of Honda ownership with those reliable, cost-friendly vehicles, I finally came to my senses and treated myself to what I expect to be a great driving experience for many years to come.

I'm glad I found this forum.

Wow, this comment sounds VERY firmilar! MY husband too came to his senses and got a Honda this year... I've had 3 Hondas counting my new CRV and will never own anything but a Honda... he saw how crappy my mother treated my first accord and she handed down to me and even though I treat it like gold he was surpised I got over 268,000 miles out of it with very little problems. I eventually traded the accord for a 2003 civic. He fell in love with the gas mileage and reilabilty of my civic and traded in his Jeep Wrangler for a 08' Civic LX. I recently I traded my 2003 civic for my CRV :-) and it was worth more than I owed:eek: !! My husband was the happiest man in NC that day I assure you, and it made him even happier about his purchase he made seeing for himself the great resale value of Hondas in action:D ! He now is a true believer is Hondas and tells everyone they should own Hondas. In fact, he talked a girl at work into getting one about a week later, she now is a proud owner of a 2008 Accord.

Hondas are the BEST!

JeffsFirstCRV

08-08-2008, 06:09 AM

TKCRV08, it is postings like yours and everyone else's here that make me ecstatic about my decision to buy a Honda. It's great to see testimonials like these from people who have owned Hondas for years and are still satisfied to the point where they won't drive any other make of vehicle.

I'm so glad I found this forum where people like all of you are happy to take the time share your pleasant experiences. I've never had such excitement before from owning a vehicle; thanks to all of you, I look at my new CR-V and just smile.

:) :)

P.S. I see in many postings that people use the abbreviation "V". Pardon my ignorance, but does that refer to "vehicle" in general, or is it shorthand for "CR-V" in particular?

Honda 367

08-08-2008, 08:02 AM

^I think V means CR-V for short. By the way, you live in Western PA. I will be driving up to Grove City to drop off my son at his school next week. I won't be driving CR-V as much as I like to because of all the stuff I have to haul for my son. We'll use the other SUV. I'll get less MPG but I can pack more.

JeffsFirstCRV

08-08-2008, 11:53 AM

Grove City, huh? My family lives in Grove City. From where I live, it's a decent haul: about an hour and a quarter, somewhere around 75 miles, I think.

I bring this up because it's actually relevent to CR-V stuff. When I picked the car up the other day, the sales guy told me that part of the break-in was to stay away from going one constant speed for any length of time during the first 600 miles. I've seen this before for vehicles I've had in the past. But when I looked up the break-in requirements in the owner's manual for the new CR-V, there was nothing in there about that.

My wife and I are going to Grove City on Sunday, and I told my wife we have to take her car. The route we take to Grove City is mostly highway, and if the stuff above is true, I don't want to take the new CR-V on the highway just yet.

Was the sales guy inaccurate about the constant speed thing?

TKCRV08

08-08-2008, 03:44 PM

"V" is short for CRV :) It annoys the crap out of my husband when I call my CRV the "V" .... he always corrects me says "Its call the CRAVE!!!" haha... "The Crave" is her official name in our household, lol. So I hope this answers your question.

TKCRV08

08-08-2008, 03:55 PM

[QUOTE=TKCRV08;24853] In fact, he talked a girl at work into getting one about a week later, she now is a proud owner of a 2008 Accord. QUOTE]

I forgot to mention this girl lives in our apartment complex (and we all work together) and we all park together on purpose in a part of the parking lot that no one else parks solely because there are no sprinklers there to spray stuff on our cars....lol so that part of the parking lot looks like an ad for 08 Honda's... a CRV, a Accord and A civic..all side by side lol... I"ll post a picture tomorrow and you guys will see what I mean...

JeffsFirstCRV

08-08-2008, 05:58 PM

I forgot to mention this girl lives in our apartment complex (and we all work together) and we all park together on purpose in a part of the parking lot that no one else parks solely because there are no sprinklers there to spray stuff on our cars....lol so that part of the parking lot looks like an ad for 08 Honda's... a CRV, a Accord and A civic..all side by side lol... I"ll post a picture tomorrow and you guys will see what I mean...
I'd love to see a picture of a bunch of Hondas parked together. As I may have mentioned, my wife has owned Hondas for years. Sometimes when we're walking through a parking lot and she spots 3 or 4 Hondas parked in close proximity, she'll point them out to me. I always thought to myself, "Yeah, so?" But now I'm finding myself keeping an eye out for that Honda logo on the road and in parking lots.

Speaking of pictures, I'm going to go take one or two right now....

In the top pick, it looks like it's smiling...what a coincidence, when I get in it, I smile, too!

jnjinnc

08-09-2008, 01:19 PM

I've had my '08 CR-V for almost 3 months now. I live in the mountains of western NC, at about 3800' elevation and didn't really expect the 4cyl engine to do all that well, coming back from town. What a pleasant surprise! It putts it's way up the mountain as well as it's predecessor (a 6cyl Explorer 4wd)and is a whole lot less thirsty.

The CR-V gets 24mpg on average and 28mpg on the Interstate. Not bad for an AWD vehicle, especially after years of Explorers and Tahoes! Now if it will just handle the snow and ice of winter.

Like you, I'm a first time Honda owner, although I bought both kids one (Civic) when they were in college. They loved 'em and so do I!

Black Pearl

08-09-2008, 01:41 PM

[QUOTE=jnjinnc;24972] Now if it will just handle the snow and ice of winter.
/[QUOTE]

I put Bridgestone Blizzaks on mine last winter. While I didn't drive in any deep snow, I was on some really treacherous ice several times. The V behaved like it was a August afternoon. I couldn't believe it. It handles winter very well if you put some good winter tires on it.

Paul58

08-09-2008, 05:50 PM

We actually just got home from picking up our Tafetta White EX-L with Navi 4WD that when we purchased it had 37 miles on it. We drove 70 miles home with the majority of it highway and we averaged 28.5 mpg and we were thrilled!!!!! We traded an Acura (which requires premium gas) and we are quite happy about checking out the regular gas prices now!!!!:D

JeffsFirstCRV

08-09-2008, 07:31 PM

I put Bridgestone Blizzaks on mine last winter. While I didn't drive in any deep snow, I was on some really treacherous ice several times. The V behaved like it was a August afternoon. I couldn't believe it. It handles winter very well if you put some good winter tires on it.

My vehicle came with Continental 4x4 Contact tires. To be honest, I've never heard of Continental. The sales guy who sold me the vehicle said it's one of the finest tires on the market. Is that just sales BS?

Badgerland

08-09-2008, 07:58 PM

My vehicle came with Continental 4x4 Contact tires. To be honest, I've never heard of Continental. The sales guy who sold me the vehicle said it's one of the finest tires on the market. Is that just sales BS?

It depends if you are talking to a Continental tires rep...:D Tires come with more opinions about them than you care to know about. Personally, I LOVE them for my bike, I've never had them on an automobile before.

JeffsFirstCRV

08-09-2008, 08:00 PM

Black Pearl

08-09-2008, 08:03 PM

Are Continentals the finest tires on the market? Don't know for sure but they are OEM tires, so go figure. My salesman told me that there is a laser in the oil pan that measures how the clarity of the oil and tells you when to change the oil!

Car dealers say the damnedest things.

lizzurd

08-09-2008, 08:08 PM

My salesman told me that there is a laser in the oil pan that measures how the clarity of the oil and tells you when to change the oil!

.

Now that has to be one of the funniest things i have ever heard.

JeffsFirstCRV

08-10-2008, 10:28 AM

X-Brawn

08-11-2008, 03:20 AM

You mean there ISN'T a laser in the oil pan???? :mad:

And I'm very upset that with all the maintenance minders in the V, there isn't one to tell when to change the headlight fluid!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go lubricate the muffler bearings. The sales guy told me this has to be done every 80 miles.

:D :D

I was told you also had to also check your blinker fluid, too. If it runs too low your turns signals won't work or will even fail to turn on when you need to make a turn.

I know this is true, as I saw someone with a bumper sticker saying "Running low on BLINKER fluid?" make a turn ahead of to go into a Circle-K. All without turning on his blinker. He was running into the store to apparently get more blinker fluid.

JeffsFirstCRV

08-11-2008, 06:33 AM

I was told you also had to also check your blinker fluid, too. If it runs too low your turns signals won't work or will even fail to turn on when you need to make a turn.

I know this is true, as I saw someone with a bumper sticker saying "Running low on BLINKER fluid?" make a turn ahead of to go into a Circle-K. All without turning on his blinker. He was running into the store to apparently get more blinker fluid.
You're assumption must be correct. But I have to say that I've seen blinker fluid cheaper at Wal-Mart. Circle-K charges too much for blinker fluid. And have you seen their price on flywheel liners???