[Wildcat]

I've also found that some Canadian CR-V's of this age were bought back by Honda Canada under some kind of recall, related to rust in a certain part of the car. Is that also a widespread problem here stateside?

The problem is that part of the rear suspension will break free from the body with this failure, due to one of the frame rails rusting from the inside out. In other words, the rust is not visible until it's too late. And the problem would be so expensive to fix after the failure that it isn't worth saving the CR-V for. There have been two failures already posted here in the forum. I have two '09s here--the blue one has a lot more rust underneath than the tan one. They both came from Ohio, they were built just six or seven weeks apart, and have roughly the same mileage. (My better half usually passes me in mileage until I take a couple of long road trips.) It just shows you how different people took care of their CR-Vs over time.

The best thing to do would be to check the underside of the CR-V. Since it has so few miles, it likely will have very little rust and will be perfectly fine. If it was not well maintained or regularly cleaned, though, I would be certain to take a peek underneath.

But, my Accord uses/leaks/vaporizes oil too, about 1/2 quart per oil change. (Same engine as dad's CR-V)

That is not "using" oil so much--that is actually quite good! My '09 uses about the same per oil change, and I go by the maintenance minder (which is ~10,000 miles). Our blue '09 probably goes through a quart at the most. All of the older Hondas I have ever owned would go through a lot more oil than that. My kiddo's '02 Accord (3.0L V6) goes through about two quarts per oil change. Our '99 TL (3.2L V6) used between one and two quarts. My '97 CR-V used at least two quarts if not three, every 7,500 miles (the oil change interval).

Keep in mind that auto manufacturers consider oil use to be "excessive" only if it exceeds one quart per 1,000 miles. Our '04 Civic just might qualify--it is using well over one quart of oil per tankful of gas. ? (Long/off-topic story.)

There was an issue with the K24 engine using too much oil. In fact, there is a sticky thread in one of the forums about it. But I don't think it was really widespread to where all of the K24s were defective--just a smaller percentage. Honda has made many millions of these engines. And other than a couple of issues (like the oil usage, or the "VTC rattle" that afflicts some K24s that were used in Accords and the Acura TSX), it's pretty much bulletproof.

One last note about the K24. My kiddo and I drove across Montana this past summer, from Rapid City SD up to Helena and then to Kalispell. I struggled on a poor tank of gas from a Casey's General Store in SD--I was nearly continually downshifting and having to wind the engine up higher just to maintain the speed limit. I ended up filling it with ethanol-free gas (somewhere around Billings?) and it drove much better.

The K24 only being a 4-cylinder engine struggles somewhat in the hills with something as heavy as the CR-V. In the mountains, forget about it--when I'm going over mountain passes (especially in Colorado), I can barely maintain speed with one passenger and a load of luggage, with the engine running hard around 5,000 RPM; passing is completely impossible. Even without the luggage, it struggles. On our flat terrain here, though, it has plenty of pep. Your Accord is lighter weight; the CR-V is around 3,450 pounds, nearly two tons. It's not that the K24 is a bad engine, but it was a poor choice for trying to push around so much weight.

But hey, you have a very low mileage CR-V. If you find it struggles too much, you can always sell it for quite a tidy sum and get something more powerful like the Pilot. But if you're OK with how it works for you as a daily driver, you'll have something that is comfortable and easy to drive (the transmission is smooth, and with the traction control and good tires, it cuts through winter weather like butter!). Major problems? Probably not for many years yet. I went through a rash of repairs in both of ours over the past two years (starters, AC compressors, struts), but we have almost 150,000 miles on each of ours.

If it has leather, it is the EX-L model. You'll have scored a nice one! And the Accord will give someone else quite a few more years of good service too, I'm sure. Where I live, it's usually rust that kills the older Hondas...or just about any car, for that matter.

Let us know what you end up doing!

 

[Wildcat]

That feature probably will not work with power seats. I don't think they can recline far enough to make that happen.

 

[Wildcat]

Think I'll just stay at the La Quinta instead, and get my free waffles... ?

 

[Wildcat]

There is a bad thing though: the seats. They're too hard. I've never owned a car with leather seats, but those times I've been in one with them, I've found them to be too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

The seats in our 2009s don't seem all that hard. They are not mushy soft, but I have been in far worse cloth seats that were extremely hard and uncomfortable (like the Chevy Cruze I rode in--the seats were flat out painful). But I do like more support in the seats and find I get fewer "saddle sores" on long road trips when the seats tend to be on the firm side. Seats can also feel hard until they are adjusted properly--changing the angle and the lumbar to find that perfect position can make a difference, since you're distributing body weight more evenly.

I got spoiled by the seats I owned in a mid 80s car. Leather, firm, designed by Recaro, built by Keyper (an OEM automotive supplier). On long trips, they were some of the most comfortable and least tiring seats I've ever had. Our Civic even has firm seats in it, and they are cloth, with terrific lumbar support built in.

 

[Wildcat]

That's a shame about the carpet, but a good floor mat would cover it. Sadly, the OEM floor mats are by far the best and would cover that up, and they are no longer available. Unless you pay some third party reseller who marks them way up at least double the original retail price (these are hoarders/flippers who buy up inventory just to flip it for obscene profit). There are aftermarket mats but the one set I bought was horrible (made by Lloyds, sold by @carid)--sloppy edging, crooked and off-center embroidered logos, a grey that is more like a dirty greyish brown, incorrect fit for the car (missing the center piece of mat that is supposed to cover the center carpeting between console and dash)...horrible. Maybe you'll luck out and find something of quality. There are plastic or rubber mats made to fit, including some from a good company like WeatherTec.

That rust is unusual. My '09s don't have any rust (other than the undercarriage) so you're lucky in that it may be limited to one spot on the tailgate.

I agree it's strange about the engine cover over the intake. But from what others say, that's the way the 2010-2011 CR-Vs were made.

But otherwise, wow--it's in great condition! And with the low mileage, it's good for many more years.

 

[Wildcat]

I bought mine here...

2.4L Engine Cover Upgrade

Check out the deal on 2.4L Engine Cover Upgrade at College Hills Honda

www.collegehillshonda.com

Wow, that's cool! Didn't know that kit existed.

I've seen hundreds of photos of 4-cylinder Accords, TSXes, etc. in the past several weeks and they have all the engine cover. I wonder what possessed Honda to start eliminating it on these two years of CR-Vs.

 

[Wildcat]

Then, get rid of all that Z-1 ATF and put in DW-1, for better cold-weather performance. (The owner's manual mentions Z-1, so that was probably factory-fill back then.)

Z-1 won't hurt anything but I agree you should do a drain and fill (maybe three times) as it is probably still on the original fluid, and it's more than due for a change. If you do your own fluid changes, this is probably the easiest one to do.

The block heater shouldn't be too bad to install. On our Civic, I removed the plug from the engine to drain out the fluids when replacing the cylinder head, and it was located near the oil filter. I would presume the K-series has it on the back of the block somewhere, but you can tell if you can find the instructions online for installing the block heater accessory.

 

[Wildcat]

Where I live, that would probably be about average rust for a 9-10 year old CR-V.

 

[Wildcat]

I don't know if it's differences in manufacturing, or just lack of care for a car, but I have two '09s that were built only about six or seven weeks apart, and our mileage is roughly similar on both. We bought both of these used. My tan CR-V has less rust underneath than the blue CR-V, where it's more noticeable, and it has been a little harder to work on. Both cars came from Ohio. It's evident the blue CR-V lived a harder life, and it has more flaws inside as well. And we're not replacing that one until my better half gets a job in a better area.

I am wondering if this 2010 was driven a short distance in the rough winter weather, to where the salt never really had a chance to wash off. In other words, drive it a few miles, and it's parked with that salt sitting there all that time. Where I live, yes, we do get salted roads, but we get enough rain in between that some of that salt is flushed away while driving, and I'm not afraid to take it up to the coin-op car wash and blast the undercarriage during the winter after a rough spell of weather.

 

[Wildcat]

My 2008 Civic (J VIN) rusted in every possible spot in the body. Prolly just failed galvanics. 2008 CR-V (UK VIN) had rust nowhere apart from aftermarket hitch.

I have seen used 8th generation Civics with more rust than our 2004 (7th gen), which only has a tiny spot of rust from a dent. Underneath it isn't that bad either--I'd say it has less than either of our '09s. But I have also seen some 7th gens in really poor condition here, especially 2001-2003, where the body has rusted through.

My '97 is slowly returning to the earth, one chunk of rust at a time. I'm ready to just get a tow truck to haul it to the salvage yard. I'm through with it. It's a shame the tires are almost new. They're worth more than the rest of the CR-V.

 

[Wildcat]

That's exactly what happened. Dad would drive it 1 mile to work and 1 mile back. Occasionally it would go on long trips (20+ miles) into Buffalo or beyond.

One advantage to taking it out to Montana is that the rust won't get much worse. If you could treat the existing rust with some sort of rust inhibitor, I think it would be fine. I would probably have a dealer inspect it, and make them aware of the Canadian recall so they know what to check for. Maybe even find a copy of the Canadian TSB online and print that out to show them how to test the mount for the trailing arm.

 

[Wildcat]

It will still rust, but much slower because there won't be corrosive salt to deal with. Since the surface of the steel has been breached, it will always be vulnerable to rust. For the undercarriage, a good blast with a power washer and treating it with rust inhibitor (which chemically reacts with the rust) would be best. And it's always a good idea to power wash the wheel wells, to flush out the rest of that crud where it gets tucked into tiny spaces. A DIY car wash is a good way to do this, although it is much harder to get underneath the CR-V unless you don't mind getting wet. ?