[SteakAndEggs]

I'm looking at purchasing a 2020 CR-V for the wife's car. She's been happily driving a 2011 VW GTI hatchback and likes its small size and punchy engine, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth. We have a toddler and are thinking about a having a second, so a larger car would be welcome. We'd probably be looking at the EX trim for the mix of features + cloth.

Few questions for you all:

1. How are the halogen headlights? My folks have a 2013 CR-V and the headlights in that car are some of the worst I've seen, but I see Honda has upgraded to projector-style housings.

2. Thoughts on the media system with Android Auto and Apple Carplay?

3. Is fuel dilution still an issue with the 2020 models?

4. Are you generally happy with your purchase?

5. Any thoughts of CR-V vs. VW Atlas Cross-Sport SE and Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nuke]

I think most people on this forum are Honda fans so may recommend Honda. I certainly believe Honda has VW beat in long term reliability. I have the touring which comes with very bright led headlamps and led driving lamps and they are great. My advice is to drive one in the evening and see for youself. Up here we have 7:30 sunset and before 9pm when most dealers close it is quite dark.
Wifey may however think the crv is rather large for her. The honda hrv is somewhat smaller and there are other vehicles and especially Mazda offerings too. I really like the way Mazda’s drive and came very close to buying a CX5, but I wanted the larger rear seat legroom of the crv (3 growing granddaughters). The Mazda CX30 also looks very interesting for someone looking for a car that is a bit smaller with room for a child and all the associated stuff.
My advice is to visit dealers and let the wife drive the cars. Unless she does a lot of dark country driving, don’t get too hung up on headlamp effectiveness, seems it may be more important to her to have a car she can easily park, maneuver etc?
Regarding fuel dilution and other issues, the 2020 models seem quite exempt from any problems and I love mine.
Apple car play works well, I did test for a while but I don’t normally use it as mine had built in Navigation.

 

[williamsji]

I'm looking at purchasing a 2020 CR-V for the wife's car. She's been happily driving a 2011 VW GTI hatchback and likes its small size and punchy engine, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth. We have a toddler and are thinking about a having a second, so a larger car would be welcome. We'd probably be looking at the EX trim for the mix of features + cloth.

Few questions for you all:

1. How are the halogen headlights? My folks have a 2013 CR-V and the headlights in that car are some of the worst I've seen, but I see Honda has upgraded to projector-style housings.

2. Thoughts on the media system with Android Auto and Apple Carplay?

3. Is fuel dilution still an issue with the 2020 models?

4. Are you generally happy with your purchase?

5. Any thoughts of CR-V vs. VW Atlas Cross-Sport SE and Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude?

Thanks in advance!

You will get a range of different responses to the above questions. So get your catchers mitt ready

1) halogens are notably inferior to LED on virtually all motor vehicles. That said.. they all have to meet federal safety standards and requirements, so this is going to boil down to personal perceptions and expectations. The LED headlights on the gen5 CRV are outstanding, and a big step up from the halogens, but you have to buy the touring trim to get them on the conventional gas engine version. The Hybrids come with them standard on all trims I believe. Given these LED headlight assemblies are ~ $900 each as replacement parts, they are clearly a big upgrade and worth the additional cost of a Touring trim 1.5T or hybrid in my view.

Suggestion: do at least one night time test drive with the halogens and the LED variants and decide for yourself.

2) While the Head Unit is an older design, and has had some issues for some owners, CarPlay works very well, and from what I hear so does Android Auto. Thing is.. with so many different phones in the field.. you may encounter some issues from time to time... and need to sort through how to resolve them for your specific case. Most of this appears to be glitching between phone and HeadUnit.. and is resolved with a phone reboot or a disconnect and reconnect.

3) The fuel dilution issue is largely behind the community now. There have been very few complaints this last winter season in the forum here, compared to earlier years. Yes.. there are still some reports of the issue, but mostly in 2017-2018 models, and even then.. pretty limited and mostly a cold weather short trip issue.

4) Been a CRV owner for close to 20 years now. The gen5 CRV (I own a 2017 Touring) has been the best CRV for me so far. And a big step up from my prior CRV (a 2008 gen3)

5) Nobody can answer this question for you.. because there are simply too many owner specific and subjective views in a question like this. Best bet is test drive all contenders, and when you think you know which one you like.... test drive it and your next choice one more time before deciding. That said.. you are really going to have a hard time with any other brand beating the gen5 CRV from Honda in total value, features, performance, AND... cost of ownership.

 

[ms3224a]

1) halogens are notably inferior to LED on virtually all motor vehicles.

Maybe so, but LED's have one feature that is also a flaw. Because they are so efficient, they create almost no heat. That means no heat to melt snow off of the lenses, which is not a problem with halogen lights.

Heaters should be required on LED headlight assemblies.

 

[Retired Boomer]

1. Headlights: 3 different 2020 CRV trim levels evaluated by IIHS.

2. Coming from a 2011 CRV, it took me awhile to learn the basics of Android Auto. Ironically, nowadays the only time I use AA is for navigation with Google maps -- which is to say, hardly ever. And all the Voice Command stuff is pretty slick, but I rarely use it.

For music, I like using flash drives. And love SiriusXM, but probably won't renew unless there's a Senior discount.

3a. I believe oil dilution is no longer an issue. Certainly hasn't been a problem in my 2019 CRV EX. Best discussion I've seen starts at 3:30 in this video:

3b. More detailed discussion: Is Oil Dilution Still a Problem for Honda CR-V?

4. EXTREMELY happy with my purchase!

5. Not sure why you're cross-shopping the Honda CRV with the VW Atlas Cross-Sport SE and Jeep Cherokee.

The VW is a mid-size SUV -- 196"L x 78"W x 68"H, with cargo volume 40 ft3 and 78 ft3 (seats folded). I think your wife will especially dislike that width in crowded parking... difficult to open the doors to load a toddler. The Jeep is a little smaller, but not much -- except cargo volume, which is 36 ft3 and 68 ft3.

The 2020 CRV is a compact-size SUV (182" x 73" x 66"), surprisingly with cargo volume 39 ft3 and 76 ft3 nearly the same as the VW.

Compared with the GTI -- 166" x 70" x 58", with 15 ft3 and 46 ft3. Bending to load a toddler is likely unpleasant and would be especially difficult if your wife is pregnant.

 

[SteakAndEggs]

1. Headlights: 3 different 2020 CRV trim levels evaluated by IIHS.

2. Coming from a 2011 CRV, it took me awhile to learn the basics of Android Auto. Ironically, nowadays the only time I use AA is for navigation with Google maps -- which is to say, hardly ever. And all the Voice Command stuff is pretty slick, but I rarely use it.

For music, I like using flash drives. And love SiriusXM, but probably won't renew unless there's a Senior discount.

3a. I believe oil dilution is no longer an issue. Certainly hasn't been a problem in my 2019 CRV EX. Best discussion I've seen starts at 3:30 in this video:

3b. More detailed discussion: Is Oil Dilution Still a Problem for Honda CR-V?

4. EXTREMELY happy with my purchase!

5. Not sure why you're cross-shopping the Honda CRV with the VW Atlas Cross-Sport SE and Jeep Cherokee.

The VW is a mid-size SUV -- 196"L x 78"W x 68"H, with cargo volume 40 ft3 and 78 ft3 (seats folded). I think your wife will especially dislike that width in crowded parking... difficult to open the doors to load a toddler. The Jeep is a little smaller, but not much -- except cargo volume, which is 36 ft3 and 68 ft3.

The 2020 CRV is a compact-size SUV (182" x 73" x 66"), surprisingly with cargo volume 39 ft3 and 76 ft3 nearly the same as the VW.

Compared with the GTI -- 166" x 70" x 58", with 15 ft3 and 46 ft3. Bending to load a toddler is likely unpleasant and would be especially difficult if your wife is pregnant.

Thanks, really informative post! Interesting to see that headlight comparison by the IIHS. If I'm reading the charts correctly, the halogens provide as much illumination as the LEDs. I guess the projector-style housings that Honda switched to made a big difference. That puts to rest my concern about the headlights, although I'll arrange a test-drive at night to confirm.

The reason for cross-shopping those three cars is simple, those are the two-row crossovers we like the best! The Honda is externally the smallest, but somehow manages to pack a relatively large interior into that space, which is appealing for the reason you mentioned (easiest for the wife to maneuver in tight spaces without giving up room). Also glad to hear you like your purchase and the oil dilution problems seem to affect a limited number of buyers, mainly those in colder climates taking short trips. Although we sometimes take short trips around town, we live in CA so it doesn't get too cold here.

Given the information you provided, the CR-V is probably going to be our top choice going into the dealerships. It ticks pretty much all the right boxes for us (reliability, price, fuel economy, interior space, safety).