A Couple of Questions Please?

[gd01]

Good Day Folks,
I'm hoping a couple of you good people can give me a bit of advice from your own experiences here. I'm currently the owner of a 99 Civic Si. It has 125K km on it and I must admit I've enjoyed driving it. However, I'm thinking of a change based on 2 things - first is that I do commute roughly 40 km 1 way each day to work through some back roads (paved, well used) and I live in a snow belt region, Canada and each winter I get a little older and would now prefer to have something that has AWD. Secondly is my Civic has developed a rather nasty case of piston slap (diagnosed by the dealer) and I'm not sure what this means in terms of engine/auto longevity. It only does it while the engine is cold and lasts for about 5 minutes or so on a cool morning (a bit longer on a cold morning - you fellow Canucks will know what I'm talking about when I refer to "cool" and "cold" :) ). As such, I'm thinking now might be a good time to trade up and the CRV EX (I'd LOVE to get the Leather option just for the moonroof alone, but I'll be stretching the budget as it is :( ) is my #1 choice at this point. I've read a lot of forums in a number of different places and for the vast majority of postings, the reviews are terrific. I've read similarly good reports regarding the RAV4, which I am also considering. I suspect it would be hard to go too far wrong with either vehicle, but at this point the CRV is "in the lead" as far as what I'm looking for. Now, a couple of things that have been pointed out in numerous forums on the CRV, is the ease of which the paint chips, and the interior scratches. The vehicle I'm interested in would be a new '04 off the floor, so perhaps they've solved that issue, but I'd like to hear any comments good, bad or otherwise regarding this issue. I do plan on adding the extra rust/interior protection package. The only other accessories I'm considering are the fog lamps and the roof rack, so any opinions on those would also be most helpful.

Any other related or non-related comments/opinions on the general reliability, whatever, would be most appreciated as well. I must admit, the single biggest concern I have at this point is that if the piston slap is a serious issue, then will I run into other/different serious issues with the CRV or any other Honda. Having said that, I've seen nothing at all in any of the forums that indicate problems of this nature, so I'm inclined to believe that I may have an anomaly rather than a typical case here.

Thanks VERY much for your time folks. Appreciate it!

gd01

[French]

Hi. I haven't even owned my '04 for a week yet, but I thought I would comment on the fog lights since I just had them installed yesterday. I have the EX.

I haven't had a chance to drive at night with them on, but the first thing I observed, and I'm not crazy about this, is they will only come on when your regular headlights are turned on. Also, if you put your high beams on, the fog lights turn off.

I kind of liked having them as a separate function in my Durango as I could drive with just my fog lights on during those hours when you really don't need full blown headlights...I guess using them as sort of day time running lights since this vehicle doesn't have that feature.

I'm very happy with my new vehicle. I did not consider the RAV4 as it's too small for my purposes. I looked at a RAV4 after coming back from a beach vacation and one look confirmed...no WAY could I have gotten myself, DH, skid and his friend, plus our clothes in that vehicle. We were fully loaded with the Camry and IMO the RAV4 has less cargo space than the Camry. The CR-V is going to be perfect for that trip. And with those nice reclining seats, I don't have to clean face and spit marks off my rear window for when skid falls asleep pressed up against the door. Now he can just lean back and snooze. It's the little things that please me!

Hopefully some others that have had their '04s a little longer will come along and comment.

[roadster]

the crv exterrior or interrior, wil lhappen on any car you get, rocks, or scratch's....
the fog lights are a great feature, they light up the INNER area. and the side, your eye's get adjusted after awhile and never notice they're on... a good DIY install 500.00 usc by dealer. roof rack simple and easy .. check out http://www.handa-accessories.com or bings market place.....
for option items...

['Curly Q Links']

If you really want to preserve the budget (and aren't climbing a lot of hills) why not get a used V, say a 98 with 100,000 km on it? There's lots of them on the market, with a fair selection of colors . . . . .
No piston slap issues, except you have to make sure you adjust the valves from time to time. I've never heard about paint chipping either. But we have a bug deflector on our hood. :-)

[stevedebi]

The interior plastic will scratch pretty easily, it is something I've gotten used to.

For pure 4WD, I think the RAV4 is a more thorough system than the CR-V, however for basic snow personality, the CR-V does fine. The CR-V is considerably larger and more comfortable than the RAV4, in my opinion. If you have any passenger requirements, the CR-V is the one.

Other than size, both are good cars. Drive them both. I did - and bought the CR-V.

[gd01]

Thanks Guys, I very much appreciate the feedback here! That helps a great deal. I'll take a bit of time and consider the options on what I'm going to do.

Thanks again! :)

gd01