Return to self - SLO76
After a period of motoring instability, swmbo’s need for a posh SUV pushing me to buy a Volvo XC60 that turned out to be a complete pup and her sudden demand to go electric when I flogged the thing to some other poor sod. I have returned to the comfort blanket of a Japanese brand. Today I purchased an immaculate, full history, low mileage 67 plate Honda HRV 1.6 DTEC SE Nav for her to melt tyres and shred brake pads in.

Sadly the Honda “approved used” stock in Ayrshire and Glasgow was in woeful condition and my attempts to negotiate a deal with a private seller on a tidy sounding blue 18 plate were unsuccessful so this car has come from a car supermarket, a place I’d typically avoid. No negotiation over price, I expected that but I absolutely flatly refused to pay the “buyers fee” these places like to add on to the invoice, it was a case of wave it or I walk, and so they did. It needs two tyres which I’m paying the difference over the cheap Chinese ditch finders they normally fit and a set of Michelins.

I was fortunate enough to see the car as it arrived, unprepared. It’s been well kept and the last owner has shelled out for a Honda boot liner and mats, a thing I like to find in a car. It has a full dealer history too, a thing I couldn’t find with any approved used Honda I looked at.

On test drive, it’s lively, reasonably comfortable, surprisingly spacious, has a typically fantastic Honda gearbox and is decently refined at the speeds we tried. It’s no hot hatch or luxury car but as an economical, practical and hopefully long lasting small family car it’ll do fine… I hope.

Return to self - _

Well done, but What does the BOSS think?

Return to self - SLO76

Well done, but What does the BOSS think?

Seems appeased… for now.
Return to self - brambobb

Excellent choice (even though I have recently swapped mine for a Toyota CH-R Hybrid.

We had the same spec HRV (excluding the Sat Nav) for 3 years and contemplated swapping it for a new one but we thought that the cost of the new model is a bit expensive and some of the colours are too wacky for our taste. Also we would have had a fairly long wait to obtain one.

During my ownership the only things I had to pay for were the 12500 mile services and one front tyre,.We covered 35000 miles in that period and typically it never missed a beat.

Models of this age were manufactured in Mexico, I believe.

Weren't you due to be purchasing an electric VW on one of your previous threads?

Return to self - SLO76
“ Weren't you due to be purchasing an electric VW on one of your previous threads?”

We ordered one in January, but VW still can’t even give us a build date plus the original order price can’t be confirmed. I doubt we’d see it this year. Suits me fine though, I would prefer to buy a good used Jap over leasing an electric car I’ll never own.

We did look at used Nissan Leaf’s but the 40kw version that accounts for 99% of available examples doesn’t offer enough real world range (it’s as low as 110 miles in winter) and the larger battery variant adds many thousands of pounds to the price which utterly destroys the fragile economic argument.

Edited by SLO76 on 15/05/2022 at 22:16

Return to self - Ethan Edwards

The Leaf with a 40kwh battery only giving 110 real miles . Seems a bit poor. My Mokka e with 42kwh usable battery (total 50) gave more than that this winter. Driven carefully up to 160m. Now it's warmed up happy days.180 plus.

Return to self - FoxyJukebox
Dear SLO
What’s’ now happened to the Volvo-what lucky person has got your nightmare I’m wondering ?
Any idea? Showroom somewhere? Highly polished with an engine and interior valet plus “guarantee”?
Good luck with the Honda!
Return to self - SLO76
Dear SLO What’s’ now happened to the Volvo-what lucky person has got your nightmare I’m wondering ? Any idea? Showroom somewhere? Highly polished with an engine and interior valet plus “guarantee”? Good luck with the Honda!

Flogged it to a local dealer chain. Booked it in for a wet miserable day so the buyer didn’t notice the rust around the top of the windscreen and during his short test drive he never noticed the droning front wheel bearing or the coolant loss. It was a pig of a car. Was last spotted in their showroom with £3,000 added on. It either sold quickly or was offloaded at auction. I won’t miss it and I won’t buy another.
Return to self - catsdad

I hope you like it SLO. I test drove a used 2017 petrol one in 2019 when I was looking to change my 1.8 Civic. However the HRV wasn’t for me although I really wanted to like it. It felt a step down from the Civic in comfort and noise levels. To be fair the HRV was a base model and the salesman said that Honda had since made several improvements that applied to later cars like yours. He also recommended the diesel. These later cars were out of my budget at the time but would look like bargains now, post Covid.

I have sometimes wondered if I should have upped the budget and gone for a later car with the diesel engine. Your experience going forward might tell me if I made a mistake!

Return to self - nellyjak

Sounds a good purchase SLO...Hope it (and SWMBO) gives you little hassle.!

Return to self - SLO76
“ I hope you like it SLO. I test drove a used 2017 petrol one in 2019 when I was looking to change my 1.8 Civic.”

I would rather have a late previous gen 1.6 DTEC Civic (I don’t like the new model) but swmbo likes to sit up a bit. The diesel transforms the car in my opinion. Loads of torque and taller geared. The ride is a little fidgety but less so than the so-called luxury Volvo we had.
Return to self - lucklesspedestrian

A friend has just got a new XC60 diesel on one of those pcp or lease schemes from the local volvo dealer who previously leased her a V40. Here's the rub...she does about max 4K pa, mostly in town. What could possibly go wrong? The dealer knows her driving stats and actually recommended the car which amazed me. I suppose when the inevitable DPF issues crop up she will have some comeback from the dealers but still, just lunacy all round imho.

Return to self - catsdad

Totally agree, SLO, re the then new model Civic. It’s another car I was keen to like that was not as nice as it’s predecessor. The latest new model looks a lot better in pictures but I haven’t see one in the metal. And whether they’ve solved the petrol engine issues is an unknown.

Good luck with the diesel HRV.

Return to self - Steveieb

Can you explain what a buyers fee is SLO and how much it would have been.
Were you able to take the car away straight away, and I imagine the car is now out of manufacturers warranty ?

Heard of one way to avoid DPF issues is to only use V power diesel. Less to clog up the DPF but mighty expensive!

Return to self - SLO76

Can you explain what a buyers fee is SLO and how much it would have been.
Were you able to take the car away straight away, and I imagine the car is now out of manufacturers warranty ?

Heard of one way to avoid DPF issues is to only use V power diesel. Less to clog up the DPF but mighty expensive!

The “buyers fee” is a sneaky wee additional charge some dealers and many car supermarkets and some normal dealers like to spring on you when you sit down to sign up for a car. There was absolutely no mention of it when looking at cars nor was it listed on any posters or on the car itself. It was £200 simply slapped onto the cost for absolutely no reason. I refused to pay and they had a hair fit, ran around for a while then the manager eventually gave in rather than losing a deal and waved it. It’s apparently sooo unusual that they didn’t even know how to take it out the system. I find it hard to believe but they did put up quite the fight.

Had it been a particularly rare car I wouldn’t have lost it for it but not with something pretty mainstream like this. Expect it at car supermarkets, it’s kinda the norm but can be waved if you throw a tantrum but if any other dealer tries it tell them to take a hike. Delivery is set for later in the week as the car had only just arrived and hadn’t been prepped at all. It was the only car we’d seen without major paintwork defects, that and it’s metallic white, which kinda suits it.

I’m not concerned about DPF issues on this, they’re not particularly prone to problems here and it will do regular long runs almost daily plus it’ll get regular tanks of decent non-supermarket fuel. I stop short of paying extra for premium fuels like V power however as they do little for cars beyond very high performance metal.

Return to self - Falkirk Bairn

Bought 2 cars from Motorpoint - both Cypriot imports.

£99 admin fee taken off both times

£99 preparation fee taken off both times

Both cars have been almost perfect - Xtrail T/I at 5 yrs and CRV coming up for 10 was bought as I needed an auto.

Return to self - Engineer Andy
Dear SLO What’s’ now happened to the Volvo-what lucky person has got your nightmare I’m wondering ? Any idea? Showroom somewhere? Highly polished with an engine and interior valet plus “guarantee”? Good luck with the Honda!

Flogged it to a local dealer chain. Booked it in for a wet miserable day so the buyer didn’t notice the rust around the top of the windscreen and during his short test drive he never noticed the droning front wheel bearing or the coolant loss. It was a pig of a car. Was last spotted in their showroom with £3,000 added on. It either sold quickly or was offloaded at auction. I won’t miss it and I won’t buy another.

Other than the local dealer might be just useless (quite likely), I suspect they know that in the current market there are lots of mugs, ahem, I mean punters desperate for a set of wheels and can't afford to wait or pay for a new example, but still willing to pay silly prices for not particuarly good cars.

I bet your very glad to get rid of it. Hopefully SWMBO will be pleased with its replacement and you'll be back in her good books again! :-)

I do feel sorry (well, just a little) for the next owner of that Volvo...

Return to self - Sulphur Man

About as sane a buy as any in this mad used market. Well done.

A tidy Civic Tourer with that brilliant 1.6DTEC would be on my shortlist, were I looking for a good quality hack.

Return to self - SLO76

About as sane a buy as any in this mad used market. Well done.

A tidy Civic Tourer with that brilliant 1.6DTEC would be on my shortlist, were I looking for a good quality hack.

I like the Civic Tourer, but swmbo doesn’t and they’re hard to get at sensible money and without mega miles. They make good taxis so most are hoovered up by the private hire lads and lassies then ran into the ground. I’ve noticed a few CRV’s with taxi plates around Glasgow of late too. I’m not surprised as this engine is very economical and hard wearing.

Return to self - MGspannerman

I seriously thought about a CRV either the 1.6 diesel - no auto so that ws out, or the newer hybrid. The latter was at the extreme end of my budget, including man-maths adjustments, but at three years old and no manufacturers warranty and with two previous owners my gut feel was not comfortable.

I had a Toyota Avensis petrol auto estate that had been exemplary in every way. 4 years and 55k miles with no problems at all. bought secondhand for less than half list price, remember those days? However increasing sciatic nerve issues and general thoughts of updating led to a swap.

The car was sold for 3k less than I paid for it and I finally settled on a Lexus NX. I looked in my local dealer who said they had the perfect car for me. Overpriced and complete with a small dent in the roof (that will be fixed of course Sir). I found a 4.5yr old model with 26k and a full dealer service history and went for it. Not my first choice of colour but then not the big(-ger) money either.

After about six weeks I am getting 41-ish mpg and with super wafitness. The only bugbear is the ridiculous knob/twsit/push thingy between the seats controlling satnav, radio etc. The satnav itself is terrible and I will be wiring in a Garmin to put in the corner of the screen.

The deciding factor was my penchant for Lexota vehicles, this is yet another to enter the stable, and the4 ten year/100k warranty on a car that tops the reliability stakes.

No regrets on swapping, but sad to see the Avensis go, it had served us well and there was plenty left under the bonnet. Like SLO dealer history and condition was priority.

Return to self - SLO76
“I seriously thought about a CRV either the 1.6 diesel - no auto so that ws out, or the newer hybrid.“

The 1.6 Diesel was available as an auto, but you had to opt for the higher spec twin turbo with AWD which was and still is much more expensive and a bit thirstier.
Return to self - John F
Honda HRV 1.6 DTEC SE Nav for her to melt tyres and shred brake pads in.

Did she believe you? She won't be doing much of that with only 120bhp! And how could you, SLO76, use the fuel of satan......;-). And does this car hold the record for number of letters and numbers after its name? I had to google it to find out what they all stood for!

Return to self - SLO76
“ Did she believe you? She won't be doing much of that with only 120bhp!”

With a turbo diesel it’s the torque that’s important and despite the modest horsepower it’s endowed with a fair slug of low speed torque for a glorified Honda Jazz. She has a lead boot when behind the wheel so it’ll be regularly exercised. The thought of her behind the wheel of your A8 should frighten us all.

The poor wee 1.4 Nissan Note she’s been using of late let’s out a sigh when it skids onto the drive after her (always running late) commute. The wee car should enjoy its retirement with my (much) older brother. I’ve just finished cleaning and polishing it and for a 13yr old supermini it is in fantastic condition, I may have undercharged him at £1750.

Edited by SLO76 on 16/05/2022 at 17:13

Return to self - Bolt

With a turbo diesel it’s the torque that’s important and despite the modest horsepower it’s endowed with a fair slug of low speed torque

it was designed for high revs as well, so it should take a thrashing without even thinking about it if its serviced regular

imo it wasn`t that great at low rev pulling as the engine was designed for revving, I know 2 taxi drivers who still own the Tourers with over 200k on each one, and they said the same thing so don`t be too surprised if the low rev pulling power is not that great, the 2.2 was a lot better but then it was 140 hp not 119 as that is, CRV is 180

Still a great engine and good luck luck with it...

Return to self - badbusdriver

imo it wasn`t that great at low rev pulling as the engine was designed for revving, I know 2 taxi drivers who still own the Tourers with over 200k on each one, and they said the same thing so don`t be too surprised if the low rev pulling power is not that great, the 2.2 was a lot better but then it was 140 hp not 119

And yet, on paper, not that much difference in torque between the 1.6 and 2.2 diesels. The 2.2 makes only 13% more and they both achieve peak torque at 2000rpm.

Return to self - Bolt

imo it wasn`t that great at low rev pulling as the engine was designed for revving, I know 2 taxi drivers who still own the Tourers with over 200k on each one, and they said the same thing so don`t be too surprised if the low rev pulling power is not that great, the 2.2 was a lot better but then it was 140 hp not 119

And yet, on paper, not that much difference in torque between the 1.6 and 2.2 diesels. The 2.2 makes only 13% more and they both achieve peak torque at 2000rpm.

Yes I know and was surprised when I bought it that it wasn`t as good as the 2.2 -and I traded in a 2.2 Civic 2006 for the Tourer, great car imo just a bit overrated as far as low rpm torque was concerned, it might be different for SLO ie different part of the country, but for me its acceleration was almost as good and was smoother, and the economy (I think due to the area of hills I`m in) mpg ranged from 48mpg in town to up to 75 mpg on motorways, far better than any car I had before

in fact if it hadn`t been for the dirty diesel I picked up I might have still had it but the repairs were over 6k, though I was thinking of going back to petrol as I didn`t do the mileage and the DD was the final nail for me, I was going to buy the 1.8 petrol but by then the prices jumped and they were hard to find below 100k miles so bought 2008 civic

recently checked mpg of 1.6 compared to the older mk8 1342cc which I have now, and isn`t much in it town driving wise, not a touch on a run though for mpg so the 1.6 turbo is far better on a run than anything else I`ve had

Return to self - SLO76
Well, car is on the drive. It looks a good one (touch wood… again) and all seems in good order. Drives spot on, pulls very well and averaged 63mpg so far according to the trip computer. Dealer was as per the norm utterly useless. I asked for two Michelin tyres and I’d pay the difference between them and the cheap Chinese ditch finders they normally fit, yet there are two unknown brand cheapo tyres on it. There was an old battery in the boot and the £20 of fuel I was invoiced for wasn’t in the tank, it will no doubt be in some cretins company car. Utterly hopeless, as usual. I hate buying from dealers but the only example I could find privately was owned by someone who refused to accept his car wasn’t worth retail money on his drive.

That all said, the wee car is mint, it drives spot on and swmbo is (for now) quite happy.

Edited by SLO76 on 20/05/2022 at 23:08

Return to self - Andrew-T
Well, car is on the drive. It looks a good one (touch wood… again) and all seems in good order. That all said, the wee car is mint, it drives spot on and swmbo is (for now) quite happy.

Well done, SLO. No doubt you will be asking for refund of the premium you paid for the mythical Michelins and the missing fuel. But presumably car supermarkets pare costs to the bone, maybe assuming that buyers will be so overwhelmed by their purchase that they won't notice ?

Return to self - Engineer Andy
Well, car is on the drive. It looks a good one (touch wood… again) and all seems in good order. Drives spot on, pulls very well and averaged 63mpg so far according to the trip computer. Dealer was as per the norm utterly useless. I asked for two Michelin tyres and I’d pay the difference between them and the cheap Chinese ditch finders they normally fit, yet there are two unknown brand cheapo tyres on it. There was an old battery in the boot and the £20 of fuel I was invoiced for wasn’t in the tank, it will no doubt be in some cretins company car. Utterly hopeless, as usual. I hate buying from dealers but the only example I could find privately was owned by someone who refused to accept his car wasn’t worth retail money on his drive. That all said, the wee car is mint, it drives spot on and swmbo is (for now) quite happy.

What has happened to Honda? Its newest cars are not as good (especially in terms of reliability) as previous generations, its dealer network seemingly gets worse by the day, sales tanking both here and abroad. They appear to be on the verge of pulling out of sales in some countries, e.g. Australia.

When I bought my Mazda3 back in early 2006, also test drove a Jazz and Civic 3dr at a local main dealer. Apart from the (relatively) high prices, the experience was excellent, nothing was too much trouble and the staff very attentive and courteous without being pushy. Both cars drove very nicely indeed, though the Civic din't have a left foot rest if I recall, so I'd have gone for the Jazz.

Had the blinding deal for a del miles Mazda3 (in exactly the spec and colour I wanted) from Motorpoint not arisen, I would've bought the Jazz instead.

Return to self - alan1302
Well, car is on the drive. It looks a good one (touch wood… again) and all seems in good order. Drives spot on, pulls very well and averaged 63mpg so far according to the trip computer. Dealer was as per the norm utterly useless. I asked for two Michelin tyres and I’d pay the difference between them and the cheap Chinese ditch finders they normally fit, yet there are two unknown brand cheapo tyres on it. There was an old battery in the boot and the £20 of fuel I was invoiced for wasn’t in the tank, it will no doubt be in some cretins company car. Utterly hopeless, as usual. I hate buying from dealers but the only example I could find privately was owned by someone who refused to accept his car wasn’t worth retail money on his drive. That all said, the wee car is mint, it drives spot on and swmbo is (for now) quite happy.

What has happened to Honda? Its newest cars are not as good (especially in terms of reliability) as previous generations, its dealer network seemingly gets worse by the day, sales tanking both here and abroad. They appear to be on the verge of pulling out of sales in some countries, e.g. Australia.

They must be doing something very wrong as I'm assuming the Australian cars are made in Japan and if there home cars are not as well made as expected you wonder what is happening there.

Return to self - expat

They must be doing something very wrong as I'm assuming the Australian cars are made in Japan and if there home cars are not as well made as expected you wonder what is happening there.

I am in Australia. They are doing lots very wrong. They have stopped selling the Jazz which used to be very popular and probably still would be if they sold it. They jacked up the price of the new Civic sky high so it is no longer competitive. They made their dealers agents and all sales have to be done centrally so no deals. The result is that their sales have dropped by about 45%. A great pity as they used to make very good cars.

Return to self - catsdad

While agreeing that Honda no longer have the appeal to me they once had their worldwide sales are still doing well albeit a few percentage points down on share. The latest figures are for 2021 and they remain 7th for volume with over 4 million sold. The CRV is the world’s second most popular car and the Civic 7th.

Return to self - SLO76
First long drive done, and I have to say that I’m quite impressed by the car. Official brim to brim economy was just under 65mpg (64.8) despite the winding and hilly terrain up north and I found it drove far better than the XC60 and the previous CRV. Very practical, decent ride quality, loads of torque and surprisingly nimble handling for an SUV. The minor irritation of the lane departure beeping was eliminated when after watching a few YouTube videos telling me that I needed to flip through about twenty different menus on the computer to turn it off, I discovered a b***** big on off button under the steering wheel. It’s a car I’d happily recommend to anyone. Hopefully longterm reliability is as expected, if so, I’ll be keeping it when swmbo upgrades again.
Return to self - Xileno

Always interesting to hear your experiences SLO. Let's hope this is more satisfying that the Volvo.

Return to self - Honda jazzer

nice work SLO

Return to self - SLO76
Update on SWMBO’s HRV. Aside from a mild squeak from the clutch pedal, nothing to report. It goes well, it’s surprisingly practical and it’s outstanding on fuel. It’s in need of two tyres and a service shortly so I’ll finally need to dig my wallet out. A much better car than that horrible Volvo XC60 we had before.