(Also posted on the Expedition Portal forum here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/128451-2001-Honda-CR-V-EX-4WD-5-speed-MT-5-150-best-offer-(Sunnyvale-CA)
and mentioned in the SDMB thread, A moral dilemma:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17607621#post17607621
)
2001 Honda CR-V EX 4WD, 5-speed MT: $5,150 / best offer (Sunnyvale, CA)
Pictures here: http://goo.gl/tJbiix
Original-owner car with many extras. This car is expedition-ready, off-road ready, and ready to drive from San Francisco to Key West, Florida right now. This is a 4WD CR-V, not a 2WD model.
Asking $5,150 / best offer. No reasonable offer refused. If interested, make an offer.
Check Craigslist, AutoTrader, and Kelley Blue Book to compare my price to
other 2001 CR-Vs for sale:
— Craigslist: http://goo.gl/3plbXO
— AutoTrader: Autotrader - page unavailable
I have many extras included at this asking price - see, listed below, at “Key Features & Extras”. The car has almost-all highway miles.
The body is straight, the paint is in great shape, and the interior is impeccably clean - almost like brand new. We are non-smokers, we are clean and tidy.
If you want a car that has been as super-dependable, strong, and bullet proof as it has been for me for the last thirteen years since I bought it new at Stevens Creek Honda on 06 Sep 2001, this is it. My CR-V has never failed me. I drive it carefully, but at the same time I do not always baby it. I use this car!
I bought another car, and so must sadly part with my trusty old friend.
Key Features & Extras:
— Oversize A/T tires, 235/70-15 Yokohama Geolander A/T: brand new, with excellent tread
— Grill guard: brand new, hardly used; Black Horse® - Modular Black Powdercoat Grille Guard - a $500 value, installed (http://goo.gl/95TtJs)
— Clearwater “Darla” LED lights, 2,000+ lumens - a $600 value, installed: brand new, less than 2 months old (http://goo.gl/eDp9gK;) these small LEDs put out a LOT of light. (Note: do not use in traffic as it will hurt other drivers’ eyes.)
— The seats fold down to form a flat, full-sized cushioned bed in 4 easy steps - see below. Very comfortable. See pictures.
— Yakima Roof Rack System - a $1,000 value, installed. See details below.
— Tow package - a $300 value, installed. See towing details and pictures below. Curt Class-III tow hitch (http://goo.gl/Sn6np7); Class-III ratings - Rated up to 6,000 lbs GTW with 600 lbs TW. Heavy-duty tow hitch. This is not your cheap, light, bumper-mounted hitch. (http://www.etrailer.com/faq-hitchclasses.aspx).
With this set-up, I have towed my wife’s car, my son’s truck, my motorcycle, and many other things - see towing details, pictures and important note below.
Plus:
— Integrated, hidden folding table in back. Ready for tailgating & picnicking.
— After-market tinted windows
— 4 mud flaps / splash guards (not just the stock 2)
— Honda Passport spare tire cover. Needed because of the over-sized AT tires.
— Wheel locks X 5 (not just 4; includes 1 for the spare, all matching)
— “Vent Visors” / Window Deflectors (the non-adhesive kind - are cleaner)
— WheelSkins leather-wrapped steering wheel cover, the best aftermarket leather wrap money can buy. WheelSkins, a Berkeley, CA company. I’ve been a loyal customer of theirs since 1981. (https://www.wheelskins.com/original_wheelskin.php; a $100 value, installed)
— WheelSkins matching leather shift boot. Thick, supple, plush leather. (http://goo.gl/tT9OdK; a $100 value, installed)
222,000 almost-all-highway miles — many long cross-country road trips. Because of almost-all-highway miles, the interior, paint and body are in great shape. The engine is, too. The engine is strong, exceeds all compression test specs, and gets good MPG. My car has been impeccably-maintained. See maintenance info, below. The timing belt was replaced at 100,000 and at 200,000 miles.
Our CR-V car has been driven on long road trips — separate drives to Spring Training in Phoenix and camping in the Superstition Mountains; Cabo San Lucas & Cabo Pulmo National Park; Cape Cod, Washington, D.C. and Key West, FL; Houston, TX; and Vancouver, B.C., the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington state, and Whitefish, Montana. And many more places: Golden Spike National Historic Site, at Promontory Point, UT; Big Bend National Park, TX; Carlsbad Caverns, NM; Laguna San Ignacio, Baja, Mexico (excellent whale watching); White Sands, NM; Crater Lake, OR; The Loneliest Road in America; Cape Cod, MA; Niagara Falls, NY; Fort Sill, OK; Monument Valley; Tsawwassen and Sumas, British Columbia, Canada; Tioga Pass and Mono Lake; the Salton Sea.
New clutch, and new Honda transmission. After 213,000 miles I finally replaced the ORIGINAL clutch. Again, all highway miles on this car.
(The transmission was replaced because of an original flaw with the 2nd-gear synchro, and I fully planned to keep the car to 400,000+ miles - until I bought my other car, that is).
Honda reliability. If you want a solid car that’ll take you anywhere, this trusty and dependable CR-V will do it. Light & nimble, easy to maneuver and park, and yet will:
— haul a lot of gear inside it
— haul a lot of gear strapped on the roof rack (use come-along straps)
— tow an impressive amount of gear in rental trailers
The engine temperature in this car has always stayed normal. Engine temp is critical, and I watch that gauge like a hawk, especially when towing. The engine temp has never run hot, even in summers climbing over Tioga Pass Road, Somora Pass, in Death Valley or in the eastern Sierra Nevada high altitude near Bishop and Big Pine, and the climb up to Glacier Lodge (west out of Big Pine), or over Loveland Pass in Colorado.
My car has been excellently-maintained by Honda dealerships (San Jose/Stevens Creek - where I bought the car, and at Sunnyvale/Hopkins and Burlingame/Mike Harvey), …
… and mostly lately by Lou’s Automotive in Mountain View:
Lou Romanello
http://www.lousauto.com/;
5-Star rating on Yelp - http://www.yelp.com/biz/lous-automotive-mountain-view.
My Yelp post from Jan. 2013:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lous-automotive-mountain-view?hrid=rY_kFBKDgrsS5SP2D2amSA.
Details, Yakima Roof Rack System. ($1,000 value, installed):
4 components: (1) rack + (2) fairing + (3) cargo cage + (4) “photon torpedo” space case.
Optimized for maximum luggage space and carrying capacity, with minimal aerodynamic drag coefficient. (www.yakima.com)
— (1) Rack: 4 towers, with locks; 2 cross bars, with ‘hook ends’ accessories ($400 value, if new: 4 Q Towers + 48" cross bars + Q Clips+ 4 hook ends + fairing)
— (2) fairing, for better aerodynamics
— (3) cargo cage: Yakima’s “BasketCase” (http://goo.gl/Wi8i3X; $120 value, if new)
— (4) “photon torpedo”, or “the torpedo”, with locks. Equivalent to Yakima’s RocketBox Pro 11 (http://goo.gl/IVX5Rq; $360 value, if new). Narrow frontal cross-sectional area has low impact on MPG yet carries a lot of gear, securely. A good place to put extra gas cans - I did this on my drive to Cabo San Lucas.
Yakima Rack systems are very strong. With come-along ratcheting straps, gear is securely stable on the car. My son and I have gone off-roading at Hungry Valley SVRA with his college furniture strapped to this rack.
Details, full-size bed. 4 easy steps to convert the CR-V seats into a full size, cushioned bed
(2 people, 60 seconds, easily):
- Front seats: slide front seats fully forward and remove head rests. (Put headrests at feet of REAR seats.)
- Lay front seat-backs back, flat.
- Rear seats: lift seats with side lever.
- Lay rear seat-backs back, flat.
Add a fitted sheet, pillows and a down comforter and you are set to go. Easy. Comfortable. Quick. My wife and I have slept comfortably in the snowy mountains of Taos, New Mexico when it was 15 °F with 6" of snow on the ground. The CR-V kept us safe, warm and secure.
Details, Towing: Over the years I have towed my son’s truck, my wife’s car, my motorcycle, lots of gear, and helped people move, with all of these U-Haul trailers:
— Aluma A315 ATV Trailer (used to tow my son’s Mitsubishi Mighty Max truck):
Tandem Axle Utility Trailers - Aluma Trailers
— Tow Dolly / Car Hauler (used to tow my wife’s Porsche 356):
Tow Dolly Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s Motorcycle Trailer:
Motorcycle Trailer Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 4x8 Cargo Trailer (closed trailer): 4x8 Cargo Trailer Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 5x8 Cargo Trailer (closed trailer):
5x8 Cargo Trailer Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 5x10 Cargo Trailer (closed trailer):
http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=MV
— U-Haul’s 4x7 Utility Trailer (open trailer):
4x7 Utility Trailer Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 5x8 Utility Trailer (open trailer):
5x8 Utility Trailer Rental | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 5x9 Utility Trailer with Ramp (open trailer):
5x9 Utility Trailer Rental w/Ramp | U-Haul
— U-Haul’s 6x12 Utility Trailer (open trailer):
6x12 Utility Trailer Rental | U-Haul
-
- For U-Haul’s Tow Dolly / Car Hauler, and 5x10 closed and 6x12 open trailers, ask the seller how this has been done. For all towing, take great care, tow at your own risk, especially heavy loads. Do not strain the braking system, or the clutch. The CR-V is a light car.
It is BECAUSE OF the manual transmission (and not an automatic transmission) that this car can handle heavier loads and towing. This is one very versatile little car. Fully-loaded and towing a heavy load, when driving the car from a stand-still slip the clutch slowly and gingerly to get going, and then once underway shift up without slipping the clutch. The original clutch lasted over 200,000 miles because of this careful shifting technique.
An automatic transmission under load could overheat.
What doesn’t work on the car? The small LED dashboard clock. That’s about it. This car has been well-maintained.
I am a retired USMC veteran and former licensed driver of M-151 jeep, HummVee, 2½-ton truck (the “deuce-and-a-half”), and 5-ton truck. Among other things I did I am Arctic Driver qualified and Arctic Survival qualified. I am also a USMC-licensed forklift operator. I include this information only to share my qualifications and “the eye” to which I operated, maintained and cared for my CR-V.
My CR-V has been like family.