Honda Forum

[jonny1975]

Hi FR-V Forum Members,

What a great forum, to go with what seems to be a truly great car. We only discovered this vehicle when looking to find a car to fit our now blossoming family (Me & Wife, 16 month Boy, 3 Week old Twin Boys) and saw a 06 plate FRV sitting next to a 06 plate CRV and thought the FR-V looked much better, and also happened to be a great solution for our now significant family transport needs; Baby 1 becoming a curious toddler so maybe wanting to sit up front in booster seat soon / Baby 1 & Twins currently needing to be in 3 car seats in back / regular supermarket and city centre shopping / 1 big Jane' Twin pram & 1 smaller bugaboo bee pram to fit in boot / Monthly family visit to Aberdeen Granny from Glasgow approx 400 miles round trip / etc. Anyway, since discovering this MPV we've been looking for a used FRV at a good price... but what one should we get?

Cutting to the chase, we've sourced two FRV's that we can afford (at a major squeeze), and I really want to get this decision right. Here are the options:

Option 1: Honda FR-V 2.0 i-VTEC SE (£8,400)

• 2005 (55 reg)
• 25k miles
• 2 owners (think 1 owner was dealer)
• Excellent condition inside and out
• Manual
• 2.0L
• Petrol
• Grey
• Roof rack
• FSH with Honda

Option 2: HONDA FR-V 2.2 I-CTDI SE (£8,500)

• 2007 (57 reg)
• 70k Miles
• 1 owner
• Excellent condition inside and out
• Manual
• 2.2L
• Diesel
• Metallic Black
• NO Roof rack
• FSH with Honda


I think you will agree that both options are absolutely fantastic vehicles and we'll be very lucky / privileged whatever option we choose, but I would really love the opinion of 'actual users', as these are the opinions that I value most (as opposed to a journalist writing about a half day test drive). Questions I have for example include, Is the diesel much better than the petrol? Is the diesel mileage @ 70k for a 57plate too high - should I expect problems? Is the diesel (57 plate) the new facelift model - does that have any real / noticeable benefits? Will I miss not having a roof rack? Our initial reaction is to go for the Petrol model as it has done significantly less miles ???

Ideally, we would have had an option which included the Sport version, but this wasn’t available and definitely not at the above prices?

Anyway, I know I am asking a lot, but if anyone can offer their opinions on the above quandary, it would be greatly appreciated!

Many, many thanks in advance

Regards

John

[frv_fan]

I'd probably be tempted to go for the newer higher mileage diesel. I am biased though - I have an 06 plate 2.2 Sport with roof rails. I have bought ex company diesel vehicles before from where I work usually 2 year old with 80,000 miles and they feel like they have only just been run in.
How many miles do you expect to do a year - if it's below average like me then after a few years you pull the average miles/year down anyway. But anyway, does it really matter? I intend to keep my FR-V for many more years so the mileage will not be much of a factor when I come to change it.
The 2.0 petrol is obviously a lot thirstier than the 2.2 diesel - a typical driver would probably get low 30's in the petrol and low 40's in the diesel (driven carefully, I average over 50mpg ) and the petrol will cost more to tax £235 compared to £180.
Personally, I have found the diesel engine to be brilliant - it's got plenty of low down torque so you don't need to change gear very often to make good progress but it's refined as well.
The roof rails can be useful though - I don't use mine that much but had them fitted as I think it makes the car look better
Whichever one you go for, I'm sure you won't regret it - it's the best car I've ever had and I've had BMW, VW, Vauhall, Ford, Hyundai, etc.

[redvers]

I recently got a 13k 2006 55 reg 2litre petrol in Sport (higher spec but no roofbars) for £9k and agree that it's a thirsty motor okay when it's just me in the car I don't drive it for fuel efficiency, but at £1.20 a litre at the pumps you can be looking at £60 for 350 miles (around 31mpg).

The diesel will be the facelift model, and thus the SE spec is actually pretty good; as standard it comes with climate control, an aux socket and heated mirrors (not folding tho). I wouldn't expect there to be any issues mileage wise with the diesel; as long as it hasn't been hammered in year one then not driven since then it should be good for another 70k miles or more!

From a space perspective, if there's only five of you then you still have the option of folding a rear seat down for a bit of extra room... if you do find you need the roof rack in four or five years time you can probably get others fitted as an aftermarket option.

Out of those two cars I'd probably go for the diesel, despite the higher mileage. However, test drive both and see which you feel is the better of the two!

[marky]

I own a 1.7 and hence cant comment on the fuel usage on either the 2.0 or 2.2d. My only comment I would make and maybe the diesel drivers can confirm this, but i have read about clutches wearing out on the diesels quite early and as these cars have a dmf it gets very expensive to change one, and of course if your on a budget you don't wanna be in that position in 6 months time.
btw my 1.7 is great and returns about 37mpg on a good run, but then again its not the quickest car man has ever made!

[tezmed]

i'd personally be thinking down the lines of the petrol motor in terms of resale value at a later date- bare in mind the frvs are not in production anymore and are well saught after.....

the only logic for having the diesel would be if running around doing mega miles each year + its a little newer

i think youd need to plan what you intend to use it for etc before deciding either way!

[redvers]

Resale values would be last thing on my mind... For the sake of £100 extra now for the diesel the OP would probably save that a year at least on running costs...

[frv_fan]

resale values? - generally speaking diesel's hold their value than petrol.

[jonny1975]

Dear fellow FRV owners (that replied to my post),

Many thanks for your advice and opinion - it was most welcome and assisted greatly.

We opted for the Petrol (low millage) FRV, which we collect tomorrow

Look forward to regularly returning to this excellent forum.

Cheers

Jonny : )

[securespark]

We have a 59 2.2 D, bought new in November last year. Having done 11K in it so far, we are glad we chose the diesel.

We were in the fortunate position before buying to know two people who have owned 2 FR-V's each, the first being petrol and the second a diesel. They both thought the petrol model too thirsty.

I agree with frv fan in that I think the diesel's grunt is enormous! Uphill on the M5 in Devon the other week, and didn't even have to change down, just prodded the fly-by-wire & it shot forward like a scalded cat!

[Henry Yorke]

Just for info, I bought a 2005 128k 1 owner FSH 2.2 Sport FRV a year ago in Nighthawk with full leather. Looking through the service history it basically had discs, tyres and pads most of its life. I had the clutch changed under warranty but it was more a precaution as I told them it slipped when fully loaded going up hills so it was difficult for them to test! However I did notice some mild slip when provoked but this could be the DMF kicking in.
The only thing that isn't working is the aircon, even though the pump was changed under warranty. I think it needs regassing but it was changed in winter so hard to tell if it worked successfully.

I went for the diesel as it would have better residuals in the future, more economical to run and the most power and torque out of the range. My only concern with VTec was you have to thrash the knackers off it to get it moving and with the family in the car I didn't want to be at 8000 RPM to go quick and the torque is much lower down on the diesel.

It went in for a couple of recalls on the EGR valve and something else and the local main dealer service was superb.

A year later I am loving mine still and it is still the only stylish people carrier I have seen. I'll be keeping it for a long time as the wife does not do many miles. Future plans are to possibly put some Eibach springs on (if they make them) and some 18" CTR wheels if they turn up cheap