I'm shopping for a 4th Gen CR-V (post refresh) and by now I’m well aware of the vibration issue that the 2015s have.

Is this issue bad enough that I should just avoid the 2015 models altogether? Is there a way to know if it’s been addressed or not?

 

Okay I'm very very familiar with this issue and the remedy that Honda came up for it. It involves a little bit of reprogramming of the software and some different mounts ....hete is a website with almost all of the TSBs honda issued , including the vibration one .
https://www.carproblemzoo.com/tsb/ho...honda-cr-v.php

you can Google the individual bulletins to get more details.

Assuming that you're buying a 2015 that was affected by this issue which basically was because that was the first year they went to direct fuel injection, ( torque increased along with a bump in EPA ratings) you may be sensitive to a little bit of vibration. The remedy got rid of most of it but it's still perceptible in some cases to some people. The question is what are you willing to put up with. If you're looking for absolute perfection and not a vibration to be felt you may or may not be pleased with what you got. Best thing I would say is to really spend some time with one if you're looking to own it. If it's out a dealer let them set it up for you and allow you to have it for a few hours. But be the first one to drive it after a cold soak, overnite. You want to be the one that warms it up and gets in the car when it's cold and really experience is it from the get-go if you understand what I mean. Depending on your dealer you may even be able to keep it overnight which sometimes is best if you really want to get a good feel for the vehicle. If you're buying the car privately get the owner to go for a ride with you with you behind the wheel and make sure the engine gets to operating temperature and just drive it around as much as you can give in that situation. I gained best to be the first one to start it in the morning cold . Make sure you drive with the engine loaded in other words have the air conditioning in auto mode or make sure the compressor is cycling and turn on the headlights and the rear defrost and mirror heaters. This will put a little bit of load on the engine and the throttle will compensate by cracking its help open a little bit so if there's any vibration to be felt you should feel it. Most of the complaints from CRV owners what this vibration issue occurred at certain RPM, at Lower Road speeds, and at stops. So really just drive it like your grandmother's in the backseat sort of and be gentle but moderate.
The 2015 was also the first year that the CRV used CVT transmission. Some people like it some people don't like it. With the CVT in this vehicle it might take a little bit of getting used to if you've never driven one like this . I wont get into CVT mechanical and what not, you can find all that on YouTube, but in my years of servicing these vehicles the CVT was and still is pretty problem-free. They can take a lot of abuse. It's just a matter of getting used to how they operate. The 2.4 is of course normally aspirated so you can use the cvts gear ranges to a little bit of benefit but it's not as much fun as the newer model with the turbocharged engine. But the 2.4 has some decent power and mid-range torque and the software knows this and uses the CVT for best power based on your throttle position and best fuel economy for most driving.
The econ switch inside the vehicle will have an effect on how the transmission and the throttle operates. Its basically a second mapping that the PCM follows. It has a direct effect on transmission operation, throttle operation, and air conditioning clutch operation and HVAC blower speed. The amount fuel savings that you will actually get from using the switch will vary from almost being imperceptible to something that you can actually measure but it will not be all that great generally speaking.Personally I never use the econ switch ...I found that it was more of a psychological thing. I drove a daily route that was about 30 miles everyday and using the econ switch through the city and onto the little stretch of highway on the way home and vice versa really didn't make any difference in my average fuel economy whatsoever. I actually found that I didn't enjoy driving the vehicle when that switch was engaged just because of how the mapping affected the throttle operation, just to my mind it made it feel kind of sluggish as a required more pedal travel to get the throttle to open more. It's made really I think for people that have a heavy foot or people who are kind of hyper mileage ( nerds) people that are thinking that they're trying to squeeze gasoline out of a rock... what it does is it takes the linear action of the throttle pedal and the throttle valve and moves it more so that you have to push the throttle a larger amount to get the throttle to react a large amount. However the throttle software is sensitive to a quickly depressed throttle in the event of an emergency; in other words trying to get across the railroad tracks or through an intersection or what have you. The Econ button will also allow the transmission to go to a higher ratio a little bit faster.

the 2015 also has C RVs outstanding vehicle stability assist program that also includes and emergency brake assist feature. Basically how it works is the PCM can see how much brake pressure you're applying to the pedal over a given rate of time, for example in a panic situation, and it will use the ABS pump to increase the amount of brake pressure that you're applying, faster. In other words, getting your foot to the floor faster so to speak.

I can say I have great experience with the vehicle stability assist program driving a CRV on snow packed rutted slippery roads. I had an instance where I steered CRV ( at about 80kmh) inadvertently into a rut of snow on the highway . My initial reaction was to jump on the brake pedal, but I know how the CR-V system work so I simply turned the wheel towards the direction I wanted to go towards with my foot still on the throttle slightly, allowing the VSA program to do its thing, whole time thinking I was going to wrap myself around a pole as I went around the corner .... I could hear the ABS pump running as it applied the brakes on various corners of the car as it was working to get the vehicle to straighten itself out as quickly as possible based on my steering angle inputs. It was a fascinating and heart racing experience, and in the end i breathed a sigh of releif and carried on. I'm sure I looked like quite the spectabile spinning one way and the other way . The vehicle stability system uses a YAW sensor in the vehicle so that it can actually feel when the car is rotating around its Center Line much like an aircraft. it's quite very intresting to experience. If you take a CRV into a parking lot covered in snow you can do your darndest to get the thing to spin out of control with the vehicle stability assist in operation but it's quite difficult almost impossible. Just by driving through a parking lot a little bit of speed and then Rock in the wheel left to right and Back Again to get the vehicle to slide, The vehicle stability assist programming will take control over the 4 brake calipers independently via the ABS pump, the throttle actuator, and it will also try to nudge the steering wheel into the direction that it should be going, or another words it will allow an excessive amount of assist in the right direction as it has electric power steering, to assist the driver.

The 2015 gets a bad rap for its bad "Vibe" if you want to call it that , but truth be told it's just another great CRV.

The one year that was most impressive to me, and I'm I realize this isn't in your conversation, but the 2017 with the turbocharged engine is a lot of fun to drive and the fuel economy was better plus it makes better torque ( low low in the rom range) . This generation CR-V however is a long topic to discuss. But I can tell you from my experience with this generation of CRV that again it's getting a bit of a bad rap however it is an exceptional vehicle again.

 

Thanks, that's very helpful!

I could always ask the seller if the TSB has been done. And is that something that the Carfax would show?

 

Ask the seller. Also ask how often he has to add oil. The Carfax might show it it just depends how it was written on the work order. If the dealer route to work order that said miscellaneous mechanical that's what it show up on the Carfax I won't actually show the product update. You can ask a seller to provide you with the service history

 

You can actually check for TSBs, or if any have been done by going to your local Honda dealership website. In the side menu (the one with the the three horizontal lines) click on recalls and enter your VIN to see.

 

Keep in mind that the TSB may applicable to this units VIN, if it falls within the VIN range as prescribed by the bulletin; however no repairs may never have been done if the customer never experienced/complained about the symptoms of the issue in the description of the TSB. This repair is one where the repairs are commenced as a result of a customer concern and the application of the update.
You can search the TSB info and compare that to your prospective CRVs VIN to see if it falls in the range of identified units.

The TSB is different than a product recall, or a product update. .
Recalls are visible as rather open (not done) or closed (done) .
All that said, if a repair bulletin was completed, bulletin number will be part of the repair description of the vehicles service history.

 

Does anyone know how much it costs to have the TSB repair done if I buy one that hasn't had it done?