I'm thinking about buying a 2009 CR-V front wheel drive with 217k miles.

I've long been a Toyota person since my 1989 Honda Accord in college and my 1985 Honda Prelude in high school.

Can someone tell me what problems to look for in this year/model? What is this engine called? Does it use a timing belt or chain? Are the transmissions for these four cylinders strong? Can I expect to get 300k from the car? Do they use a lot of oil at this age?

I think it looks better than the same year Toyota Highlander/RAV4 alternatives.

Any help appreciated!

 

Timing chain. They are known for issues with the VTC rattle on start up.

Reliability is going to be highly related to how it was maintained. If the 7500 oil changes were followed it probably has sludge and a stretched timing chain and likely pitted camshafts. Sorry but Honda specified way too long of a service interval on oil changes with these.

Valve adjustments are critical as well.

Oil burning is also a real problem if long oil changes and low engine loads were common modes of operation.

When they are good they are really good. The K24 makes good jam and is legendary when properly cared for.

 

That's interesting, I didn't expect these to have timing chain issues. But if the interval is 7500 miles, I can understand why!

How would I even determine health of components like a timing chain, valve adjustments, etc.? Would the oil sludge be evident if I look in the oil cap?

 

What about the cargo space when the rear seats are folded? Does anyone have any pics of that?

From what I've seen, they don't really fold down to form a flat cargo floor?