USED Honda FR-V MPV (04 - 09)

My car

I fully understand why this car is a JD Power winner. Owned this car for over 3 years. I have three children and they all require child seats from stage 1 - 3. The car has been excellent and we have not identified a good enough reason to trade it in. We have been to Portugal with luggae and back no problem. Inside the car has plenty of room for all five of us with a spare seat. We have not struggled with the boat space for shopping and buggies and have not felt the need for a roof box like so many other family MPVs. I have covered about 34,000 miles now and the engine is just getting nice! It is responsive and quicker than you would think when giving it a good thrash due to VTEC. The car has been reliable and cheap to run so far and the dealers are very good with no concerns at all. Build quality seems really good with interior coping no problem. Handling can appear soft on corners but it is a family car and the suspension reflects that. Family and freinds all admire it and like the look with a couple of purchases locally as a result of seeing it! Overall a great car and until it starts to give me a headache I suspect we will just keep it until it drops.

My car

My FRV is doing the job I bought it for brilliantly. I bought a used 18 month-old, 20K car; it was bought as a second car, replacing an 8 year-old Vectra. My primary car is a Merc C-Class saloon and so the second car needs to be practical for trips to the dump, airport runs and when parents visit. I looked at all the min MPV options: the S-max was discounted for being a little too big and so it came down to the VW Touran (bland styling but nice car – the reviews about reliability put me off plus VW dealers need to release that there is an economic down-turn happening if they want to sell cars!), the Toyota Verso (possibly the most boring car in the world, I know it’s an MPV but I was so under-whelmed by it) and the Honda (the width initially concerned me but you don’t notice it when driving or parking). What really sold me on the Honda was that all other MPVs have those flimsy seats in the rear – you loose all luggage space and they are so close to the rear window; the idea of my child seating in one and being rear-ended by a truck fills me with horror! The Honda with proper seats and luggage space is the way forward. I have filled it with 6 adults and provided that the seats are staggered a long journey is not a problem. In summary, the Honda may buck the trend in MPV seating layout but it is Honda who has it right. Plus, it is a pretty good looking car, drives OK and is as well built as anything German with a similar price tag (and bonus Japanese reliably). Go get one.

My car

I've had the FR-V since June 06 and now have 85k on the clock.

Had some early niggles - outside temperature sensor packed up, no biggy except that the climate control uses this input - so it thinks it is -28C outside and blows maximum heat inside. Quickly fixed and didn't recurr. Other niggles were alarm going off randomly, the hand brake warning sounding constantly, and the CD not being fitted correctly. Sounds a bit of a list, but everything was quickly and easily sorted.

Fuel consumption slightly worse than expected - probably due to high speed motorway work. The engine is great - gets faster the older it gets, very noticable for the first 20k or so that it continues to loosen up. New front tyres every 30k.

The seating works wonders - three across the front with the back seats folded down make it transit like for shifting stuff. That's really why I bought it. I compared it to a Touran, but the rattles in the new demo(s) put me off the VW. The Honda is still like new inside, no rattles or anything

I do love the car, but will replace it early next year - maybe with a B-Class? I'll probably not buy another one as I want a change; but have no hesitancy in recommending one to anybody.

My car

Had the car 3 years from new. This car has the potential to markedly improve family trips in the car. Obviously it can save on arguments when 2 passenger seats are available up front. But even if you have the 2 wee-ones in the back and partner up front in the normal 2+2 arrangement the FR-V still beats the others... the reason is that with the front-middle seat folded down the ease of communication between front and back is drastically improved. There is such a big gap between the front seats that simple things like passing "stuff" between front and back is easy. Even general conversations are a whole lot easier. (They should change the name of the car to the "Honda Sociable" or do a special edition suitably sponsored Honda "TalkTalk".) It really does make the whole trip a lot more inclusive for everyone. When choosing your car, you can consider MPG, build quality , dealer service, cost, options, etc but the outstanding "win-point" for the FR-V is the potential for a genuine improvement in the quality of your family-time on a journey - if that's what is most important, then this is the car for you... Quick word about the Honda dealership - they make a 60 mile round trip to pick my car up for its servicing - and return it back to me. Outstanding.