Own one?  Experience with one? How many miles and issues with it?

Finally found something for my mother.  05 EX with 91k on it.  One owner with carfax and all service history.  Did have one accident, front drivers side, no airbags deployed, and all VIN's matched on all panels and all glass was OEM Honda.  VERY clean. 6 airbags, alloy wheels. We got $5,900 in a trade on her 2004 GMC Sierra Denali with 226,000 on it (we were also the original owners).  Forgot that my brother drove that truck for 2 years with the dash not working because GM wouldn't fix the gauge cluster.  I'm guessing the mileage was more towards 275k as he drives 25k/year.  Had a leaking exhaust gasket, leaking trans and I don't believe the differentials had ever been serviced.  He didn't change the spark plugs till 200,000 miles and the U joints are making terrible noises.

The CRV was very nice, rides well, and I gave it a good inspection.  Fresh oil, fluids, pads rotors great, drives straight, new tires, etc.  Only bad I know about CRV's around this year was that the A/C compressor is known to fail.  I have a shop that charges $25/hr labor so even if it does she won't be setback much.  It was also the light silver color which she likes.  She had a 2001 in the past but my brother was T-boned at an intersection and it rolled and was totaled. That CRV was an EX with leather and had 225k on it.  

Price was $10,700 on the CRV, with the trade on the truck she was out of pocket $4,900.  Sales tax will be about $350 on the difference and insurance will be less.  All in all a pretty good deal I think and it feels like a really solid car.

Good car
will hold its value
Will run forever if maintained

Needs valves adjusted at 100k or it'll sound like a sewing machine
But does not effect reliability

Have owned 2
Never been in shop other than regular maintenance

Fair price

I agree, fair price.

Wife has one and she loves it.  If it is AWD, it does well in snow.

Max

Have an '03 Element which is basically the CRV. Has over 300k miles and runs great. It's a manual trans. Have replaced clutch once and the struts.

OK, great car other than that little A/C issue.  Read up on it.  Problem is, when the compressor goes, it usually takes out the entire A/C system.  It's called the Black Death.  Google it.  Apparently its so bad, it's hard to even flush the shit out of the rest of the system.  And the problem was, cars repaired under warranty from Honda got the same shitty parts installed that were made for the assembly line cars.  You have to use an aftermarket compressor or go through it all over again.  Do yourself a favor, spend the money now on a new compressor before it goes.  I know, sounds stupid throwing money at what still works, but it's cheaper now than later.

That being said, I'm driving my oldest daughters old '97 until my new Mustang is delivered. I'm then handing it down to my 15 yo daughter.  The car has 237,000 miles on it and runs great, now that I did a cheap fuel system treatment.  I rebuilt the A/C system last May, but this year doesn't suffer from the black death.

I drive a 97 with 205k on it.  Still gets 25mpg (awd) and runs great.

I was under the impression the earlier crv's had valve/cylinder head problems.  

Can anybody elaborate on this?

Yes, it's "real time 4wd".... or AWD.  She called me today and said how much she loves it.

1st generation CR-V's could run into recessed valve seats, which was a cylinder head replacement to repair.
2nd gen CR-V's like this one has issues with the AC compressor operating in hand grenade mode and spreading shrapnel throughout the AC system, requiring the entire system to be replaced.

Shop around for a used LX.

CRVs are good cars.  Unless you get a lemon, you should be good to go for a while with less than 100K miles.  That is a little pricey for the age, but not terrible.

I love the CRVs and RAV4 style cars, they are both excellent.

Watch for excessive oil consumption.  2 guys at work have them.  1 is only a year old and seems OK so far, but the other is older (2007ish?).  Only 60k miles and sucks a quart every 500-1000 miles.  Seem to eat pads and rotors at a high rate too (reminds me of the old Grand Prix's with the ridiculous yearly brake changes), but gentle on them if you want them to live.