Remember the days when you would go car shopping and your biggest criteria was: do I look good driving this? Oh, just me? Well, anyways, as time has gone on and I’ve gotten married and had kids, I’ve lost the vanity (it’s really tough to care how you look when you haven’t sleep in weeks and you’re covered in what you hope is just drool) and my car shopping criteria has drastically changed. Now I need tons of cargo room (those strollers aren’t tiny), good gas mileage (tryin’ to save for college here, folks) and above all else – I need my car to be as safe as possible. Like if I could, I’d roll up to the school pick-up line in an Army-grade-tank safe.
So when it came time to buy our new family ride, I was excited to scope out the Honda dealership near me. Everyone’s familiar with Honda – their cars are ubiquitous. Especially the Honda CR-V. Been to a kid’s soccer tournament yet? The parking lot was probably full of them, and for good reason – U.S. News and World Report ranks the Honda CR-V number 1 in the Compact SUV class. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your ride to a more family-friendly ride, you need to check out the CR-V (or just let me tell you why I’m a CR-V mom below).
Spacious
So the Honda CR-V is classified as a “compact SUV,” and compared to some of the behemoths on the road today, it does look pretty small from the outside. However, the inside is cavernous – both in the front seat and in the rear passenger seats. The cargo space is massive. Seriously. The CR-V is best in class for cargo space with 39.2 cubic feet of space in the trunk, and 75.8 cubic feet when the rear passenger seats are collapsed. That is a whole lot of junk in the trunk, my friends. We are talking serious stroller space. And if you’re going above base level, you’ll get a power liftgate. And if you’re “not a regular mom, (you’re) a cool mom” then go ahead and make the rest of us jealous in your top-of-the-line Touring with the hands-free power liftgate (these are things I now covet – what has happened to me?).
Stylish Interior and Exterior
So clearly we’re all on the same page here: with roomy options like the CR-V, we will never surrender to the minivan – right? Okay, good. Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s talk about how good we are going to look actually driving the CR-V… because we’re going to look basically like the fabulous Elizabeth Taylor cruising in our White Diamond Pearl CR-V (or Basque Red Pearl II, Dark Olive Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl – there’s ten exterior paint colors to choose from, so pick whichever one makes you feel like a movie star). The cloth interior of the base model may be a tip-off that our glam-squad is actually a bunch of toddlers, but again, upgrading to a higher trim level like the EX-L or Touring will fix that for you with leather-trimmed heated seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.
If you’re all about keeping it basic, there’s no shame in that game. The base model CR-V (the LX) comes standard with a 5-inch display screen, a rearview camera (really this is a safety feature but it also makes you look cool), and a four-speaker audio system and Bluetooth capability. Moving up the trim levels will load up your CR-V with features like a power moonroof, satellite and HD radio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a 12-way power-adjustable driver’s seat and remote start. You’ll also upgrade your display screen to a 7-inch touch screen. That’s really just for starters, too – there’s a lot of nifty options as you move up the model’s line, although the base model really is pretty great and has an starting MSRP of $24,045 as compared to the Touring’s starting MSRP of $32,495.
Fuel Efficient
So you want to splurge and get the fully-loaded CR-V Touring. You know what? With the money you’ll save on gas, feel free to go for it. With 26 miles to the gallon in the city and 32 miles to gallon on the highway, the CR-V offers some of the best fuel economy in its class. And if you’re so inclined, you can opt for the turbocharged engine and get 28 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. Either way you go, you’ll be doing better at the pump than most of your peers.
Safety
There is nothing a parent won’t do to keep their children safe, and nowhere is this more apparent than when you’re faced with buying a new car. The good news is, the Honda CR-V is an extremely safe car, although this is where you’re going to want to consider moving beyond the base model if you want your car loaded with additional safety technology like lane departure warning, collision mitigation warning, automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring. But with a five star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the title of Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and being included as one of the Twelve Best 2017 Family Cars from Kelley Blue Book, you can feel confident putting your most valuable possessions in the CR-V (we’re talking about your kids here – not your Jimmy Choos, just FYI).
Mom’s Know Best
Well, sometimes. Most of the time we are just winging it. But in this case, the 2017 Honda CR-V is a can’t miss.
