Older used car advice

[Marisa]

Hi

I was lucky to buy a used Honda CRV 05 plate about 4 years ago for £1800 with 120k on the clock.  I have a good mechanic who has got me through my MOT's and it's been a great car but sadly this last MOT has come up with bad rust under the car and various other serious issues and because of the rust such as brakes and steering on both sides is in danger of collapse, deeming it unworthy of fixing. 

I live rurally and do drive through a lot of bad surface water due to heavy rains/flooding years round but nothing crazy other than road driving.

I'm wondering if the CRV is prone to a badly rusting undercarriage to this degree or have I just been unlucky at the end?  

I'd like to buy another but the prices for CRV's for 2005-2008 seem pretty high given the 165k+ mileage on most (around the £2500-£3k mark) and now I'm wary because of the rust issue.  Does anyone have any advice as to whether it's worth buying a 2005-2008 with mileage over 150k at this time or that just taking too much of a risk of it lasting any more than a year!

Many thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Trevor]

The later models (3rd Generation CR-V) tend to display light surface corrosion on the underside but have never seen it turn to deep set corrosion such as holes in the floor/chassis area.

If you do get a later CR-V then it may be worth getting the underside treated with Waxoyl as this prevents any corrosion taking hold....about £100 to £150 but worth every penny