Solid, Reliable, but Not Terribly Exciting
I purchased this car brand new in May 2013. It's my second CRV, having owned a new 2007 model previously, which I traded for this one.
My '07 model was the base LX, so this time around I wanted a few more options, hence I chose the EX-L. It comes nicely equipped with leather, sunroof, back-up camera, satellite radio, premium sound system, 10 way power drivers seat, and a few other features which presently escape me.
The engine is upgraded to 185 hp, which is quite an improvement from the 160 hp of the older CRVs.
The CRVs' handling is predictable and stable. Braking is straight and balanced. Acceleration is smooth, but it will never pin you back in your seat, unlike some of its competitors like the BMW X1, or VW Tiguan, with respective turbo charged engines.
The transmission is silky smooth as well, but once in a blue moon it seems to hunt for a gear when accelerating suddenly at low speeds.
The interior (although upgraded from older models) still looks quite cheap in comparison to the German companies. What can I say, I like the layout of German cars, lol.
As of this writing, I have about 13,200 km on my car, and as expected, have had no mechanical issues.
I basically purchased the car after one test drive, without trying out other vehicles. Since then, I've driven the X-1, Tiguan, and MB GLK....and was extremely impressed by the these machines. The CRV is reliable, predictable, and sorry to say....boring.
If performance isn't important to you, it's a good choice. Otherwise, you may want to shop around for something similarly appointed but with another hundred or so horse power.