Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

We add a CR-V to our long-term fleet
By Imthishan Giado

Hands up everyone who agrees with this statement: shopping for your Dad is the hardest thing in the universe.

It’s not that my father is especially picky; it’s that he doesn’t particularly want anything. And like most Asian Dads, he wants it to cost very little. So when it came time to replace his aging 1.3-litre 2005 Toyota Corolla with something a little safer and more spacious, the decision fell to me, the one easiest to blame when something wrong.

With absolutely no parameters in mind – apart from the fact that it had to be cheap to run, had to be Japanese and had to have Bluetooth – I looked at all the available options. We didn’t need a big SUV because there aren’t any kids and their luggage to lug around nor is he interested in offroading. He’d driven the Passat briefly and found it a very agreeable car, but wanted something with better ride height.

Our friendly salesperson, Umar Ghaffar

What won? In the end, I decided to buy him a Honda CR-V. At AED102,000, it’s reasonably affordable and feels well built to boot. This is one rung below top-spec; this car misses out on navigation and side steps but is otherwise comprehensively kitted out with a reversing camera, sunroof, Bluetooth telephony and audio, and dual zone climate control. Extra options we ordered included 30% tint, rustproofing and paint protection; the tint is absolutely essential I think but I’m not sure about the others. Call it conservatism; Dad had always had his cars rustproofed and the paint protection is one of those ‘well, it can’t hurt, can it?’ things that dealers are so good at convincing us into buying.

A rather nice extra we’ve received as a bonus for buying at this time of the year when sales are traditionally down is a free five year servicing package. Excluding consumables like brakes, tyres, pads and batteries, oil changes and everything else are covered up to 60,000km.

The sale was handled with exceptional competence by salesperson Umar Ghaffar, gigantic brother of one of our longest and most faithful readers, Aamir Abdul Ghaffar, and took but a few days to sort out.  This is our first Honda since 1997 and our third overall since I was a kid. So far, I’m impressed; there’s an honest competency to the way this CR-V drives. No flashy touch screens or multiple driving modes to distract you, just good old fashioned quality.

And as for my Dad? Well, he’s still yet to drive it! He’s parked it at home and kept the plastic on. Perhaps we’ll crack 100km by 2015…