my parents recently traded in the family minivan, a wonderful 3-year old Toyota Sienna that treated them well for 38K miles. the trade was made for a brand-new Honda CR-V. it was sad to say goodbye since it was an otherwise perfectly fine family vehicle to use everyday but with the bad-economy (housing market/mortgage, gas/fuel prices, rise in general living-costs, etc.) affecting everyone and determining how we live as they are now (and the future not looking any better), they felt the move to "down-size" in just about anything they possibly can (including their cars) was the way to go...for now anyways. the redesigned, much improved Honda CR-V fit the bill with its comfortable design and fuel-efficient engine. i myself had the opportunity to drive theirs on the interstate and i have to say, i was pleasantly surprised. its standard 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine is one of Honda's best creations yet and i can see why it is used in several of their other models (Accord, Element, Acura TSX). it is generally smooth & quiet, "peppy" off the line, and much refined thanks to the DOHC engine design along with the help of the i-VTEC system and 5-speed automatic with proper gear ratio layout. theirs currently registers as having just over 200 miles put on the odometer so it hasn't exactly been "broken-in" just yet. and so i wonder if it is for this reason that the car (which is otherwise fine with no major problems provided it is a Honda) experiences a rather "rough" case of vibration and rumbling noise coming from the engine when it is idling (in any gear). it doesn't exactly help when the A/C is on (even when running on the lowest possible fan setting). turning on the radio and raising the volume up to full blast only seems to mask the problem. it doesn't seem to be a huge problem (it's their only current major complaint about the car) but it can get very annoying to the passengers especially considering it is a new car (my mother thinks it is embarassing while my father says it is pathetic). the rumbling and vibration can range from muted to severe (semi-violent shaking of the entire car that can be felt through the seats while sitting inside) depending on the conditions. this only occurs when the car is standing while idling at a red light but the symptom does go in and out intermittently during the cycle so just as if we humans breathe inhaling and exhaling, the engine takes a breather every term for a short period, it goes to complete silence only to be triggered again to reproduce the vibration and rumble (and this all goes on continuously until the moment you step on the gas pedal to reaccelerate). strangely, it doesn't seem that the initial symptom would arise at the point of first starting the engine in the driveway but rather only when until you shift it out of park and begin driving it out onto the street for several minutes (warming up the engine) and at the very first chance you get to stop completely, that's when it would appear. it is a very odd, peculiar behavior out of an engine i or my parents have ever experienced in our lifetimes of owning different vehicles but if this issue of ours that we are currently experiencing was prevalent on this particular model, shouldn't other CR-V owners be aware of this and complaining of a similar problem alongside us? or, should i just give it more time so that the car can get a chance to "break-in" (at around 600 miles i'm guessing) and the problem will resolve itself by disappearing altogether after once it hits that 600 mile mark? this is all just very peculiar and disappointing for a brand-new and NOT used Honda vehicle that is so very likable but because of this one minor flaw, i feel my head aching just re-thinking about it or when i'm sitting inside the car itself even though it poses as no life-threatening hazard to anyone. i don't think i can ever remember being inside the previous Sienna minivan with its smooth V6 and feeling it vibrating at all like that even before its own break-in period came about. is this just how all 4-cylinder engines are even for those ones made by Honda? i bet the similar 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine from Toyota would remain still for the remainder of its life. if the answer is yes, i would never have recommended this car to my parents as a replacement for their smoother-running Sienna all knowingly. i would scoff over the issue if it was coming from a crappy Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep product, but a Honda?
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