It’s a game of two halves as far as Honda CR-V running costs are concerned. On the one hand you’ll get low servicing costs – Honda does offer three years’ complimentary servicing every so often and there are affordable servicing deals too – and because Honda has a strong reliability record you’ll get a decent amount of money for your CR-V when you come to sell it on.

On the other hand CO2 emissions aren’t that impressive across the majority of the range and there are other similarly sized 4x4s that are much more economical.

The best engine for fuel economy is the 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel added to the line-up in Autumn 2013. Honda quotes average fuel consumption of nearly 63mpg, which equates to a range of more than 800 miles per tank.

For comparison, the 2.2-litre diesel with the six-speed manual returns a clamed 50.4mpg average.

The best model in the petrol line-up is the 2.0-litre two-wheel-drive, six-speed manual that promises to return 39.2mpg on average.

While Honda CR-V emissions levels aren’t particularly low across the majority of the range, the 1.6-litre ‘Earth Dreams Technology’ i-DTEC diesel manual added to the line-up in Autumn 2013 emits a tidy 119g/km of CO2. This makes it the pick of the range for fleet and company car buyers.

The CR-V also features an ‘Eco Assist’ display that tells you how economically you are driving.

You can stay secure in the knowledge that Honda CR-V reliability is unquestionably strong. Hondas are extremely well made and complaints are very few and far between. Customer satisfaction surveys show that Honda owners are an extremely happy bunch