what is the daily commute mileage? and will it be city driving or mountainous road?

By today's standard, the first gen CRV is a fuel guzzle.

Not to mention the repairs needed to get this car running in a fine condition.

Unless you're getting it from family members with known track record of maintaining this car, else it's better to avoid it.

You may be better off getting the 3rd gen CRV.

Better get the 3rd gen... Gen1&2 really drink petrol. A well maintained one is hard to find. I know the shape and size is very likeable. Still, the 3rd gen is a better bet... Its on the market for more than 5yrs... I think almost 7yrs before it got replaced... Parts will be plenty. The 7sp auto gearbox is really smooth and save petrol but at a cost, its not very spirited.

Avoid modern CRV that comes with 1.5 Turbo engine , IMO .

dont think the 1.5L turbo engine is problematic.
It is used in Civic, CRV and the latest Accord
if problematic, wont see so many of them on the road.

If you want to buy the 1st gen CRV, is better you go find Rav4 which proven to be less problematic. Some similar age Rav4 can get around RM10~15k only and if lucky can get the 2 door version which is even rare.

eh.. this is so different from what you mentioned above.

there are so many civic, crv out there, never see they face issue with their engine
please dont bad mouth other manufacturers unless you have evidence.
honda have new technology because they are creative and have the technology, not like T badge that is always conventional and old fashion.

Just google about oil dilution honda engine, carbon buildup intake valve issue.

BTW, just receive some insider new from Honda SC that already got a lot of claim of ABS pump failure lately from City to Accord mostly around 2~3 years the electrical board behind the ABS pump still start to fail. After claim, some personally take out the fail ABS pump to fix and resale as recon units. Honda quality been in the drop these few years. 

i am a fan too. also wanted to get
too bad it dont have VSC.

As an owner of the 16 years old 2nd Gen CR-V with 2.0 i-VTEC K20 DOHC engine, I would say it is a better choice compared to 1st Gen. 1st Gen has an old B20B VTEC engine without Valve Lifting, so the engine performance and fuel consumption figure is below the par compare to other 2.0 liter engine. 2nd Gen meanwhile is using the famous 2.0 K20 i-VTEC DOHC engine which has a respectable 156 HorsePower and 190 NM of torque at 4000 RPM. During that time, competitor SUV horsepower is not even close to it (Nissan X-Trail with QR20DE 2.0L @ 140hp, Ford Escape 2.0 @ 134 hp). The figure is still respectable in today's world where current Subaru XV, Honda CRV 2.0, Nissan X-Trail 2.0 is also producing 155hp thereabout.

To those who commented that 1st and 2nd Gen CRV are fuel guzzler and expect SUV to have fuel consumption of a Myvi or Vios, they are most likely never own a C segment SUV or D Segment Sedan (built in 2000-2010s).
First of all, any 2.0 liter engine car with the weight of 1500 - 1600 kg will have the fuel consumption of 9-11 km/liter. You must accept this if you want to jump ship from the current A/B segment car (weight is below 1200 kg) to any C-Segment SUV or D-Segment Sedan.

For an SUV like 2nd Gen CR-V which weighs around 1550kg with a Naturally Aspirated non-turbo 2.0 engine, you are looking at fuel consumption of 7-8 km/liter for town/city driving with heavy jam. For highway drive cruising at 110-120kmh, you are looking at 10-12 km/liter. For mixed driving, the average fuel consumption is around 9-10km/liter. It is thereabout the same whether you are looking at 2.0 liter Honda Accord, Toyota Camry or Nissan Cefiro. Now you are getting a 4WD advantage while still enjoying the same fuel consumption. The main reason for people to complain 2nd Gen CRV for the "high" consumption is due to the small fuel tank which is around 50 liters (very small compared to other SUV or D Segment Saloon which usually have 70 liters fuel tank). You will get the illusion of a fuel guzzler if you happen to visit the petrol station more often than the other car.

Even for the current Proton X70 which weighs 1650kg, the fuel consumption is thereabout 9-11km/liter too even with a powerful 1.8 Turbo engine with 184 HP and the latest Direct Injection technology etc. X70 is also having the small fuel tank issue (60 liters) with low fuel warning came out much earlier than other car. That is why you still see many owners complained their X70 is not fuel efficient because they come from a background of owning a A/B segment car for a long time and used to the "normal fuel consumption of 13-15 km/liter" figure.

The spare parts are very reasonable as it share most of its part with the Honda Civic at that period. Though you must be alert of many FAKE Honda label parts sold by spare parts shop widely in our country which will have shorter life and cause you to feel that Honda car is not reliable.

People are recommending 3rd Gen Honda CR-V which are more fuel efficient due to the SOHC R20 engine where the priority is more on to fuel saving instead of power. You lost the VTEC sound also.

You can read the old article by clicking the link below.

http://asia.vtec.net/article/2002CRV/