Would you send your wife and kids on a 3 hour cross country trip in an old car with over 200k miles?

There are older cars that could make it --- but the potential risk of leaving them stranded is just too high for a lot of people. It's a judgment call but this perceived risk has a definite adverse effect on the value and utility of older vehicles.

I’d do it (and have done it) without giving it a second thought. This CR-V will almost surely die from rust, not a mechanical issue.

In a Honda? Yes.

A Honda mechanic once told me that if you ever see a Honda broken down on the side of the road, it is most likely either a fuel pump (often safely located inside the tank to protect it from DIYers) or a blown head gasket. The head gasket being a follow on effect of overheating --- often due to a ruptured coolant line.

Honda's are pretty reliable but they tend to fail in spectacular and expensive ways.

Not to get all mythical about it most Honda and Toyota cars are heavily overbuild for what they are. Stock CR-V engines (K20/K24) reliably deliver 400HP with simple $500 ebay turbo kit without modifying anything inside. Thats 100% safety margin on all engine internals. Stock engine is almost unkillable in normal operation. Take care of consumables (oil, fluids, filters, sparkplugs, clutch, brakes, tires, ignition wiring, rubber hoses, suspension bushes, shocks, battery) and rust and you can drive same car for 40 years.

In contrast German cars wear out mechanically or kill you slowly with electrical system deterioration. Parts are meticulously calculated to need replacement at a set point of vehicle life. One example: Audi (VW group) 2.0 TDI BLB Engine is made to fail at ~200K no matter what you do, from oil pump to head micro fractures. Crankshaft sprocket at 200K

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_m_33vQTtsxM/SyuSlFIeSXI/AAAAAAAAG9o/rt...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_m_33vQTtsxM/SyuSn5YALLI/AAAAAAAAG9s/ul...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_m_33vQTtsxM/SyuSp1yUs4I/AAAAAAAAG9w/mO...

VW answer: this part is non serviceable, whole crankshaft needs to be replaced :D Why is it made out of putty while smaller sprocket (the one taking more force) is still ok? Why is it designed not to be replaceable? Good 'old timer/not by the book' mechanic is still able to replace it (heat whole crankshaft, use big hammer). In good heavily driven cars 200K is usually first crankshaft turn/grind, engine block itself should be good for >500K easily. Not here. Smells like planned obsolescence, if not on purpose then as a byproduct of cutting part safety margins to the bone to save cents on the dollar.