Stock k24 2g CR-V's are not any kind of quick, but like Seth said the mod potential is pretty compelling. Plus, nobody has mentioned that 'cheaply add a 6th gear' thing yet, so there's that.
The AC failure thing really is a bitch. The AC compressor is fairly difficult to get out (gotta hang the subframe partially down etc). The evaporator is surprisingly not bad after you cut through the part of the dashboard that Honda Itself recommends you to saw through. 
Why remove the evaporator, you ask? Because if you look into this issue there's some consensus that the only way to prevent repeated failures is to replace EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE AC SYSTEM. I think there are kits on ebay with every single thing for like $600.
I like the 2g CR-V a lot, but even being a mechanic myself and having done the work i'd probably try to find some shop that gave a decent warranty in writing and have them do it. It's not that i'd be scared to do it the first time, but i know if i had to do it a 2nd or 3rd time on my own car (i.e. noone paying me) i'd be mad as hell and irrationally stop liking the car over it. AC isn't like the pistons in my turbo cars that i will replace over and over because turbo is fun and it's my fault it broke. It's one of those things that you repair to factory condition and then expect it to work in that condition for at least a decade!
