Did you consider the Honda Clarity before your Prius Prime?

It's impressive that she compiled a list of PHEV's and landed on the Clarity. You, sir, have a winner!
It's also a trait for women to base purchases on 'looks'. You have to admit the Prime has a harsh chiseled 'look'.
Did she run any numbers based on TCO? Neither of these PHEV's operate as a Full-Feature EV when in that mode.

 

With $7500 eventually would be gone, I am thinking to get a larger PHEV. Hope Toyota would release a Camry based one soon.

 

One thing to note: while Honda has a generally good track record for "normal" cars, they have had a TERRIBLE record for many of their Hybrid cars -- including the one that I owned for years -- which is why I will NEVER buy another Honda that's an EV/hybrid. I got burned, as did many others. It's the reason I went back to Toyota after years of being a Honda driver.

I doubt anyone who owned a 2006 or 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid will ever buy another Honda hybrid again.

I won't go into everything that was wrong with the car (you can Google it to find out everything), but among the "high" points: (a) the hybrid batteries routinely failed every 1.5 years, even in fair weather, parked indoors, etc. Instead of making things right, Honda instead installed new software to disable most of the hybrid function of the car, and basically turn it into an expensive "normal" Civic. There were lawsuits (including one filed in small claims by someone who won $10,000 -- before Honda appealed) but I can't tell you how many hybrid batteries my car went through (and I'm only a moderate driver in SoCal climate, parking indoors). There were also multiple other lawsuits (everything from faulty rear suspension to tire wear lawsuits). But the main thing is, after spending $5000 more for the hybrid version, so Honda wouldn't have to keep replacing their faulty hybrid batteries every few months, they virtually disabled the hybrid functions of the car, turning it into almost a normal Civic.

So when I see the Clarity (or any other Honda EV car), even if it was better in EVERY WAY on a sheet of paper, I would NEVER buy it. I (and thousands of others) got burned, Honda fought every step of the way, and I will NEVER chance going through that again.

Besides, if you look at the specs, the Prime beats it on most things. But even if that were not the case, I would never buy the Clarity. I'd go for the Prime -- even the Ioniq, Volt, or other manufacturer before I go Honda again for hybrid.

If you think this is going overboard, imagine how you'd feel with your Prime, if the traction batteries had to be replaced yearly, and Toyota would not replace them or honor any of the warranty unless you gave them permission to software-update your Prime to where they basically turn the EV almost off -- turning your Prime into a Corolla. I don't think you'd be anxious to buy another Toyota hybrid if that happened to you. Well, Honda did that to 2006/2007 Civic Hybrid owners. Which is why after years of being a Honda driver, I'm now driving a Prime.

 

good point. if it isn't liquid cooled, i'll avoid it at all costs

 

What are you doing in the Prime forum then?

Re Clarity, it bigger and overall better than Prime (feature wise), but the price reflects it accordingly. One big negative - I know it would bug me daily, - is the awefull rear-view camera. I mean, it's not high-def in Prius, but the one in clarity reminded me the cathode tube TV of the stone age.

 

is this for owners only?
i didn't know i wasn't allowed. please have a mod contact me, and i will stay out.

 

Bahhh! If there is a pulse, there is a post. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

Bill. I am sorry I did not respond to your question!

(I’m not very close to my wife quite honestly).

We went to see them one by one. A lot of them were smallish in the back seat with my longish torso. Kind of made the decision based on that. I forget which of the Hyundai/Kia products were underpowered my wife complained. I guess sacrifice for the 600+ mile range....

Gulp, about the concerns over the Clarity. We did agree on purchasing an extended warranty....

 

Their rep from the past is why the new Civic hybrid is called the Insight3.

While they screwed up, and deserve that reputation, Honda's issues were with NiMH batteries, and it was only in some models. I have not heard of any issues once they switched to Li-ion, and the last year or two of the Civic hybrid was using it.

 

SAY WHAT?

Does she know this?

 

Shhh.....

(Just in case she pops in here).

It’s all my fault!.....

 

I finally had a chance to drive 2018 Honda Clarity. Honda dealer I went had a few left over they are very eager to sell (lease) off of their lot. Overall, I really liked it. The ride was very comfortable and felt much more powerful than the PRIME. If it was not sedan but liftback, I would have gone for trading my PRIME to switch to Clarity for its extended EV range. One thing I did not like was the flying bridge of the center console and switches for the gear selection.

I also had a chance to drive Nissan Leaf SV $37K (not a plus model) to compare. I was so disappointed with the LEAF. What should I say, it is pure EV but that's the only thing going for that car. For the price $3K higher than the base model of Clarity I test drove, I felt like I was driving $16K Versa Note. I will never buy LEAF at that price for that size and range. 2018 Clarity base model can be had for $22K, that is far better buy for now. Again, if that was a hatchback, it would have been sitting on my driveway right now.

 

I actually thought the Clarity was a hatchback, until we took it home!!!

There’s one negative that I must point out, at least it’s so far a negative for me. (It’s customizable somehow but I haven’t tinkered with it. Just kept the default layout). The Infotainment menu screens/layout just irks me the wrong way. Seems not as user friendly as it could be.

On the plus side:

Honda/Garmin provides 5 years of map updates for the navigation if you opt for one with it. I’ve tried Apple Car Play on the nav version and it is nice. (Not 100% sure it’s available on the non-nav version). My wife can make a round trip to work without charging, about 20 mi one way), whereas her old C-MAX Energi would only make it one way, (started not making it all the way after battery degraded)....

 

What kind of HV mpg do you get when you are out of battery charge? EPA listing is 44 City / 40 Hwy but do you get better than that?

 

I don't think you're a loud; you seem pretty quiet to me, after all, you are typing your words, and aside from the tic, tic, tic of the keyboard, I don't think your noise is obnoxious! Oh, allowed!! Oh yeah, never mind! You're allowed, and anybody who don't think so izza gunna have to deal with the mad French Snail!! Har, har. Have you ever seen an escargot on the warpath!!??

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
AChoiredTaste.com

 

You’ve actually just reminded me of another irk when compared with the C-MAX. To be honest, I’m really not sure. I’m going to try to tinker with the menus/instrument cluster to see if I can get some sort of answer next time I get in to drive it. I just drove it in HV mode this morning after adjusting the tire pressures and setting the TPMS to recalibrate. (It uses an indirect TPMS/No wheel pressure sensors). So the amount of information given on the displays is somewhat minimal compared with the ‘13 C-MAX.

 

If it is similar to PRIME, mpg display is meaningless that is if you drive with EV mixed with HV. I did not have time to play with MID information when I was testing it. You may have to deplete EV range and drive purely HV for a full tank to come up with accurate HV mpg.

 

If there would have been crash tests done on it when we purchased, we might have gone with the Clarity instead of our prime.


iPhone ?

 

What crash test does the Clarity do better at?

 

I did, and chose the PP because of the significantly better fuel economy in HV mode. I can get most of my around-town trips mostly covered on EV, but I like to take long road trips where I go many miles on HV only.

Second attractive feature for me - that hatchback. Since I camp out of my PP, the hatchback makes it much easier to get to the stuff I need. Campground stuff at the very back, clothes up front, etc.