What should a hopefully happy new owner know about the PHEV version of the car?

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A-Lebron

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Hey all, I had a nightmare buying this car. I had a dealership run a hard check on my credit to try to push a loan while they sent me off on a test drive and during that test drive that Clarity had a horrible air leak. Another Clarity had a situation where after a turn during a test drive we got a smell of burning rubber/plastic flooding the inside of the car. When we got the salesman to check the car and test drive it himself, not only was the smell back. It distracted him so much he almost rear ended someone on the highway and we got to see the collision mitigation system in action. It works.

We're buying it because with incentives and the warranty we hope the car will be great for the future, even with the issues we've had. We finally found a dealer that sold it at a reasonable price are getting the trim and color we wanted delivered soon.

Anything I should know about the car going in? Is there anything you recommend as a current owner? It'll be living in an apartment building with first come first serve chargers. This area has a large amount of chargers so keeping it charged 3-4 times a week shouldn't be an issue. Are the backup sensors worth it to get installed at a later date?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Welcome to the club of early adopters. I am very glad I bought my Clarity and hope you will be too.
The consensus on this forum is that the back up sensors are not worth the price or the possibility of damaging the bumper/trim during installation. Also that with the auto rear camera with dynamic back up indicating lines you don’t really need it.
I’d say spend that money on high quality tinting that rejects IR heat transmission for those hot summer months.
 
What you need to know is that none of us have had any significant problems with our cars. It is a very solidly-built automobile so you should be fine. You are probably the first one to see the collision mitigation system in action, and you didn't even have to put your own car in jeopardy to do it. It is nice to know that you are forward-thinking enough to not let those negative experiences cloud your opinion of what the car represents.
 
The odd smell seems to be normal the first few times the engine runs. It goes away after it “burns off” which takes a little longer since the car doesn’t always use he engine.

You got a great car. Enjoy it.
 
Thank you for the replies everyone, I've never joined a small online community for a car I've owned.

KentuckyKen said:
The consensus on this forum is that the back up sensors are not worth the price or the possibility of damaging the bumper/trim during installation. Also that with the auto rear camera with dynamic back up indicating lines you don’t really need it.
I’d say spend that money on high quality tinting that rejects IR heat transmission for those hot summer months.
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I've never actually considered tinting a car, I might look into it in the future. The potential loss of night visibility always made me a bit uneasy. I'm glad the choice of removing those sensors saving me $890 wasn't a bad choice.

loomis2 said:
You are probably the first one to see the collision mitigation system in action, and you didn't even have to put your own car in jeopardy to do it. It is nice to know that you are forward-thinking enough to not let those negative experiences cloud your opinion of what the car represents.
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Overall, this car had an amazing feel inside and all the pros outweigh the cons. Most of the issues I've had with the car are dealer related thankfully. The scenario for that prevented collision was that the salesman was poking his head out of the side on I-95 going around 60mph to try and see if he could smell the source of the burning rubber. As he was speeding along traffic from an exit ramp on the right suddenly backed up and started overflowing into our lane (DC area). The car slowed, applied brakes and stopped just as advertised around 12 inches away from the bumper of the car stopped in the middle of the road. The collision mitigation alarm was pretty hard to hear. My wife didn't even know it went off sitting in the back.

jdonalds said:
Are the apartment chargers Level 2? Are they free?
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They're actually level 2 Chargepoints and cost $0.5 per hour. Sadly, I noticed this morning that the apartment complex seems to have assigned ICE vehicles to the spaces around the chargers. One of the chargers seems permanently off and the cables run over by ICE vehicles taking the spots around it. I reported the issue to chargepoint.

AlanSqB said:
The odd smell seems to be normal the first few times the engine runs. It goes away after it “burns off” which takes a little longer since the car doesn’t always use he engine.
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The dealer thought that may be the case, it was just alarming because it smelled exactly like the tires on the car were on fire. That or we just did a burn out.



Side note, does anyone know the dimensions of the key fob HxWxD? It seems like the most obscure specification to find, but I'm thinking about getting a little custom made leather pouch key chain off Etsy. I've still got until the 15th for delivery.
 
image.webp Considering the large amount of glass in the front windshield and rear window and especially the fact that they are much more horizontally sloping, and that I wanted to protect the interior and save battery level by having a cooler car, it was an obvious choice for me. But then my car is parked outside much of the day. I’ve never tinted any of my cars before and thought people just did it for the looks, but then I could there are high end tints that reject heat (infra-red). The tint shop I chose had a convincing demo of a heat lamp that you could slide squares of auto glass with different brands of tint applied in front of. The ones claiming heat rejection actually reduced the felt heat considerably. And of course they were the most expensive!
Night vision is not a problem as long as you don’t tint more than the level Honda does on its factory tinting on some models. I think (not sure) that’s about 30%LTV. I’m having it done tomorrow and will post results.

As to size of key fob. Happy to help a new Owner into the Clarity Secret Society of Infinite HV Range.
It’s 2 5/8” L by 1 7/16 W by 1/2 D.

If you find a nice little pouch that fits it please post results with pix and link.

When your HV goes over 500 miles we’ll give you the secret hand shake.
I haven’t added gas yet so I’m only at 361 and am just a lowly novitiate.
 
Wow thanks for taking the extra mile and helping me with the measurements and size! This is actually what I ordered in a custom color:
https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1402619086

I'll let you know what it looks like in hand, it should arrive a little before the car does.

I know it was someone else in the other thread, but I'm curious what your tint job will look like too. It's something to discuss with the wife (as is most large expenses).
 
You’re very welcome.
Just got my tint done today. I opted for the more expensive tint that has maximum heat (infra-red) rejection in order to keep car cooler in summer and reduce a/c drain on battery. All tints are 99% UV proof so the extra $ is just for heat rejection. I did 30% VLT on both side windows since KY limits front windows and I wanted them to match. Used darker 20% on rear window. Have appt next week to have 70% put on windshield. There’s a lot of glass up there! I wanted to keep dash from cracking in the long run and also keep heat down. If you keep cars long term as I do, I think the cost is worth it. Check your laws before proceeding. Too dark to take pix but will post tomorrow.

You’re gonna love your Clarity. Amazingly quiet and very roomy. And did I mention 2 weeks and 400 miles without using a drop of gas!
 
has anybody noticed how easily this key shows scratches?

The older keys never showed it. Within 1-2 weeks the blue starts showing scratches
 
Yes. Mine too. Terrible design. Another poster ordered a leather case for it on Etsy and is supposed to post how it works when he gets it.
 
Had my first chance to remotely start warming the interior via HondaLink. As we were leaving a restaurant last night I used the App on my iPhone to "Turn On Climate" and when we got to the car, which was parked 2 blocks away, it was warm inside and blowing nice warm air. Great feature! My wife was absolutely thrilled. It did reduce EV remaining range by about 6 miles.
 
I realized I derped on the link there a while back. I guess this forum has a lockout on edits after a bit?
https://www.etsy.com/listing/495662709/100-hand-stitched-handmade-black-cowhide

This is the actual pouch I got, gets here Thursday.

Along the lines of HondaLink, I've searched for this information online too but can't find it. Is Hondalink connecting via local bluetooth or is it connecting via the ATT cell phone network they introduced a while back?
 
It’s by a cellular telematics unit. I haven’t had time to go digging around yet, but they are usually located behind the dash near the glovebox. It’s on my list of things I want to find and document on the car.
 
Hi.Ho.Silver said:
Had my first chance to remotely start warming the interior via HondaLink. As we were leaving a restaurant last night I used the App on my iPhone to "Turn On Climate" and when we got to the car, which was parked 2 blocks away, it was warm inside and blowing nice warm air. Great feature! My wife was absolutely thrilled. It did reduce EV remaining range by about 6 miles.
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is HondaLink free in clarity? I saw somewhere that security, remote, concierge services cost annual fee.
 
JKroll said:
is HondaLink free in clarity? I saw somewhere that security, remote, concierge services cost annual fee.
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HondaLink is free for the Clarity. There was some confusion on that earlier, but I believe the Clarity has different service tiers than their other cars so things like climate control from the app will stay free.
 
JKroll said:
is HondaLink free in clarity? I saw somewhere that security, remote, concierge services cost annual fee.
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Those services are for the Odyssey - which is being confused with the Clarity - mostly because Honda's website is linking there. The two people I talked to at Honda (not salespeople or dealers) both told me that HondaLink for Clarity is free and will remain that way for the life of the vehicle. I told them about the confusion with the Odyssey info showing up when Clarity is called up, but they had no response for that other than to say they would pass it along.
 
It’s free right now. Unlike the Odyssey and another model that escapes me there is no subscription service offered for purchase after the free period ends. I called Honda and confirmed this. This person (I think at Honda Link help line) also said they had no plan to. I can find no mention of a limited free period or a pay subscription option for Clarity on any Honda website or in our owners manual. All references to this matter always list specific models and do not mention the Clarity. Maybe if one day Honda tries to change this and charge us we can be grandfathered in or start a class action lawsuit.
BTW, my Honda Link app is working great-finds my car, battery level, notification when charge finished, and preconditioning. It communicates by cellular data so as long as car and phone app are in range of any cell tower you are good to go. Of course you are giving Honda some location data and trusting them to protect it. May bother some but not me.
 
AlanSqB said:
The odd smell seems to be normal the first few times the engine runs. It goes away after it “burns off” which takes a little longer since the car doesn’t always use he engine.
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By the way, thank you for stating this. Just got the car and noticed the same smell, but didn't panic since I had already read your experience!
 
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