Clarity Inventory

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by HappyValley, Feb 1, 2018.

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  1. HappyValley

    HappyValley New Member

    I would like to purchase a base model Clarity and live in the middle of Pennsylvania. Just about every dealership has the Touring model, but only two base models within a few hundred miles of here and are both colors I would not consider. To me, it doesn't seem worth it to pay for leather and power seats (no need for Navigation).

    According to our local dealer, you cannot order a vehicle directly from Honda. This seems a little strange to me as you can do so with the Volt and I assume many other manufacturers. They also claim that the vehicles that are delivered are based on sales and they can only request colors.

    Anyways, where I live, it does not seem like Claritys are selling. I'm guessing that's due to the area of the country I reside and that it doesn't seem like the Clarity has been marketed. So, if they are not selling, I'm concerned that dealerships will not continue to get Claritys at any level of significance.

    Eventually, I know there will be an opportunity to buy one although figured this forum could be a good resource for assistance. I've learned a lot going through the threads here!
     
    Domenick likes this.
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  3. ab13

    ab13 Active Member

    Technically a dealer orders the vehicle from the manufacturer. Normally you should be able to place a deposit to order a vehicle, but you are not contracted to buy it. The situation may be due to allocation based on sales at that particular dealer, and history of "green" car sales until production volume increases. Any dealer could arrange a trade with another dealer, but it may have a cost. In LA the biggest dealer have almost 50, but I think a big East coast dealer may have 20-30+. You may check out other dealer websites for stock levels.
     
  4. dstrauss

    dstrauss Well-Known Member

    I have been told (repeatedly) in Texas there is a "Gulf Coast Region" that receive shipments of cars that then get "rationed" out to dealers - you usually can't request a model or color, and it is up to the dealers to swap cars if needed. We have two dealers here in Midland-Odessa (two cities 20 miles apart) - one dealer never got one, mine got a white one they traded to an affiliate dealer in Fort Worth for my metallic steel model. My dealer has not gotten another, and doesn't have one on any incoming shipments.
     
  5. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    While $3000 is a steep difference between the models, don't forget that there's also a $1000 state rebate in PA that's been renewed for the first half of 2018 (500 rebates available, we got ours in less than a month). As others have noted, the quality of the Touring interior is luxury level and you'll probably be able to negotiate a bigger discount on the Touring model than the base. We got a $2000 discount without really trying last Dec. You'll probably do better than that today with the much bigger inventory. Adding up the Federal/State incentives and the discount, you can buy the Clarity Touring for well less than the MSRP of a similarly equipped Civic. Although it seems to be a minor thing, we love the memory power seats in the Touring that's not available in the base. My wife and I share the car so it would drive me crazy to re-do the adjustments manually each time I drive (it's annoying enough on the power seats of our other car w/o memory settings). After owning the Clarity, I feel it's the best value vehicle I've ever owned (I've owned more than 10 new cars over the years)! People should be lining up to buy it. Because they're not, you can have the car deal of a lifetime!
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2018
  6. HappyValley

    HappyValley New Member

    Those are some crazy numbers out in LA! I figured they would sell a lot more on the West Coast, but that's a huge difference. The ten closest dealers to my home have between 1-3 vehicles...only two base models. The largest Honda dealership in the Pittsburgh area has 2, lol! The local Honda dealership did tell me that would look for a vehicle if I put down $200. They did offer to knock off $1,000 from MSRP, although do the KBB Instant Trade so I certainly could get a better deal if I was able to negotiate with multiple dealers. I'd like to get one soon because I'm excited, but there's really no sense of urgency. Ultimately, I don't know if it would be better to drive two hours to a dealer, potentially negotiating the price via phone/e-mail, and then going there to pick it up or using the local dealer here in State College.
     
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  8. HappyValley

    HappyValley New Member

    Thanks for pointing out the state rebate. I was aware of it and have the two state contacts for the rebate program. I wonder how quickly the 500 rebates get used. I believe in past years, they've added additional rebates in the second half of the calendar year. The informational website has two contacts that I could check with. I'm glad to know it comes so quickly....gonna have to wait 12 months for the $7,500.

    You make a valid point on the Touring. As I mentioned in the original post, they seem to be just sitting at dealerships around here. If I could push the price down closer to the Base model price, it may be worthwhile. I know my wife would get a kick out of automatic seat adjustments! As you can see from my profile pic, we have dogs and take them everywhere. I'm guessing with leather I may need to put a covering in the backseat for protection.

    I was gonna buy a Volt last month and am so glad that I did not as I was gonna go with the Premier, which is actually more expensive! In my view, there is no comparison between the vehicles. It is an outstanding value. Some have commented that they don't like the looks. In my opinion, it's unique and has a 'cool' factor where a Volt looks like any other car on the road. That's what always stood out to me with Tesla is their uniqueness and that they look sharp. Other PHEVs and Electric cars almost seem like they went out of their way to make them look ugly, like the Prius, Leaf, Bolt, etc..
     
    teedee, JyChevyVolt and dstrauss like this.
  9. AGarg

    AGarg New Member

    We are trying to find a Touring Solar Silver in the Austin, TX area but no one has it. One dealer has a couple of White cars in inventory and mentioned that they have a paint shop and can paint one Silver :eek:
     
  10. visajet

    visajet New Member

    Check out Gunn Honda in San Antonio. About an hour drive from Austin and they have the silver touring in stock.
     
  11. aapitten

    aapitten Active Member

    @HappyValley, I did a ton of work to find my touring back in Dec and had a very hard time even finding a dealer with a clarity at all. My advice is to look for every Honda dealer within some radius of you (maybe an hour, or two hours?) and email them and ask if they have any base-model clarity's in stock. I am in NE Ohio and did this for mine, I ended up driving to Pittsburgh to get it, but I also got it for invoice thanks to shopping so many dealers. IDK if that helps at all, but best of luck with the search. I'm very surprised they say they can't order you one...
     
    HappyValley likes this.
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  13. HappyValley

    HappyValley New Member

    Headed to South Florida next week. It looks like there’s inventory in that area. I’m considering reaching out to a few dealers although would hate to put 1,200 miles on a new car in the first week! Purchasing a vehicle so far from home may be more complicated from a registration and taxation standpoint. I’ve never done it before so not entirely sure.

    Any insight on Honda promotions beginning 3/1? I would love to lease a Clarity although the cost right now is outrageous. I’m wondering if a rebate or a lease deal will come available at some point soon.
     
  14. ab13

    ab13 Active Member

    Do you have a credit union our other buying service. My credit union can do the pricing and bring the car to a credit union location to see it. Not sure if that is possible on new models like this.
     

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