Scotty Kilmer - Least Reliable cars and trucks of 2018

That Scotty fellow is a moron. I left him a negative thumbs down vote and a comment!

For every negative thumbs down vote, it takes away from the positive ones BTW...

 

These are the dings listed in the Consumer Reports info. This guy has no Clarity data of his own. That’s why I wrote in post 2 this guy is just making money sensationalizing the CR info. Sad.

 

This is the norm on today's Internet. You see an article and think, "Gee, that prose looks familiar." A little research takes you to the original article that is being used without permission or attribution, and a little more research will turn up more instances where the original article has been stolen and republished for the benefit of the YouTuber or blogger. The better the original article, the more it will be stolen and appear in multiple places. Trying to police this is like killing cockroaches with a tack hammer.

 

But it is ever so enjoyable to watch the ones you manage to get with that tack hammer writhe as they die.

 

Only 800+ miles so far, but have been on some longer outings and can only say I am totally in love w/ this car. Absolute perfection so far and this forum has certainly contributed to my understanding of the Clarity both before and after the purchase. And after a month of ownership I finally saw my first Clarity. I've seen probably 10 Teslas but only one other Clarity. Is the Clarity the rarest vehicle on the road at this point? It sure seems so...

 

I was unfortunate enough to have an accident with mine. I don't know if this would factor into reliability but getting parts for it is not a fast process. This happened in November, and some of the parts are only expected to arrive in April (bumper, hood). I don't really think that should factor in reliability but you never know what they might include in their criteria. If they do include this, it would be a problematic area.

 

Sorry to hear about an accident in your wonderful car...

Well this car is made in Saitama Japan so uncommon parts would have to ship to the US.

To compare: I had this issue with the UK made Land Rover that has given me the worst delays in parts arrival.
It would take over a month to get a part from the UK to the US and then the service techs would have difficulty because they have not handled the part that would come in.
Over the course of 3 years - I had the new Land Rover in the shop for over 3 months total.
At least they gave me a Jaguar F Pace loaner to drive around.

 

What were your car options while waiting for the parts? Were you able to drive the Clarity?

Al

 

I have a sense that the so called revolutionary OTA upgrade experience will soon become a nightmare to those Tesla owners. As simple as an iPhone and as mature as Apple's hardware QA process, they still come to some big issues after times, when it comes to a Tesla, I am really wooried about those owners.

 

It's one thing to have an issue with your smartphone; it's much different to consider the possibility of a car malfunction when you're cruising on the highway. I am sure that the Tesla folks are very aware of this and go to great lengths to avoid a problem.

It strikes me that software updates applied by a clueless Honda technician may be entirely as dangerous as updates applied using an OTA mechanism. It's pretty easy to configure the update process to leave the car alone when it is actually being driven. The danger is that the flaw in an update will manifest after the installation process is complete, while the car is being driven, when a combination of events presents itself that triggers a flaw in the software. The method of installation of the update doesn't affect this situation. I can only hope that Honda software updates are rigorously tested and that there is an overall failsafe system in place that will prevent the equivalent of a "blue screen of death" while cruising at 70 mph.

 

I also have seen zero marketing effort to support the car. I doubt the import numbers do much to affect their CAFE status either. We checked the Clarity out at 2 dealerships. At one, the salesperson didn't know jack about the car and kept referring to his pocket guide to answer questions. At the other, the salesperson claimed to have physically attended a training course on the car and he was quite a bit more knowledgeable. I'm not sure if it is Honda's failure to educate, or dealerships lack of interest in supporting an unconventional vehicle. Ultimately, I think Honda is serious (as opposed to only saying they are serious), but still figuring out how to effectively market such a car in the USA.

 

Time will tell. It seems to me that they have had plenty of time to at least show some commitment, and I don't consider introducing the 2019 model with zero changes to be an encouraging sign.

 

This^^^^!
I still have that awful, sinking feeling when the center screen on my Clarity goes blank and takes a couple minutes to reboot while I'm going down the road.

 

This has not happened to me, but the good news is that the car continues to function while whatever it is that runs the center screen reboots.

 

We are not talking about the same concerns, the issue happened with the Nio car is caused by a misoperation, I am more worried about the frequent upgrade in the transmission control system. The transmission system is a life critical system, most makers allow upgrade of other non-critical systems but not the transmission system. Software always has bugs, a proven system for years might not be efficient enough as those equipped with frequent updated systems, but a single tiny bug could cause lives. It does not happen so often, but who can afford it? I am oppose to OTA upgrade but not because of OTA, I am against frequent upgrades.

 

And yet, failure to update can also cost lives. Look at the current issue with defective airbags that may literally kill the driver. That's an update that I'd want to apply. The chance of a potentially-dangerous software bug seems to be much lower, but it could happen. In that case I would want the defective systems to be repaired as quickly as possible. This is a case where OTA might actually save lives.

 

I watch scotty kilmer almost every day. Why that....kids hate it when I watch him,and my little dog has picked up on that. So whenever he is on you tube, the dog goes into a barking frenzy. So as she like doing that, I play one a day to make her happy.
That aside, he is a old mechanic with 50 years experience of fixing cars. One does not go to scotty kilmer to decide on what cars to buy. He has opinions that are at times not quite current. Any old car mechanic they generally tend to be opiniated on cars.
He is inordinately fixated on toyotas to my opinion. But he is not on the take or sponsored by them. His income is generally only from you tube, and free items he is given to try out or trips companies may sponsor.
Did he use consumer reports for this as basis, I'd guess he certainly did. Is that nefarious and some sort of a patent violation or stealing content....seems not as I find it. He read the report and then added it into his content as one may do with general information.
He says Toyota is the way to go with virtually every vehicle and includes PHEV and hybrid in that. Is there basis for recommendation on reliability of Toyota hybrids …..I say firmly yes there is. There are notoriously reliable. Keep in mind a guy like scotty is looking at repairs and parts availability, more than most other things. So with Toyota first in sales in this segment, where can he buy knock offs and find parts available and cheap, with Toyotas of course. But his considerations may not be ours.
So he provides interesting information and is not lying about things nor is he some you tube hack. But it needs to be considered his context of operation. If you have a mechanic who has 50 years experience he or she will likely be as opiniated.
He lives and works at car repair out of his house in Houston. His prior experience of doing a segment for a local tv station on car repair led to you tube. He has great viewership and probably brings in double what he makes in car repair by his videos. He is a old guy, disheveled, his place is a mess, parts tools everywhere, but he is a heck of a mechanic. Fw of us go to mechanics when we want to buy new cars for their opinions. Their opinions are secondary to other things, especially if they may be a bit lost in the past. Does he even know who Elon is....my guess is no.

 

I'd prefer it if Mr. Kilmer was voicing opinions based on his actual experiences rather than what he reads in Consumer Reports. I realize it must be tough to keep coming up with new material to feed the YouTube maw. Perhaps he could make a video where he opens up the issue of Consumer Reports he's using as source material, reads it to us paragraph-by-paragraph, and explains in terms we can understand exactly what Consumer Reports was complaining about rather than just echoing their vague terminology.

 

Scotty, I am guessing, couples things he may hear about, with his personal experience. His personal experience with honda as per reliability, is they have trended down, particularly as per transmissions. That is his experience as a car mechanic.
The problem with stating things in a article that is already posted by the maker of a you tube video, is akin to copyright violation. If one gets to close to a already published video, it becomes a violation of community standards and a reason one may be disallowed to post anything at all. It is generally best not to mention anything at all, as to specific source, and if a mention is made it must be made in a fashion that is not containing original content in any appreciable manner.
You tubers depend on you tube for pretty large amounts of income if viewership is large, and anything that hazards that income stream, most will not chance.
In any event, scotty disavows determinations of reliability on only published sources, to include CR, as he thinks all may be compromised. He says most of the reporters make very little, are often paid by article basis, and thus they are subject to compromise. His determinations are always by majority on his personal experience of brands.

Are those experiences current with a clarity...I'd say probably not, as how many clarities do they sell in Housten… close to zero is my guess and certainly he has never serviced any. But like listening to ones grandfather, not all of it may make sense or be applicable, but nevertheless it is usually worth something, certainly not all in most current circumstances.
He is a old mechanic with 50 years of experience and not qualified to review or provide qualification on CR publications. It is not what he does, which is fix cars and do you tube videos mostly about that.
Toyota is it for him based 99% on his experience. Does that lead him wrong at times...sure. He bought a toyota pick up for his son which had a entirely rotted out frame he had to repair with major welds. That year that was a major problem. So he is certainly not a definitive source. To repeat old mechanics tend to be that way. Interesting a good watch, but not a thing to put your bottom dollar on.
If he did things like review CR's youtube video in the fashion described he would likely last at that three times. AS with three violations they will withdraw permission of use. The policy now is not as it was even six months ago being much more strict. But no, his opinion in any event is not based on in majority a CR article. But a CR article with other experience added to it.
With the clarity is his experience applicable? Since I can safely say he has never worked on one, I say probably not at all. But he is a mechanic, not a media reviewer of articles. His general information on fixing cars is simply outstanding. Out of that realm the more out it gets, the more suspect its valuation. He thinks electric cars will never catch on...well sure in Houston texas, middle/poor class, it will take a while. Other places like the EU, it is five years in the past that. But how many teslas has he serviced....I safely guess again zero. He simply is not up to speed on this thing of EV's and plug ins. A viewer sent him a video on a tesla, which he posted, just last week, so I guess he may be changing. But keep in mind this is Houston Texas not the most progressive of places. Some of his stuff you just have to take with a grain of salt.. But he is not a hack.

 

It does seem intentional on Honda’s part, as if they really don’t want to sell them.

That said, someone posted this to Facebook:



Tiny numbers compared to other models, I’m sure, but great relatively speaking.

THAT said, in over 3 months of looking in N GA and E TN, yet to see a single Clarity in the wild. Have seen maybe 3 or 4 Teslas in that time frame.