What about HondaCare warranty

Final update on the cancellation of my Honda Care service contract.

Check arrived today. Easy peasy.

 

Just wandering how many of you guys "realistically" think you'll want to still drive the Clarity after 5y? Considering the rapid pace of technology advancement in batteries or other powerplants, software and safety features, and less important but nice to have luxuries and gizmos, 5 years seems like a long time to me... ala cell phone market.

 

From my observation of comments here, most of us are rather boring people who keep their cars for 10 years

That being said, I don't think technology is going to change radically in the next 5 years w.r.t electric cars that are affordable (20K to 30K)

 

I’ll be keeping my Clarity for at least 8 years. It fits my mobility needs perfectly, allowing me to drive all electric except for the occasional out of town trip. And it does that in roomy comfort and with no range anxiety. I keep cars for a long time to decrease the cost of ownership vs trading in every few years which is much more expensive if you do the math. I don’t have to have the latest and greatest, just the most economical and dependable. Yes, you may call me cheap. I call it being frugal and saving money for more important things.

And IMHO, 5 years is not enough time for the technology, market, and economics to deliver what I need in my next car. That is an EV as affordable as the Clarity with 400 mile range and 80 % charging in <20 min with no affect on battery health, and the availability of sufficient numbers and locations of reasonably priced public EVSEs. I just don’t see all of that happening in 5 years. I’ll wait on the next generation of battery technology which I predict to be solid state and is at least 10 years away from being affordable mainstream.
Let’s check back in 5 years and see if you can find anything remotely beating or even matching the Clarity’s combination of affordability and economy. Gentlemen, place your bets!

 

I agree with lanb and KentuckyKen. My wife and I like to keep our cars for a long time; we'll likely still have the Clarity 10 years from now as it meets my wife's needs perfectly -- it replaced her 2000 Nissan Altima (bought new). When I need a car (i.e., when not riding my motorcycle) I use our 1996 Suburban (in great condition, only 175K miles, bought used in 2002, primarily used as a tow vehicle). Instead of regularly updating our daily-drivers with newer cars, I prefer to buy MUCH older cars (e.g., our 1923 Ford t-bucket roadster and 1936 Nash Ambassador) or to save money for other priorities (e.g., traveling in our RV, preparing for retirement, etc.).

 

I think for anything over 5y ownership, the extended warranty makes sense and it should pay for itself and more. I like to keep my cars as well, but I feel this EV space is a whole other ballgame.
If they made a F150 with 70Ev range and gas mpg in the 40 range, I'd go for that, but I agree with previous posts - the price would probably be stratospheric.

 

Goal is to trade it after 5 years. I also got an 7yr/80K Honda Care for piece of mind. At the time, I'm hoping to move and no longer will have the benefit of free charging, so we'll see then what happens. Maybe go back to an Accord.

 

Even if you sell it after 5 years, you can cancel the remaining warranty, or transfer it to the new owner. Also the laws of physics won't change in 5 years. The cars will be similar to what we have now.

Think about Tesla Model S, it is still very similar to 2012 model after 6 years, with other just starting to catch up with its technology. I think in 5 years Clarity will still be near the top of PHEV class in terms or range and efficiency.

 

Keeping mind for at least 10 years and 200,000 miles. However, that does not preclude me from adding a full electric car to the stable before 10 years. I feel the clarity is a special vehicle.

 

My gen-1 Insight is 13 years old, gen-2 Insight is 9 years old, Clarity PHEV is 1.25 years old. If the 2024 Clarity (as if) ups the EV range to 100 miles, I'd still be using the same amount of gas, so our 2018 Clarity likely will also be a long-term member of the family (I bought the 8-year warranty in case the head unit goes kaput).