18 and 19 Clarity PHEV difference?

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smith ho

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Dealer told me 18 and 19 are identical. Specs on Honda official site also shows the same. What might be some differences? I was told 18 has more incentives too.
 
smith ho said:
Dealer told me 18 and 19 are identical. Specs on Honda official site also shows the same. What might be some differences? I was told 18 has more incentives too.
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I suppose it’s possible in your state incentives for electric vehicles changed from 2018 to 2019. Otherwise everything is the same.
 
One thing is the older vehicles, some may have sat on the lot awhile without getting charged. 2018 went up to around 26000 in VIN number, so a low number meant it has been sitting for awhile.
 
ab13 said:
One thing is the older vehicles, some may have sat on the lot awhile without getting charged. 2018 went up to around 26000 in VIN number, so a low number meant it has been sitting for awhile.
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This was one of my considerations when I purchased my Clarity. Thankfully I was able to find one in the color I liked with a high VIN number (22000, built in 11/18).
 
Shoppers realize you don't need to just read the VIN to interpolate an estimated build date...there's a VIN sticker inside the driver door jamb (same as almost every other car of every brand) that also tells you exact month and year of manufacture...it's plain as day and takes 2 seconds to read.

This was a primary concern of mine when I bought my car too. I purchased in Sept 2018 I was stunned to see several Clarities with mfr date of late 2017 on the dealer lots, presented as new cars. Last thing I wanted was to buy a car that had sat thru an entire midwest winter of freeze cycles, uncharged, which is clearly stated in the owners manual as being detrimental to the battery. So I very purposefully sought out a mfr date less than 4 months old, and the dealer was forced to trade cars with another dealer to find me one that was new enough for me to be willing to buy. And I'm glad I made them do that dance.

Good luck finding a Honda dealer with a charger installed -- that would be a unicorn if I've ever seen one. They receive these cars and just let them rot, forcing all potential buyers to test-drive them with dead batteries. Depending on where you are, these cars can often languish on lots for a VERY long time...so buyer beware. Don't buy a brand new car with a dealer-abused battery. 98% of dealers selling these cars seem to be downright clueless of what they are selling or doing. Honda has seriously dropped the ball on educating their distribution network for this car IMO. And I am finding they have not yet fixed that problem.
 
Benefits of buying a 2019 Clarity Plug-In Hybrid:
  • Most current Service Bulletins have already been installed (don't know if 18-097 - Clarity Fails to Charge or Finish Charging is installed)
  • It will have a fresher battery (although not necessarily a better battery--it depends on the dealer's attention to maintaining its charge)
  • The resale value of a 2019 Clarity Plug-In Hybrid will be better than the 2018 version (unless a 2019-only flaw is discovered later)
  • You get to enjoy driving a new Clarity Plug-In Hybrid (as many have been doing for a year now)
 
craze1cars said:
Shoppers realize you don't need to just read the VIN to interpolate an estimated build date...there's a VIN sticker inside the driver door jamb (same as almost every other car of every brand) that also tells you exact month and year of manufacture...it's plain as day and takes 2 seconds to read.

This was a primary concern of mine when I bought my car too. I purchased in Sept 2018 I was stunned to see several Clarities with mfr date of late 2017 on the dealer lots, presented as new cars. Last thing I wanted was to buy a car that had sat thru an entire midwest winter of freeze cycles, uncharged, which is clearly stated in the owners manual as being detrimental to the battery. So I very purposefully sought out a mfr date less than 4 months old, and the dealer was forced to trade cars with another dealer to find me one that was new enough for me to be willing to buy. And I'm glad I made them do that dance.

Good luck finding a Honda dealer with a charger installed -- that would be a unicorn if I've ever seen one. They receive these cars and just let them rot, forcing all potential buyers to test-drive them with dead batteries. Depending on where you are, these cars can often languish on lots for a VERY long time...so buyer beware. Don't buy a brand new car with a dealer-abused battery. 98% of dealers selling these cars seem to be downright clueless of what they are selling or doing. Honda has seriously dropped the ball on educating their distribution network for this car IMO. And I am finding they have not yet fixed that problem.
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Keeping track of VIN # helps you narrow down the inventory/dealer online without having to visit the dealer(s) to look at the Mfr. date.

Honda dealers in CA have chargers and generally seem to be better in keeping these at least partially charged.
 
kg350 said:
I was hoping they could update the darn infotainment system for the 19s at the minimum!
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I’m sure you aren’t the only one. My wishlist a hud, heated wheel, blind spot warning (+lane watch), linked mirror/seat memory, ventilated seats, energy tracking and overall efficiency system that is worth being in the car, and being able to see if car is locked and windows are up/down from remote are my asked to get me to buy a new one at some point. :) I’m sure there are others I am forgetting also lol

EDIT: HEAT PUMP!!!!

Basically lump together all of the features from all three models of clarity and you’ll check a lot of these boxes.
 
insightman said:
The resale value of a 2019 Clarity Plug-In Hybrid will be better than the 2018 version
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I was seriously holding out hoping the 19's would come out before the end of 18, but decided on an 18 when words got out the vehicles would be the same, late November. Do not regret my decision, on account of PHEV state rebates not carrying over after the new year.
 
Olimpia said:
This was one of my considerations when I purchased my Clarity. Thankfully I was able to find one in the color I liked with a high VIN number (22000, built in 11/18).
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So a VIN of 26,000 is desirable, but 22,000 is at least okay? Ours starts with 22***.
Never would have thought of this. Duh.
 
craze1cars said:
Shoppers realize you don't need to just read the VIN to interpolate an estimated build date...there's a VIN sticker inside the driver door jamb (same as almost every other car of every brand) that also tells you exact month and year of manufacture...it's plain as day and takes 2 seconds to read.

This was a primary concern of mine when I bought my car too. I purchased in Sept 2018 I was stunned to see several Clarities with mfr date of late 2017 on the dealer lots, presented as new cars. Last thing I wanted was to buy a car that had sat thru an entire midwest winter of freeze cycles, uncharged, which is clearly stated in the owners manual as being detrimental to the battery. So I very purposefully sought out a mfr date less than 4 months old, and the dealer was forced to trade cars with another dealer to find me one that was new enough for me to be willing to buy. And I'm glad I made them do that dance.

Good luck finding a Honda dealer with a charger installed -- that would be a unicorn if I've ever seen one. They receive these cars and just let them rot, forcing all potential buyers to test-drive them with dead batteries. Depending on where you are, these cars can often languish on lots for a VERY long time...so buyer beware. Don't buy a brand new car with a dealer-abused battery. 98% of dealers selling these cars seem to be downright clueless of what they are selling or doing. Honda has seriously dropped the ball on educating their distribution network for this car IMO. And I am finding they have not yet fixed that problem.
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Thanks, am going to check mine tomorrow.


Sent from my Nokia N73
 
Mine was 11/17 bought in Late February 2018, if they ever get my body plugs in I might have them test 12v battery and get the capacity of the main pack. I’m not too concerned though, I’ve been changing cars quite often at this point and may start leasing with as quickly as things are changing especially if Honda makes big strides with the fluoride ion battery.
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/fluoride-ion-battery.4033/
 
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MGT said:
So a VIN of 26,000 is desirable, but 22,000 is at least okay? Ours starts with 22***.
Never would have thought of this. Duh.
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The higher the VIN, the 'newer' the car is. Since mine (ours) was built in 11/18 it means it only sat at the dealers lot for a couple weeks/days (depending on where you live; I am in FL and when I bought mine last week the dealer didn't even have the car in their lot, it was in their warehouse still with all the wraps/plastics from the factory).
My Clarity also didn't have any pending recalls/bulletins apparently, which means they already took care of these things while they were being built as opposed to earlier builds.

Ultimately, it's not a major factor (for all we know you can still get a high VIN car and it can end up being a lemon) but something to consider when making a purchase, especially with a car that has plenty of inventory and you have the luxury to pick and choose from many dealers (at least here in FL).

In some instances, it could matter a lot and make a huge difference, like with the Chevy Bolt which has a "cut through" VIN number that dictates which models have a newer battery model vs older battery model.

laptop said:
How do I check when mine was built?


Sent from my Nokia N73
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Open the driver's door and look for a black sticker/plate in the lower side under where the door is supposed to be.
 
AlAl said:
I was seriously holding out hoping the 19's would come out before the end of 18, but decided on an 18 when words got out the vehicles would be the same, late November. Do not regret my decision, on account of PHEV state rebates not carrying over after the new year.
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I, too, was monitoring and hoping for the release of the 2019’s in late 2018. Either to get a 2019 or to get a screaming deal on a leftover 2018.

Pulled the trigger on a base model 2018 in November. No regrets. Got a nice discount regardless. The pressure was on to do the deal in 2018, since 2018 stands out as a unique year for us in that we’ll be able to take full benefit if the federal $7,500 credit. Being in retirement, most years we have little if any tax liability to credit against; last year we did.
 
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