2018 vs 2019 clarity

  • Thread starter Thread starter glockgirl
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PHEV Newbie said:
Actually, it's more like a $55,000 (the price in Japan) car that Honda is taking a huge loss on to sell to each to us. With the dealer discounts, federal and state tax incentives, it can effectively cost less than $25,000 for a Touring. I love mine so to me, it is the automotive bargain of a lifetime!
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To be fair, the Japan model has slightly more features (e.g., CHAdeMO fast charge). Still, it likely cost more than we pay, although there's lots of value for Honda in not having to buy EV credits from other carmakers.
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
To be fair, the Japan model has slightly more features (e.g., CHAdeMO fast charge). Still, it likely cost more than we pay, although there's lots of value for Honda in not having to buy EV credits from other carmakers.
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They were only planning to sell about 1000, so the price is "adjusted."
 
PHEV Newbie said:
Actually, it's more like a $55,000 (the price in Japan) car that Honda is taking a huge loss on to sell to each to us. With the dealer discounts, federal and state tax incentives, it can effectively cost less than $25,000 for a Touring. I love mine so to me, it is the automotive bargain of a lifetime!
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Yes, this is so true - they are really selling the Clarity in the US for a lot less than what they should be - it is a true bargain!

My dealer says the reason why the Clarity have a low MSRP and huge incentives is because of the need to balance out fuel economy numbers (Federal CAFE).

That's how other manufacturers sell their EV/PHEV/Alt fuel cars so low - they take a "loss" on them to offset the money making gas guzzling cars and trucks they also sell.

What a nice way to take advantage of such a Federal mandate!
 
So now we just need someone near one of the dealers that has 2019s in stock (Dublin Honda shows both 2018 and 2019) to go test drive one and let us know if there are actually any differences :-)

If they are the same, for someone keeping the car a few years the model year can make a difference in resale value even if 2 cars were made within days of each other, but for someone planning to keep it longer (or to turn it in at the end of a lease) it might not matter as much in 10 years. If there are real feature or under-the-hood changes, it's good to know that too.
 
4sallypat said:
Yes, this is so true - they are really selling the Clarity in the US for a lot less than what they should be - it is a true bargain!

My dealer says the reason why the Clarity have a low MSRP and huge incentives is because of the need to balance out fuel economy numbers (Federal CAFE).

That's how other manufacturers sell their EV/PHEV/Alt fuel cars so low - they take a "loss" on them to offset the money making gas guzzling cars and trucks they also sell.

What a nice way to take advantage of such a Federal mandate!
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Not to mention that Honda really put high class components on this car, they built it with heart.
 
su_A_ve said:
Except the bulbs in the vanity mirrors. WHY on earth they didn't spend the extra $2 and put in LEDs?
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This very day, less than 2 hours ago I was congratulating Honda for deciding to put incandescent bulbs next to the vanity mirrors. Of course, I've seen the threads with information about how to replace those incandescent bulbs with LEDs. However, Honda could have easily installed LEDs next to the vanity mirrors. It wasn't because the incandescent bulbs were cheaper than LEDs that Honda decided to use them. It was because those incandescent bulbs emit the spectrum of light the designers wanted to illuminate the faces reflected in those mirrors. Some on this forum claim they've found LEDs that emit light exactly like Honda's incandescent bulbs, but I doubt that's true. The fact that Honda chose these fragile, throwback bulbs for only this single application demonstrates a dedication to providing the best possible user experience for people riding in a Clarity. Insightman...out!

(Now watch, it will probably turn out that the only difference between the 2018 and 2019 Clarity PHEVs is the installation of LEDs next to the vanity mirrors.)
 
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insightman said:
This very day, less than 2 hours ago I was congratulating Honda for deciding to put incandescent bulbs next to the vanity mirrors. Of course, I've seen the threads with information about how to replace those incandescent bulbs with LEDs. However, Honda could have easily installed LEDs next to the vanity mirrors. It wasn't because the incandescent bulbs were cheaper than LEDs that Honda decided to use them. It was because those incandescent bulbs emit the spectrum of light the designers wanted to illuminate the faces reflected in those mirrors. Some on this forum claim they've found LEDs that emit light exactly like Honda's incandescent bulbs, but I doubt that's true. The fact that Honda chose these fragile, throwback bulbs for only this single application demonstrates a dedication to providing the best possible user experience for people riding in a Clarity. Insightman...out!

(Now watch, it will probably turn out that the only difference between the 2018 and 2019 Clarity PHEVs is the installation of LEDs next to the vanity mirrors.)
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^^^^^
The color temperature of incandescent lighting provides a much more pleasing skin tone compared to the colder LED color temp.

Yes, this was a well engineered car that engineers in Japan took the effort to design including the vanity lamps. These engineers must have had women on their team or else had taken home the cars and their wives chimed in!

After all, the only people that use the vanity mirror are women - they would be more upset if their foundation, blush and liner didn't look correctly...
 
su_A_ve said:
Except the bulbs in the vanity mirrors. WHY on earth they didn't spend the extra $2 and put in LEDs?
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Oh yeah, I never used that, and it wouldn't bother me at all? The two cameras are the worst parts, to get high-end ones they will need to upgrade their operating system though, I would rather think they wanted but were not able to do so.
 
bobcubsfan said:
Reasons why this will probably be my first and last Clarity:

1. No front camera
2. No overview camera
3. No lane warning sound or lights
4. ICE coming on when "it feels lit it."
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I have 1, 2 and 3 on my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica mini-van....#1 is useless and more of a gimmick feature as a stand alone feature.....#2 is only useful when parking because its such a large vehicle, but i'm not missing it in my Clarity.....#3 would be nice, but again, not missing it in my Clarity.

#4 on the other hand....you must have gotten a lemon because the only time I've ever had the ICE kick on when I didn't mean for it to is when I started it up one day and it was in the single digit temps (3 degrees according to the dash).
 
Mark W said:
Rear camera is the worst quality that I have seen in any car. I'm not confident using it, especially with any rain or darkness.
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You need to press the day/night at the bottom left of the screen and the rear camera is much brighter... There is also an adjustment for the right turn camera in the settings, not sure where I found it 7 months ago but it is there.
 
stacey burke said:
There is also an adjustment for the right turn camera in the settings, not sure where I found it 7 months ago but it is there.
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The list of LaneWatch settings below appears on page 430 of the Owners Manual--the last item sounds like what you're talking about. However, the menu diagram on page 308 (copied below list) doesn't show the "Display" option. I have a cat on my lap so I can't go out to see what the menu looks like on our Clarity (ie. I'm too lazy to get up to check it out).

Customizing the LaneWatch settings
You can customize the following items using the audio/information screen.
• Show with Turn Signal: Selects whether LaneWatch monitor comes on when
you operate the turn signal light lever.
• Display Time after Turn Signal Off: Changes the length of time the LaneWatch
display stays on after you pull the turn signal lever back.
• Reference Line: Selects whether the reference lines appear on the LaneWatch
monitor.
• Display: Allows for display adjustments of items, such as brightness, contrast and
black level. This setting is part of the System setup group.

upload_2019-2-6_20-59-11.webp
 
4sallypat said:
After all, the only people that use the vanity mirror are women - they would be more upset if their foundation, blush and liner didn't look correctly...
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In South Korea, and other parts of asia, it's actually quite manly to carry a man-purse with makeup, and use it. I'm not joking..
Mark W said:
Rear camera is the worst quality that I have seen in any car. I'm not confident using it, especially with any rain or darkness.
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I'll take the CRV/Civic/Clarity camera quality any day over the appalling cameras GM still uses on their lineup. We had an up-level 17 Escalade at our shop recently; that truck was no doubt a six-fig vehicle, and yet, the cameras still sucked! They all had this odd analogue interlacing artifact, making even the birds-eye practically useless.
 
stacey burke said:
You need to press the day/night at the bottom left of the screen and the rear camera is much brighter... There is also an adjustment for the right turn camera in the settings, not sure where I found it 7 months ago but it is there.
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This didn't do anything for me this morning. Just the triple beep to indicate "you can't do that"
 
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