Clarity issues Summarized

  • Thread starter Thread starter Geor99
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 26
  • Views Views 5K
G

Geor99

Active Member
I'll begin by saying that I love the car, but I do have a few frustrating minor issues. All of these appear to be widespread. They are also addressed in this forum, but all over the place.

I thought that Id try to put them all in one place.

1. Charging issues on dual 220v chargers. Sometimes it will work fine. Other times it will keep stopping even after restarting it many times. Sometimes I get the reduced mileage/check engine light. It never charges to 100% on my work level 2 charger.
My home 120v charger works flawlessly.

Fix: There are Honda Service bulletin software fixes out there. Many claim that this rectified their issues.

My dealer swears that my car already has this update. I'm considering going to another another dealer.

2. Incorrect mileage range estimate. This occurs once you fill the tank with gas for the 1st time, which I have yet to do.

Fix: Once again, many claim that a dealer installed Honda Service Bulletin update fixes this issue.

3. Sirius satellite radio will stop working periodically after using the hondalink climate control. This warms/cools the car remotely.
Fix: I am not aware of one . Please correct me if I'm wrong.

4. Can't get Hondalink app to work.
Fix: I tried dozens of times on my own. After I called Honda, it magically began to work out of the blue.

5. Can't get Android Auto to work. I get a charger error every time that I plug my phone into the 1.5a usb charger, nearest the driver.
Fix: I do not think that this is widespread . I've tried many cables, and I believe it to be unique to my Samsung Galaxy J3 prime phone.

6. Starter issues: this may be unique to me, but sometimes I will need to touch the power button with my foot on the brake 2 or 3 times before I can successfully start the car. This occurs approximately 5% of the time.
 
Just as an FYI, I found one set of charge-point chargers at Boston Museum of Science that shut down often at around 80% for me.
I have to restart the charge once or twice to complete.
Each time I head out to the parking garage there to check, I do so with the expectation that someone unplugged the cable (I always find it undisturbed).
MOS has an interesting setup where customers can reserve a station with their card if it is in use - not sure if that is in any way related, but I do see a reservation that I can over-ride when I restart the charge.
Other than those specific stations , I have seen no charge issues.
 
None of the 6 issues effect me. We did have the HV mileage thing fixed.

We don't use external charging stations, Sirius, Android Auto. Never heard of the starting problem.

You didn't mention the dashboard being lit up like a Christmas tree indicating many faults. We had that reset at the dealer and it hasn't come back.
 
Last edited:
I have 1 and 2, but not overly concerned over them, probably wouldn't call them issues for me.
Never experienced 3, but I didn't renew Sirius after 3 month free expired.
4- Occasional "can't retrieve information" but I think it is phone reception rather than HondaLink. Otherwise, I love it for a free service.
5- iPhone so no Android Auto problems.
6- never encountered
 
I love the car. I had 2 Priuses, a Hyundai Sonata and an Acura TL in the past, and this car is the most comfortable and smoothest driving and handling among them all, not to mention the serene EV driving. My only complaint is when you happened to find yourself driving locally or in a traffic jam on the highway with little to no EV, which leads to engine revving when accelerating that is loud. I would have sacrificed 5-10 miles of EV to have a bigger ICE engine which presumably would run quieter under these circumstances. A related issue I found is that on my last long trip on the highway when it was quite cold (Thanksgiving) the EV was significantly diminished even in HV mode so that I had barely enough use when traffic was backed up. I tried to prepare for this by using HV charge but it seemed to take quite a long time to get significant EV built up.
 
Your #1 item impacts me. I had the SB installed and the issue got MUCH better because the charging problem happened 4x per week and now is happening mostly on one particular charger.
 
Geor99 said:
I'll begin by saying that I love the car, but I do have a few frustrating minor issues. All of these appear to be widespread. They are also addressed in this forum, but all over the place.

3. Sirius satellite radio will stop working periodically after using the hondalink climate control. This warms/cools the car remotely.
Fix: I am not aware of one . Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

There isn't a fix, but there is a reliable workaround: wait (15-20 seconds or so) for the driver console animation to go away after entering the car before you start it; this causes a full "cold start" of the head unit and then the satellite radio will reliably work. I assume it's because the head unit forgets to "unmute" satellite radio when the remote climate system is stopped. Another workaround that should work 100% of the time is to stop the climate control using your keyfob when you walk within range of the car, which should allow enough time for the system to shut down before you get in and start the car.
 
I concur with 2, 3 and 4. Never tried 1 or 5 so nothing to offer there. 6 has never happened to mine. Will add that even an updated car exaggerates mpg by 11% over real calculated mpg, also hv range is grossly exaggerated on road trips....don’t trust it ever or you might run out of gas!!

Currently on hold with Honda Link tech support so far 35 minutes with no end in sight, just to ask if they can help me restore function on our iPhones. Worked great for 2 weeks now it’s just gone and loaded with gremlins and non-functional. Mine dumped me today and wife’s dumped her yesterday. The program/app is a freakin joke and I can now attest the customer support for it is also positively dismal.

I’ve never spent so many hours trying to get a brand new car to do everything it is simply supposed to do. On the plus side it is quiet and economical transportation and it hasn’t left me stranded or anything catastrophic yet. If it does I’ll trade it in a heartbeat for a Camry hybrid or something else that has more proven tech, and I won’t be rewarding Honda with any more business. If the company can’t even answer their dang phone they don’t deserve another penny from me.
 
Last edited:
From NTHSA page there are some interesting reports. I see the deceleration issue yannik posted on the forum and many other old issues that are now fixed. Two new interesting issues:
1) Brake lights do not come on all the time with paddles - Not sure expected behavior.
2) Sudden acceleration and crash - there are 3 such reports and all three seemed to have happened in a parking lot/Drive through when someone was turning slowly through parking lot!one report mentioned multiple attempts to brake the car in almost 100 ft crash! This is truly scary one.

Link: https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520PLUG-IN%2520HYBRID
 
This may be a coincidence, but I did a "factory setting reset," while trying to get Android Auto to work. Anyway, afterwards I have had 3 flawless days of 240V level 2 charging at work (issue #1.)

I have no idea if these 2 are related, but I have never had 3 flawless charging days at work previously. I'll update in a week or 2 to let you know if doing a reset may help with charging issues.

Note: I supposedly already have the SB (charging) update according to my dealer.

Thanks,
George
 
Fyi:
I've never had even 1 flawless day charging to 100% at work without many restarts.

Now 3 straight days after factory setting reset.
 
Is your work charger a dual chargepoint charger? Many of the dual Chargepoint are limited to 6.6 KW total and manage the charging of two cars simutaneously to maintain that limit. If so, the Clarity seems to really unlike the charging power changing as the charging demand on the second car adjusts the amount of power available to charge the Clarity. If there is not a second car plugged in, or if it is already fully charged, the Clarity isn't likely to interrupt charging and will charge to 100%.
 
ukon said:
From NTHSA page there are some interesting reports. I see the deceleration issue yannik posted on the forum and many other old issues that are now fixed. Two new interesting issues:
1) Brake lights do not come on all the time with paddles - Not sure expected behavior.
2) Sudden acceleration and crash - there are 3 such reports and all three seemed to have happened in a parking lot/Drive through when someone was turning slowly through parking lot!one report mentioned multiple attempts to brake the car in almost 100 ft crash! This is truly scary one.

Link: https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520PLUG-IN%2520HYBRID
Click to expand...
We’ve only had issue 2 that was resolved with the service bulletin fix. There are times our home 220v charger stops at 99%, but I don’t consider that as an ‘issue’.

Now with that said, considering the low volume sales of this car, does anyone think that’s a relatively high number of NTHSA complaints that are showing up? Some might be OE, but I was surprised by what appeared to be the relatively high number.
 
ukon said:
From NTHSA page there are some interesting reports. I see the deceleration issue yannik posted on the forum and many other old issues that are now fixed. Two new interesting issues:
1) Brake lights do not come on all the time with paddles - Not sure expected behavior.
2) Sudden acceleration and crash - there are 3 such reports and all three seemed to have happened in a parking lot/Drive through when someone was turning slowly through parking lot!one report mentioned multiple attempts to brake the car in almost 100 ft crash! This is truly scary one.

Link: https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520PLUG-IN%2520HYBRID
Click to expand...
Sudden acceleration is a common complaint / excuse for an accident. It's very unlikely Clarity has any issues there.

I think Yannick was a troll, or his reports were grossly exaggerated. He complained about lots of stuff and not only the serious things.

Shortly after we heard from Boo who ghosted us after appearing for just a day to criticize a bunch of long-standing contributors.

We also shouldn't forget Mr. Mehta who had 25 jumps in a year.

My point is that there are a lot of trolls in this world. Deaign issues typically affect many people, depending on their usage. heir Production issues affect a batch.
 
Last edited:
I'll add I don't think I've seen any of the 6 things the original poster details. I did have a problem at a "public" charger and reduced range message. The dealer applied software update 18-097. I haven't had that again. With cold weather my range is now about 28 miles so my loss of range is more than I expected but not terrible. Just in the last couple days I've had some spurious "Your trunk is open" messages that weren't real. If persists I'll take to dealer, but things overall have been going good for me.

I've *never* had a problem with sirius losing audio (that many report), or Honda Link which both work flawlessly for me. Both Android Auto and iOS car play work fine for me. I frequently mix and match (I carry both android and iphone).
 
Geor99 said:
1. Charging issues on dual 220v chargers. Sometimes it will work fine. Other times it will keep stopping even after restarting it many times. Sometimes I get the reduced mileage/check engine light. It never charges to 100% on my work level 2 charger.
My home 120v charger works flawlessly.

2. Incorrect mileage range estimate. This occurs once you fill the tank with gas for the 1st time, which I have yet to do.

3. Sirius satellite radio will stop working periodically after using the hondalink climate control. This warms/cools the car remotely.

4. Can't get Hondalink app to work.

5. Can't get Android Auto to work. I get a charger error every time that I plug my phone into the 1.5a usb charger, nearest the driver.

6. Starter issues: this may be unique to me, but sometimes I will need to touch the power button with my foot on the brake 2 or 3 times before I can successfully start the car. This occurs approximately 5% of the time.
Click to expand...

Here are my findings on these issues after driving my Clarity for 3 1/2 months / 6500km (4000 miles):

1. Never had this issue although I've only charged on home charger.

2. Never had this issue. Dealer says they did all updates before I picked up my car, I was skeptical but I guess they did because this never occurred for me.

3. If you wait for the Honda graphic to go through its cycle on the dashboard screen before pressing the ON button, Sirius will work even after preconditioning. I have tested this and it works every time, as long as I remember to be patient and wait for the graphic to finish.

4. HondaLink worked flawlessly for me from the dealership and most reported issues seem to be related to dealers incorrectly entering owner information (spelling of name, email address, etc.) I have recently had quite a few issues connecting which is apparently due to Honda server issues. This is mildly annoying.

5. Never had this issue, Android Auto worked fine but I didn't like the AA Google Maps interface so I deleted it and prefer to use my in-car Nav instead.

6. Have never had an issue starting my car.
 
I had a funny issue last night. For the 1st time, I had people in the back seat. For the life of me, I could get them to open the rear seat doors from the inside.

I tried everything imaginable. It was starting to drive me nuts, so I read the manual:)

If you open the rear doors from the outside, there is a little switch on the car where the door closes that can make it impossible to open the rear seats from the inside.

I hit this switch and it now works fine.

Why my dealer sold the car with the rear doors permanently shut leaving the owners to hunt down how to close them is beyond me:)
 
Note that it's possible to adjust unlock / lock options in settings. The obvious bit many like is auto-lock when you walk away. In addition, you can have all 4 doors unlock when you touch the door handle (not just front doors which is default). For my uses, unlock all 4 works best. Anyway, this part is a setting you can adjust and it works great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top