Comments from strangers about the Clarity - Another first

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Honestly, reviewers shouldn't comment on the style of the car in a subjective way, that is such a personal thing. Reviewers bashed the Nissan Juke for similar, then it sold incredibly well, and many reviewers stepped back on that realizing they were wrong (claimed it wouldn't sell well because it was ugly). Stick to reviewing the car, let people decide for themselves if they like it or not.

I really like the front with the distinctive lights, the rear from the rear of the car. I am not a huge fan of the skirts, but don't really care either. They serve an aerodynamic purpose.
 
The wheel skirts are barely noticeable against the red paint.
And I must not notice how distinctive the style is, because in large parking lots I have tried to open other peoples cars on more than one occasion.
 
The rear wheel skirts are, for some reason, far less noticeable in real life, in person, than they are in the photos!

That's likely partly due to the reviewers drawing attention to them, so that dominates what one sees in looking at the photos.

But, in person, not only less noticeable, they are even striking looking!
 
I took a trailer tire in to a Discount Tire yesterday for repair and both people there who helped me liked the Clarity’s looks and asked all about the car. One was so enthusiastic he may end up buying a Clarity.
 
I haven't bought my Clarity yet, but I kept reading reviews about the awful "skirts". I had to google what car skirts are. The Clarity just looked like it had fenders to me. Good grief.
 
I was reading in my car while L2 charging at an empty parking lot at a local college one evening and two ~14 year old boys who were on bicycles were passing through. I had my windows down and one said to his friend extra loud so I could hear: "Dude, is that a Tesla I see?! DUDE CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME TESLA!! WOW!" and as they cycled closer his friend mumbled, "No dude, it's a Honda." and the first guy said, "Yeah, looks awesome!". At that point they were passing by the driver's side and could see my door open and they bellowed "REALLY NICE CAR, MAN!"

Lol - I didn't know whether to be happy that they were impressed with the look of the car, or to be insulted that the guy assumed it was a Tesla (I think he assumed it because it was plugged in). I laughed... :)
 
Ray B said:
I was reading in my car while L2 charging at an empty parking lot at a local college one evening and two ~14 year old boys who were on bicycles were passing through. I had my windows down and one said to his friend extra loud so I could hear: "Dude, is that a Tesla I see?! DUDE CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME TESLA!! WOW!" and as they cycled closer his friend mumbled, "No dude, it's a Honda." and the first guy said, "Yeah, looks awesome!". At that point they were passing by the driver's side and could see my door open and they bellowed "REALLY NICE CAR, MAN!"

Lol - I didn't know whether to be happy that they were impressed with the look of the car, or to be insulted that the guy assumed it was a Tesla (I think he assumed it because it was plugged in). I laughed... :)
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Curious if they were approaching from the front or side off you. I’m pretty sure it would not be from the back. Personally, i think the car looks its best when viewed at a 45 deg angle from the front.
 
Agree with what everyone is saying. Before I purchased the Clarity I was so heavy into the Volt. After test driving the Clarity I had to look into it more, every review on YouTube leads off with "This car visually is offensive"... I have never heard such extreme descriptions on the looks of a normal factory car haha. Personally, I love it. When I saw it in person I thought it looked so much nicer. The first day I showed up at work with it everyone was complimenting it, and this morning as I was backing out of the garage to leave for work all the neighbors were waiting around for the school bus to arrive and all of them were just staring at the car as I drove by and waived. I would like to think they also thought it looked great haha.

I think the front looks great, the lighting is amazing, love the back of the car as well, and the skirts do not bother me at all.
 
I was at the dealership today and a car stopped and asked me how I liked my Clarity. Of course, I told them what a great car it's been, etc., etc. Then I noticed they were in a Volt. He said they were a family of 5 and the Volt is just too small (no surprise). The interesting thing is that they have been looking at the Clarity for quite a while, but had not seen one in use or met an owner. I recommended this forum, in case they wanted some expert owners' advice and suggested they test drive one. There was a white one about 10 feet away, so they probably will (if they haven't already).
And on an off topic note, mine is red and I've always regretted that I wasn't able to get a white one. This was the first time seeing a white one in person. While I still like the white one, the back end doesn't look so pronounced on my red. I think I like it better, now. :)
 
MPower said:
I haven't bought my Clarity yet, but I kept reading reviews about the awful "skirts". I had to google what car skirts are. The Clarity just looked like it had fenders to me. Good grief.
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I guess basically I'm just not attuned to car styling at all. Obviously if someone points out something like that I can see it, but in general to me the Clarity just looks like every other car out there.
 
I can see why some reviewers don't like the car, but I have received a very large number of compliments and "Futuristic" has been mentioned in almost every conversation I have had about the styling (not by me, but by the other party(s) in the conversation).

At night with the lights on, the view from the front is quite exotic. I am sure people seeing it in their rear view mirror go "WTF is that!"

I went to the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962 and have always considered myself a "Futurist" and the first time I saw the Clarity, that was my own sentiment. It looked (and looks) futuristic to me.
 
There were three men working on the parking garage near where my car was charging today. One asked me how much it cost to charge it. I said it was super cheap at night, ~$1 for a full battery, plus fees and taxes.
“How far will it go?”
“80km on battery, then it switches to hybrid “
“Wow”
There’s some sort of assumption out there that an EV is expensive to run. I told them that there was no reason to stay away from an EV, especially a plug in hybrid. They seemed impressed.
 
geminiwave said:
Why does every review on youtube start with "It looks so ugly!"
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Mark W said:
It is of course mostly because of the rear wheel cover. I think most people think that is very ugly. Other than that area, I think the car looks pretty good.
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I'm sure it's all about the wheel cover, while it's already very little compared to the original Insight.
Average people usually do not easily accept something that's out of their imagination that's why they're average :)

I got the first compliment when my wife and I took our kid to a swimming class, the guy came asking about the car, didn't know this car from Honda and it looked great.
 
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I've had a lot of curious and interested questions about my car, but no one has said it looks good (actually, my cousin's wife did now that I think about it). I actually think it is a little ugly (not terrible, but enough that I did consider that when deciding to buy or not). The front is fine, but I don't like the 1980's Buick style half skirt on the rear wheels, and the bulbous rear when looked at straight on looks like the Crosstour, and from the side kind of reminds me of the first generation Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz (for you younger folks, I guess it will take an internet search to know what I'm talking about).

Not repulsive, but not a great looking car. All that said, I agree with those who say that it is growing on you, I still think some parts of the car are kind of ugly, but ugly in a cute way (if that makes sense), like a pug, not butt ugly like a Prius or Prius Prime :) (which I also strongly considered despite the looks)
 
Just got a Clarity, and I kinda like the rear wheel well covers. Here are a few examples from bygone days.
IMG_4360.webp
IMG_4362.webp
IMG_4364.webp
IMG_4374.webp



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
I've gotten a bunch of positive comments and thumbs up on our white Clarity. Of course, I don't expect anyone to come up to me and say how ugly it is (they'd have to have to be some psychopath to do that) :confused:. That being said, the Clarity combines huge passenger and trunk space with serious aerodynamics. It's hard to make the car pretty when you have to work within those constraints.
 
Went to a pool supply store. Guy inside said, is that electric? I said yeah, it's a plug in hybrid. He asked how I liked it. I told him I loved it, but didn't like the rear fender. He said, "yeah, I wasn't going to say anything about that... but.. why do they have to do that with electrics? When you drove in, from the front, I said, that's a cool looking Honda, but then you turned into the parking space. "
 
I get a lot of looks because they never seen a Clarity. I guess you could say it is a rarity. I drive a car to get from point A to B in some comfort and safety. The wheel skirts don't bother me unless it is with changing tires which I haven't tried. Maybe a darker color would hide it better.
 
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