Introduction - leaning towards a Clarity PHEV

Fast Eddie B

Fast Eddie B

Well-Known Member
Brief introduction...

My wife, Karen and I have a home in N GA - Mineral Bluff, near Blue Ridge, and just built a hangar home on a landing strip just west of Knoxville in Lenoir City, TN. That’s because we have a little Light Sport plane and we’re back and forth a lot.

We are currently a 2-Honda household: a 2005 Element 5 speed bought new in 2005 which is now coming up on 204,000 miles, and a 2006 Ridgeline bought about a year ago as a knockaround airport truck. We also own a 2011 Ford Flex which we use to tow a travel trailer.

In any case, a few months ago we first looked at and test drove a Chevy Volt. Nice enough little car, but then we discovered the Clarity, which made the Volt seem awfully small. We often travel with 3 dogs or grandkids, so the extra space is a deciding factor.

We’re in a position where this year will be one of the few years where our tax liability will be high enough to make full use of the $7,500 tax credit. Hence, we’re looking to close a deal by the end of the year on a base model Clarity. We’ve been to dealers in Cumming, GA and Knoxville, TN. We’re hoping to get a base model for $30k out the door, not including sales tax - 7% in GA where we’ll be registering it. Neither dealer has bit on that offer so far, but both have unsold inventory and we hope they’ll get motivated to move them when the 2019’s come out.

In any case, I’ve been browsing a lot of the threads here and I’m learning a lot. I’ll keep you informed of our progress towards Clarity ownership!
 
Hope you get your offer met. After 6,000 miles, I can tell you that you’ll love it. Just get the updates and have a good charge when driving HV through the mountains. Born in Augusta GA, but living in Lexington KY.
Us Georgians say “American by birth; southern by the grace of God”.
 
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Make sure to expand you search in every direction and whatever distance you would be willing to travel.

I got my touring for around 33,500 before tax. I was offered a base for 29,900 but I wanted the touring. Now just south of me a few hours they were only willing to take a few hundred of the sticker because of demand. To the east of me a hour they they only wanted to take around 1500 off. But north of me 45 min they just wanted the car gone. In the end I talked to around 12 dealers to get the price I got. This was all done by email and a few phone calls. There were some other dealers but they said they would only talk price in person so I scratched them from my list to avoid any high pressure games.

Also check to see if your state offers any tax credits / grants. If so that may have stipulations on what state it had to be purchased from. For Texas they offer a $2,500 grant but it has to be purchased at a dealer in Texas. I could have gotten another 500 off if I had gone to Oklahoma but I would not have gotten the $2,500 grant
 
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Fast Eddie B said:
Brief introduction...

My wife, Karen and I have a home in N GA - Mineral Bluff, near Blue Ridge, and just built a hangar home on a landing strip just west of Knoxville in Lenoir City, TN. That’s because we have a little Light Sport plane and we’re back and forth a lot.

We are currently a 2-Honda household: a 2005 Element 5 speed bought new in 2005 which is now coming up on 204,000 miles, and a 2006 Ridgeline bought about a year ago as a knockaround airport truck. We also own a 2011 Ford Flex which we use to tow a travel trailer.

In any case, a few months ago we first looked at and test drove a Chevy Volt. Nice enough little car, but then we discovered the Clarity, which made the Volt seem awfully small. We often travel with 3 dogs or grandkids, so the extra space is a deciding factor.

We’re in a position where this year will be one of the few years where our tax liability will be high enough to make full use of the $7,500 tax credit. Hence, we’re looking to close a deal by the end of the year on a base model Clarity. We’ve been to dealers in Cumming, GA and Knoxville, TN. We’re hoping to get a base model for $30k out the door, not including sales tax - 7% in GA where we’ll be registering it. Neither dealer has bit on that offer so far, but both have unsold inventory and we hope they’ll get motivated to move them when the 2019’s come out.

In any case, I’ve been browsing a lot of the threads here and I’m learning a lot. I’ll keep you informed of our progress towards Clarity ownership!
Click to expand...

Welcome! Small world. I'm "Merlin" on the Aluminum Camper Forum :) I've owned my Clarity since last spring and love it. I'll shoot you a PM with contact info.
 
Claritydfw said:
Make sure to expand you search in every direction and whatever distance you would be willing to travel.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I know there’s a thread on pricing, but has anyone gotten a good deal in GA/TN/NC/SC/AL area? Or even FL? We would not mind a little road trip if it meant saving a few dollars.
 
Black Friday is coming soon. You have a good chance if you play your cards right. When the dealer knows you want a specific car, they can be a little more firm on thier price. So be patient and look at a few other cars too. Timing is also important. Usually best to go near the end of the month and on a day when not too crowded.
 
Thanks for that advice! Later today I may be swinging by a Honda dealer in Cleveland, Tennessee. See what type of inventory they have an how motivated they are. My offer stands at $30,000 out the door, with me responsible for sales tax when I register in Georgia.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
Thanks for that advice! Later today I may be swinging by a Honda dealer in Cleveland, Tennessee. See what type of inventory they have an how motivated they are. My offer stands at $30,000 out the door, with me responsible for sales tax when I register in Georgia.
Click to expand...
I cheated and looked up the Cleveland, TN, Honda dealer's Clarity inventory. The one Moonlit Forest Pearl base-model Clarity they list supposedly has a Black/Gray interior. They want $31,564 for it.
 
Love the car, 25,000 miles now, it has held up very well. There have been a few new car/new model issues, but nothing that would stop me from buying it. Average around 40 mpg when burning gas, and great range on electric. Reliability between the Clarity and the Volt is fairly similar I think.

Compared to the Volt, the Clarity is an obvious choice if you need the space. The dogs might be easier in the Volt with the hatchback though, but if you don't mind them on the back seat that is fine too. The Clarity is a much bigger car than the Volt (however, keep in mind space if you park in a garage or something). Even though the Volt has 3 seats in the back, it doesn't. For all purposes it is still a 4 seater with a 5th seat only existing as a check box (it is useless for anything, car seats don't fit safely there and not enough room for someone to sit there).

I will be writing my 1 year long term update on the Clarity soon, more miles than I was hoping to have at this point... I will be down not far from Cleveland, TN next week, visiting my mom in the Blue Ridge, GA area (and another 2000 miles on the car after the trip...).
 
insightman said:
I cheated and looked up the Cleveland, TN, Honda dealer's Clarity inventory. The one Moonlit Forest Pearl base-model Clarity they list supposedly has a Black/Gray interior. They want $31,564 for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Forewarned is forearmed! That’s our second color choice after red.

Both Cumming and Knoxville have more unsold inventory. I’ll let you know the result of my visit.
 
Here at Cleveland Honda. That Basic model is actually at a dealer in Chattanooga - Economy Honda. They only have two Tourings here. They are seeing what kind a big deal they can make on a basic. I’ll report back.
 
Update...

I was not impressed with Honda of Cleveland. The sales person was brand new and just learning the ropes. I told him I was looking to pay $30k for the car before sales tax. He came back with an proposal of over $34k with tax included, but lots of fees and extras added, the first being $99 for "Nitrogen". I hate that sort of stuff, but left them my card if they reconsidered. Then drove to Chattanooga to Economy Honda, where the car insightman had linked to was located.

I made the same offer. Long story short, they came up with $33,500 out-the-door, 7% GA sales tax and all fees included. If I'm doing the math right, that's about $31,300 before tax. I think I can live with that. Plus, they said I can put up to $3,000 of it on my credit card, which will earn me some bonus points.

Spoke with Karen and she says its a "go". Probably call tomorrow to make the deposit and arrange delivery for next Monday or Tuesday. Which will give me some time to study the 500+(!) page manual I downloaded!

The car in question:

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bought my clarity last week. best decision ever made. my previous two cars were 2004 honda accord, and 2014 honda accord... test drove 2018 accord too, it was nice, but clarity is the most fun to drive because of the EV factor.
 
Was very excited when the printed manual arrived--until I opened it. 9 point type for the main part and 8 point type for the sidebars. Yikes!
 
insightman said:
Be sure to get the dealer to provide the Battery Capacity Signal reading, as @KentuckyKen describes here. It's part of what they should do as part of the dealer's Pre-Delivery Inspection. Again, Mr. OnTopOfIt, @KentuckyKen, provides the PDI document in this thread.
Click to expand...

Definitely do this. The Car's VIN is 6176 which means it was most likely manufactured in February/March 2018.
Check the driver door VIN label to verify month of mfr.

Congrats !
 
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