Lots of brand new info from Pre Delivery Inspection doc; esp. on battery replacement
- Thread starter KentuckyKen
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Hi!
In my case, they missed the body plugs and the air pressure was at 50 when I checked at home. The charging cable is still in the bag, which they are suppose to check. Battery was not fully charged (mine is a Clarity Electric). So, I am assuming that none of PDI stuff, other than the obvious ones, were ever done.
Regards,
GHTech
In my case, they missed the body plugs and the air pressure was at 50 when I checked at home. The charging cable is still in the bag, which they are suppose to check. Battery was not fully charged (mine is a Clarity Electric). So, I am assuming that none of PDI stuff, other than the obvious ones, were ever done.
Regards,
GHTech
Thanks very much for posting the TSB. I just purchased a new 2018 and made it contingent on the battery pack capacity check showing full factory capacity. Had pretty similar problems to several other members on this thread - the salesman didn't know what I was talking about, then thought I meant the battery should be fully charged (well, yes, but...), then thought the 12V battery check on the PDI would suffice, then said he talked to his service department and they insisted they could not perform such a check since they didn't have the equipment. I finally got the service manager on the phone and pointed him to TSB 17-093, at which point they suddenly "understood what I was really asking" and did the check. It thankfully but unsurprisingly showed 55.1Ah. A bit to my surprise, they actually printed out the entire data dump from the i-HDS software, which was 9 pages of stuff including every cell voltage level, and included that with delivery. Maybe they wanted to be sure I wouldn't make any more trouble
The salesman owned a Clarity himself and mostly knew his stuff pretty well, but I don't think they'd ever encountered this request before. Since the vehicle was just 20 days off the boat from Japan I wasn't seriously concerned, but the more the dealership resisted getting me the information, the more I wanted to have it. They did do what I wanted without more than 10 minutes of back-and-forth, so I'm not going to ding the salesman's rating for it.
N.b. per LegoZ's comment above mine, my PDI also had items like navigation and compass checked off even though it's a Base model.
MNSteve
Well-Known Member
Why does the customer have to teach the service department the basics of this car? That is truly sad.
And obviously they don't have a clue, or they don't care, if they're checking boxes that they couldn't possibly have checked.
It is information like this that pretty much convinces me that I've bought my last Honda. I love the Clarity, and I do hate dealers in general so I may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but there is no excuse for treating a customer like this. I will never put myself in this position again.
Thanks for this information!
I just checked the bottom of my new clarity and found only 2 of the holes were plugged (maybe they took the other two for something else...?)
I did not receive anything resembling PDI Checklist when I signed the lease recently. Should I ask the dealer for a copy (if they even have them)? Is this something they have to provide to the customer?
I just checked the bottom of my new clarity and found only 2 of the holes were plugged (maybe they took the other two for something else...?)
I did not receive anything resembling PDI Checklist when I signed the lease recently. Should I ask the dealer for a copy (if they even have them)? Is this something they have to provide to the customer?
KentuckyKen
Well-Known Member
According to my dealer (and take that wirh a grain of salt), the Clarity Specific PDI that I started this thread with came out in March of 2018.
I purchased in Feb and got the standard PDI that resembles the ones I have gotten with other Hondas. When I brought this new PDI to the attention of the Service Advisor, he cheerfully went through it and ordered the plugs for me, adjusted the tire pressure, and ran the Battery Capacity Signal for me.
This level of willingness will undoubtedly vary greatly between dealers. Note that measuring the Battery Capacity Signal is not part of the pre-delivery inspection and was run when I had an update done as a courtesy.
vin seeram
Member
What should/would the "Battery Capacity Signal" be on a good new battery pack?
KentuckyKen
Well-Known Member
55 Amp hours. It states that warranty replacement is at 36.6 Ah
Note that temperature may slightly affect the readings.
vin seeram
Member
So, looks like 33% loss is Honda's definition of acceptable battery capacity degradation, unless the 55Ah implies a battery capacity of more than the advertised 17kwh. am I in over my head?
KentuckyKen
Well-Known Member
Nope. You got it.
So if your battery loses more than 33% of its capacity in 8 years (10 in Cali) then you get a new battery. And I bet it’s the same battery in all models, and if so, means everyone’s should go 10 years without losing 33% even if most of us don’t get that additional 2 years of warranty. Also, it seems from data posted here that we only get to use about 13 kW of the total 17. This is expected, as there needs to be some buffer at the top and bottom of the SOC (state of charge) in order to protect the battery. It appears that Honda did a great job of engineering the battery pack and the BMS (battery management software) as one would expect since they would lose their shirt if they had to replace thousands of batteries under warranty. The aforementioned buffers coupled with liquid cooling along with an excellent BMS gives me high hopes that the battery will give us a long life.
Mowcowbell
Well-Known Member
Checked mine, and the body plugs were also not installed. Found one of them in the torn open bag which contained the front license tag holder. I'm glad that they didn't install the front tag holder (I live in a state with only rear tags). Guess they just lost a perfect score when I get my survey from Honda.
Robert_Alabama
Well-Known Member
It's really strange that the dealers still don't know anything about these plugs. A friend of mine bought a Clarity (she had to listen to how much I liked mine every day). I told her to tell them to reduce the air pressure in the tires and install the sound reduction plugs. The service manager made it a point to get the salesman to tell her the plugs weren't needed here. They said they only fill the holes to help keep salt and grime out in the north where winter weather is bad and that they have nothing to do with sound reduction. This is the service manager at a relatively rural Honda dealership (small city).
MNSteve
Well-Known Member
I just don't get it. How long does it take to install those plugs ... five minutes, maybe? So why not do it just in the interest of customer satisfaction. The more I read about how clueless the dealerships are, the less I am likely to ever buy another Honda product. Although the dealerships for the other brands may be even worse ...
Clarity_Newbie
Active Member
celticnorse
New Member
I just bought a Clarity and like many it was really loud inside. A lot of road noise particularly on worn highways with a lot of aggregate visible. I checked yesterday and the plugs are installed (I just checked the drivers side, will check passenger side today) BUT my tires were at 50+ PSI. My little gauge only goes to 50PSI. I let about a 3-5 second blast of air out to get DOWN to 50PSI. Door jamb says 36PSI so I dropped them down to a smidge over that (it was 97 degrees yesterday) and this morning the commute was substantially quieter. Though I still think there is a lot of road growl.
I see the posts where one person says it's load and the next post is someone saying the clarity is the quietest car they've ever owned. And yeah it's subjective and likely very dependent on what you were driving before. I had a 2011 Toyota Highlander Limited. It was VERY quiet inside. I'll continue to monitor as the tires are barely broken in too (I'm at about 500 mi).
I see the posts where one person says it's load and the next post is someone saying the clarity is the quietest car they've ever owned. And yeah it's subjective and likely very dependent on what you were driving before. I had a 2011 Toyota Highlander Limited. It was VERY quiet inside. I'll continue to monitor as the tires are barely broken in too (I'm at about 500 mi).
LegoZ
Active Member
Most LRR (Low Rolling resistance) tires are usually pretty loud.
Here’s an interesting article that includes the resonators on Honda’s wheels
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...cally-insulated-tires-really-hush-road-noise/
Here’s an interesting article that includes the resonators on Honda’s wheels
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a...cally-insulated-tires-really-hush-road-noise/
Lowell_Greenberg
Active Member
In my case, the plugs were installed, and I simply got use to the added noise over rough roads. I am more than happy to do so knowing the tradeoff is better fuel economy. The real issue is that LRR tires are reported to be poor in snow and ice, and adequate to good in wet (not exceptional).
The differing claims on quietness are probably related to the smoothness of the road surface. The Clarity is super quiet in Eco Mode on smooth roads.
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