Minor peeves...

Fast Eddie B

Fast Eddie B

Well-Known Member
...I have not seen mentioned by others:

1) The front seat belt buckles are very difficult to reach - they’re much lower and more awkward than other cars we drive, especially when wearing winter coats.

2) Very little ground clearance in front. I suppose that’s a price we pay for good aerodynamics. Part of it is our other drivers are an Element, a Ridgeline and a Ford Flex. In those, it’s our habit to just roll up in a parking space on until the tires hit the curb - they all ride pretty high. First time I tried that in the Clarity I was surprised by a grinding sound. Oops! Good news is that there’s a “sacrificial” black plastic piece that I guess serves as a “feeler”. Still, used to a lot more clearance.

But so far, that’s about it. The cruise control could be more accurate, but that’s been mentioned elsewhere. Overall, still very pleased.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
...I have not seen mentioned by others:

2) Very little ground clearance in front. I suppose that’s a price we pay for good aerodynamics. Part of it is our other drivers are an Element, a Ridgeline and a Ford Flex. In those, it’s our habit to just roll up in a parking space on until the tires hit the curb - they all ride pretty high. First time I tried that in the Clarity I was surprised by a grinding sound. Oops! Good news is that there’s a “sacrificial” black plastic piece that I guess serves as a “feeler”. Still, used to a lot more clearance.

But so far, that’s about it. The cruise control could be more accurate, but that’s been mentioned elsewhere. Overall, still very pleased.
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re: 2: the front ground clearance is about the same as my 2014 Honda accord. I understand the front ground clearance in the Chevy volt is REALLY low.
 
I agree regarding the seat belt access. It's a bit of an uncomfortable downward twist and reach to pull it out each time. The ground clearance is low, but unavoidable in order to optimize aerodynamics. I wish I would remember it every time I pull into a high curb.

My main minor peeve is the erratic behavior of the auto walk away feature, which has gotten progressively worse over the last year. I just haven't been able to break the code on why it isn't more reliable. I pretty much gave up on trying to resolve it, and now just press the black lock button on the door handle whenever it give me that chirp, chirp, chirp alert.
 
vicw said:
I agree regarding the seat belt access. It's a bit of an uncomfortable downward twist and reach to pull it out each time. The ground clearance is low, but unavoidable in order to optimize aerodynamics. I wish I would remember it every time I pull into a high curb.

My main minor peeve is the erratic behavior of the auto walk away feature, which has gotten progressively worse over the last year. I just haven't been able to break the code on why it isn't more reliable. I pretty much gave up on trying to resolve it, and now just press the black lock button on the door handle whenever it give me that chirp, chirp, chirp alert.
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More than once, that chirping has alerted me to having left the car while it's still ON. LOL So I'm ok with the quirkiness. I've learned to leave the driver's door ajar when taking things out of the trunk at the end of a trip - so that's not a problem anymore.
 
bfd said:
More than once, that chirping has alerted me to having left the car while it's still ON. LOL So I'm ok with the quirkiness. I've learned to leave the driver's door ajar when taking things out of the trunk at the end of a trip - so that's not a problem anymore.
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On my car, at least, I've never been able to make a correlation between the closing of the driver door and anything related to activity with the trunk. The chirping is pretty almost instantaneous upon closing the door.
 
Yes this aggressive chirping when exiting the car is really maddening. I posted in another another thread a while back when suddenly it was triggering every time I exited the car. Here's my summary...
1) First two months the exit alarm beeps never triggers accidentally, with headlights set to 'Auto'
2) Suddenly the alarm goes off almost every time I leave the car. Opening and shutting the door makes it stop and reverts to normal behavior.
3) Based on a forum suggestion, I turned the headlights to "off" and kept it that way, turning them on and off every time they were needed. The alarm beeps went away for about 2 months.
4) Out of nowhere the crazy beeps are back. Door open and close - it is happy again. I swear I am not doing anything different. key fob in the same place in my pocket, not with a phone in proximity. Fob battery is fine - only 4 months old and buttons are rarely used.
 
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Ray B said:
Yes this aggressive chirping when exiting the car is really maddening. I posted in another another thread a while back when suddenly it was triggering every time I exited the car. Here's my summary...
1) First two months the exit alarm beeps never triggers accidentally, with headlights set to 'Auto'
2) Suddenly the alarm goes off almost every time I leave the car. Opening and shutting the door makes it stop and reverts to normal behavior.
3) Based on a forum suggestion, I turned the headlights to "off" and kept it that way, turning them on and off every time they were needed. The alarm beeps went away for about 2 months.
4) Out of nowhere the crazy beeps are back. Door open and close - it is happy again. I swear I am not doing anything different. key fob in the same place in my pocket, not with a phone in proximity. Battery is fine - only 4 months old and buttons are rarely used.
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I've gone through pretty much the same behavior sequence. Never happened during the first months, then increased over time. I've always had the headlights set on Auto, so I haven't seriously considered that as a source of the problem. It's seems as though it happens more in colder weather and especially when raining, but that could be just coincidence. I tried a fresh Fob battery, and it fixed it for the first 24 hours..... Until someone comes up with a viable solution, I plan to just press the lock button on the door handle whenever it happens. It's too frustrating to keep opening and closing the stupid door.
 
To be clear, my peeve is not with the seat belt, per sé, but the location of the buckle. They just stick up and are easier to reach in our other cars.

Come to think of it, we have manual seats, and I recall Karen cranked up the seat height on the driver’s side. That may have something to do with it.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
Come to think of it, we have manual seats, and I recall Karen cranked up the seat height on the driver’s side. That may have something to do with it.
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Just checking, but have you adjusted the seat-belt runner on the b-pillar as high as it will go?

Speaking from experience, I've learned to go with memory seating; if you're going to be sharing the vehicle with a significantly shorter/taller person. Entry position and adjusting the seat while on the road was becoming a chore
 
Again, manual seats. And reaching the belt and pulling it across our chests is not the problem. Getting the belt into the buckle, especially wearing a winter coat, is what’s difficult - it just seems “buried” compared to what we’re used to.
 
AlAl said:
Just checking, but have you adjusted the seat-belt runner on the b-pillar as high as it will go?...
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Um, no. it pains me to admit that I never noticed it has two positions available. Seems better raised up. Thanks.
 
1) No problem here with the seat belts.

2) I haven't had problems with ground clearance. I do believe it is low though due to the overall design of the car - fitting the batteries and control circuits under the seating area.

My pet peeves are all widely discussed elsewhere. They all fall in the "minor" category
- HV mode not remembered after the car is turned off
- Shift console is too wide and bothers my right knee
- No coin storage in shift console
- Slow response from touch screen
- No volume knob
 
jdonalds said:
My pet peeves are all widely discussed elsewhere. They all fall in the "minor" category
- HV mode not remembered after the car is turned off
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You're trying to go around the design of PHEVs. How many PHEVs do you of that runs on gas first and then switch it electric? You're looking for a hybrid with an battery range extender. :)

I think the majority of us like driving in EV mode and prefer it to always start in EV. If you would rather start out in HV, suck it up and remember to do it or buy a hybrid.
 
Electra said:
You're trying to go around the design of PHEVs. How many PHEVs do you of that runs on gas first and then switch it electric? You're looking for a hybrid with an battery range extender. :)

I think the majority of us like driving in EV mode and prefer it to always start in EV. If you would rather start out in HV, suck it up and remember to do it or buy a hybrid.
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Around town we drive EV all the time. When we get on the highway, on a trip that exceeds EV range, we switch to HV.

No way do I want the car to automatically start up in HV mode - unless that's the mode it was in when I shut the car off. For us that would be perhaps once every six weeks or so when we take trips out of town. In that case we'll switch to HV when we get on the freeway, then switch back to EV when we jump off the freeway at the end of the trip (say 100 miles or so). But there are times, on a long trip, when we'll stay in HV for 10 or 11 hours with gas station stops en-route. That is when I want to pull off the freeway in HV mode, pump some gas in, and want the car to remember it was in EV mode and keep it there. All too often we've forgotten to re-select HV mode and end up draining the battery before we notice.
 
Actually- the Prius Prime PHEV cannot run its electric side down completely. I can assure you our Clarity can (mine does frequently) which yields the angry bees sound of gas-only mode. So if it were the case that our car would switch to HV automatically once a certain amount of EV is has been expended it would work more like a Prius. I would welcome that all-day-long, but understanding my preference isn't everyones' I'd be delighted to have persistent modes which is what jdonalds said.

i.e. If last select EV, do EV. If last selected HV do HV. That would solve a lot of problems for some of us, and have no ill effect on those who religiously do EV only. If my battery actually even held the normal charge, I might be more forgiving of the cars default settings but when my normal range in a mild winter is 26 miles, and the electric cannot stay constant on HV mode, my experience is using HV quite often even for around town.

Anyway, more of us may have my point of view in a few years when your battery does not yield range you require. Or cannot remain stable in HV mode. I realize this is somewhat anomalous, but not all Clarity owners get the same experience.

-Dan
 
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