Possibility of a Clarity Electric Being Available for Purchase at Lease-End

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GHTech

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Hi!

I have a Clarity Electric that is only available for lease. I know that at this point it is not available for purchase even at lease-end. Any idea if there is even a slim chance that Honda might be willing to sell it to the lessee at the end of the lease? I really like the car (compared to my Focus Electric), and meets my needs very well.

Regards,

GHTech
 
Very unlikely.
The Fit EV had the same type of lease program, and none were sold.
Same with the BMW Active-e and Mini-e, as well as the infamous EV1 from GM.

Those leasing the Fit EV were offered a 2 year extension at a reduced price, and I think that is also likely with the Clarity. Used Fit EV's were also offered to the public on a 2 year lease program if the original lessee did not extend.
 
DucRider said:
Very unlikely.
The Fit EV had the same type of lease program, and none were sold.
Same with the BMW Active-e and Mini-e, as well as the infamous EV1 from GM.

Those leasing the Fit EV were offered a 2 year extension at a reduced price, and I think that is also likely with the Clarity. Used Fit EV's were also offered to the public on a 2 year lease program if the original lessee did not extend.
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Hi DucRider,

That is great info to know. I am still 10 months into the lease, so I have time to see what better options are there by the end of the 3 years. Price point wise, and mileage wise, even less than 100 miles per charge works great for me. I do about 6K to 8K per year on electric. For longer distances, we have the Odyssey.

Regards,

GHTech
 
Makes one wonder, what will Honda do with those Clarity EV vehicles once they come off lease? Crush 'em like GM did to the EV1?
 
Honda put some Fit EV's into use in a car sharing programs in a low-income housing community:

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BMW put the Active-e's in a ride sharing service in the Bay area for a while

But ultimately, all were/will be "crushed". Actually, disassembled and recycled is probably a better description, but not near as dramatic.
 
Mowcowbell said:
Makes one wonder, what will Honda do with those Clarity EV vehicles once they come off lease? Crush 'em like GM did to the EV1?
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A former Honda employee who leases a Clarity BEV told me the vehicle would be studied as part of a research program, then recycled ("crushed") although one would hope the batteries could be re-purposed as off-grid storage.
 
KentuckyKen said:
That $32,400 “estimated retail value” is somewhere between wildly or on drugs optimistic and a complete misleading joke! Unless you can get it for a steal of a price, it’s time to part that baby out.
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Totally agree. As far as I remember, the residual value was in the $30K range for the Clarity EV. They were not planning to sell it at all.
 
Honda doesn't ever sell the Clarity Electric, and since they still own the car it will never actually go to auction. Likely seeing an insurance company maneuvering to minimize their payout on a total loss. The $32,400 is likely the value Honda is trying to recover from USAA.
 
DucRider said:
Honda doesn't ever sell the Clarity Electric, and since they still own the car it will never actually go to auction. Likely seeing an insurance company maneuvering to minimize their payout on a total loss. The $32,400 is likely the value Honda is trying to recover from USAA.
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That makes sense. It wouldn't make sense for Honda to allow a Clarity Electric to slip out of their grasp because it was wrecked before they could destroy it. Darn, I was looking forward to a bidding war among rich BEV collectors who have no other way to add a Clarity Electric to their collection.
 
Possible it will slip thru the cracks and wind up in a private owners hands. I know of an EV1 locally that escaped the return process (possibly in a similar fashion since it's a bit trashed).
 
DucRider said:
Possible it will slip thru the cracks and wind up in a private owners hands. I know of an EV1 locally that escaped the return process (possibly in a similar fashion since it's a bit trashed).
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That would be the Holy Grail of modern electric cars. GM gave a few EV1s to museums, but they gutted them first.
 
Greetings,

By now, there must have been some Clarity Electrics that has reach the end of their leases. I am wondering if anyone got any other options than just returning the car back to the dealer?

Thanks,

GHTech
 
GHTech said:
Greetings,

By now, there must have been some Clarity Electrics that has reach the end of their leases. I am wondering if anyone got any other options than just returning the car back to the dealer?

Thanks,

GHTech
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I'm also curious, and I'll find out for myself when my lease is up in a few weeks. We just bought a Clarity PHEV to replace it, so right now we have the Electric (equivalent of Touring trim) and PHEV (base trim) side-by-side in our garage. I find the base trim to be not much of a downgrade. We like this car a lot, and the gasoline backup and extra trunk space of the PHEV makes it a good single-car solution and will allow us to get rid of car #2.
 
My BEV Clarity lease is up middle of Dec, been a great car besides the A/C issue.
I've thought of extending my lease but, my work round trip uses up 90% of the range currently, and when winter temps set in I barely make it home.
Now what do I get?
 
Tony said:
My BEV Clarity lease is up middle of Dec, been a great car besides the A/C issue.
I've thought of extending my lease but, my work round trip uses up 90% of the range currently, and when winter temps set in I barely make it home.
Now what do I get?
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For the money, the PHEV Clarity is currently tough to beat. You’ll probably cover at least half of your round trip on batteries and you’ll always make it home if you keep a few gallons of gas in the tank.
 
Tony said:
My BEV Clarity lease is up middle of Dec, been a great car besides the A/C issue.
I've thought of extending my lease but, my work round trip uses up 90% of the range currently, and when winter temps set in I barely make it home.
Now what do I get?
Click to expand...
That depends on what is most important.
Right now in the Portland Area, the 150 mi LEAF is a bargain with an $86/mo lease ($999 down). This is the base S version without the heat pump, etc.

But with knowing what your priorities are, hard to make a recommendation.

Have they offered a lease extension? If so, what were the terms?

With the Fit EV, they made the offer about 4-6 months before lease end.
 
Hi!

I am bumping this thread to see if anyone has updates on the Clarity BEV lease end options.

Regards,

GHTech
 
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