2 out of 5 stars
If I wanted a regular hybrid I'd have bought one
by rajb89
from Shrewsbury, MA
on Tue Apr 23 2019
This car drove great... for about three weeks. It ran on battery the whole time, and I only commute about 10 miles each way to work, so it was wonderful. I thought I'd rarely ever need to fill the gas engine. And then it started switching over to gas for no reason. I'm not talking about when it's really cold out, or if I'm trying to accelerate very quickly (though I have done that and completely on the battery, when the dealer said that was one instance where it would switch to gas). But for regular drives to work, coasting along or at a stop light, it will switch to gas and run only on gas, or run down the gas and the battery range at the same time. There's no point in even plugging it in, because the battery doesn't run down anymore - it just switches between the gas and the battery so much that my 20 mile round trip to work and back only uses about 5 miles of battery. The rest uses gas. I took it to the dealer, only for them to tell me that "it's supposed to do that". That it's supposed to switch between gas and battery depending on the road conditions and the way the car is driven. This car is advertised as an electric vehicle that has a gas engine to extend the range the car can be driven. This is a plug in hybrid, meaning it should run on the battery first, not switch between gas and battery like a Prius or an Insight. If I wanted a Prius or an Insight, I would have bought one. I wanted a plug in hybrid because I wanted to cut my gas usage down to as close to zero as possible, and this car is not it. Now I'm stuck with a car that doesn't do what it's advertised, a dealer that tells me I'm making things up, and thousands of dollars in debt for a car that I seriously regret purchasing. Honestly I should have just stuck with my 12 year old CR-V. At least that one did what it was supposed to do. This will be my last Honda, and I seriously wish I could return it.
4 out of 5 starsComfort
2 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
4 out of 5 starsInterior Design
1 out of 5 starsReliability
1 out of 5 starsPerformance
3 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
5 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you?
5 out of 5 stars
I expected this to last a very long time!
by Ridgecrest Guy
from Shoreline
on Tue Mar 06 2018
This is the perfect car for urbanites. It’s the best of both worlds when it comes to fuel choices. I am in the process of buying one.
5 out of 5 starsComfort
5 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
5 out of 5 starsInterior Design
0 out of 5 starsReliability
5 out of 5 starsPerformance
4 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
5 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you?
3 out of 5 stars
Clarity needs Clarification
by Den Danbury
from Danbury, CT
on Thu Jan 16 2020
The Honda Clarity has nice styling, but, needs to be Geared more to the driver rather than what Honda thinks the car should do for the driver. When accelerating fast the car goes into charge mode. Why? Who thought that if you Put your pedal to the metal, Put the car in Charge mode. There should be a Switch for the driver to put the car in charge mode. The car Starts off in EV mode which is good, but, if you are on the highway, YOU need to put the car in HV mode and if you don't you loose all of your EV power. If EV mode goes to zero, it does not seem to have any regenerative power. In HV mode the car goes in to very high rev at low speeds. Went to the dealer about this. Tech gave me excuses that this is how the car works in certain modes and Charge amounts. It should not rev so high and this should be corrected. Car lacks basic features: No lumbar support, no sun roof, no blind spot or back up indicators, no automatic trunk opener, no spare tire (not even an option), no body side molding (this should be standard), no heated steering wheel, no cooling seats, navigator cannot understand any verbal commands, but, If I use google, it will pick up any spoken destination. Does anyone at Honda test the voice recognition? It is horrible. so, I have options I can't use and options that should be on the car. It does get good mileage, if you have the opportunity to charge the car often.
5 out of 5 starsComfort
3 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
2 out of 5 starsInterior Design
4 out of 5 starsReliability
3 out of 5 starsPerformance
5 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you?
4 out of 5 stars
Good but needs improvement on the SMALL ENGINE
by JoeTqm
from Tamiment, Pa.
on Sun Mar 31 2019
Very good car but needs certain improvements such as a better stronger engine, and needs to be made with a hatch back. All in all the Clarity is a good car but still needs improvement.
5 out of 5 starsComfort
3 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
5 out of 5 starsInterior Design
0 out of 5 starsReliability
3 out of 5 starsPerformance
2 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you?
4 out of 5 stars
Why I haven't made the purchase
by Mike in SW Ohio
from Bellbrook, OH
on Tue Jul 24 2018
I like the car a lot. The size of the car and the premium interior are what I want in a vehicle, and at 4,052 lbs it really absorbs bumps in the road. It is fun to drive, and the full tax rebate is certainly attractive. That said, there are four shortcomings that will probably keep me from buying the car. First, there are complaints on the NHTSA website about the minimal headlights that poorly illuminate the road. I am surprised as my wife's Acura MDX has LED headlights and they are really bright. I want bright headlights. Second, the windshield washer nozzles are mounted on the wiper arms, and several owners have commented how poorly they work. That to me is a significant design deficiency. Third, there are several NHTSA complaints about the drive computer malfunctioning leaving the car virtually undrivable. That needs to be addressed as it could be a real safety issue. Fourth, many owners have complained about the slow response of the radio and navigation system, and the lack of a volume knob. I'm sure I would learn to use the steering wheel volume control, but my wife's MDX has incredibly slow response when setting the navigation system, and it is incredibly annoying. So, I am holding off on buying.
I live SW Ohio, and for the last two months I have been monitoring Clarity inventories at all the dealers within a hundred miles. Clarities seem to be just sitting on the dealers' lots. They are not hot sellers. I suspect the model won't last beyond a couple of years, and I am afraid, being a plugin that really needs a 220 volt service to charge efficiently, the resale value will suffer.
5 out of 5 starsComfort
3 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
5 out of 5 starsInterior Design
0 out of 5 starsReliability
4 out of 5 starsPerformance
3 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
11 out of 19 people found this review helpful. Did you?
4 out of 5 stars
My first Japanese car I own. (lease)
by Armands777
from Brooklyn, NY.
on Tue Dec 04 2018
Everything is what I was expecting from information before, except EV mileage. Even weather is not cold outside - 55F , I only still see this 32-35 Ml on full charge. Where is that....promised 49 Ml ? When I am going to see that? Looks like...never.
And second think , sound isolation from simple road noise.... from suspension , tires . Not so good.
Exterior styling - wheels , well , too complicated rims , and that covered rear wheel arks , looks like old car, not my favorite at all.
That why my average rating is 4.
4 out of 5 starsComfort
4 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
5 out of 5 starsInterior Design
5 out of 5 starsReliability
4 out of 5 starsPerformance
3 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you?
2 out of 5 stars
When does lawsuit start ???
by TJ
from Tonawanda
on Mon Jan 06 2020
Car was bought for EV capabilities . Advertised o get 47 on a single charge , I don't get over 30 I get run around from dealers two of them, Honda customer service is HORRIBLE !!!!
4 out of 5 starsComfort
2 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
4 out of 5 starsInterior Design
2 out of 5 starsReliability
1 out of 5 starsPerformance
2 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you?
3 out of 5 stars
Second guessing my purchase
by mogli063
from Menifee, California
on Fri Dec 07 2018
Love everything about it except the real reason I bought it which is the electric part. Full charge is never hits the advertised 47 miles and the HV mode charge takes too long to kick in.
5 out of 5 starsComfort
2 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
5 out of 5 starsInterior Design
5 out of 5 starsReliability
3 out of 5 starsPerformance
5 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you?
1 out of 5 stars
Biggest xxx ever,12 different issues!
by YT
from Camarillo
on Wed Jan 02 2019
Shame on Honda ignoring the issues (we have a lemon) and their dealerships for doing the same! I will never buy their products ever again
3 out of 5 starsComfort
1 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
3 out of 5 starsInterior Design
1 out of 5 starsReliability
3 out of 5 starsPerformance
2 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
1 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Did you?
1 out of 5 stars
Not safe for children
by Lina
from Santa Monica california
on Thu Dec 12 2019
My son is 15 and we were leaving to go shopping, he went inside the car to get his phone charger, and from no where the car reverse back and went 360 hitting two other cars inside the parking lot. I saw that and all what I thought is my son inside this crazy car. The car was Honda clarity, the electric car. It was press bottom car, so I think my son pressed on the reverse bottom accidentally while leaning to get his phone charger.
Now, my car insurance total the car and paid off the Honda dealer for the rest of what I owe.
Therefore, I’m warning people who have kids to be careful with this press bottom to operate the car. Imagine if a toddler stepped on one of those bottoms?! It’s scary situation.
I just had the car for few months. It was hard to operate. I couldn’t change the lane without using the signal. It almost got me in couple of accidents because it kept jumping especially if it was operated by battery only. It didn’t stop fast enough if a car stoped suddelney in-front of me. I had couple of issues with it, and I told the Honda shop when I took it for oil change and was told to watch it for next time.
I think the car had a mani factory problems with it.
Honda refused even to look at it before my car insurance finish the claim.
Therefore. I lost my down payment and all the payment I did for the dealer.
2 out of 5 starsComfort
2 out of 5 starsValue for the Money
1 out of 5 starsInterior Design
1 out of 5 starsReliability
2 out of 5 starsPerformance
3 out of 5 starsExterior Styling
1 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Did you?