Consumer Reports Auto Issue 2019

Somebody somewhere got paid. There's no rational excuse for their rating given the data they've made available.

 

Consumer Reports can’t always be trusted. Remember in the late 90s when they named the VW Passat the best vehicle in its class? Well I bought one on their recommendation and it was constantly in the shop.

Knock on wood, but my Clarity has been worry free over three months of driving.

 

I've been following Consumer Reports since I was a teenager in the 50's, and have subscribed for many of my adult years. I usually have had confidence in their ratings, but I have great difficulty in believing or accepting their assessment of the Clarity PHEV. That current issue is sitting, unopened on my coffee table, and I really don't want to read the rating. I've had my Clarity over a year, and I'm happier with it than any car that I've owned before. I know my experience is just anecdotal, but I would like to see their raw data to convince me otherwise.

Surely, they have considered the minor, new technology, first-year issues, such as the EV mileage, and charger power sensitivity, etc, that were resolved with firmware updates, and treated them as equal to more serious, and costly problems.

 

So the questions I have really cannot be answered except for in time. Now if in 10-15 years we learn what Clarity performance actually is, it would be handy to return to the reviews. Nobody has a crystal ball. Obviously, myself and many others are betting that Honda Clarity will be a strong performer for years to come.

From about 5 months of ownership all I can say is it's hands down the best car I've ever owned.

In terms of hybrids more generally- we do not have data to say that hybrids as a class are less reliable than their gas mobile cousins. In fact, many uber drivers and the like prefer (typically Prius), and some have far exceeded 200,000 miles. So we'll see, but I don't believe our car will perform badly in the scheme of things. Like others I do suspect Clarity got a bad rap from some inconvenient software issues. But none of that is a big deal.

The only problem I've seen in these forums of real concern is the loss of power issue a few folks have experienced. That's a real deal, but I don't know how many instances of that have occurred. It's simply never happened on my Clarity-- although I do occassionally hit the louder than average high-RPM sound when EV range goes to zero. My handling has been to simply never allow EV range to hit zero -- and problem solved.

 

I know this is off topic but someone mention the best PHEV.... Well, I was over at the Honda UK site and they have a PHEV CRV. It has all the missing goodies that Clarity lacks, like heated steering wheel, blind spot monitoring, cross traffic, volume knob, sunroof, and AWD.

The steering wheel in the CRV brochure looks like the same one we have in ours Clarity. Wonder if that is swapable.

 

For their reliability ratings, Consumer Reports simply crunches numbers based on survey results they receive from their members. I have not seen the article yet, but have seen some online data they have reported on the car. If they do not show a detailed report on reliability, that is probably because they do not have enough responses to their survey.

I think the survey asks the owner for problems that required the car to be brought to the dealer. I had two relatively minor ones (HV milage display, phone connectivity) with my Clarity. Also had another that most people would have brought their car into the dealer immediately for (Emmission System Failure message), but that problem went away after a few days and never returned. There were also other issues I had that got solved by reading here (i.e. problems with auto-lock). I have definitely have had more "minor issues" with this car than with other newish cars that I have bought. How do I feel about the car overall? I love it. I think the reliability will be good overall. I don't doubt the data from Consumer Reports though. I think Honda needs to address the common issues up front. Many people use Consumer Reports as part of their car research process. The Clarity looks bad. I know of a co-worker that was considering the Clarity, and the CR information did worry him.

I am surprised to see how far down quality and reliability lists Honda has fallen. I always remembered Toyota and Honda at the top of the various lists. Honda has slid down quite a bit.

I think most of the Clarity problems are 1) electronics issues that need to be fixed by Honda, and 2) Lack of understanding of how and when the engine runs. IMHO, Honda should
1) Apply the numerous software updates before the car is sold. I think they don't do this now because it costs the dealership more to do it before sale.
2) Fix some of the issues that make problems out of non-problems (requirement to re-calibrate low tire pressure warning, auto lock walkaway issues, etc.)
3) Dealers need to explain to buyers the when the engine will run and how engine RPM is usually not directly connected to accelerator pressure.

I also think that Honda needs to make some software changes to lessen the cases where hi-engine revving occurs. That's a whole other thread though

 

I checked it out and could not find a PHEV, only a hybrid. Its definitely only a hybrid since it weighs only 3700 lbs. Where did you find the PHEV?

 

I know this is off topic but someone mention the best PHEV.... Well, I was over at the Honda UK site and they have a PHEV CRV. It has all the missing goodies that Clarity lacks, like heated steering wheel, blind spot monitoring, cross traffic, volume knob, sunroof, and AWD.

The steering wheel in the CRV brochure looks like the same one we have in ours Clarity. Wonder if that is swapable.

 

I believe the upcoming Pilot PHEV is the only PHEV Honda has announced at this point. The CR-V Hybrid is not a PHEV.

 

"Sadly, given the influence of CR in the marketplace, their ratings and rankings undoubtably affect value."

The answer to that problem is to drive it for 10+ years. Which I hope to do.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Inside EVs mobile app

 

Since Clarity is year to date the second best selling plugin in the US beating the CR recommended Toyota Prius Prime I wouldn't assume CR is all that influential short or long term. CR has tried so hard to 'normalize' their rating criteria they've washed out a lot of the specifics of each model. They're also falling farther and farther behind the rapid tech evolution of autos in general and becoming less and less relevant. A few software patches are barely worth mentioning yet represent almost all the Clarity 'issues' to date. CR just can't keep up and publish ratings based on years old data.

12 month anniversary coming up next week. Zero trips back to the dealer. Zero problems. I'll have the A01 service performed Monday and patches applied. Only the HV range issue is noticeable. Great car.

 

For the last 20 years I've paid attention to CR for vacuum cleaners, washers etc. but not cars. They really do not seem to know what they are doing on cars.

 

We should be happy that Clarity has such such bad reports by the media, the federal credit can be kept alive longer this way.

 

The only thing I hate is the glare from the screen under direct sunlight, it does not improve much even after I applied a glare reducing screen protector!

 

It has only happened to me a couple of times. (Both my Priuses had this problem as well as the Prius I test drove before I bought the Clarity.) I decided that if i find it bothersome too often, i will get some boxboard and make a little hood for it that i can pop on and off as needed.

 

I was a faithful follower of CR for years. I made about all of my major purchases based on their ratings. Then they started reporting actual purchasers' ratings of the products they tested. I was amazed at how far the ratings (usually bad) by actual users of the products were from the CR's ratings. I lost faith in CR.