I live in IL and there is only 1 2019 model available here. I believe it's been left outside in the winter weather for the past few months without being charged. I was wondering If it would be possible to buy a Clarity at another state to get the dealer discount or the Manufacturer to Dealer discount and have it shipped to the closest Honda dealership or to the house? Thanks!
There is no change from a 2018 to a 2019. I am in Chicago and was able to get a 2018 Touring for $29K+ Tax title plates. There are plenty of dealers willing to sell around that price.
Yeah, I'm just worried as most dealers will store the 2018 model outside in the Chicago weather and cold which will have an effect on the battery and probably have rust build up. Also, most dealerships don't plug them in for a long time, which is really bad for the batteries. Since they aren't selling well here.
I got a car that was built in October 2018. Fortunately the car was not sitting in the heat which affects the battery the most.
Ideal storage conditions for LiIon batteries are cold temps and about 20-30% SOC. Heat is what causes battery degradation. Part of the PDI procedure for the Clarity PHEV is a HV battery condition check. You can always have the dealer run the battery test and give you the results as a condition of the sale.
Service Bulletin 17-093 is titled "2018 Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: PDI and New Model Service Information." The Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) section of the document lists 20 steps dealers need to perform before delivering a new Clarity PHEV. The second section, "New Model Service Information," has 4 parts: Deceleration Paddle Selector operation Charge Timer operation Windshield Wiper System cautions Checking the Battery Pack Capacity This second section is separate from the PDI section, so it's possible that a dealer's service department might claim that Checking the Battery Pack Capacity is not actually required as part of the PDI. Be prepared to jump up and down and threaten to take all your future Honda service business to a different Honda service facility if they won't perform the Battery Pack Capacity test for you. For free.
Thank you, Insightman for another very helpful post. If you have copies of all the Clarity PHEV service bulletins, could you please post them? That would be a tremendous help to people shopping for Claritys and trying to evaluate the savvy of the dealer.
I mistakenly (before I knew what @insightman posted) told my dealer that it was supposed to be done per the PDI and they cheerfully agreed to do it for free. Probably the only time dealer ignorance of the Clarity worked in my favor.
What I posted was what I learned from you, @KentuckyKen. I was just too lazy to search for your original post and hazy enough about it so that I was afraid to say I was quoting you.
There is a 2019 at a dealer in Toledo OH. Definitely closer than NY. There's also a few in detroit and Cincinnati, mix of 18 and 19s. Would check those out before you try to have anything shipped.
With regards to ZEV states incentives, note that most dealers will promise you those prices and will even state them in the purchase order form, but when it gets to the finance manager for review, they will go out the window. The cars must be registered in a ZEV state. PA residents closer to the NJ border had been hit with this when they tried to buy a car but register it in their home state, which is not a ZEV state. You could always move a day after it's registered..
The place where many Hondas first show rust is on the fenders behind the rear wheels. For that reason it's unfortunate that the rear fenders on the Clarity are steel, as a magnet will prove.
If you are still looking a couple dealers reached out to me saying their pricing is dropped to under $28.5K plus TTL for 2018 touring in Chicago.