Pros: Drives like any other car, pollutes less, quiet ride. GREAT GAS MILEAGE !!!
Cons: Gas mileage is lower than hoped for in the beginning but now 50MPG per tank.
The Bottom Line: I would definitely recommend this car for anyone who needed a small sedan they could feel good about driving and who wants good gas mileage.
I just bought this car last week, so my impressions will be based on a very small time frame. But I will come back later and edit and add comments as necessary.
I replaced a 13.5 mpg Chevy Avalanche, so any mileage gains I got would be gravy over the gas hog I WAS driving.
I had wanted a Prius for the LONGEST time, but with the waiting list and all that crap, I just didn't want to deal with that stuff. One of my co-workers had owned an Insight, then a Civic Hybrid, and now owns a Prius, and he liked the Prius best. I had ridden in his HCH (Honda Civic Hybrid) a couple of times and I appreciated the fact that it rode and looked like any other Civic.
So when I got ready to buy, I just looked on AutoTrader and found a used Civic Hybrid for sale at a dealership, $21,338, 4800 miles on the car. I stopped in, drove it, and they cut the price down to $19,324 if I bought "tonight" as they always put it.
Anyway, ON to the review:
Driving Impressions (Hybrid Oriented) - The car starts quietly and the shifts are smooth and easy. It has a handy-dandy "shift UP now" light on the dash that lets you know it's time, if you do not already know it's time. It also has a "shift DOWN now" light, but I've never seen it come on. In ECON mode, the gas engine will shut off at stop lights to save gas, which kills the air compressor and stops the flow of cold air from the A/C. Which is bad in the hot Phoenix afternoons when I'm driving home at 106 degrees. But I love the idea that I'm not sitting at a light wasting gas and polluting the air, so I can deal with the trade-off. The dash also has a real time "how many MPG I am getting AT THIS VERY SECOND" display which uses an LED bar like a progress bar to feedback mpg info to the driver. It has two trip meters and the overall mileage meter for that trip with the MPG earned on that trip. Very "Geek Chic."
Driving Impressions (General) - This car drives just like any other small sedan I have driven, when you consider the basics. There is nothing to "learn" about the Hybrid technology if you just want to drive this car - you get in, start it, and off you go. Compared to a non-Hybrid Civic, this car lacks a little in the acceleration department - not much, but you aren't going to win any stoplight races !! It is nicely appointed, with side-impact airbags, AM/FM/CD stereo with Anti-Theft feature, chrome treatment around the shifter, ABS brakes, height-adjustable driver seat, Automatic Climate Control system, child seat anchors in the back seat, trunk lid spoiler, dual trip meters. Ride is not too stiff and not too soft, seats are really comfortable.
My Mileage Woes - I am merely getting, right now on my FIRST tank, only about 36.7 MPG according to the computer. Even though that is a 271% improvement over my Avalanche, it is still almost 10 MPG less than the EPA city rating for this HCH. Now bear in mind, SOME of that is understandable, because ALL my driving has been city stop and go driving, never exceeding 45 MPH, and mostly driving in areas where the speed limit was 30 MPH. PLUS, being in HOT HOT Phoenix AZ, I have been required to run the A/C almost every second of driving. But even so, I am disappointed right now, and anxious to get to my first fillup so I can measure the MPG the "old fashioned way" and see what my REAL MPG was for the tank. I will post that info when I get it.
My insurance was only about $110 a month on the car, so that was a plus.
Anyway, more info to be posted later. I would DEFINITELY recommend this car to anyone wanting a hybrid or even just a high mileage sedan.
UPDATE 4-12-2005:
After almost 11,000 miles of driving, I love this car EVEN MORE !!
My lifetime MPG is about 48.4 miles per gallon and going up every tank. My tanks are almost always over 50 MPG now. You "learn" how to maximize the MPG over time, and if you care enough about it, it is a truly FUN game to play !!
I have done all the oil changes myself, no other maintenance required yet.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19324
Condition: Used Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: Hybrid Manual Tranny
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