Honda CRZ hybrid-any thoughts?

[edcayton]

Morning all. My son has taken it into his head that he wants one of these. We looked at a couple yesterday and I can see why! Aspects of a space ship abound. Really wondering if anyone on here has any experience of them. The car forums are so full of carp that I have had enough of them.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Ed

[jjb1970]

My advice is if you all like it and can afford it then buy it. Being a Honda it should be a painless ownership proposition. I avoid car forums, it's like blue box vs. red box vs. the new entrants in model trains x10.

[kernowtim]

Cheap road tax but that could change, replacement traction batteries expensive..

[RANGERS]

Generally has a good reputation but like most hybrids, has an uncertain battery life span, 5 - 8 years seems to be a realistic expectation and they are EXPENSIVE!

 

If you're buying a recent car still under warranty, I think you can have a fair degree of confidence in it but older cars could present some sizeable bills in the not too distant future. From memory, the early cars had a five year battery warranty which will now have expired but later cars were longer I believe. Reliability is good though, its a Honda, does what it says on the tin.

[gismorail]

Agree with most of the above and certainly being a Honda build quality will not be a issue so no worries there. My big reservation is the Hybrid and batteries which is all new technology and in my view unproven long term which could well affect the resale value when your son wants to move on to the next car.  

[rembrow]

My son-in-law is waiting delivery of a Toyota C-HR, 4 door suv hybrid. He's got experience of Toyota hybrids, having had an Auris estate hybrid for 4 years, with no problems whatsoever. What I like with the Auris and the C-HR is the smooth automatic drive in electric or petrol propulsion. Can't say I like the shape though, but this comes from someone who had a Marina TC, Cortina Mk 4, Datsun Cherry  etc, etc

[HeavyDuty]

A few co-workers are long time hybrid owners going back to the earliest Hondas and Toyotas. None have ever needed to have a battery replaced - that may be a matter of luck, but our weather here is also more severe than it is there (higher summer temps, and lower winter) which would be harder on battery life. Also, here in the US I believe the batteries carry a separate, much longer manufacturer's warranty than the rest of the vehicle - is it the same in the UK?

[jjb1970]

The Prius has been around in large numbers for a lot of years now and the batteries don't seem to have a reputation for dying.

[jjb1970]

I test drove a Lexus IS300h a few weeks ago and really liked it. Some of the interior fittings felt a little low rent for the price of the car but it was a great car to drive and very nice. I have no concerns with the hybrid battery. My existing car is a Citroen hybrid and admittedly its not especially old but the hybrid system has been faultless and I have no indication that the battery is deteriorating. So my own advice is that if the car you like is a hybrid then just go for it and don't worry.

[Horsetan]

I don't see any original Honda Insights on the road now.

[30801]

I don't see any original Honda Insights on the road now.

 

It appears to be only slightly more vanishingly rare than when it was in production.

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/honda_insight

[HeavyDuty]

I don't see any original Honda Insights on the road now.

I regularly see two of them here in town. Now, older Nissan Leafs (pure electric) - those have become like unicorn gas.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...Aspects of a space ship abound...

 Possibly your son's mind is on higher things, but he might want to consider where this vehicle stands with anyone to whom he might want to suggest 'Fancy a ride in my spaceship?'?

[Kickstart]

I regularly see two of them here in town. Now, older Nissan Leafs (pure electric) - those have become like unicorn gas.

 

They are all probably sat on the back of a diesel lorry using the range extension service.

 

At Christmas we popped into Sainburys in Winchester. There were 2 Tesla parking / charging points with both occupied and another waiting for a turn.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Zomboid]

I see Leafs (leaves?) quite often, and there are a couple of Renault Zoes in the station car park as well as a Tesla, a couple of i3s and an i8.

From where I'm standing, electric cars are starting to make some headway since the invention of electric cars that you might actually want to own. I know I want one. But they are best suited to people like me who only do a few miles every day, so I guess the station car park is likely to be a happy hunting ground.

Outside London I see more pure EVs than hybrids, and the most popular hybrid I see is the Mitsubishi Outlander phev.

[Horsetan]

I see Leafs (leaves?) quite often, and there are a couple of Renault Zoes in the station car park as well as a Tesla, a couple of i3s and an i8.....

 

...the latter being a hundred grand's worth of car. Makes a Tesla saloon look cheap.

 

Anyone seen a Renault Fluence ZE? They didn't sell many here.....

[jjb1970]

Electric cars are becoming common where I live, mainly the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3 but also more Tesla Model S's. Clearly an electric car will be useless as a motorway mileage eating rep mobile going up and down all day every day, but I suspect that for most people most of the time the range is quite adequate. I still think that at the moment a PHEV offering enough range on batteries to cover most daily use and with an internal combustion engine for longer distance trips is the best solution but batteries are getting better all the time. The big problem is that unless you're a technophile wanting an electric car, or really are passionately against engine emissions, then economically the arguments still favour petrol or diesel. However, electric cars and PHEVs are getting more competitively priced and I suspect it will not be long before the price gap closes.