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A message to all American HCH owners

9 messages,  Last post on Jun 13, 2008 at 1:06 PM

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#2 of 9 Re: A message to all American HCH owners [davhan] by gagrice May 07, 2006 (4:55 pm)
Replying to: davhan (May 07, 2006 4:26 pm) Reading the US forums you seem to be very spoilt for choices   Greetings to you, I am glad you like your new HCH. It seems to be quite popular in the USA as well. I for one have felt Australians were the ones with the choices. You can buy a midsize or small PU with a very economical diesel engine. There are many in the US that would love to have a smaller PU that gets 35-45 MPG on diesel. I guess we just wait and be envious of our neighbors that have all the choices. Have a great day down under.   PS A close friend is leaving tomorrow for your great country. He is doing a series of piano concerts in Perth. Replies to this message: davhan (May 07, 2006 9:19 pm) gagrice (May 08, 2006 6:33 am)
#3 of 9 Grass is always greener by davhan May 07, 2006 (9:19 pm)
Replying to: gagrice (May 07, 2006 4:55 pm) Isn't it funny how the grass always seems greener etc.   Yes you are right. We have a very good selection of PU's (Ute's - utilities) to choose from in Australia. It just always appeared that the US had a larger...or different range of cars with better features than in Aus. It is also true that we have a large range of small diesel engine cars too. Although diesel engine cars are not that popular to to perceived problems with noise and polution.   I mean...after all, we've just got inflatable rubber tyres and refrigerators!!?   No, seriously we do have many differnt models to the US.   Perth is a beautiful city, and I'm sure your friend will enjoy it greatly. Get him to try a pizza. Australia seems to be more famous for pizza's than Italy! Replies to this message: gagrice (May 08, 2006 6:33 am)
#4 of 9 Re: Grass is always greener [davhan] by gagrice May 08, 2006 (6:33 am)
Replying to: davhan (May 07, 2006 9:19 pm) Perth is a beautiful city, and I'm sure your friend will enjoy it greatly   I am sure he will. I would love to spend a couple months visiting your country. Everything I hear from those that visit is positive. Have fun with your new car.
#5 of 9 What a nice idea. by filmlabrat May 12, 2006 (9:40 pm)
Well, gee, nice to hear to hear from other than Cranky Yanks!   I've had my 2006 HCH w/nav for about a month now and am enjoying it. My previous car, a 2002 Honda Accord V6 was a real treat but I decided that it was just time to go green. My wife has a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid and she said that she would no longer sleep with me unless I was a hybrid kinda guy. Okay, you win, darlin'.   It was a bit of a shock to go from 3.0L to 1.3L but I'll live. Actually, it's rather entertaining to play with the MPG meters and relearn how to drive. I live in Los Angeles and that is rather hard to do here.   Usually, in aggressive LA traffic, I get about 36MPG. One morning I decided to try a maximum economy run to work (about 7 miles away) and ended up with 59.8MPG. This stuff is very educational!   My biggest gripe is the slight yellow tint to the windows. Okay, call me the Princess and the Pea, but it bugs me. It makes everything look like a smoggy day in Los Angeles. If I wanted everything to look yellow, I would be a pro-smog advocate. Carcinogenic hydrocarbons, OH YEAH!!!   Cost of gasoline is a really silly reason for buying a hybrid these days for most people. At the yearly mileage I drive, it's gonna take about 20 years before I break even! The real point is that the world is just plain gonna run out of gas and unless we want that to happen real soon, we all better come to our senses.   When we do run out of gas, it's gonna take a really long time to take a solar powered blimp to visit you in OZ. The world is going to be much different! Mel Gibson, Road Warrior, true story yet to happen???   One interesting car thing that those not in the US get to enjoy is early introduction of new models. Japanese car makers often try out new models in places outside the US to see how they work. Before the Toyota Celica was introduced to the US, it spent 7 years being tested in Japan, Australia, and Canada. So those in OZ probably got to try the HCH before anyone in the US.   Bit of a chuckle while we're on the subject... the other day I walked to lunch near where I work in Hollywood, California. I passed a parked Hummer H1 Turbo. The personalized California license plate read "7 MPG". I don't think you'll find the owner on this forum.   Have fun, be safe mate. Replies to this message: davhan (May 13, 2006 12:46 am)
#6 of 9 Thanks for your comments by davhan May 13, 2006 (12:46 am)
Replying to: filmlabrat (May 12, 2006 9:40 pm) Yes...it does seem in some instances that other parts of the world get access to models before the US. In fact the very first testing ground is New Zealand. Can't quite figure out why, but there you have it.   Like you, I have some VERY heavy traffic on my daily work commute. 30 miles each way...and very congested. Nevertheless I'm averaging 50mpg (5.2 litres per 100 kilometres). I know...it's a stupid way to look at fuel consumption, and I still prefer to think in mpg. Also...remember that there is a difference between the imperial gallon and the US gallon. Even so...not bad. The HCH is really teaching me how to drive for best consumption. The instant MPG readout is great, and helps to encourage you to have a very light foot on the gas.   Without doubt...petrol is running out and will get more expensive. We are now receiving reports in Australia(almost on a daily basis) that the massive reserves of oil that we were all led to believe existed, was a lie! There is some hope with ethanol from sugarcane, which we have heaps of in northern Australia.   My previous car was a Honda Accord 2.4l, which I really loved, but I guess the drop in power was not as much as yours.   I must say that I hadn't noticed the tinting of the windows, but I have now had them tinted anyway(like most Australian's - it's very hot in the summer over here!)   My wife has a V8 Landrover Discovery, but it is on LPG (Liquid Petrolium Gas), and runs quite cheaply.   Happy driving">
#7 of 9 Re: A message to all American HCH owners [davhan] by jcooke May 27, 2006 (9:52 pm)
Replying to: davhan (May 07, 2006 4:26 pm) I enjoyed your message. We have a new HCH and it is the smallest car we have ever owned. In the past we have usually driven Chevy Impala's. We love the milage with this car. We now have over 11,000 miles and have averaged 48 miles per gallon. It is a fun car to drive and we love the navigation system. We also decided to get the XM radio since we have one in our truck and had had one on the last two Impala's. Very steep price for this option ($770.00) and it doesn't work well at all. The antenna is placed on the inside of the windshield and I think this is the problem. It will loose its signal about 15 times form our house to the Interstate (8 miles). We have complained to Honda but nothing changed yet. My truck has a small magnetic antenna thats about 1/5 the size of the Honda antenna and it works perfectely. We would purchase a car like this again. We had already planned to purchase a large (Buick Lucerne) after my wife retires in a couple of years, however, we have already decided to keep the Honda for at least the 150,000 miles that the batterys are under warranty. Replies to this message: gagrice (May 28, 2006 5:51 am)
#8 of 9 Re: A message to all American HCH owners [jcooke] by gagrice May 28, 2006 (5:51 am)
Replying to: jcooke (May 27, 2006 9:52 pm) If you lose XM signal there is a problem. The only time I have lost XM signal with the radio in my GMC PU is in a tunnel. It was factory installed. Was yours factory or dealer installed? I would dog them. That is about twice what they should have charged in the first place. I would never get another vehicle without XM.
#9 of 9 Re: A message to all American HCH owners [davhan] by irisheyes785 Jun 13, 2008 (1:06 pm)
Replying to: davhan (May 07, 2006 4:26 pm) Unfortunately, a lot of the Civic Hybrids have really crappy transmissions. Many people have had to have them replaced or otherwise repaired after less than 100,000 or even less than 50,000 miles. Mine (2003) was bad at 60,000 and I've had a terrible time trying to get Honda to fix my vehicle, even with a warranty. It's actually at the dealership right now getting a rebuilt transmission, it only has 80,000 miles on it. I used to get like 200,000 on my old Hondas, they aren't making them like they used to.   I too bought my Hybrid to save money and be green. However, if you add the costs of repairs compared to another regular car, it really isn't saving much money. Batteries are $5,000 and last for about 8 years, after that they go to landfills and how is that good for the environment?   In all, I think the fact that the Hybrids are so disposable counteracts the "Green-ness" of the vehicle and repairs counteract the saving money on gas. It's fun to see yourself getting 55 mpg, but now that I've had the car for awhile I'm realizing why there are so many bad reports. Once the novelty wears off you have to get real with yourself.

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