Is CJ insane?

[cjsmith]

The Honda hybrids are pricey (used) or hard to find (new); they also have very anemic acceleration.* Heck, currently I hate getting stuck behind a Prius, and those things are downright peppy compared to the 2005 Honda Civic hybrid. [edit: The Prius itself is as peppy as I'd ever want. Their drivers may often choose slow acceleration. I have now been called on this three times from the Prius gallery.] Back to the Civic, though, how much are carpool stickers worth if I can't accelerate enough to merge into traffic sanely? What was I thinking?

I guess it's going to be the regular Civic sedan. It will certainly be reliable and last me a good long time. All I'll have to do to keep that car running is stay away from California drivers! Easy! ...oh, wait.

I put a small "right of first refusal" deposit on one today. It won't come in until the first or second week of October, and as it hasn't been assigned a VIN yet it will probably be a 2007, which I have never seen. As the deposit is both small and refundable, I will be making an effort to find another car sooner.

______________________

*Other hybrid options don't work well at all. The Prius is too big, too expensive, and has too long a wait list, but I admit it would be fun to snag a used one and try for a full-electric conversion.** The Camry and Accord are of course too big. The Insight has no trunk, and I may very well need to haul a scooter some day (not to mention the square dance calling equipment).

**This is particularly nifty given that we have solar panels on the house. If we get rid of the pool and its associated pump, we become a net producer over the year as a whole. Might as well use some of that excess to drive a truly zero-emissions car!

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I know you want a cassette player and the opening from the trunk is funky, but I love my little 2006 non-hybrid Civic sedan - it's been great for my 75-mile 1-way commute. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It sure does look like it meets my needs in the vast majority of ways.

[tshuma]

Keep in mind the HOV lane may not remain accessible. They are nearly out of the 75,000 stickers. They are contemplating a bill to extend the program an additional three years and 10,000 stickers.

There are plenty of other reasons to get a hybrid, of course.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yep, a good point. The reason I was considering a *used* hybrid is they already have the stickers. I've heard from multiple sources now that they've received more applications than there are currently stickers remaining.

I believe the day will come when hybrid technology is in a majority of cars. Maybe then they will have small ones that accelerate. :-) Meanwhile, I think I'll settle for considering my very low miles driven per year as my green contribution. Hybrid in addition would be better, but I guess I have my limits and I found them. :-/

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Randy encourages you to get a higher-end trim line, for more amenities and improved performance ... especially since you tend to keep cars for a looooong time. Other than that, he thinks the Civic is an excellent choice for a highly reliable car. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (And yes, keeping it for a long time is a big part of what is driving my choice.) The EX looks very nice :-)

One worry I have about higher-end trim lines is they have more little crap that breaks. Power locks, power windows, power moonroof -- all that stuff has been sources of problems on friends' cars, causing them to bring the thing back for maintenance. A car with all manual operation would never have had the glitch.

But I think I'm committed to power schtuff. I'd have to go to a pretty cruddy car, at this point, to avoid it!

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Randy says the power stuff is a minor concern, but ... it's a Honda. Honda and Toyota power stuff doesn't generally break for a long time, and the cost to repair is usually quite reasonable. (10-plus years until your first power stuff failure isn't unusual.) In most Honda or Toyota cars, power stuff either breaks right away (defective part from the factory) or not for 10+ years.

Or at least so says Randy.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Well, it's also a moot point, as I'm not going to go low-end enough to get rid of power schtuff. But that's reassuring to hear! :)

[apparentparadox]

currently I hate getting stuck behind a Prius

I think that the Prius has pretty good acceleration if one chooses to use it. Don't judge the acceleration of the car based on the way that people are driving it! I haven't had any problems getting onto the freeway, or passing people going up a hill (like up 92 between 101 & 280).

I understand that a Prius is out for you due to other reasons, but it shouldn't be because of lack of acceleration.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think that the Prius has pretty good acceleration if one chooses to use it.

I agree, based on the very short time I've driven one. My original note was poorly phrased in that it implies Priuses also lack pep. You're right that how people choose to drive it is a large factor, and in the Prius, self-selection tends to skew that in a certain direction.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

When I test drove your Prius I thought it was quite peppy. And I'm pretty picky about peppiness. I drove the Civic Hybrid today and was practically ready to get out and push.

[apparentparadox]

It's nice to have some independent verification from someone who hasn't already drunk the kool-aid!

[apparentparadox]

Is CJ insane?

Being a "friend", I need to point out that this question is way too broad to decide based on your car choices :-) And even insane people can make seemingly good decisions at times (but maybe for insane reasons).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The title echoed the previous post so nicely, though, that I couldn't resist!

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Oh. And to second Tim's comment above ... a Prius does</i< have plenty of power if the driver chooses to utilize it. Remember, Randy quite easily proved to me on I-5 to Los Angeles that the Prius has a third digit on the speedometer...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Whatever it "does" I'm sure it does well :-). Some day its designers will make a smaller less-expensive one and I'll buy it!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*laughter* I finally looked at my mail and found out what the rest of your comment said! :-) The Civic hybrids I drove could not possibly have done that.

[jb98.livejournal.com]

I don't know if California purchased Civic Hybrids are somehow different than Virgina purchased Civic Hybrids but mine has no problem at all with acceleration. I've got quite the heavy foot and have never found myself wishing for more. I test drove a Prius and it was very sluggish comparatively.

My sister is a high performance car snob and she drove mine across country for me and was quite impressed. Very weird, maybe I just got lucky. I do know that when I lived in the intentional community, they had one too and it was a lot slower than mine off the line.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh interesting. The two we drove today were whining (sounded like uncomfortably high engine RPM) at about sixty miles an hour. We could get them to 65, but they didn't like it, and we didn't have enough time before our exit to get them to 70. Merging was a little worrisome.

What year is yours? These were 2005. I can imagine year might make a big difference.

[jb98.livejournal.com]

OMG that's so not like mine, mine's happiest going 80. I got a ticket because of it. It just naturally likes to cruise at 80 and I have to consciously back it off.

Mine is a 2003, the first year they made them. Whining is NOT a good sign in a car, glad you stayed away. Ick.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow! Maybe a 2003 would be better!

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

*I* accelerate very slowly in my Prius. Its about me, and fuel efficeincy.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Right, it's not about the car. My statement was poorly worded!

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

No worries. and it certainly is possible that the Prius doesn't accelerate in a way that you like. But I did want you/potential Prius folks to know that it doesn't have to be that way.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Prius really is just as peppy as I'd ever need it to be. I test-drove one a long time ago. I'd HAPPILY buy it if I could get it for a $6K discount and shave off eight inches of width. :-)

I'll edit the post.