Well I picked up my new 07 HCHII today and I already love this car!

I have been reading up and taking in what everyone has to say about the car over the past couple of weeks. Your comments and advice made me feel confident that I was making the right choice.

I got the car in magnetic pearl and had leather and a heated seat installed. The leather is a dark graphite color and they carried it over onto the doors and on the center armrest. I couldn't be happier with how it came out - I will have to post some pictures. I got the car for $1200 under MSRP and paid $1395 for the leather and heated seat so I like to think i only paid $195 for the upgrade!

Of course I had to take the car out for a drive immediately to test it out. It was a 78mile ride round trip on both highway and local roads, some flat and some hilly. I had a trip average of 45.8mpg! I am thrilled with that for my first go at driving the car and the first tank of gas. I read some of your techniques here and will try to learn them as I go. I dont want to be too obsessed with my mpg when driving but it does make a fun game that i can already see will be addictive!

When my friends and coworkers asked what kind of car I was getting and I told them the HCH - about 75% of them didnt know anything about hybrids. Most thought that you had to plug the car in or that it doesnt use regular gas - or some other seemingly common misconceptions. (I live in the suburbs outside of Philly btw) I was surpried to see that there is so much confusion about hybrids and everyone got interested when they heard the about the mpg AND realized that owning and driving a hybrid car doesnt mean you have to DO anything different. Just an observation...

Thanks for everyones input and advice on this site - it was very helpful in making my final decision to get the HCHII!

 

Congrats, and Welcome!

Yes, the misconceptions by the general public about hybrids are stunning. Most people just never "see the need" to change, and therefore remain in the dark about how hybrids work.
Just about everyone thinks you plug them in. If they only knew how much BETTER that would really be if we could ...
And someday soon we WILL have Plug-ins. Think of the confusion then

 

Ah, young love...

Congrats Amanda on your great purchase! Please post pics of your interior.

Let us know how the heated seats are as well. I have them installed as well and the passenger only gets their left cheek heated because of sensors in the seats.

Great early mileage as well! Enjoy.

 

The saleman I worked with at the dealership said he took some great high res pictures of the interior of my car to share with some other people that were considering the leather. I will see if he can send them to me - otherwise I will take some this weekend.

I only got a heated seat on the drivers side - I tried it out for a couple of minutes but thats about it since it hasnt been cold. It heated up really quick and seemed even. There is only one setting so I have a feeling it will get too hot pretty quickly and I will be turning it on and off.

I got 47.7 mpg on my first drive to work this morning! Its a 22 mile drive - more than half highway and the rest stop and go.

 

Congratulations on the new purchase and the nice MPG.

 

I would really like to see pics of the interior. Im sure it looks really sharp. Glad you bought a hybrid

 

I'm going to have to price leather out here in Canada. I'll bet its more than $1395! Anyone know?

 

Yes it IS amazing how much ignorance (or worse, misinformation) there is out there about hybrids.

I blame the media.
Good news doesn't sell.

 

Congrats on the new car! Your interior sounds cool, and I really appreciate that you took the time to come tell us how we helped you make your decision and feel good about it. I think that's the kind of thing that everyone here LOVES to hear- that's a big part of why many of us are here. So thanks for the thanks! As for your numbers, they certainly sound good for a beginning. The commute you mention sounds quite a bit like mine, 22 miles one way, mixed conditions. If you're in warm weather, you ought to be able to get some great FE numbers once you master a couple of strategies. Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

I wonder how much the heated seat would affect your FE? Probably not much- less than using the heater, certainly, but a little energy is used, so would it be comparable to the radio or some other accessory? Anybody know?

 

I feel the Hybrid is catching on, but it will take time. People have these big, and in some cases small SUV's and trucks, that are worth nothing basically, so people are going to drive it into the ground if they can afford to. Some people need these rigs to pull thier RV. It will take time for us to change!!! But I think alot of us would love to have a hybrid, but Honda & Toyota won't give you much for your gas burners.