Just purchased a new 2008 civic hybrid about a month ago. Love the car. Honda has a way of doing things right the first time. Honda was the only choice for us being owners of two Honda jetskis. They might not hit the water much this year with gas prices as they are. With no extra effort on our part, we are averaging 43 mpg, with half our miles being put on the highway running 70. The wife just took it from Winston-Salem to Miami today. Said the car has been just fine. Love the nav system, although I didn't actually need it. No way I would ever own a vehicle without XM though. Easily justified the extra money for us. I work 3rd shift, and when I get home, the wife jumps in and goes to work. Our other vehicle is a Nissan Titan, so you can imagine the fuel savings here. Gotta love the Titan, though, when we need to tow water toys or the camper. This forum seems to contain quite a bit of quality information. I will personally say that I put great faith in the Honda engineers as far as maintenance and such, and am currently waiting on my Rejex to arrive so as to keep her looking new. Just wish it had a rear window wiper. Traded an 05 element on this vehicle. Love the element. Maybe an element hybrid in the future? I'd buy one tomorrow.

 

Welcome! I hear you on the rear wiper--that would be really nice.

 

Welcome! I'm a newbie too. We're taking ours on a road trip from Virginia down to your neck of the woods in North Carolina this weekend.

Looking forward to sharing stories on our new toy.

 

I find it interesting that here in the US that 4 door sedans do not have rear window wipers available. (actually there are a few Hyundai sedans that have rear wipers here in the US)

When I travel to Central America or Asia, rear wipers on sedans are quite the norm. For some reason, Americans don't think the rear glass gets clouded over when it rains or snows.

 

They used to have rear-wipers on smaller coupe-like cars. I had an old Toyota Celica (from sometime in the 80's) with a really low-sloping rear window that had a rear wiper.

In my opinion, I don't feel that I need one in this car (HCH II). The rear window is not that large and not too sloping. Then again, I've only been driving it for a week! It rained cats and dogs today and I did not miss a rear-wiper.

 

thats cause americans dont know how to drive and thus, never look out their rear window ;p. On a side note, congrats on the car. Although I gotta say that I dont know what I would do WITHOUT the nav. or the compact flash that it can read music of of.

 

You don't need a rear windscreen wiper on a sedan. It is too far away from the rear to collect significant vacuum dirt. You'll thank yourself for not having the additional mechanical point of failure and leak point.

The rear windscreen view is acceptable with water; For snow and ice there is the defroster. However, the view through the rear window isn't essential to pilot the sedan. Think of the times you could be driving with a load that requires the trunk lid open, lots of moving stuff in the rear seats, or tall rear passengers.

 

I want the wiper for when I get in early in the morning. The dew covers the window and stays there for 30 minutes. Not an issue of when it rains. The dew combined with pollen keeps the rear window filthy.

 

It may not be strictly required, but I greatly miss the one on my Evo. When my rear window is looking a bit dusty, fogged, or water spotted, I find myself looking around for the rear washer button, only to remember that it doesn't have one. If this were an option, I'd gladly pay extra for it.

 

I too yesterday was wishing I had a rear wiper...it was just enough moisture on the back window, along with the 8 cubic meters of pollen that I couldn't hardly see out of it. For the most part though, a fresh coating of Rain-X (I know, Regex or whatever seems to be highly spoken of here) should assist with that. I've got like 2 bottles of it sitting around from the past couple years where I never used it. And what's one more mechanical device on a car such as a hybrid?