Just picked up my Magnetic Pearl with NAV. I was able to get the XM option due to the mistake by the dealership when ordering the car...they ordered the wrong color. The sales manager "said" that the order placer is no longer employed as she had made several mistakes in the past.

Anyway, this isn't going to be a great writeup since I only put on about thirty miles today. I had to meet the boss and the kids at karate immediately after picking up that car at 6:30. But I have gotten the average mileage up from 35.0 when I picked it up with 47 miles (they drove it from a dealer in Boulder) to nearly 38.0. That was with 50% City and 50% Highway over about 25 miles. I have been trying to get used to the electric mode and have been getting better. For one stretch of highway, I went about a mile (downhill) at 70 MPH with the instantaneous gauge pegged and about three to four bars of assist. I got it a few times on the main streets for a short period. I'll have to keep practicing.

Since I picked up the car at night, I have yet to see the color...but it looks great so far. I really like the interior color, too. Just as a lot of others have mentioned, I chose the Magnetic Pearl in order to get the blue interior. My Ody has the Ivory and, although I keep it clean, it is leather interior and it's easy to do...not so with cloth.

I really like the NAV. What a difference a year makes as far as the software goes. My Ody's NAV will go blank if you don't clear the "lawyer" screen. But the Civic goes to the clock. You can choose between small or large digital or an analog clock...all with the date included. The voice recognition is the same as the Ody and just as easy to use. I wish there were an easy way to transfer all my addresses from one to the other. I did notice that it will give more prompts than the Ody as the street changes approach. I have the voice prompt set to the middle setting on both. I like the Civic's better.

I have also noticed that it is QUIETER on rough roads than the Ody. Minivans are notoriously noisier than sedans, but it is very quiet for a small car. The Sub is still quieter than both on similar roads.

Acceleration is very good...I am used to the Ody with the V-6 and the Sub with the V-8, but this is more than adequate. One section of highway on the way home has a pretty steep incline. The Civic easily accelerated up the hill, although I lost two bars of charge. The Ody and Sub both have to downshift to maintain 70 on the hill.

I found the seat VERY comfortable. I wanted to raise the seat, but I hit my head getting in...a product of driving minivans and SUVs for the last four years. So, I have it at the lowest setting right now. The telescoping steering wheel is a great addition...wish the $35K Ody had that. It was very easy to get used to. Unlike some of you, I like the headrest. I have always liked having the headrest touching the back of my head...I guess I am used to it and it is simply a matter of preference.

The only problem? I, too, noticed that the FM radio reception was not as good as the Sub or Ody. But once I get the XM installed, it won't matter since that is all I listen to. I'll have to burn some MP3s so that I can try that out as well.

A lot to do yet. I finally (after a month) get to install the leather steering wheel cover and the full mask. That'll be my project this weekend. I'll also have to get some towels to cover the seats since the kids will be back there spilling "whatever". We've gotten used to the leather seats in the Sub and Ody, so we need to get used to keeping cloth clean. Speaking of which, there was a Civic EX at the dealership with GREAT looking leather seats with the Honda emblem embroidered between the shoulders. Very Cool!

As I said, not much for me to report since there has been limited driving. I look forward to learning the best ways to maximize FE...however, once my wife starts driving it, she won't be as A.R. as me and it'll probably go down. She doesn't have a leadfoot (I tend to), but when I try to max FE (always in the Sub), I'm pretty darn ****...

 

I have noticed the same thing with the radio. There is a lot of static when I am driving and I know it's this car. I have two others that do not have the static. Very curious. I also read in the Civic Hybrid quick reference that the antenna is in the front windshield. Although the quick reference specifically states it's for a hybrid, I thought the antenna was in the rear.

 

Congrats mochisushi

I am on the third day of ownership and loving it. What a pleasure to drive, so I can experiment ! I have been playing with the EV mode, as it sounds you have and notice it is great as long as your on a flat or slight decline, but it seems to "drop out of EV" if you try to go up even the slightest of inclines.

So am I reading your post that you got a NAVI for the price of a non-Navi due to the order entry person fat fingering the order? If so that is really sweet ! If you don't mind my asking.. did ya pay Over, Under or at MSRP ?

My biggest complaint is not with the car, Honda or the dealer, but with my state. If they would just join with CA, NY, VT... to embrase clean air standards, my overall warrenty would be incredible. Instead I need to consider an extended warrenty (many threads debating the pro's and Con's of this).

 

Hi Larry...Congratulations to you as well.

As for your question...I didn't get the NAVI for the non-Navi price...I got the XM radio and install for free. I really like the integrated XM that I have in the OdyIt would have been great to get the Navi for free. Sorry that I wasn't clear on this.

As for price, I paid full MSRP with no additional charges besides tax and the state required doc fee of $24.95 for the paperwork to license the thing.

Colorado also has a $2531 tax CREDIT in addition to the estimated $2100 Federal credit. Made going with the Hybrid a no-brainer.

By the way, drove to work this morning (about fifteen miles, 50% highway, 50% city). Reset Trip B before leaving and arrived with an INDICATED 47.5 MPG. I didn't reset Trip A, so it will be interesting to see the accuracy of the gauge overall. Of course, when the dealer gives me a full tank, I doubt that it is really full.

 

Congratulations for your new baby. Regarding the XM, I had it and quit the service because I didn’t like it at all. They advertise that its "commercial free" radio which is NOT TRUE. It may be true on certain channels which you need to pay extra to get anything. Sound quality is so DIGITAL... terrible!!! A lot of static also

Terrible experience, overall with XM, I had also hard time quitting it, the csr was very insistent to try and persuade me keeping the service after I stated clearly that I don’t want it because I don’t like it. At the time I had it, I wanted it only because of the traffic reports for my area... Socal. They have that but they are not accurate the way I was expecting it, I mean I was sitting in traffic after an accident that happened 30 minutes ago and they were announcing that on that freeway is "normal driving conditions" I get much better service looking online on my treo to the sigalerts...

I prefer the FM Stations which are really good, or the MP3 CD's which sounds absolutely awesome....

 

WOW ! PA has a $500 rebate. Trying to stay out of the politics of this whole thing, but PA is in the middle of the BOSNYWASH "population corridor" between Boston and Washington, so would expect they would be a leader in incentives to control emmission / pollution, but apparently NOT !

 

I've had XM since I bought the Ody in October of 2004 and really like it. But I have Sirius on our Dish Network and we like it better than XM. Unfortunately, since Honda owns a part of XM, you'll never find Sirius as a factory install...

For those that DO have XM, check out this thread from Odyclub.com. I got the $60/year deal last January. With the price increase, the new deal is $77. Details are at this link...http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...084#post279084

By the way, my year ended on January 16th. I still have XM and nothing is showing on my bill...

 

Congrats;

I am a little behind on my reading and Posting here. I recently Joined a Pet Forum and have been spending time there as well as here and {Completely} missed your Post on getting your New Ride.

Nice to here about the Power Level and also how Quite it is.

I guess the next question will be to see if the FE Gauge thing/problem shows up. I hope Not.

Regards;

Terry