Hello,

Today I picked up my 2006 HCH and traded in my 2004. At Merph's recommendation, I thought I would tell you what I notice to be different between them.

1) I feel very far away from the front of my car now and I am not used to the size (not a big deal, will get used to it)
2) The gauges have fewer increments. Doesn't seem like a bid deal but on the current mpg the '04 had a notation every 20 mpg and this one is only 0, 50 & 100. My goal used to be 60 mpg at all times, I will have to figure out something new.
3) Auto-lock, on the 2006 not on the 2004, I like that feature
4) Winshield wipers are cool
5) The inside seems bigger, not sure if it really is
6) I had a stick and now it is the CVT - not sure how I feel about that yet
7) The colors kind of stink but whatever, again, I will get used to that
8) The parking brake sure is in a weird spot
9) 2004 - life of the car (43,000 miles) 48.8 mpg, 2006 - life of the car (65 miles) 40.5 and I only drove 25 of those miles
10) Stero controls on the steering wheel - cool
11) Jack to plug in the iPodin 2006, not in 2004

As I drive a little more I will share my findings.

Tempe Honda in AZ was great. I worked with Mike and Josh and the finance guy was Charles. They never misled me and never made me feel awkard for getting NO add ons. Charles went over the warranty options and when I said no, that was the end of it.

Thanks Merph for the referral to Right Honda but they were not sure when they will get a car at Right Honda and did not offer to get one from another dealer so I went with Tempe.

Regarding the MusicLink, I learned a few things that I wanted to share with you...although it is installed and can be controlled thru the radio, it is still just an FM transmitter but you cannot change the FM station that it uses. Here in AZ that is a problem as some stations work better in certain areas than others. If you go out of town and the station that they have selected is used, your iPod will not work or if someone ever buys the station that they have set it to. My thought is that the little jack that comes with it is a better option.

Talk to you all soon,
Jessica

 

I think the instantaneous MPG gauge has two bars for every 10 MPG. So two bars above 50 gets you 60.

 

Thanks for the post and congrats on your new car!
This will be a cool comparison between manual transmission and CVT, in terms of mpg. Usually this is hard to compare because CVT drivers may have different driving habits that affect mpg in different ways, from stickshift drivers. Now you may have the opportunity to do an mpg comparison with more or less the same driving style, very cool.
Please keep us posted!

 

Point 5
You are correct - the car is wider but a little shorter.

Point 8
I call it a hand brake - if your brakes failed you can always bring the vehicle to a stop using it. It is also very useful for a hill start. I like it's position and the short travel between off and on. Also, If you want to slow down when pursued by a Police car, to put on the foot brakes shows what you are doing, whereas a pull on the hand brake will not light your brake lights but reduce your speed!

 

Let's hope that I never need that tip...

 

Hello,

A few more differences that I have seen:

1) Signal on side mirror
2) MPG on my 2004 seemed to only go in even decimal points and 2006 goes up by any incriment
3) little aux jack for iPod is cool
4) Visors are plastic, garage door opener does not fit there anymore
5) lots of little cubby holes

Jessica

P.S. Got my first tank of gas today, now we can see how my milage differs when I am the only driver.