I've been keeping an eye on hybrids since a little after the Insight came out and I'm a tech by trade so I know about as much about hybrids as anyone who doesn't have one could. I went and looked at the only hybrid for sale in the entire town today, a 2003 HCH CVT with 49,000 miles on it. Almost everything the guy said was wrong! He had first told me it was a 2002 for starters. He next told me that the assist gauge meant that the gas engine was helping the electric motor when it said assist, and was running on the electric motor only when it said charging.

I asked if it had a lifetime mileage gauge and he asked if I meant a trip meter. I said "um sure" and he said "No it doesn't have a trip meter" Does the HCH have a mileage gauge, by trip or lifetime? I see a "trip a" in the brouchure.

He tried to get the idle stop to work but couldn't. He said that the 2004 has this idle stop feature but the 2003 must not (he he).

By this point it is getting hard to keep a straight face. We then go under the hood and he shows me the bright orange wires that "go to the 2 motors, one for each wheel".

Haha. Typical of the uninformed. I'm thinking I need to scrap the "Join the Revolution" campaign and start a new one... "Educate the Ignorant!"

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Hi Lakedude:

___That had to be one of the most ignorant Hybrid salesmen I have ever heard of … If you were interested in this automobile, have him take you for a ride with a trip meter reset. After the ride is over and he has 23.6 mpg showing, you can say something is wrong with your car since it isn’t anywhere near the 47 mpg that the EPA says you should receive … Afterwards, low-ball the hell out of him for what he calls a 2002 albeit the 03

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

HCH has 2 resetable trip meters- A & B, each with their own MPG meters as well.

Was this an authorized Honda dealership?
Sounds like "Joes used cars" lot or similar. (Sorry Joe B) )

Perhaps you could go back there and tell him that blue book value only applies to regular cars and find yourself a nice discount!
Ok I'm only kidding!

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Yep! They got a new white CVT (just like the one I drove today) coming in a month and a magnesium metallic MT on the way in about 2 months. I really like the magnesium and I think I want a MT so I just might put a deposit down on the MT HCH. I liked the CVT better than I thought I would. The shifter is nice and solid. I'm used to a really nice, thick shift knob and don't really care for really skinny whimpy shift levers like a Subaru has.

HEY I JUST remembered another one!!!!

Joe salesman told me the letter on the shifter were:

D=Drive
S=Slow
L=Low

I don't know what they really mean but I'm bettin that ain't it!

I'm bettin the S is for sport. What is the L for?

"S" is for Sport
"L" is for Luntatic (Just kidding) I also believe it is Low, as it locks the ratio in lowest.

My Honda salesman didn't know what the Econ button does, but at least he honest about not knowing!

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Update

Got the car in spite of the bad salesman. I really like the car, for more info see the post about first impressions.

The bad salesman continued to be bad when I picked the car up. He called the morning of Oct. 19 2004 to tell me the car was in, being preped and would be ready to pick up the same afternoon. I called at 3:45 that same afternoon and he said the car was completely ready. I told him I would pick it up on my lunch hour and would be there at 5:00. He said that the car was ready and that he would get going on the paperwork so all I'd need to do would be to sign a couple papers and be out the door with a new car.

Ever been lied to, by a car salesman?

When I got there the car was of course not ready and was in the "back" being cleaned. The paperwork was worse than not done. Since the car had just arrived the dealship had not offically taken delivery of the car so it wasn't even in the system be sold yet. To make a long story short they took hours and in spite of my telling them to hurry, they still tried to sell me extended services plans and what not. After I had signed all the papers they still would not let me go because the sale had not be approved and signed off by by a manager. Finding a manager that close to closing time was another challenge. The final insult came whenever the saleman told me I couldn't take the care until he went over it to show me how it works!!! This is the same guy who told me that there was a motor in each wheel hub in the front! Anyway I talked him out of the "lessons" and got back to work 2.78 hours late.

Much of this is my fault for buying the car from a guy I knew in advance to be worthless and for beleiving that they would have everything ready, even though I suspected that they would not.

Anyway I still love the car in spite of purchasing experience.

I don't know why but for some reason I expected Honda to be better than the domestic sales people. High expectations are the recipe for disappointment.

Once a GM salesman told me that the foil covered pad under the hood of a Cavalier was a "Thermo-nuclear pad"! LOL

Were it me in your shoes, regarding the poor salesperson:

I would write a letter to the General Manager of the dealership giving specific examples of the poor training of that salesperson. It might help another future buyer get better info.

Update/Correction.

Still driving/loving the Honda in spite of the saleman. The dealership local has changed names and perhap owners. I got the oil changed and the software update done. The service department was very good.

I read the owner's manual and it turns out that "S" is for "Second".

From the owner's manual:

Second (S)-Selecting Second shifts the transmission into a lower range of ratios for better acceleration and increased engine braking. Use Second when you are going down a steep hill or in stop and go driving.

Low (L)-To shift to Low press the release button on the front of the shift lever. Use Low to get more power when climbing and for maximum engine braking...

"S" is for "Second". Look it up in the manual. Just like it has for decades