As a 25-year veteran of the wholesale automotive industry, I can assure you that these burning odors are quite normal on new vehicles. The oils and coatings usually burn off within 1,000 miles. Nothing to worry about.

You mean there are ads on this web site? With my popup and ad blockers I've never seen one. Ignorance is bliss.

2006 HCH Alabaster Silver w/Navi
2003 Honda Accord LX

After we test drove the car we ultimately bought yesterday, I smelled the same thing.

It actually smells like Brakes more than anything else. That could be from the regenerative braking system breaking in. (Nice homonym use in that last statement!)

Otherwise it would make sense that the various metal in the car is losing its from-fractory coatings (Exhaust, Brakes, Cat Conv., etc.).

My 2 cents...

The physical brakes are not used at all to capture kinetic energy, Honda's IMA regenerative breaking system uses the electric motor in generator mode (http://world.honda.com/HDTV/IMA/200110/).

My HCH-II has just turned 3000 miles and I smell a kerosene type odor now and then too, I attribute it to exhaust and catalytic equipment break-in.

I don't think it's anything to be concerned about...

Be part of the solution, not part of the problem!

I was not aware of that fact. So on deceleration, the IMA grabs the juice from the electric motor-pretty cool-and a heck of a lot easier to service!

Thanks,

Michael

Just picked ours up and got the smell too. Smells like the metal is all breaking in and coatings are burning off, as others have written