The comfort of the car is quite good for long drives. In February I went from Kingman, AZ to home in San Antonio, TX in one day--about 20 hours. I did raise the front of both seats by about 1 1/2 inch for increased comfort--fairly simple. we were geting good mileage until summer heat set in--the mileage dropped from the high 40's to high 30's. However, we do keep the AC on 70 for comfort. Of course any car will give you a similar mileage drop under the same circumstances.

 

Comfort-

Pretty good- but less comfortable than the Volvo s70 I used to drive.


vs Prius-

test drove both. HCH 2 is more of a drivers car. Prius may be better for a family, especially since its rear seat can fold down. Comment- without airbags, Prius crash safety test shows mediocre results, while structurally, the HCH 2 stays at 4-5 stars. Both do well with airbags.


Stop and go traffic will hurt your mileage result.

 

"I did raise the front of both seats by about 1 1/2 inch for increased comfort--fairly simple."

Per K, how did you do that? I'd like to do the same thing.

 

Fairly simple: I bought a 3-foot length of 1/4x 1" steel stock at Home Depot. I cut off two pieces (for each seat) about 2 1/2 inches, drilled two 3/8" holes 1 1/2 inch apart in each, and rounded the edges for safe handling. I removed the front seat bolts, fastened each piece of steel with the seat bolt, and used another bolt to fasten the seat to the top hole in the steel piece. Same for the second seat bolt.
Really increased seat comfort. I had to do the same to my 1996 Maxima.

 

Welcome.

I wouldn't worry about the battery. I've not heard any stories of generation 2 HCH batteries going dead or needing replacement and there are several on this forum with mileage well north of 70k.

The car is comfortable if you don't mind noise. The tires are low rolling resistance so you will hear the road if its not even, concrete, etc. You will also feel bumps. I don't consider this a big deal but some might if they are used to luxury cars. I used to commute an hour each way and it was comfortable for me.

For highway driving this is where the HCH2 really shines so long as its not stop & go. Real world mileage does depend how you drive it: mine is generally around 43-44 with mostly highway driving, which is a nice improvement from the conventional civic.

 

for 7 years i had a daily commute of almost 100 miles a day with my 05 HCH. it's now got almost 80,000 miles on it, and i have yet to have any trouble with it. i think it's comfortable, and i am tall. this is my 4th honda, and i have always been impressed with their durability and dependability. i don't think it will be a mistake, even if you do eventually move closer to work. that's not always an option or desirable. i ended up doing that, due to a major life change, however, even though i am only 15 miles from work now, i can still get above 60MPG on my drive, which now included several stop signs and a stoplight or 2, which i didn't have before.

good luck. if you can find one now, i would suggest getting it. they are going to get harder to come by as gas prices keep going up.

 

It looks like I might be able to finalize the deal tomorrow.

Thanks for all you input.

Car is alabaster silver. Prob my 4th choice for color but can't be too picky at this point.

 

Cool! The silver wouldn't have been my first choice either, but I really like the blue interior (which I see while I'm driving, as opposed to the silver outside which I hardly notice).

 

Just drove it home. So far so good. On my 12 mile ride home managed to get 49 mpg with mixed driving (per read out). I like the blue/gray interior more than I thought I would.

Will scotch guard the seats and rugs tomorrow as I have a 2 and 5 year old.

...And managed to get it for 21,500 inc dest. TTL were extra.

Now to get my 6-7 year 120k warranty online.