Hey Scotty, I'm a big fan! I have a 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid quickly approaching 50k miles. Other than oil every 5k miles, brake fluid, tire rotations, etc. what other maintenance should I be looking at? I ask because I know Honda's hybrid systems are different than everyone else’s hybrids namely because they don’t have a transmission. I want this car to last me until I buy a car after college (9 years) so I’m trying to prevent any problems that are common with Honda hybrids. Thanks!
Well what do you mean "last forever". Anything can last forever if you can keep throwing money at it, and yet nothing lasts forever. Everyone has a point where they go "I've had enough. I don't want this any more". Your battery health is going to gradually decline, and eventually after 10 years or something it won't be usable. At that point are you going to say "yes I want to pay $6,000" or whatever it will be (possibly more than the car's value) to keep it going?
No! These are some of the WORST built cars out there - their batteries are absolute crap.
https://www.clarityforum.com/threads/loss-of-battery-capacity-over-time.1345/
https://www.clarityforum.com/threads/range-dropped-to-36-miles.1861/
and you can find a lot more of these batteries loosing capacity at only a few years of age,
There's a reason for why these got discontinued after only 4 years.
I want this car to last me until I buy a car after college (9 years)
You want a hybrid to last 13 years? highly unlikely. Batteries average about 7-8 years.
different than everyone else’s hybrids namely because they don’t have a transmission
It's not different than Nissan's hybrid system, it has a generator and a drive motor.
problems that are common with Honda hybrids
Batteries wear out,
Powertrain control modules go out,
Software issues (super common),
Water pumps had some quality issues.
This is a relatively new Honda hybrid system, so no one really knows how long it will last. Toyota’s system has been around for 20 years. This is Honda’s third attempt at a hybrid, and this one significantly different than it’s predecessors. The predecessors weren’t bad. Just not as popular.
Me thinks they hit the nail on the head with the latest version, because it is basically an EV that runs on gas.
Follow the owners manual at the very least when it comes to maintenance. Or you can do better than the manual (example, if it says 10K oil changes, so it at 5K).
In terms of long term maintenance, the only thing that may be out of the ordinary is the clutch that engages the engine and the wheels at higher speeds.
Clutches on manual transmission car eventually wear out. So my guess is that the clutch will need to be replaced at a higher mileage. That is just a guess though.
