Prospective Buyeri

[Bunk]

Went today to test drive a Honda CRZ EX. Liked the car a lot. Found this forum tonight to see what REAL owners think of their vehicle.

[CR-Z Canadian]

Well hello and welcome.
Lots to see here - Over a year's worth of experiences to sample on this forum.
If there's anything You cannot find (hint, try the SEARCH function), just ask.
We're here to help.
Meanwhile, what were YOUR impressions?
Hope you stick around and tell us how you decide.

[jester33]

Yeah bunk let us know what you think and any questions you have I for one and I'm sure all the guys would be happy to answer any questions you have. I will rant for awhile so a few specific questions might help

[cyeung]

I love my CR-Z, but I did not buy it without knowing that my probability of taking more than one passenger is slim to nil. The back cargo bay is very good for carrying stuff. I have managed to fit my road bicycle (with the front tire off) and helped people move with my car.

But yeah, please share with us what you got out of the test drive and feel free to ask us questions! Hopefully, you drove it in all three modes. Sport mode makes it feel like a go-kart; Econ mode is for when you are feeling mellow.

[Bunk]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Glancing thru the Forum I didnt notice any serious complaints, which is encouraging. My wife & I both drove & liked the vehicle. The dealer issue about not negotiating price was one of our topics of discussion. Another was not being able to have passengers, but we rarely do , & would solve it some other way by taking 1 of our other vehicles. The same solution for hauling any large objects. We live in a heavily deer populated area & are concerned about the size of the car & a possible collision . I have only hit 1 so far in 11 yrs. We also discussed driving in heavy snowfall due to our location also. but FWD is better than RWD in my opinion. There are some things in the EX package that we like & some we wouldnt use , so we wish we could pick & choose what we wanted & didnt want but thats not possible for the most part with a few exceptions such as Navigation.( I already have a portable mount) And last but not least is the availability of the cars & the distance to dealers for us. We have 3 dealers scattered about , & all are about 75 miles away. If we had a serious breakdown that would be a concern. I guess we just have to discuss it over our other comparisons such as the Chevy Sonic & others. So if any of you have any comments or advice we would be grateful to hear it. Thanks very much .

[CRZCT]

FWIW Consumer reports listed the CRZ along with Lexus hybrid as the 2 most reliable cars of 2011 . One reason I bought the car was I needed absolute reliability .

[Gumbercules]

I love my CR-Z, but I knew what it was going into it. Here are the things I like about it.

It's fun to drive.
The batteries give a nice kick when accelerating from slow speeds.
I get much more mpg than EPA rating (40mpg combined so far, check my sig).
The gauge cluster is awesome, intuitive, and easy to use, it has completely changed how I drive.
I don't need rear seats and I live my fiancée and it's our only car.
Reliability has been good so far.
It is underpowered but I don't need or care abt top speed or racing anyone.
Sport mode = Go Kart!!

I always tell ppl to look at what a product DOES FOR YOU not what it's specs are, and you seem to be that way too. If you compare to a mini, it's more expensive but it's a handling beast and has more oomph and more seats.

The CR-Z is not for you if:
You need more than 2 seats (I rent a car when parents in town)
You like to drag race
I can't think of anything else when comparing to competition

[Gumbercules]

Also motortrend just released a comparison on their site and rank the CR-Z well, second only to Mini.

[CRZCT]

I like the Sonic but they are using low wage workers to build it ..they just had a recall for forgetting to install brake pads lol . No matter what car you decide on , it might be a good idea to let the bugs get worked out of the Sonic assembly line .

[gozoner]

On average real-world MPG is better than the EPA numbers Fuelly (see 2011, 2012 has too few drivers)