Honda Fit EV Lease Drops to $259 with Unlimited Miles

When we heard Fiat announce the $199 lease price for the all-electric 500e, we figured it would have a big effect on the electric vehicle market. After all, $200 a month for an EV makes a lot of sense for a lot of commuters. The next EV to get a price tag was the 2014 Chevy Spark EV, which ended up with most of the same numbers ($199/month, $999 down, 36 months, 12,000 annual mile limit) but you have to pay $0.25 a mile for each one over 12,000 a year. Now we have the latest reaction: the Honda Fit EV, and it stacks up well. Finally.

The all-electric Honda Fit originally had a three-year lease for $389 a month with $389 due up front, and was limited to 12,000 miles a year. Today, that number drops way down with the announcement that the new cost is just $259 with no down payment. That's more per month than the competition's $199, you might be saying, but the Fit EV comes with a free Leviton 240-volt charger (you still have to pay for installation) and unlimited mileage. Also, $259 a month gets you scheduled maintenance and collision coverage with your Fit EV, too. Honda's Jessica Fini told AutoblogGreen, "All these new additions effectively make the Fit EV one of the most affordable EVs on the market," and it's hard to argue against that. You can see the math yourself here.

If you already have a Fit EV and have been paying $389 a month, you'll be happy to know the new lease payment will apply to current customers going forward. The Fit EV is rated at 118 MPGe and has an 82-mile range. You can read our review of the car here. Honda will be increasing the number of Fit EV dealers in the states where the car is available – California, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island and Connecticut – from 36 to more than 200 by the end of June. This is a good sign that the company may one day stop treating the Fit EV like a California compliance car, but for now we still have 42 states to go.

Source: Honda & Autoblog
By: Sebastian Blanco

Honda Ready to Rock at Top Music Festivals

Don't forget to check out the awesome music lineups at Sasquatch, New York City's Governor's Ball, and Austin City Limits this summer. Enter for your chance to win VIP tickets and a 2013 Honda Civic!

If you happen to miss this summer’s Honda Civic Tour—headlined by Maroon 5—you can still connect with the automaker during the 2013 concert season thanks to an encore effort from the brand that once again stars the Civic. Continuing its long-time support for new music, the Civic will sponsor three more of the country’s top music festivals during 2013:

• Sasquatch! in Quincy, Washington, where the Honda Stage will feature Vampire Weekend and Primus 3D from May 24-27
• New York City’s Governors Ball, slated for June 7-9, with Pretty Lights, The Lumineers, NAS and The Avett Brothers all taking the Honda Stage
• Austin City Limits, which runs October 4-6 and 11-13 and will showcase Depeche Mode, the Cure, Kings of Leon, Atoms for Peace and many more

Honda will also provide an opportunity for some lucky fan to win VIP concert passes and a brand-new 2013 Civic sedan. Simply visit the Honda Civic HondaStage Sweeps Facebook page for details, or check in with your local dealer for the latest news on the Civic.
“Here at Honda we are just as passionate about music as our owners and being a part of these festivals allows us to connect with them in an authentic way,” said Mike Accavitti, senior vice president of Auto Operations for American Honda. “Honda has been a mainstay at the biggest summer festivals for more than five years and once again, attendees can expect that the Honda Stage will host the best and brightest bands in the country.”

For more information about the Civic Tour 2013, visit http://CivicTour.Honda.com.

Source:hondainthenews.com

Lanwewatch

A review from lfrom Leftlane:

Since the Accord's LCD screen is mounted high on the dashboard, it allows drivers to quickly – and safely – give it a glance while on the go. A large obstruction like a vehicle should be immediately visible.

Although the picture quality is hardly high definition, it does give a clear enough view of the car's blind spot regardless of sunlight conditions. At night, we found LaneWatch arguably more effective since a vehicle's lights were very easy to see.

Over the course of a week in our Accord test vehicle, we quickly got used to glancing at the LCD screen before attempting to move into another lane.

We didn't like having the screen up at all times, although we contend that there might be some high traffic situations where being able to constantly view a car behind you is desirable.

On the downside, LaneWatch takes up the entire LCD screen, so any audio or navigation functions that were displayed there disappear while the camera is active. This is hardly a convenience for drivers, but passengers flipping through radio stations or programming an entry into the navigation system were often mildly irritated by the changing screen.

Also, LaneWatch doesn't audibly alert drivers if they start to move into an occupied lane the way some blind spot monitors do.

Leftlane's bottom line
Is LaneWatch a replacement for a blind spot monitor? Not quite, but it's an interesting effort that will probably impress buyers in the showroom.

Although we're still bigger fans of defensive driving – which includes properly adjusting outside mirrors - we've grown used to the prevalence of blind spot monitors in new vehicles. As a result, we're used to having sensors on either side of the vehicle alert us of an occupied lane. Since LaneWatch only keeps track of the passenger side, its usefulness is comparatively limited.

That said, Honda has so far been aggressive about including LaneWatch at a price point where most competitors don't offer a blind spot monitor. Given the value equation, LaneWatch strikes us as a solid effort.

Honda Accord Named Among Best Used Coupes

Apparently, May is the month to pile on love for the used Honda Accord, which we already mentioned once a few weeks ago as being among Kiplinger’s best used car values. Now, however, The Car Connection is taking its turn by naming the used two-door Honda Accord among the best used coupes in the industry.

Memorial Day Super Sale

The time is finally here to get your lowest prices of the year at Pacific Honda! For four days only you can find the Honda that is just right for you. Once you see the prices at Pacific Honda, you won't want to shop anywhere else!

Visit us online at www.pacifichonda.com

Memorial Day Weekend Safety Tips

Before you go anywhere this weekend, visit your friends at Pacific Honda to make sure you are up to date and safe to be on the road. Here are a few pointers we found to help!

It’s getting warm outside. Students are getting out of school for the year. On top of all of that, Memorial Day is less than a week away, and you’re bound to be hitting the highway for a getaway.
Unless you’re renting a car, chances are you’ll need to make sure your old jalopy is roadworthy, so the Car Care Council has thoughtfully put together a few tips to get you on your way:

• Schedule a tuneup.
• Check your brakes and your battery to make sure it’s corrosion-free.
• Check fluids in your car, including engine oil, washer fluid, coolant, power steering fluid, and brake and transmission fluid. Checking your air filter and oil filter are probably good ideas, too.
• Check belts and hoses to make sure they’re not cracked or worn.
• Check your tires to make sure they’re not over-worn or over or under-inflated.
• Lastly, make sure your gas cap is tight, not broken, and does its job.

Of course, if you’ve done all of these recently, you’re in the clear. To add to that, from personal experience, having a good auto club membership that may be able to tow you to a shop or change a tire is always helpful. "Being the awesome guy I am, I once found that my old lug nut wrench wasn’t doing anything but stripping the nuts when I was attempting to change a tire on my old car. Rather than make sure I couldn’t get the tire off at all, I called AAA before I did too much damage. Its trucks almost always have air-powered wrenches that can do the trick."
So putting away your pride is also a good way to do it. And if your car leaks a little, as so many old cars do, carry a bottle of whatever you may need, whether coolant or oil, and be handy with it. The best thing you can do is know what your car does and be able to proactively tend to it.
After that, happy trails, good luck, and safe travels!

Written By: Jacob Brown
Source: Car Care Council

2013 Honda Odyssey Named Among Most Tech-Friendly Vehicles

It used to be that when a family piled into a van for a long trip to, say, the Grand Canyon, Mom and Dad had to come up with a million different ways for the kids to stay busy during the eight-hour drive. How many of us sat in the back of a minivan as children playing “I Spy” for hours on end thinking to ourselves, “Man, I wish they would figure out a way to put televisions in cars.”

Well, we’ve come a long way from those days. TVs have been in minivans for a really long time, but the 2013 Honda Odyssey has taken that in-vehicle entertainment to a whole new level. In fact, the new technology in the Odyssey is so advanced that it was named to Edmunds’ list of Top 10 Tech-Friendly Cars.