Comments on: Honda CR-Z Delivers MPG and a Dose of Fun

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:31:26 +0000

I myself love my cr-z best investment I ever made!!! I used to drive a Mazda rx-8 total waste of gas and money!! I am a commuter for my job as well as college. This has saved me tons of money and will pay for itself within 5 years of what I was spending in gas to drive to and from work. It cost about 33.00 to fill up now with gas prices here being 3.65 las time a checked! I would recommend this to everyone!!

By: AP

AP — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:20:00 +0000

Thanks Larry, great review. A lot of critics put down the CRZ, but it delivers peppy performance and MPG to boot, and even if you flog the gas pedal, you’ll get mileage somewhere in the 30s, which is pretty comparable to other small cars that don’t have the fun driving component.
Top Gear loved this car–they drove it in the twisty, steep streets of SF:
http://www.history.com/shows/top-gear/episodes/#slide-3

By: Corky Calhoun

Corky Calhoun — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:14:48 +0000

You are right Michael R. An oil change in a M-Class and X-5 costs $155 dollars a piece…X 4 per year…Tune ups and maintenance in both are about $1,400 a year a piece. The loans on both were $499 and $425 respectively. …Now…a car is not that important to want to spend that kind of money on….It’s actually real stupid…I can’t believe I have been throwing away money… Here’s the break down.

My SUV costs…
Gas……………. $750 a month or ……………..$9000 a year.
Oil changes….. $310 a quarter or………………$1240 a year.
Maintenance….$2,800.year………………………$2,800 a year.

Total SUV costs a Year……………………………$13,040 a year.

My Compact costs
Gas……………..$180 a month or………………..$2160 a year
Oil Changes……$75 a quarter or ………………..$300 a year
Maintenance…..$300 a year………………………$300 a year

Total Compact costs a Year……………………….$2,760 a year

THAT’S A TOTAL SAVINGS OF ………………….$10,280 A YEAR!!!!!!!

That’s insane…That’s net $10,280 in savings…It’s like giving yourself a $16,000 raise….

With gas prices probably in the $3.50 + range for the foreseeable futuire…those costs add up and would look a heck of a lot better in a investment portfolio or even as conservative as paying down a mortgage…But paying that kind of money on a piece of property that declines in value every year is completely irresponsible..

By: Michael R

Michael R — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:34:55 +0000

Corky wrote: "$570 every single month is a lot of money in this economy..."

And you only count the fuel costs. Add to this the price difference between your old BMW and Mercedes and Prius and Hyundai and you will see the real savings!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:54:15 +0000

I’ll be waiting to drop in the battery from the new Civic and hopefully a more powerfull motor.

By: Corky Calhoun

Corky Calhoun — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:51 +0000

As gas prices continue to rise beyond reason, cars like these WILL become a necessity. I can’t sell my SUV…believe me I have tried…My daughters small Hyundai is now my car…I gave the SUV to her because she just drives it to school and back…or about 10 miles per week….I drive over 400 miles a week. I have cut my fuel bill by over $300 dollars per month…That stupid BMW only takes premium and cost me nearly $100 to fill up. I now fill that car up once every 5 weeks. The Hyundai costs me $25 a week or $100 a month…

That’s just me…I was lucky enough to sell my wifes M-Class Mercedes two years ago and she wanted a Prius…Her fuel bills went from $350 a month to 80 a month…Therefore, we both have saved over $570 a month….

$570 every single month is a lot of money in this economy…Even to those of you out there that think that Global Warming is a hoax…I can assure you that saving $570 a month is not…Buying economy is the best thing I have ever done…I cringe when I think of all of the money I have wasted on big clunky cars over the years.

By: tom

tom — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:46:18 +0000

Larry,
Interesting read, two tidbits for thought. I had a 1984 Pontiac Fiero 2.5L with the 4spd and it had a shift light and if I used it, I was able to hit 32 mpg.
Also, the 1960 - 1969 Chevrolet Corvair (I have a '65) has recorded as high as 33 mpg. Mine is wore out so I fair about 20mpg around town and 28mpg on the highway.

tom

By: Dom

Dom — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:22:01 +0000

I've said it before, I wish I had some throw away money, I would love to buy this thing. My primary complaint with hybrids models available (in the US at least) is the lack of a manual transmission option (and why I ended up buying a diesel). Thank you Honda!

I've wondered about the EPA ratings giving the higher numbers to the CVT though... the old Civic and Insights always had the manual transmission models rated significantly higher than the CVT model. Interesting...

Thanks for the review!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:23:57 +0000

Thank you, Larry