This all started 3 years ago. I had an Igloo Max Cold cooler and 3 large Cooler Shock ice packs for transporting ice cream around town. On a trip to Palm Springs I found it took about an hour for ice cream to get soft in the summer heat. I dreamt of bringing home ice cream from Fosselman’s in Los Angeles but I didn’t think my current setup would keep the ice cream frozen.
On Black Friday I saw a great deal for Igloo’s more affordable version of a roto moulded Yeti cooler. It would hold 50 quarts which I thought would hold 7-8 half gallons of ice cream. I was excited the day the Igloo showed up on my doorstep and immediately went to put it in the trunk of my 2006 Civic Hybrid. Then I was horror struck as I couldn’t fit the Igloo Yukon in my trunk. I tried tipping it sideways. No luck. After much thought I decided to start saving up for a vehicle with a larger trunk. Over the next 3 years I test drove a bunch of vehicles and measured many trunks.
Being constrained by a small one car garage I had to find a vehicle no more than 72″ wide as my Civic was 69″ wide and barely fit. I narrowed down my choices to the Honda HR-V and the BMW-X1. The X1 had a much better engine and transmission but it would cost me $12k more and need premium unleaded gas. I decided I’d test drive the newly upgraded 2019 HR-V and make a decision.
Honda of El Cajon was the first to contact me about the 2019 HR-V Sport I was interested in. I was impressed by how sparkling clean this place was and how nice the employees were. I met with David Gunn the Internet Sales Manager who took us for a test drive and showed us all the features. Afterwards he asked if we were interested. I was impressed by David’s knowledge about the car and his friendly no pressure sales approach. The HR-V was quite tempting as it only had 10 miles on it and I was the only customer to every drive it. I was a bit worried they were going to try price gouging me as it was the first 2019 HR-V Sport in town. That didn’t happen. Instead David offered us the car at the factory invoice price and bought us Honda shirts. I have a weakness for t-shirts so the combination of a free shirts, fair price, and low pressure sales technique made for the best car buying experience I’ve had.
David bought us Honda shirts to go with our 2019 HR-V Sport!
In comparison to my old 2006 Civic Hybrid I’ve found the 2019 HR-V to be roomier and the seats more supportive and comfortable, the better suspension smooths out bumpy roads, and I like the higher seating position so I don’t have to plop down into the seat. Acceleration is noticeably better around town. At highway speed there isn’t much acceleration for passing in either car. The acceleration is better on grades as the Civic Hybrid battery would use up it’s charge and the under powered gas engine would whine loudly trying to maintain speed.
Higher ground clearance is noticeable now as I’m no longer bottoming out in poorly designed parking lot exits. Cabin seems cooler with a slightly more powerful AC. I added thermally efficient Photosync window tint in the windshield and windows which also keeps the cabin cooler. The electronics have improved too.
LED daytime running lights are as bright as my old headlights.
Apple Carplay makes it much easier to pick music and the Apple Maps are constantly updated so you don’t need to buy a navigation DVD to update your maps. For 2019 they added sound proofing and active noise reduction to the Sport and higher HR-V trims and it’s noticeably quieter than my Civic. I had stopped listening to music on the freeway as you had to blast the music to hear it over the road noise. Now the road noise isn’t bad and I can listen to music at voice level.
I noticed FM reception is much better as there are many more FM stations I can pick up including K-Earth 101.1 from Los Angeles!
The downsides are the side door storage is not as spacious. Side door cupholder will only hold a 375ml bottle of Voss or smaller. Not much will fit in the space next to the side door cupholder. Gas mileage is not as good hovering around 29mpg overall. Wish they had the more powerful 1.5L turbo from the current Civic as an optional engine.
Visibility out the back window is not as good. The back window isn’t that big and the head rests in the back seats partially obstructs the back window.
I am planning a trip to visit ice cream shops in San Francisco. Looking forward to filling up my Igloo Yukon cooler with 8 half gallons of San Francisco ice cream from Mitchell’s and Bi-Rite Creamery.
889 Arnele Ave
El Cajon, CA 92020 (619) 202-8403
El Cajon, CA 92020 (619) 202-8403
Just love my new Honda t-shirt courtesy of our salesman David! Great job including so many important details! Each time I drive it I discover more features that improve the overall experience. It hugs the corners very well and the drivers seat supports your entire back. Plus I do benefit from a higher sitting vehicle. Great car and wonderful salesman!
That’s good you love the HR-V too!