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2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Is a Disaster Movie, CR Says

If you want your car to save you money, you buy a hybrid, right? Well no, not necessarily. Many midsize hybrid sedans are available in America right now and while on paper they're better than the regular gasoline burners they're based on, the reality is quite different.
Honda Accord Hybrid 1 photo
Photo: Consumer Reports
Just take the Accord model range, for example. A 2014 Accord Hybrid will cost you $29,155 and gets 50 mpg. Cool, right? Except a regular model stickers for $21,680 and gets a very reasonable 36 mpg highway. With the difference in price between the two, you could buy about 2,000 gallons of gas, enough to last you 70,000 miles of highway driving. That's basically free driving. Only after that will the hybrid be allowed to claw back some savings.

Consumer reports tested tested the Accord Hybrid recently and found a number of other flaws. Because it's tuned to be efficient, the ride isn't as nice and the automatic is not a regular six-speed. As a result, the petrol engine sometimes revs harshly despite you driving quite slowly. The suspension feels jumpy, probably due to the tires Honda has fitted to the car. That's not what you'd expect from a Japanese sedan that's bordering Mercedes and BMW money.

The battery is placed in the boot and eats up some of the space. Honda has also seen fit to fix the rear seats in place, so you can't get larger items like skis with you. You might be saving the environment, but you're not allowed to enjoy it, it seems.

In case you're still considering putting up with the Accord Hybrid's flaws, we'll remind you the car combines a 124 kW electric motor with a 2-liter Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder engine. Base models all come with LaneWatch blind spot detection, a rear view camera, LED daytime running lights, an Expanded View Driver's Mirror, Bluetooth HandsFreeLink, USB/iPod integration, Pandora compatibility, SMS text message function, dual-zone automatic climate control, alloy wheels, a driver's seat with 10-way power adjustment, and a 160-watt AM/FM/CD audio system.

If you also want leather trim and heated seats, the $31,905 EX-L model is what you're after. This also comes standard with passenger power seat adjustment, driver seat memory and a moonroof.

The Accord itself is a great car. It's overtaken all the Toyotas to become the best selling retail car in California and right up there with the leaders in overall US sales. But why would you want to pay extra to get the worst version of the best car in its class?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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