Honda CR-Z Hybrid

Well, I plan to buy a new car this year and the Honda CR-Z is at the top of my list. However, I have a small problem with Honda Malaysia in that, there doesn’t seem to be any unit that I can take for a test drive.

I’ve been to several showrooms in KL.

The first one I visited told me that they did not even have a show-room unit and they sold every single CR-Z that they receive. However, they did drive me up to their store house to take a look at one that was in storage. But that one had dead batteries and I couldn’t play around with anything in it – couldn’t even open up the boot.

The second one I visited told me that they did not have any, even in stock. When I asked how someone could buy a car based on a brochure, the sales person just smiled at me. Fail.

The third showroom that I visited had one in the showroom, which I was allowed to scrutinise in detail. A few things caught my attention – the CR-Z has no spare wheel; and the rear-view mirror has a limited cone of vision.

In place of the spare wheel, the car comes with a sealant and pump kit. So, in the event of a puncture, one would pour in the liquid sealant and re-inflate the tyre. However, if the tyre bursts, one would need to call for a tow.

As for the rear-view mirror, it’s a design issue. The rear-end of the car is just really small. So, one would need to depend on the side-mirrors during normal driving and to depend on the electronics when reversing etc. The car does come with an optional rear-view camera upgrade.

In essence, I’m sold on the car. But I only plan to get it after the budget speech in October. The CR-Z enjoys certain tax benefits at present, which are supposed to end this year. I’d like to see if the government extends it or otherwise.

However, I would really like to test drive one before I buy the car. Preferably one with manual transmission. I was told that there wasn’t a very long wait list for the car, between a fort-night to a month.

I hope to own one either by year-end or thereabouts.