What little training I’ve had in statistics has led me to think of most problems as either numerator problems or denominator problems. When it comes to the lack of affordability in new cars, it’s usually a numerator problem. Honda plans to fight this by improving the odds you’ll be able to find an affordable car.
There are a lot of announcements from the company today, including that Acura will finally get a hybrid, and it’s the one you’d expect. Tesla’s FSD system gets frequent airplay in The Morning Dump, but today’s news isn’t about it not working.
David is driving the cool Kia K4 Hatch today, but there’s another Kia that I now want.
Honda Is America’s New Best Trimflation Fighter
If you haven’t heard me complain about trimflation before, the concept is fairly simple: automakers, when pressed, will offer lower-cost trims while not actually building that many. It’s fine to say your starting price for your mid-size crossover is $34,000, but if you only build one of those for every 300 higher-trim models, it doesn’t really matter.
This is the numerator/denominator problem. The average new car transaction price will continue to increase so long as there are too few low-trim models available to buy.
Honda is a company that makes a lot of cars in the United States and, therefore, is able to flex its production might in the face of tariffs. The company just announced it’s going to use that might to fight trimflation:
American Honda is maintaining a flexible and balanced strategy to stay competitive and adapt to evolving market conditions. In 2026, to meet customer needs for affordability, the company will increase production of more value-oriented trims of core Honda models (CR-V, Civic, Accord) and gateway Acura models (ADX and Integra).
“With average new car prices hitting record highs across the industry, cost is a growing concern, and we want the Honda and Acura brands to continue to be recognized for delivering incredible value to our customers,” said Woelfer.
This is a win for consumers. While plenty of automakers have stated that lower-trim models are coming, this is the first time I can remember seeing one specifically state that it’s going to build more of them. As you can see in the graphic above, the MSRP difference for a Civic Sport Hybrid and a Sport Touring Hybrid is $3,000, or a full 10% increase.
As someone who happily drives a CR-V Sport, I can tell you that there’s not much I’m missing on my “base” trim Honda hybrid. There are most of the features I want, other than the heated steering wheel. I kind of miss the heated steering wheel.
The Acura RDX Is Getting A Hybrid, Eventually
One of the more head-scratching decisions from Honda was that the company didn’t more aggressively pursue hybrids for its vehicles. The Acura RDX is made in East Liberty, Ohio, where its cousin, the Honda CR-V, is also built. The CR-V, as noted above, is available as a hybrid.
Instead, Acura is going to get the RSX electric crossover first. That logic of it makes sense when looking back on predictions about electrification, but I’m sure many Acura dealers would rather have a hybrid.
To wit, Acura just announced it’ll build a new RDX with the hybrid system. Eventually.
“For nearly two decades, RDX has been one of the most popular Acura models, so it’s fitting that the upcoming fourth-generation RDX will be the first Acura to feature our two-motor hybrid-electric system,” said Mike Langel, assistant vice president of Acura National Sales. “The RDX hybrid is expected to arrive at dealerships within the next couple of years, and we’re thrilled to share this news as Acura celebrates its 40th anniversary—making this milestone even more special.”
Is that next year? Or is this a Scranton “couple of two-three years” situation wherein the quantity can be anywhere between 1 and 27?
Tesla To Make FSD Monthly Only
If you want Tesla’s “Full-Self Driving” (FSD) system, which is not actually full-self-driving, then it would cost you $8,000 once, or $99 per month forever. If you plan to use the system for about seven years, then it’s cheaper to do the one-time payment.
Perhaps seeing that the one-shot isn’t popular, Tesla announced it’ll be ending the one-time payment option as of February 14th. Or, according to Bloomberg, maybe there’s another reason:
Although Musk didn’t offer any rationale for the switch, his compensation is partly dependent on growing the business. Reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions is among the targets Tesla must hit for the CEO to earn additional shares under the pay package shareholders approved in November. Achieving a series of market capitalization and operational milestones could net him around $1 trillion worth of stock.
I still think monthly is the smarter play for most people.
Ohhhhhhh Kia K4 Sportswagon
President Trump went to a Ford plant yesterday, said he didn’t think Americans wanted to buy anything from Canada, a worker called him something he didn’t like, and then the President flicked him off. Is this worth touching? Not really! People are allowed to criticize elected officials, and people raised in New York will find any excuse to make that gesture.
So let’s talk about something more interesting: Station wagons!
Kia is about to start selling the hatchback version of its affordable and stylish K4 here in the United States. In fact, David is going to drive it today and report back when the embargo is up, whenever that is.
What we are unlikely to get is the handsome wagon version that debuted yesterday. Here’s the wagon:
Here’s the K4 Hatch:
I prefer the Sportswagon, but they both look great, and I’m not going to feel terrible about not getting it.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Here’s a surprise drum session from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. They’re drumming along to “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters. Diplomacy can be the carrot or the stick. OR, it can be the drumstick.
The Big Question
What’s the best lower trim new model for sale right now?
Top photo: Honda
I don’t know Honda, I still see passenger side mirrors and painted bumper covers, there’s still fat to trim off
I’m fine with crank-up windows if it knocks enough off the price.
At this point, it’s cheaper to build cars with one configuration than fabricating and stocking parts for manual windows, different door cards, etc.
Some of us olds remember when cars did not come with passenger side mirrors or were a part of a fancy option package.
My dad mentioned that he paid extra for a dealer installed passenger mirror on his 1987 Honda Accord hatch.
That was also his favourite cars of the ones he owned.
Don’t forget the standard A/C.
Back in the days of optional passenger side mirrors and unpainted bumpers, A/C often wasn’t available in the base trim either.
And a/c was usually about the same upcharge as an automatic transmission, like $1200-$1700 in today’s money
I looked at the configurator, and my favorite part of this LX package is the 16″ steelies with wheel covers. That’s the gift that keeps on giving every time you fill up, buy new tires, or hit a pothole.
No more manual LX, sad.
As a former Blue Oval salaried employe it warms my heart to see both an hourly employee mouth off to the president but also see him flip them off. The number of times I wanted to do that to the hourly but couldn’t is staggering.
Also Matt, you can add the OEM Heated wheel to your CRV looks like they can be had for under $500
Hang on, now! $24.5k + destination is still fairly high for a base model commuter car. I believe Toyota, Nissan, Kia and Hyundai come in around 2k lower, before discounts. Unless Honda comes out with a sub-LX trim at 21k, they are not exactly champions of the people.
True true, but I bet TCO is actually lower with the Honda than with any Nissan/Kia/Hyundai after you take into account the resale value.
Yep. I’d pay the Honda tax in this scenario.
A) good on Honda. I think there’s a large (intentional) gap in the market and whoever blinks first is gonna do rather well once word spreads that lots are full of relatively nice new cars under 30K.
B) The one-time FSD fee is basically “prepaying” for almost a decade of use and giving Tesla a free loan of sorts. Given the average ownership length for cars, I don’t think many people will be worse off paying monthly. If they are, it’s going to be by maybe a grand or two. Not nothing, but a very small fraction of the overall cost of ownership for that same period of time. Anyone want to calculate how much a decade-worth of car insurance costs? I don’t.
Jeez Trump, get some knowledge. We’ve been driving Canadian cars for decades, and nobody but you thinks there is any difference.
His world view was calcified in 1978 or so. Oil is scarce. Imports are bad. Foreigners are stealing our wealth. Our industry cannot compete.
I could argue none of these are true in 2026.
Yes and there are a lot of other things that were culturally appropriate that are illegal and immoral now.
No more manual Civic below the Si, huh? A 150hp low-torque four cylinder with a droning CVT. How exciting. I keep hearing that Honda is the enthusiast’s choice but between this and the badly neutered Accord I’m not seeing it.
I will say that a $30,000 base Civic hybrid looks like a pretty good deal for what you are getting. Certainly better than the gutless wonder Corolla hybrid at nearly the same price.
I have owned 5 Civics of this generation now, two of them with the traditional CVT, and the one thing I would not ever call it is droning.
I’m used to geared automatics with crisp rpm drops between gears. The slurred fake shift points of this CVT when running the engine hard try to approximate real gear changes but it sounds droning to me. The Sentra does the same thing with the fake shift points, and they’re both kind of buzzy and slow when worked hard.
I think our varying definitions of “droning” is a minor point compared to the larger one of Honda eliminating the manual and therefore making this 2.0 both slow and dull. I mean, If a Honda cannot put clear air between it and a Jatco Nissan, it’s hard to get excited about it.
I’m genuinely interested in why you have owned 5 examples of the same generation of car. Tell me more about that!
The Honda CVT is somehow pretty decent.
LX? Pff, show me a DX. But seriously, I have the Sport Touring trim of the Civic HyHb. It’s a great car and I got it loaded because that’s what I wanted. That said, I could easily concoct a lower trim version of a Civic by simplifying and deleting some content. Would it sell or make money? That’s a different question.
The K4 hatch and wagon look alike in dimensions and most sheet metal, just replaced the hatch d pillar or sail panel with more glass. For that I prefer the wagon, so much safer for lane changes. Honda simplification of lines is good, only if they produce quantity to meet demand so that the dealers cannot gouge, and do not increase delivery charge.
Can I get the G70 in the Shooting Brake withe the AWD and Twin Turbo V6 stateside please. I mean while they are at the whole station wagon try with Kia.
Also, are we talking just Honda for the lower trim option that is best?
eh, I guess it is really person specifc with regard to what they consider best for them.
Cheapest: Nissan Versa S, though I would probably want one with a manual and I think those days are gone or numbered.
Budget friendly: Kia Soul, though I think the Venue replaced it and I am not sure how good those are. still the soul was pretty nicely optioned and was useful for it’s overall size. Again the old base model also could be had with a manual trans.
Reliable: Toyota Corolla LE, Known for reliability, despite a CVT, also standard advanced safety features in base trims, even if you don’t care about them.
Fun-to-Drive: Mazda Miata – Damn it, I hate to admit the Miata is a right answer here, but they are fun to drive and base models don’t seem to lack much that you want. I will say though, the BRZ/GR86 is probably very close here. The Subaru Head gasket thing is just the only real concern I would have.
Fancy – Lexus ES, though I would probably want a base 2.5T G70, especially if they had it in shooting brake form. ACK Integra base is nice too, but I am not sure it is considered fancy enough.
Accord EX Hybrid.
Do you mean the $34,000 Sport or the $35,000 EX-L?
I think the base Camry is a better deal. It’s $3,000 less. Add AWD and the heated seats and steering wheel and you’re at $34,000, and can select an interior color other than Coal Bin.
Is there not a cloth EX Hybrid, could have sworn there was. I know I was looking at the EX-L and the store was trying to steer me towards a Sport because “it looks cool, look at the wheels.” I was like I don’t want 19s. I want a better ride, less chance of curbing my rim, and cheaper tires when its time to replace them.
The Camry is a better deal, but I think the Accord drives better (always has).
That K4 Sportswagon would be perfect for my family (assuming it fits in our tiny garage). Too bad we’ll never see it, unless they toss on a bunch of black plastic and “Outback” it.
The K4 hatchback looks like a near-perfect option for my family. Are Kia engines still exploding and does it have gauges and buttons?
That’s been our exact experience with the Civic Sport hybrid. A fantastic car otherwise, but I swear a heated steering wheel is more welcome than the seats, since my hands are usually the coldest.
This sounds exactly like what they did as 2008 unfolded
Nice side step on what happened at Ford yesterday.
I see a real risk of upcoming plant investments sliding from US to Canada. Manufacturers like Toyota and Honda have sites on both sides of the line, and the instability and hostilities on the South side are only growing. It’s easy to redirect short term investments from site to site. Certain manufacturers shy away from risk pretty easily.
The thing with Honda’s hybrids is they are more midlevel trims, like an EX+ appearance package, not really base as far as the lineup.
The other thing with Honda’s vehicles is they are expensive relative to their segments. Not that Hondas have ever really been cheap, but an LX Civic is nearly $26k with destination, an LX CR-V almost $33k. That’s at least a couple grand more than a few competitors in each of their segments, and they’re also more sparsely equipped than some competing base models.
I’m sure the Trax will get mentioned. I’m going to say base Mazdas like the 3 and CX-30. They don’t look cheap, have most all of the safety suite included, have more pep standard. That does mean a little hit in rated fuel economy for the 3 vs. other small cars, but CX-30 still manages to be better in its segment even with standard AWD which for some is a selling point too.
Mercedes-AMG SL43
It has more than sufficient power to get in all kinds of trouble on public roads.
It does not have AWD, which is completely unnecessary for a sports roadster.
It costs over $30K less than the SL55, almost $100K less than the SL63 S E Performance, and exactly half as much as the Mercedes-Maybach version.
And you can get one for under MSRP these days.
I will go with a weird choice. The base model Jeep Wrangler can be seen as a deal for $37K you get a manual convertible with good headroom and a 4wd system that will beat nearly any overpriced crossover top “offroad” trim for much more money.
Except it’s a Jeep. I just had a rental one of these brand new 2025 I would rather ride a bike that drive that everyday. There is no where to put your phone or sunglasses up front. I can’t remember driving a vehicle that was so twitchy on the highway especially in any crosswind.
Or for $37k cheaper you can walk.
you can spend the $37k and still have to walk, because Stellantis
That’s only a deal if you plan to do a lot of offroading. The Wrangler is a terrible car for daily driving. Loud, twitchy, uncomfortable, poor fuel economy…
Since I do, as do my friends, I like Wranglers and have not problems with their road manners.
I truly love the Civic and CR-V models, I’d probably have one if it wasn’t for that pesky “zero depreciation for four years” that Honda somehow includes on all of them.
I appreciate what they’re doing, but I also feel their upper trims are worth the relatively modest upcharges for what you get — especially if you’re talking yourself down from something with a luxury badge on it. I’ve always been a fan of “higher trims from everyday brands” as opposed to base models of fancy stuff.
To start, the ~$2500 for the hybrid powertrain is a no-brainer. And then jumping from Sport to Touring ($3k) is a tossup…depends on how much you want leather, Bose, and a few other niceties. They’re still pretty far short of the Koreans on features, though, even though I trust Honda a lot more.
The best trim levels are SV for Nissan, XLE for Toyota, EX for Honda (Replaced with different levels of Sport now), LT for Chevy. They are consistent across their lineups with enough equipment and nothing else. Their lower levels are more rental spec.
This is true, one trim up from base usually brings a good amount of extra equipment beyond what the dollar amount for each of those features would probably be if they were standalone options.
I’m not a Jeep guy, and I wouldn’t buy anything from Stellantis anyway, but the base Wrangler “Sport” seems like it would give you most of what most people would want off-road, for about $35k, or 60% of what a Rubicon goes for.
I am really not sure why Acura doesn’t just have an Integra and/or ADX hybrid. The powertrain is literally right there and used in the Civic hybrid and CRV, so there shouldn’t be any issues with fitting it in either. I’m fairly certain it’s plug and play.
It would also be a unique and enticing option, because the only other entry level luxury car that’s a hybrid is the Lexus UX, and that thing is basically a coupe. They’d absolutely print money, but I guess they’d rather keep the hybrids Hondas and/or try to upsell luxury customers to the absolutely hideous upcoming RSX EV that no one wants?
I get that cars are absolutely focus grouped to death and that the “experts” somehow concluded luxury buyers would rather have an EV than a hybrid (almost certainly because ZOMG TESLA), but I don’t think that’s correct in practice, and none of the entry level German luxury cars are available as hybrids. In fact, they’re all pretty damn inefficient in the grand scheme of things.
This seems like a throw over home plate to me but I assume the bean counters have conclude line won’t go up nearly enough for it to be feasible. And that’s a shame…I’d buy a hybrid Integra or even ADX if they made one tomorrow, but instead those cars are saddled with a lackluster economy car engine with reliability issues.
It’ll happen eventually. RAV4 going hybrid-only is a bellwether of the times, and the new standard moving forward.
No hybrid HRV is the most glaring omission for Honda, IMO. You’d think the higher margins for the crossover body style would be perfect to cover the cost of the upgraded drivetrain, yet here we are.
Really, there is no excuse for all these compact ICE’s not to be hybrid, with electric as the flagship. I’m not sure why automakers got so complacent about this. “EV mandates” is no excuse, they knew full-well they were going to continue to sell ICEs for at least another decade, even under the most optimistic/aggressive EV adoption scenarios.
Right? I see fuel economy in the mid 20s at this point and am like “I don’t have to put up with that anymore”
Yeah it’s insane. I see the numbers for some of these compact and midsize crossovers, and it’s like, do these things come with a leaky tank from the factory? Where tf is all the gas going?
Our F150 averages mpg in the mid 20s.
I keep seeing the new Tiguan, and against my better judgment am like “hey that seems nice for the price”. Then I looked it up and it with AWD it gets 22 MPG in the city.
How? Why? A BASE RAV4 nearly doubles that and is as fast as the “turbo” Tiguan. Again…why would I put up with it?
I never considered a Prius until recently, but for about the same money as the HRV, you can have a vehicle that gets 57 MPG. Imagine getting essentially double the mileage out of a gallon of gas. There are other options too. Civic Hybrid and Camry are also right there on price and get 50 MPG. I get that the government isn’t applying emissions pressure anymore, but I’m with you, I’m not ready to put up with any MPG number starting with a 2 in the big ’26.
I think it’s largely a production and demand thing. The hybrid exists in the HR-V bodystyle globally but North American HR-Vs come from Mexico and I’m not sure they make hybrid anything there (yet).
I think Honda’s main focus has been putting the system in as many Accords and CR-Vs as they can since they’ve been targeting a mix of >50% hybrid on both. Probably a greater risk of existing owners of those 2 Hondas defecting to Toyota or elsewhere for electrification.
Yeah a Hybrid Integra seems like it would be an easy lift. As someone who liked the Civic Hybrid’s numbers, I’d be more likely to buy an Integra with that powertrain than the 1.5 and CVT.
Same. I don’t want to deal with a manual in DC every day but I also don’t want to deal with a CVT sapping every ounce of fun out of the car. The new Honda hybrids are the perfect compromise, but as lame as it is to admit I’d rather have something with more cache than a Civic at this point of my life/career.
I am glad I am not the only one. Every bit of me says the SI or the Sport Hybrid would be a totally great car with pretty decent dynamics. But then I balk at being a middle aged person buying a new civic. I am not super comfortable being uncomfortable with that.
Don’t suppose it matters as I wouldn’t buy something new, but still.
I bought a used Accord 2.0T last year rather than a new Civic Hybrid. It felt weird to me looking to buy a Civic at 40 when I had bought a new Accord at 21, like I was moving in the wrong direction.
Of course the current Civic is the same size as the 1994 Accord my Dad bought new in his mid 40’s, so maybe I should look at it that way.
I’m a middle-aged person in the DC area with a Civic (ST Hybird) and I long ago stopped caring what people might think about that. It’s paid for, as is my house.
I’d wager the reason they don’t have those options with the hybrid drivetrain is the lack of production capacity to make them hybrids. They have the tech and platforms figured out, but the Integra is built in a different plant than the Civics for example. Production capacity is a huge driver for those kinds of decisions; it would likely be in the hundreds of millions to get those lines up and running. In my experience doing factory production engineering one robot fabrication cell alone is >$1,000,000 just to design, install and integrate.
Am I the only person who doesn’t see a difference between the wagon and hatchback models? (Aside from the wheels)
Totally! All I see is a few more inches of rear glass.
I’m not even convinced the body is any longer on the wagon over the hatch. Just that the rear window is longer and the D pillar is thinner on the wagon. But distance from rear tire to back of car seems very similar.
I had a hard time seeing that too, especially given the two cars are shot at opposing angles. But if you compare the glass windows on the D pillar you can clearly see they are different lengths.
All the different car types we don’t get anymore and Kia makes two nearly identical? Weird.
It’s subtle. It would be more pronounced without that “flying roof” styling element that’s all the rage these days.
(In 25 years, all those plastic parts will be crumpling and the Shitbox Showdown will be filled with examples missing those pieces, so yes, this is a design element I wish would die. Now get off my lawn. 🙂 )
I was thinking the same thing but also the hatchback looks like a wagon to me although I have not seen one in person so I can’t say if that holds up in reality.
Length
I thought the same at first, but then Googled up some profile images of the two. The wagon adds a few inches aft of the rear wheels.
I like it. I feel as though most folks would be better served by that than a small crossover, but good luck convincing them.
The move from a one time payment to a subscription allows Tesla to generate the revenue from the people who forget that they are subscribed and just keep donating $99 a month (for now, I’m sure they’ll just arbitrarily raise the prices every so often, ala every single subscription service ever), it’s the Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Netfilx business model
Based on the onslaught of RocketMoney commercials I see it appears that every American has at least 3 concurrent subscriptions to every service there is right now.
When they’re like “You have 27 subscriptions!” my immediate thought is that they’re an idiot, but in reality a lot of us pay a few bucks a month to Google and Apple just for some vague cloud service and the fear that if it lapses, we’ll lose some amazing YT video that we uploaded 10 years ago and forgot about.
The slow march toward technofeudalism 🙂
My god, the “Oh, according to this, I have 3 Doordash accounts.” Like fucking how, my dude? How? But then here’s our own subscription service to fix your needlessly reckless subscription services
Here. I will pay you to access all my financial data to help me save a little money.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all. Even subscriptions that theoretically should be getting CHEAPER — my AT&T fiber internet, for example, or Amazon Ring cloud service — are going up over time.
Sometimes I find a coup, like a Babbel language lifetime subscription for $90 (vs $7-$15/mo, no brainer). I jumped on that and use it pretty regularly — owning it takes the pressure off of using it every single day, like having gym equipment at home. I just hope they don’t go out of business…
I went from having a monopoly on internet to actual competition with three different networks in front of my house. Suddenly internet is cheap, reliable and fast. Before it was much slower.
FSD v14 is surprisingly good. Moves for stopped vehicles, goes around stopped vehicles on a two lane road once it determines the way is clear and is getting there on parking lot navigation. It is at its best on limited access roads. That said, I probably wouldn’t subscribe to it at $100 a month when a Comma 4 is $1000 once with open source software. And can tow on the highway hands-free. FSD can’t do that, except maybe in Cybertruck.
The subscription will also help Tesla avoid future lawsuits regarding false FSD advertising. People who paid the full price years ago (it was $12k for FSD in 2023) are suing because FSD still hasn’t delivered on the promises. Now those people need to buy a new Tesla during one of the “transfer your FSD sales” to get a car with hardware that may be capable. IMHO, they need to compensate those people by making them lifetime FSD owners, transferable to any Tesla vehicle or refund their money.
This is cheating a bit, because they aren’t cheap, but the 1LT/1LZ Corvettes seem like the best value for someone who wants to use the car for anything sporty and not just cruising around. All the performance stuff can still be optioned, but the leather dash and heated seats (in a 3 season car) aren’t really necessary.
I kinda laugh at some of the options like heated seats in Corvettes. My boss DD’s a C6 here in Upstate NY. He really wants a C8, because it’s affordable and in his words, a perfectly fine winter car if it had snow tire fitments available. It doesn’t even have sketchy, but technically useable all seasons that would kinda maybe work in the snow. So why have heated seats if you can’t even get passable cold weather tires for the dang thing? Even on his C6, he can’t get snow tires, but he can at least get crappy all seasons. Of course, the only option I tell him is step up to a 911 because the dealer has winter wheel and tire packages as a checkbox.
Where I’m at in South East MI C8s are a pretty regular sight all year round in basicall all trims, M plates and company vehicles and whatnot. They seem to do fine, I think they outfit them with some sort of winter tire but not sure.
So I just had a quick search. It looks like there is a Pirelli and Michelin option for true winters; just not from Tire Rack. Now he has no excuses….
Heated seats are nice when your back isn’t feeling so nice, winter or not. I use mine through spring and fall pretty often, on low.
Heated seats would be a godsend when I’m driving in the Fall with the roof off and the sun sets. It can get chilly fast, and the regular heat can only do so much with an open top at 60 MPH.
I absolutely love having my heated seats on blast with the top down, it’s my favorite convertible experience.
Outside of Atlanta where I am, these are definitely 4-season cars.
I probably get more nice driving days in December than I do in July for my Boxster since the overbearing heat makes for crap convertible weather.
It sounds like it’s still a 3 season car, just a different 3.
Perhaps if I added up all the days on the calendar for a total of good driving weather days you might be right.
I’m gonna say that’s not in the spirit of the phrase… 😀
You’re right, and maybe for people in that climate, heated seats in a Vette make some sense.
For me, it’s hard to imagine a bigger waste, even though I’d never buy a “normal” car without them.
SIR. Spring and fall brings “Canadian Air Conditioning” season. Windows down, heat and heated seats ON.