The hybrid battery in this car isn't worth crap.

Every now and again, while I'm driving, especially if it's longer than 30 minutes of driving, the battery light for the regular battery comes on. The hybrid battery light has been on for quite awhile and it needs to be replaced but who can afford that!?! Anyway, I was told that this car will still work with a regular battery, it just won't get as good gas mileage. Well --- let me tell you it is terrible! I have replaced the regular battery twice in the last year - this car EATS batteries ! Not only does the car eat batteries, but the umph is complete crap. The lights dim at night. And last night, the car just stopped while I was driving because the battery was so dead.

I've had several mechanics look at the car and they all think the issues stem from the partially-dead hybrid battery as there's nothing else wrong with the car. (hybrid battery sometimes chooses to work and sometimes not. )

Save yourself the trouble and get a Prius if you want a good used hybrid. I love Hondas but this car has me looking at other makes for me next car !

letter sent July 13 - no response from Honda or the dealer

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Honda Automobile Customer Service 1919 Torrance Boulevard Mail Stop: 500 - 2N - 7A Torrance, CA 90501-2746

Dear Customer Service

I am until last week the proud owner of a 2004 Civic Hybrid with 114,000 miles. Seventy percent of our driving is on highways. On June 30, I brought my car to Honda Frontenac to have an IMA warning light checked. The result was that they pulled up IMA codes P1435 and P1433 and said the car needs a new IMA battery at a cost of $4000. They also installed some updated software that was supposed to help but in fact it only reduced the gas millage. I left a message on the service manager’s answering machine at 11AM this morning but did not get a return call.

Until now I have been pleased with the car and with Honda. I realize that the warranty on the battery is 100,000 miles but I did not think that it meant that I would need a new one at 100,000 miles. $4000 is the cost of a new gas engine on many cars and if one needed a new engine every 100,000 miles they would not by that car. I feel the same about this one especially when it is my understanding that this is not an unusual occurrence with the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Before July 19, I would like to know what Honda is prepared to do either replace the battery which is clearly not up to Honda standards or at least replace it at a cost competitive with reputable hybrid service center. I can get a lithium replacement battery for $1900 plus $300 for installation from a very reputable service center in Cincinnati.

Hopefully we can come to some satisfactory agreement. However, should we not come to an understanding I think that I have an obligation to publicize the problem with Honda Civic Hybrids as well as what seems to be an unreasonable amount that the dealer wants to charge for replacing a defective battery. I do not know what the actual cost of the battery is to Honda but I do know that the labor installation is less the 2hrs which leads me to believe that the cost to Honda is more like $2000 rather than $4000.

I have sung Honda’s praises for the last ten years and although I am not sure of what this positive publicity has done for sales, I do know that negative publicity about the battery would not help.

Sincerely,

Myles McCabe

This is the second IMA battery replacement in 8 years. The first replacement was in 2008, which was covered by warranty. You would think that Honda would give a much better warranty on these since they don't seem to last long. Also, the cost to replace these IMA batteries is outrageous.........$2835. Originally, the cost quoted me by the dealer was $1804.

One of the reasons that I purchased the Hybrid was because of the savings that I was told that I would receive in fuel. I was also told that it would only cost about $150 to replace the battery pack......so much for that. Obviously I was misinformed. Savings, NO WAY. If anything, this has turned out to be a fiasco and an expensive one at that. If I were thinking about purchasing another hybrid, forget it, especially a Honda.