Civic Hybrid, don't buy one: here's why:

[KAR IDEA]

Could have just been a lemon, sounds like an isolated incident.

[donee]

Hi Seeng...,

When Problems like this occur in Gen 1 Prius its usually a motor winding that is partially, or fully shorted. Thus the over-temp of the inverter and motor as the inverter switches the battery into a dead short located in the motor, for that cycle of the motor. That is, 1/3 of the inverter operation is into a dead short. That is why the car seems to work, but not quite.

Due to the simplicity of the IMA system, I would expect the repair to be similar to a clutch job in cost and complexity.

Its probably not wise to continue to operate the car as it is, as eventually the inverter will fail under such abuse. The new battery wont like it either.

[MSantos]

It is pretty sad when these things happen and absolutely no car is free from claims of this sort.
What also saddens me is that this section of the PriusChat forum often becomes a platform for some PC members to bash other hybrid vehicles. This is very sad. This form of bashing is often ill informed and hardly helpful to the community. If being helpful is not the purpose of these forum sections then what is their purpose? A trap for subsequent target practice ?

C'mon folks we can all do better than this.

Anyway, one thing I call tell you is that folks like Sean embark on Blitz campaign when they are very displeased and they will denigrate a product and its manufacturer without really providing all the details of what truly happened.
Judging from the battery of 1 time posts that this person has made on various web sites his only mission is clearly vindictive and somewhat lacking on full disclosure?

Now, just in case he's actually looking for a way out, I will provide a few of the most common clues and tips as to why his fuel economy may be suffering.

• Use of the wrong engine oil will decimate the fuel economy by at least 10 MPG. 0W20 is the only recommended oil but some shops may elect to use an alternate grade when they do not have the genuine Honda 0W20 oil. This still happens way too often and will continue that way until all dealers stock up on proper oil and training.
• A problem with a high drain component, such as the power steering or the hybrid AC scroll compressor will also account for massive amounts of FE loss.
• A poorly performing 12V battery will also produce measurably lower FE results.
• Was the vehicle ever involved in an accident and subsequent rebuild?
• Different tires? Wrong tires can account for a good loss in FE up to 10 MPG depending on actual inflation levels vs its sidewall rated pressure.
• A malfunctioning relay in the climate control system or an MICU discrepancy will cause noticeable drops in FE as well.
• Control arm issue affecting 2006 and 2007 vehicles can cause a drop in FE as well. A TSB is out for this issue.
• And finally, bad dealers. Honda has them and Toyota has them as well. Getting a second opinion from an alternate dealer often reveals differences in the technical training levels or even absence of these.

Donee:
This IMA simplicity you refer to is very misleading and not representative of the complexity involved with the servicing of the stator/motor assembly and its adjacent systems. Trust me it is far, far more complex, delicate and expensive than a clutch job.




Cheers;

MSantos

[daniel]

Let's see, millions of satisfied Honda owners, and we're supposed to never ever buy one because you got a lemon? Honda probably produces fewer lemons than any other company. I do wish you the best, and urge you, as others have above, to keep your documentation and pursue this. But it says nothing about Honda customer service generally, which is one of the best in the industry, or about the HCH in particular, which is one of the most reliable of cars, even if you did get a lemon.

That said, I obviously feel the Prius is the better car. It had to be, to entice me away from Honda, which gave me princely service the entire 15 years I drove my Honda Civic.

[Per]

I'm just highly sceptical of this kind of rant. The only indication was a significant loss of mileage? How about charge/ assist indicators? Any other indication?
When someone posts one post and doesn't come back, I don't think I can take much stock in the alleged story!

[patsparks]

I wouldn't have bought a Honda in the first place.
I have heard lots of good things about the HCH so this is one out of the box, pity.

[DaveinOlyWA]

thanks for the info Sean. real sorry to hear about the issues you are having. definitely keep this thread updated as you see progress (or more frustration)

hope everything ends up well

[daniel]

He only ever posted once, in order to dis Honda. I don't think he'll be posting any updates. We don't even know if he's for real, or a Detroit shill. My experience as a Honda owner was 100% positive. If the Prius had not been years ahead of anything else on the road I'd never have left Honda.

[adric22]

Okay, well here is my two cents on the matter.

First of all, my best friend is a master technician at a Toyota dealership. I've heard plenty of horror stories from him. I'll give you a good example. Recently, a lady bought a Prius and she paid tons of extra money for all the extended warranties and maintenance plans, etc.. He said she ended up paying the dealership something around $45,000 for it.

Well, the motor that changes the A/C vents to blow different directions burned out. It makes a terrible noise whenever trying to change to defrost, or the middle or lower vents and never changes. Well, my friend told me that Toyota pays very very poorly for labor for the technicians. In this case, the amount of time it would take to tear the dash apart and replace this part was unsurmountable. Probably an all-day job. But Toyota will only pay like $15 for a job like this on their books. So none of the technicians at the dealership wanted to do it. Eventually the boss just told her they weren't going to cover it, despite the fact it was under warranty and the lady bought all those extended warranties (which are usually worthless anyway) The lady left irate, and in tears. My friend says that if she goes to another dealership, she'll probably get the same treatment. In this case, it is Toyota who is really at fault more than the dealership. he says this type of this is very common. I could tell you tons of stories he's told me.

Another common issue they have which sounds similar to this poster, is that people bring Prius' into the dealership all the time and the only complaint is that the gas mileage is bad. He says they get this at least once a week. And people want their money back because they aren't getting the mileage that the car claims to get. Generally speaking, it is the driver's fault. What usually winds up happening is that after several fights between the customer and the boss, my friend will have to fill the car up with gas, drive it around town (driving it properly) until they use about half the gas up, then show the customer that it got the correct gas mileage. Of course, Toyota doesn't pay for this either, so my friend wastes half his day doing this without getting paid for it. So far, they've never come across a complaint that ended up being something wrong with the car causing bad mileage. So, even if there is something legitimately wrong with this poster's Honda Civic Hybrid, I could definitely see the technicians assuming the driver is at fault and blowing it off.

[DaveinOlyWA]

$45,000...wow, nice deal. i want one too!!