One problem related to battery dead has been reported for the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I own a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid, with a defective ima (hybrid) battery. I had noticed difficulty accelerating effectively onto freeway ramps and just sluggish performance in general. Honda diagnostics state the battery has failed. The car only had 85k miles on it at that time. The poor performance of the vehicle makes it frightening to get on and off the freeway where I live. Replacement cost is $3500, which I cannot afford. Many websites such as hybridcars. Com and edmonds. Com have 100's of posts by frustrated consumers. Unofficial estimates of later model vehicles, with even lower miles, state at least 5% of the cars have defective battery life. Honda could extend the warranty or lower cost for replacement but is stallingas there are class action suits in the process of being filed. Please, please, help Honda Civic Hybrid consumers, many of whom were counting on Honda's good name and hybrid fuel economy precisely because they could not afford to spend $$ repairing a car or guzzling gas. I am a medical student, and single mother who was counting on this car making it another 5 years. I have cared for it well and cannot afford this expensive repair.