general problems of the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid

First incident occurred around a month after purchased 3 of 2011. Door locks would lock & unlock while driving. Immediately took it back to norm reeves Honda in cerritos,CA. I was told that the problem was a bad motor in the passenger door & norm reeves fixed the problem. I was told the drivers side window was defected & norm reeves replaced the window. In 4 of 2011, the car door locks began locking & unlocking while driving but now making a screeching sound. Took the car back to the same norm reeves & they explained it was the motor in the passenger rear door. That was fixed as well. In 6 of 2011, again the door locks started locking & unlocking while driving. I then realized the rear drivers side door was not locking & took it in to norm reeve where they stated the motor was out & they fixed it. I then asked if maybe it could be something electrical & if they could check the electrical wiring on the car, I was told by octavio, service manager at norm reeves, it was not the electrical that it was the door locks. I told the service manager, octavio at this time I felt like the car also gives a push or skip while driving & also smelled a burning smell. Octavio stated the Honda was checked by a tech & said nothing was wrong with it. I began taking the Honda civic in to norm reeves every month complaining about the car skipping or losing traction. It was frightening driving down hills thinking my car would not stop or lose control. The burning smell would become greater when driving up an incline or the hills of any freeway or city. When the car would be parked at an incline the shifter would lock & become hard to remove from park. During each visit to norma reeves Honda, which occurred more than 10 times, I was never told of any recalls or examinations needed in regards to the fuel tank problems & only found out when my Honda civic was taken to rock Honda of fontana, CA.

Currently I have 32,277 miles and don't drive it, it's not safe to drive. I take a bus :) 1# trans locked at 60mph on hwy and caused almost a fatal crash! at 23,000 miles. Car was able to drive up to 15mpg having appx. 6000rpms. Car left at dealership and only pcm software was upd. No lockups are occurring, but trans is weaving, harsh start/stop often!/unexpected shutdown. Dealership found service bulletin #08-014 (harsh engagement), upd. The on board computer and symptoms are much worse than previously. Lower mpg ( 25-28 ), much worse performance, unexpected battery discharge, weaving, low accel. Dealer duplicated problems, but said "it's ok" and problems is untouched. Since they updated the system, the hybrid option is not kicking in as before. Prev. I was able to drive slowly only on hybrid, now I can't. No actions are taken to resolve the issue. Once they changed the ima batt pack, but this did not help and I see not a difference. Complained again, and absolutely no response. Brakes are malfunctioning. Brake fluid is missing, dealer said "[xxx], it's a mystery". Depending on outside temp, battery charge level and car temp breaks work diff! occasionally while slowing down, the battery level reaches full and you must press the pedal as hard as you can to stop. This has caused small crashes and once brakes did not work, or I pressed too lightly ( cold outside with full battery ) and unfortunately I couldn't stop on time and ran over a pedestrian. She is badly injured and suing my insurance company! dealer rec. To "change car, better to buy not a Honda and don't bother them if nothing is broken. " police report ready to present. These are only the major issues I'm having. I would need much more space to write 20 pgs essay. Minor issues: - super fast tire wear ( after 20,000 ) and now again at 32,000 - not working climate ctrl system - check engine, ima light, brake system and airbag lights on. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

08 Honda Civic Hybrid - when the batteries are fully charged, the generator is not used for braking. When the batteries are not charged, the generator is used for braking. During the transition, I have been surprised many times by the lack of brakes. When the batteries are not charging you have to really press hard on the brakes to even slow down. Then, if you are expecting to press hard and the generator has kicked back in, you are thrown forward as the brakes work fine. I thought this and the occasional herky-jerkiness that goes along with it is normal. But, after reading about the Toyota prius brake issue, the Honda is just as bad, if not worse. This has been going on since day one of ownership.

Subject:regenerative braking possible problem comments: I am a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid owner that is having similar problems as stated in the following article. Problem with surging of the car while braking or a slight reduction in stopping power. . Read more...

While applying brakes the car suddenly accelerates. It has happened several times mostly at lower speed. So far I have not experience it on interstate.

While applying the brakes the car suddenly accelerates forward unexpectedly and does not stop. It has happened several times mostly lower speeds when approaching a stop sign/light and almost caused multiple rear end collisions.

When coming to a low speed stop the engine shuts off at about 6 mph and the braking system goes manual reducing braking effect by over 60%. This has resulted in a minor accident requiring the replacement of the front bumper.