Battery Problems of Honda Civic Hybrid - part 1

On sept 15, '12, I was taking my son and his friend over to his coach's house for a football party. I attempted to drive up the coach's driveway but at approximately the halfway point, my Honda Civic Hybrid stopped moving forward although the accelerator was pushed to the floor. I had the two nine year old kids exit the vehicle but it still did not move forward. I slowly backed down the driveway and attempted to accelerate up the driveway again, this time with a running start. Again, my Honda Civic Hybrid did not make it up the driveway. I estimate the driveway to be at a 30% angle, not steep but definitely not flat. Again I slowly backed down the driveway after having the cars behind me move out of my way. I parked at the bottom of the driveway and walked up the hill, not something you expect to do when you spend a lot of money for a vehicle. On October 3, 2012, I had a certified Honda dealership examine the car as I susected the ima battery was faulty. The dealer stated I did need a new 12 volt battery and I had the battery replaced. The dealer stated that while the ima battery is not giving out full power it is at an acceptable level. The dealer stated that Honda refuses to replace any ima battery unless it completely fails and they have seen several Civic Hybrids with the same problem. My concern is the acceleration and loss of power becomes a major safety issue on the highways and hills. I have three young kids and do not feel safe with them in the car. I have all service documentation and am willing to let investigators examine and drive my vehicle. Also, I can provide the address of the driveway, the vehicle was unable to make it up. Please look into this issue as this loss of power creates a safety issue for my family.

See all problems of the 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

1) visors cracked - driver's side does not stay up. 2) hybrid battery light showed it failed - dealership reprogrammed the car fall 2011 and since then the car does not accelerate as well. I have noticed lessened ability to accelerate when merging. 3) two of the doors fail to lock when the car reaches locking speed. One of these is a back seat passenger door where a child sits.

See all problems of the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

Bought 2007 civic Honda hybrid on feb2,2007. I was told 50 miles/gallon,but it averages only 34 miles/gallon. A sign showed up 'imr' on the panel,took the vehicle to dealer. He told imr battery needs to be replaced and will cost me $2800. 00. Car is only 5 years old. I feel it`s a rip off by Honda. They should compensate.

My car is not accelerating properly. Despite the fact that I brought it in to the dealer in about November of 2011, they did not do anything. They claimed it was the way I drove. I've always driven the same way and owned the car for 7 years now. Then, a few months ago, I discovered the reason I lost power was they reprogrammed the car so I lost power! I am sure you are aware of the various lawsuits against Honda for reprogramming the hybrids so that everyone lost about 5 mpg and the battery was less powerful, all so they could make the batteries go past warranty and they would not have to pay to replace them. My car battery has also started to charge when I accelerate, which it is not suppose to do. This is making it difficult to get on the highway. Around here, there are entrances that are stop signs and you wait for a large enough space to get in. My space is getting longer and longer because I am afraid I will get in an accident if I don't have that extra room I need to accelerate up to highway speed (min. 50 mph on this highway).

See all problems of the 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. While parked, the contact noticed that the check engine light and the integrated motor assist light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics, where the technician stated that the integrated motor assist battery would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 132,000. Sm.

See all problems of the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

After battery upgrade due to Honda recall notice, the 2007 Civic Hybrid battery does not hold its charge as well as it used to. This is dangerous in icy conditions, as accelerating is slow. It's also dangerous entering the expressway and making a quick left turn. If I expect the car to perform as it doe when the battery is working, I end up barely getting up to speed in time. I'm hesitant to contact Honda for a fix because of reports that this makes the problem worse and also decreases mpgs.

I'm concerned with the safety of my family when driving this vehicle due to the poor performance as detailed below. The ima battery drains so frequently and so suddenly(gets worse in the summer) that we've been very close to be involved in a few accidents. When stopped and waiting at an intersection for the green light, the car is either idled or in "auto stop" mode. Once the light turns green and I let go off the break, the car fails to accelerate fast enough to the point that I don’t make it across the intersection in time, even though I'm the first car closest to the intersection, thus causing the cars behind me to run the red light. I have also had very close calls when merging and entering the freeway at the speed of traffic since the car fails to accelerate. Another dangerous situation is when driving on the freeway at a steady speed of 65 mph on flat conditions and coming to an uphill, the car doesn't maintain the same speed. So I need to accelerate more. The rpm reaches 4000, the car is now barely making 45-50 mph and the traffic behind me is force to slow down or suddenly change lanes in order to avoid hitting me from behind.

See all problems of the 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle would sporadically fail to start. The vehicle was later repaired under NHTSA campaign id number: 11v106000 (electrical system). After the repairs, the dealer was unable to start the vehicle and the contact was advised that the battery would need replacing. The dealer offered to cover fifty percent of the repair costs and the battery was replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 62,000.

See all problems of the 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

The car loses power upon acceleration and going up a hill from a complete standstill. The car at times can not climb up a hill. This causes a safety issue. I have discussed this Honda and I was told that "given that there was not a computer record in the memory there was not a problem. On the freeway the engine revs upon acceleration without any increase in speed. I think the battery electrical assist system is defective and needs to be replaced, Honda added a computer patch to the car that slowed down the electric engine assist and comprimised the power and acceleration.

The transmission suddenly fails every 30-40k miles creating a traffic hazard that will result in a crash without warning. Also, the ima battery does not hold a sufficient charge creating a loss in power and a possible accident.

See all problems of the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid 🔎.

2006 Honda Civic Hybrid with 49,400 miles. Battery power assist fails suddenly during acceleration to merge onto a freeway. Sudden and unexpected loss of engine power in such a circumstance can result in a rear-end collision.

Since I have gotten the ima battery upgrade the car battery completely discharges randomly several times a day. When the battery discharges the car looses a significant amount of its acceleration. I have had three incidents since this upgrade where I have nearly had accidents due to this problem. Once while turning onto a busy street on a hill the battery discharged and I lost the acceleration and the oncoming car almost hit me. I had a similar experience on the highway when I pulled into the fast lane to pass a car and I lost pick up and the car far behind quickly caught up and had to slam on their breaks. The third episode is when I came to a complete stop on a very steep hill. When I went to drive forward again the battery discharged and despite being in the drive gear and despite pushing the gas pedal to the floor I kept rolling backwards. I ended up rolling backwards downhill and turned into someone's driveway and turned around. I drove around until the battery recharged and then was eventually able to drive up the hill. When I brought these concerns up with my local Honda dealership they agreed this did not sound normal. After they test drove it and ran tests they did not find a problem so they called Honda central. They were told that it is normal for the battery to discharge randomly through out the day since the upgrade. When I asked how do I drive safely they said I should be careful about the battery discharging and subsequent loss of acceleration.

3 months ago I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid from a dealership in alexandria,va. The car door wouldn't open nor start on sept 4th and so I had the car towed to the Honda dealership to find out the problem. The Honda dealership diagnosed a 2nd class alarm in the vehicle and a bad battery, so they fixed it on sept 8th the car died again while I was at work so I had to hitch a ride home. So on sept 10th I called the sales manager in va and told him the car was giving me problems. On Saturday September 11th I was going to make a trip to see the sales manager in person when my car quit working when I was trying to make a turn into the bp gas station in MD. My mother had to pick me, we then went to the va dealership and they sent a tow truck to get the car on their account. Now after 4 days of waiting to hear about the status of the car, the general manager from the va dealership told me it was all my fault, basically insulted me as a woman saying that I should be more experienced,that I should've gotten a warranty on the vehicle which I had until their financial accountant told me 3 weeks after I bought the car that the bank couldn't finance the car for the whole amount financed. So I said I just bought that car and I have only made 3 car payments. So I found out later through my mechanic friend that the ima battery was on it's last leg and they probably put a band-aid on a gash which was the lithium battery which is the life-force of the car. The cost is 3450 he tells me. So I asked the general manager if you weren't going to do anything with the vehicle why did you tow my car from oxon hill,MD to alexandria,va. He had no response and went on to say if I wanted the car fixed it would come of my own pocket and that was that. I have just paid 550 for a used ima hybrid battery pack and my mechanic friend if going to install for me. The old ima battery was worn out,rusted, the length of time this occurred was every day since incident date, still not fixed yet.

Ever since Honda "upgraded" my battery system I have lost both power as well as miles per gallon. I must merge onto interstate 680 on my commute to work. There are many large trucks who travel on this interstate and it is scary when I am merging onto the freeway, especially since cal trans just added a meteoring light so I must begin my approach from a stopped position. I thought it was my imagination that I have lost power until I heard about the lawsuit against Honda motor corporation. I went into the local Honda dealer and asked the service manager if the loss of power is true (as well as the loss of mpgs and he told me yes it is true. ) I also asked what Honda is going to do about it and he said "nothing". I find this unacceptable.

My 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid that I purchased new has an ima battery problem that started in September by causing a check engine and ima lights to activate. The code says the ima battery has deteriorated and this is very dangerous because when I pull onto the interstate I have to give it full throttle just to merge in with traffic because the battery can't provide full assist like it used to. Sometimes it can't get up to highway speed fast enough as cars come flying up on my bumper or they whip out into the other lane and fly past me. I called the hendrick Honda dealership that I purchased it from and they said it only has an 8 year 80000 mile warranty but the Honda insight has a 157000 mile warranty. This seems to be a common problem for the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrids just like the Honda insight. Please investigate this complaint for me and the thousands of other Honda owners with this same problem.

1. Loss of battery power, occurs daily. 2. The battery does not charge during deceleration nor does the engine auto-stop when the car is idle or at a red light as often as it used to do. 3. More than 30% decrease in mileage per gallon/fuel efficiency over past 4 months.

2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. Had battery computer replaced per Honda request and experiencing loss of power going up inclines and going backwards downhill in low gear. Had family in car and never had this problem before going up this hill. This car will go up this hill with less people but we never had this problem before.

Since I have gotten the ima battery upgrade the car battery completely discharges randomly several times a day. When the battery discharges the car looses a significant amount of its acceleration. It frequently looses all bars on the battery gauge, signifying a recalibration event. When this happens, the car is unable to accelerate at a reasonable speed since the hybrid system is trying to charge the battery instead of accelerating the car. In addition, you have to drive slowly and avoid any situations that may require quick acceleration while this is occurring or else you might be involved in an accident. I have had three incidents since this upgrade where I have nearly had accidents due to this problem.

I have a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid that I purchased new in California in July, 2006. I'm having a serious and dangerous problem with the hybrid system (ima as Honda calls it), but Honda keeps telling me its normal because there has not been a fault code. The problem is that last year I started to notice the hybrid battery was having increasing trouble holding a charge and accurately reporting it's charge condition. The most common symptom is that I'll start driving with the charge being reported at 70% full or so, and without warning, the charge drops to 0 and the car begins to aggressively recharge the battery. This aggressive recharging takes about 5-10 minutes after which is reports it is full. But here's where the danger lies, in the first couple of minutes, there is no assist available from the hybrid battery. When starting from a stopped position, the car is extremely sluggish and slow. I have had several cases where I have been pulling across an intersection with cross traffic that doesn't stop and the car, without warning, had slipped into this recharge state and nearly resulted in an accident - the oncoming cars had to brake as I moved slowly across the intersection. My Honda dealer and Honda of America will not look into the problem unless there is a fault code. I know that others have had almost the exact same problem with their civics. Some of them have been lucky enough to have Honda replace them hybrid battery and their problems have gone away. I am incredible upset that I have to put myself and my family at risk each time I drive this car - it is a daily problem. Please investigate. I hope you observe what I've heard from fellow owners which is that there is a wide-spread problem that Honda is trying to ignore because the solution is very expensive.

While braking, the car starts to regenerate (charge the hybrid battery) and then a short burst of assist (electrical drive from the hybrid battery) while my foot is on the brake. This happens about twice a week and is extremely dangerous since I sometimes get into stop-and-go traffic. This means that I could be braking and the car will accelerate, possibly hitting the car in front of mine.

The integrated motor assist system fails for no apparent reason. This has happened multiple times. The first time I had parked the car overnight and the battery charge indicator was near the top. When I drove to town in the morning and stopped at a stop light on a hill, when I accelerated there was no motor assist and the car was very underpowered. The battery charge indicator showed no charge. It does charge again to normal, but you never know when this may happen. I believe this could be very dangerous in on a freeway on ramp or two lane road passing situation.

I bought my Honda Civic Hybrid in March of 2007. The car worked fine for several years until about 30,000 miles in, my hybrid battery started to randomly drain and recharge. The frequency of occurances has increased significantly to the point that I can expect it to drain and recharge about 1 to 2 times a day. The whole drain/recharge process takes about 7 to 10 minutes, and with a 20 minute commute each way, I am spending about half of the time driving without the assist of the battery. The impact is as follows: 1) lower mpg 2) significantly impacted performance to the poin that the car is unsafe to accelerate. This car was never designed to be driven without the assist of the battery. It is too slow. Even with the battery assist, it is already one of the slowest cars on the road, without it it becomes dangerous. There has been a couple of times where I had to merge and accelerate hard, and the car would barely move. The guy behind me had to slam on the brakes in order not to crash into my car. I now have 55,000 miles on the car and have been to the dealership several times. They recognized the issue, but said that unless something comes up on the display (warnings, errors, alerts), they cannot do anything to fix the problem. I am reporting this problem because I want Honda to take responsibility for a design defect that is a major safety concern.

The contact owns a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. The contact stated that the electrical battery, or the ima system, would not hold an electrical charge. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who advised the contact that if a light did not illuminate within the instrument panel stating there was a failure with the vehicle, they were unable to assist. The manufacturer was contacted stating that a warning light should have illuminated indicating a failure and if not, they were unable to provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 56,000. Updated 04/15/11.

My 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid is frequently sluggish and doesn't accelerate as rapidly as I was used to when it performed better. Now, when I'm turning left in front of oncoming traffic or merging into high speed traffic I never know if my car will accelerate quickly enough or not. I've taken it to Honda multiple times and they always say it's fine. More recently I realized it was because it wasn't getting its previous level of battery assist because the battery is performing much worse than it used to. I reluctantly did the softward update Honda is recommending to extend battery life, but have since realized it is probably making the issue worse. This problem has been going on for one year, or slightly more. I've taken it to Honda 5 times. It happens approximately once or twice per day that I don't accelerate with the car's full power.

The 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid battery loses its ability to hold a charge leaving the vehicle without the assist that should be coming from the electric motor to supplement the gasoline engine. It can drop its charge at any time and is dangerous when the vehicle operator expects the assist such as freeway merging and there is no assist.

2009 Honda Civic Hybrid. Consumer requests immediate replacement of a defective battery pack. The consumer stated the (ima) integrated motor assist light illuminated. The diagnosis indicated a battery condition monitor module intermittent malfunction. The light illuminated again two months later. Although, each visit resulted in electrical repairs with specific code reviews, recalibrations, clearance and resetting, the underlying condition still has not been resolved.

2009 Honda Civic Hybrid ima and engine light on, service recoded the ecu and gas mileage has gone down to 24. Battery was replaced and engine was recoded twice again and still the mileage is down to 24. I have found service bulletins on the car for batteries and excessive high temperatures. Car has been to the service center three times for this same concern. 12/04/09, 12/10/09 and 12/14/09, all for ima light on.

My 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid would lose its battery charge and it would take 2 to 3 miles of driving to recharge the battery. During this recharging time there is no assist from the electric motor which is suppose to aid the gas engine when more power is needed such as merging into traffic or making a left turn with on coming traffic. The official name of the battery losing its charge is called a recalibrating. It had happened to me about every 5 to 8 miles of driving but it is random and can happen at the most inopportune time. The battery pack is causing the problem as it is deteriorating. Even though I still had warranty coverage in the 3yr/36000 coverage, Honda refused 5 times to replace the battery. The Honda Civic Hybrid should not be sold when this is happening to so many owners. Yes, the car operates without the electric motor assist but when you are expecting more power for the maneuver you are going to do and the recalibrating kicks it in it can be very dangerous! I used the better business bureau auto line and had my problem arbitrated and the decision was my car was a lemon and Honda had to repurchase it. The arbitrator ruled the car a lemon and one reason was it was not safe to drive in all normal driving situations! get this car off the road. This is my second complaint about this matter. For the first complaint I did not have the lemon law decision but now I do and this car is officially declared a lemon.

I bought a new Honda Civic Hybrid in 2004 with an extended 7 yr 100k warranty. At 91k miles, I took the car in complaining that the ima battery indicator was low. I was charged over $150 for a new regular battery, told the ima battery was fine, and sent home. I visited my dealer on several occasions with similar complaints about the ima gauge being low and the engine light being on. Just after my warranty expired, I was told that the ima battery was deteriorating and that it would need to be replaced, at a cost of over $6700. I have seen similar complaints online from other Honda hybrid owners. I feel certain that the ima battery was "deteriorating" the first time I brought it in and was put off until the warranty expired.

Honda Civic Hybrid has a problem with the battery that the system uses to run the integrated motor assist between the transmission and the engine to assist the gas engine when accelerating. As the battery deteriorates, it does not charge as well, hold a charge and therefore does not assist as well to accelerate, causing a dangerous situation at times to merge with traffic or accelerate from a stand still.

My 2006 Civic Hybrid has multiple problems with the ima: here's a short list: 1. Cannot sit at traffic light more than 20 seconds without hybrid battery draining itself and causing car not to be able to accelerate when light turns green. 2. Cannot use a/c when over 95 degrees outside or hybrid battery drains itself, making car unable to function correctly 3. Cannot use cruise control at all or hybrid battery drains itself 4. Cannot go over 70 mph or tac revs so high that car acts as though it will overheat or shut down. Multiple trips to Honda service for help resulted in 5 computer updates in last 3 months. Was assured this would fix all problems. Hasn't fixed a one yet. Have been driving a loaner car from dealer for 1. 5 weeks until they figure out problem. Feel like sitting duck on the road, especially at stop lights because when light turns green, there is a real possibility that I will not be able to move and fear getting rear-ended. Problems seemed to center around use of compressor with a/c or defrost.

The contact owns a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. While driving 15 mph, the vehicle lost power and slowed down. Occasionally, the vehicle would slow down and restart itself before coming to a complete stop. On one occasion, the vehicle came to a complete stop and shut off. The battery had to be replaced in order for the vehicle to restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice. The first time they replaced the regular battery. The second time they were unable to find any failures. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 34,000.

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. The contact stated that when driving at least 35 mph uphill, the vehicle would drive sluggish and with limited power. The vehicle was inspected by the dealer who informed the contact that he would need to replace the battery to correct the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. Updated 2/23/11 the consumer stated the auto stop feature and main battery began acting erratic and the vehicle began losing power. Updated 05/20/11.

I have a 2003 Honda hybrid with 65,000 miles. The ima warning light went on a few days ago and they have determined the hybrid battery needs to be replaced. I am concerned that the Honda batteries are not living up to expectations and could lead to failure in other areas (faulty steering during turns, etc. ) which could pose a safety hazard. When I bought the vehicle, I was under the understanding that the battery life would outlive the vehicle life, and finding it to be untrue. I am having the battery replaced today on warranty, but they have not been able to tell me if it is a better battery or higher developed battery than what was originally installed. Since I am most concerned about safety, I wanted to report this to you. Sincerely, roger soucy.

Own a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. After about one year of ownership, the car started exhibiting troubling characteristics with the power management and available power. The car relies on a gas engine and electric assist to provide full power in all driving situations. During the summer when teperatures rise, the car starts to have difficulty providing power from the electric motor due to the battery crashing to 0. Once the battery "recalibrates" the car provides very little power using only the gas engine. This battery crash happens on a daily basis and means in the real world that when I am pulling out into traffic I may have very little power to get the car up to speed and risk getting hit by oncoming traffic. To say the car becomes "sluggish" is an overstatement. Honda has been unwilling to address this issue and it appears that the ar has a material defect that prevents the batteries from operating as intended in real world situations. When the air conditioner is in operation the battery will crash each time you drive the car. I feel very unsafe in this vehicle and Honda is doing nothing to address the complaints.