2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID Complaints

I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO SHARE MY CONCERNS OVER THE SAFETY OF THE 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID THAT WE PURCHASED NEW FROM A DEALER. THE CAR PERFORMED WELL FOR A FEW YEARS, UNTIL HONDA DECIDED TO TELL ME TO GO TO THE DEALER AND "UPGRADE" THE SOFTWARE CONTROLLING THE HYBRID MOTOR-BATTERY SYSTEM. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SOFTWARE UPDATE, THE CAR WAS UTTERLY DEVOID OF POWER, AND DANGEROUS TO DRIVE WHEN MERGING ON THE FREEWAY, EVEN WHEN DRIVING ALONE WITHOUT OTHER WEIGHT IN THE CAR. IF I DRIVE MY TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WITH ME, IT'S VERY SCARY AS THE CAR MUST BE ABSOLUTELY FLOORED THE ENTIRE TIME WHILE MERGING. NO DOUBT THIS IS STRONGLY AFFECTING THE FUEL ECONOMY OF THE CAR AS WELL, AS IT GETS ONLY IN THE MID 30S, WHEN ORIGINALLY ADVERTISED MUCH HIGHER. ALSO, I CAN'T IMAGINE ANYONE EVER BUYING THIS CAR WITH THE PATHETIC LEVEL OF POWER IT EXHIBITS, THEREFORE THE RESALE VALUE IS NOW NEXT TO NOTHING. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE A SOFTWARE DOWNGRADE AND GET BACK TO ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE, BUT HONDA TELLS ME THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR WHATEVER REASON. I URGE YOU TO BEGIN OR CONTINUE AN INVESTIGATION CONCERNING THE DETRIMENTAL SAFETY IMPACTS OF THE 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID SOFTWARE UPDATE. **03/01/2012 UPDATED BF UPDATED 03/16/12 *TR

HONDA PERFORMED AN IMA SOFTWARE UPDATE ON 12/22/2010. SINCE THAT TIME THE AVAILABILITY OF ELECTRICAL ASSIST HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED. EVEN WHEN THE BATTERY READS FULL, I CANNOT BE SURE THAT ELECTRICAL ASSIST WILL BE AVAILABLE, OR, IF IT IS AVAILABLE, HOW LONG IT WILL LAST. SEVERAL TIMES IT HAS SUDDENLY FAILED IN THE MIDDLE OF A MERGE OR LANE CHANGE. *TR

ON AT LEAST FOUR OCCASIONS, ONCE WHILE MOVING AT ABOUT 30 MPH, THE ENTIRE CAR SHUT DOWN. THE GAS ENGINE SHUT OFF, POWER STEERING AND BRAKES WENT DEAD, AND THE DASH WENT BLANK. I HAD TO PLACE THE CAR IN PARK, AND THEN REMOVE AND REINSERT THE KEY IN ORDER TO RESTART. THIS HAS HAPPENED ONCE, THOUGH NOT WHILE MOVING, SINCE THE IMA SOFTWARE UPDATE. *TR

THE VEHICLES BATTERY HAS FAILED AND THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO SAFELY PULL INTO INTERSECTIONS OR INCOMING TRAFFIC. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL NEAR MISSES DUE TO THIS ISSUE. WE ARE TERRIFIED WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE. *TR

I PURCHASED THIS 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID NEW IN APRIL 2006. THE WINDOW STICKER SAID 49 MPG CITY AND 51 MPG HIGHWAY. I HAVE 121,XXX MILES ON THE VEHICLE AND HAVE TRIED HARD TO GET THE BEST MILEAGE POSSIBLE. THE BEST I CAN ACHIEVE ON THE AVERAGE COMBINED IS 38-39. IT IS CLEAR FRAUD. THE CLASS ACTION SUIT WHICH WAS FILED IS NOT A REASONABLE COMPENSATION TO ME FOR MY DAMAGES. MAYBE TO THE LAWYERS WHO REPRESENT THE CLASS, BUT NOT ME. I SHOULD BE COMPENSATED THE DAMAGES BETWEEN WHAT WAS SOLD TO ME AND WHAT WAS DELIVERED PLUS PUNITIVE DAMAGES. I WOULD LIKE YOUR HELP. *TR

CVT IS SLIPPING, HARD TO POWER UP HILLS, DOESN'T KICK IN AFTER A STOP AND SOMETIMES STAYS ON OR SPEEDS UP AROUND CORNERS. JUST HAD THE TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGED AND PROBLEM HAS NOT IMPROVED. *TR

SUMMARY: MY 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID RECEIVED THE INTEGRATED MOTOR ASSIST (IMA) SOFTWARE UPGRADE IN 2010, SINCE THEN VEHICLE PERFORMANCE IS UNRELIABLE. IF THE CAR IS NOT USED FOR ABOUT 10 HOURS OR MORE I.E. ONE DAY THE IMA BATTERY WILL DRAIN IN LESS THAN A MILE OF LEAVING MY HOME THE NEXT DAY, ON A LEVEL ROADWAY. THIS LEAVES ME WITH THE GAS ENGINE ONLY AND DRIVEABILITY IN TRAFFIC SUFFERS A LOT WITH SLOW ACCELERATION AND POOR OVERTAKING CAPABILITY TO THE POINT OF BEING DANGEROUS. AFTER ABOUT 2-3 MILES THE IMA SYSTEM WILL START TO INDICATE CHARGING AND WITHIN A SHORT DISTANCE THE IMA INDICATOR WILL SUDDENLY JUMP FROM 3 BARS (LOW) TO 8 BARS (FULL) IN A MATTER OF 3-5 SECONDS. THIS IS NOT NORMAL NIMH BATTERY BEHAVIOR MY HONDA DEALER SAYS THEY CANNOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THE IMA SYSTEM LIGHT DOES NOT ILLUMINATE (OBD DOES NOT SHOW A FAULT). IN MY OPINION FROM DRIVING THE VEHICLE THE IMA SOFTWARE UPGRADE HAS DONE NOTHING TO SOLVE THE BASIC PROBLEM AND HAS REDUCED MY ECONOMY BY ABOUT 8 MPG!. *TR

HONDA'S SOFTWARE REFLASH OF THE IMA SYSTEM IN 2010 HAS CAUSED MY CAR TO OPERATE ERRATICALLY. THE HYBRID BATTERY IS OFTEN COMPLETELY UNAVAILABLE TO ASSIST THE REGULAR MOTOR WHEN NEEDED TO ACCELERATE TO MERGE INTO HIGH SPEED TRAFFIC, TO PASS OTHER VEHICLES, OR TO AVOID COLLISIONS. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN TAKING OFF FROM A STOP THE CAR SOMETIMES HESITATES TO START MOVING, STUTTERS, JERKS OR LURCHES. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE MORE THAN 29 MPG SINCE THE SOFTWARE UPDATE, APPROXIMATELY 10 MPG LESS THAN I WAS GETTING BEFORE THE UPDATE. CALIFORNIA SMALL CLAIMS COURT AWARDED ME $9,867.19 AGAINST HONDA - SEE WWW.DONTSETTLEWITHHONDA.ORG FOR 26 PAGE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT. **03/01/2012 BF *TR

THE INTEGRATED MOTOR ASSIST (IMA) BATTERY IS FAILING PREMATURELY ON MY CAR, THE ASSIST WORKS SPORADICALLY. WHEN PASSING TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY I HAVE TO REALLY MASH THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, BECAUSE THE ASSIST IS ABSENT FOR LACK OF POWER. HONDA INSTALLED A SOFTWARE FIX(BULLETIN 10-034) THAT GREATLY REDUCES THE BATTERY ABILITY TO FUNCTION AT FULL CAPACITY, SO THEY COULD MAKE THE BATTERY LAST LONGER AND NOT HAVE TO REPLACE THEM UNDER WARRANTY. I GET THE CODE P0A7F (ONE OF THE BLOCKS IN THE BATTERY PACK HAS DETERIORATED: ITS DYNAMIC RESISTANCE IS TOO HIGH) ON MY CAR COMPUTER. HONDA ERASED IT MANUALLY AND SENT ME HOME WITHOUT REPLACING MY IMA BATTERY. WHEN COMING TO A STOP THE CAR SURGES AS I MAKE A COMPLETE STOP, BECAUSE THE CAR IS REGENERATING POWER TO REPLENISH THE SPENT BATTERY. THE SO CALLED PATCH 10-034 IS REALLY MAKING THE CAR UNSTABLE TO DRIVE, THE ENGINE REEVES VERY HIGH WITHOUT MUCH POWER PRODUCED IN PASSING OR ENTERING HIGHWAYS SITUATIONS. WHEN THE CAR WAS WORKING FINE, A LITTLE TOUCH OF THE GAS WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO PASS TRAFFIC OR CLIMB STEEP HILLS. NOW THE ASSIST ONLY WORKS SOMETIMES AND KEEPS ME GUESSING IF I WILL HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO PASS OR NOT. THE IMA BATTERY IS DEFINITELY NOT UP TO THE JOB. *TR

HONDA DID A RECALL ON THE SOFTWARE, SUPPOSEDLY TO SAVE THE HYBRID BATTERIES FOR EARLY FAILURE. AFTER THE CHANGE THE CAR EXPERIENCED LES MILES PER GALLON GAS EFFICIENCY, AND WORSE, THE CAR'S ACCELERATION WAS DRASTICALLY REDUCED. NOW WHEN I TRY TO ENTER A FREEWAY I FEEL I AM TAKING MY LIFE IN MY OWN HAND. IT IS DIFFICULT TO GET UP TO SPEED QUICKLY ENOUGH TO MATCH TRAFFIC. ALSO WHEN I TRY TO CROSS TRAFFIC LANES FROM A STOP SIGN OR LIGHT I AM FEARFUL THE CAR WILL ACCELERATE QUICKLY ENOUGH TO GET ACROSS. I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SOFTWARE, I FELT IT WAS SAFER! *TR