Alright, so its actually been 15 months and 45,000 miles, but who's counting. Figured that some people may benefit from a "long term" review of the civic hybrid.

I purchased my 2006 Civic Hybrid on September 1, 2006; or a little over a year ago for those of you who, like me, cant exactly keep track of time. I had recently taken on a new job which gave me the pleasure of a 65 mile commute, each way. For those of you familiar with the Bay Area, I live near Walnut Creek and drive to Palo Alto. My 'old car' was a BMW 540i, sport package, with a 6-speed manual...god do I miss that car. Driving 130+ miles a day, while quite comfortable, was getting a little tough on the pocket book. I decided to look for a 'better' commuter car. Tops on the list was the Civic Hybrid for two reasons:1) it got good gas mileage without being a Prius, and 2) It's not a Prius. The $2200 tax credit was a nice bonus.

After making numerous calls to dealerships around the Bay Area, I found one dealership (Walnut Creek Honda) who wasn't charging over sticker price, unfortunately they did not have any hybrids in stock and there weren't any arriving for a month and a half. Regardless, I test drove a used 2005 Civic Hybrid and a 2006 Civic LX. I had decided that the new hybrid was the right car for my needs. A couple of days later, the salesman called me up to let me know that someone had backed out of their hybrid, and that if I was interested, I could stop by and look at it. I told him to consider the car sold, and I would pick it up after work. The entire buying experience went quite well. In and out of the dealership in under an hour.

Other than one incident, where the car refused to start, 12 days after my initial purchase, the HCH II has been very reliable. Nobody was ever able to diagnose the problem; fortunately it has never popped up again.

Now it's time to discuss how I feel about the car.

I needed a car that was cheap to operate and reliable. The Civic Hybrid is exactly that. Cheap and Reliable transportation. It's not much more.
The seat is not comfortable for me on long drives...something that was not apparent in a 20 minute test drive. Power is adequate just so long as you have a fully charged battery; this is only troublesome on trips to Tahoe or anywhere else in the mountains. The car is a bit noisy on the highway, although this could be fixed with a product like Dynamat.
I do appreciate that the car looks like every other civic on the road. I'm not the type of person who wanted to drive a Hybrid because it was the popular thing to do, nor do I seek any added attention because of it. I also like the fact that the navigation system allows entry while moving (something my GMC Denali refuses to do). The car is well laid out, the controls fall nicely to hand and the split dash is a great feature...once you get used to it.

Before I get any people complaining that my expectations were too high, or that I can't compare a Honda to a BMW...shut it. I know that. I knew the Civic Hybrid would be a completely different car than my 540. I also thought that I would be able to handle it. As much as I enjoy driving, I figured that a commuter car only needed to get me from point A to point B. The Civic Hybrid is an appliance that does it's job and does it quite well. Turns out I need a little more fun in my daily drive.

So, this past year, I have saved about $4,000 in gas costs by switching to the Civic Hybrid. The maintenance costs are also significantly cheaper than the BMW. Did I make the right choice? Thats a tough one to answer; I know I made the smart choice. I'm just not sure that it was the right choice for me.

 

Good read, thanks Chris. Pretty hard to get used to any car after a 540i . Did you ever have to have the CVT oil change. If so, how many qts. did it require? H

 

It is always hard to make the smart choice when we are so use to making emotional choices.

I can definitely relate to you on that. Even though my Mercedes-Benz ML 350 was a peice of crap for reliability, the acceleration and power was truly breathe taking.

 

I got the CVT fluid changed at one of my standard services. I think it was around 36k miles, but don't quote me on that. All of my service has been done at the local Honda dealership, so Im not sure how much fluid was required.

I don't want people to come away from this post thinking the HCH is a terrible car, just make sure you do a gut check and know what you are getting into.

 

Well, looks like it was a positive experience for you.

In a year or so, you should be able to get a diesel Bimmer that should return 40mpg highway and get your fun in the twisties back.

...or is the Mercedes Blutec available in CA yet?

 

I agree with the OP's observations. I feel the vehicle is a fine appliance for reliability and efficiency. I have owned my HCH since mid july and have 41k on the Odo. Power wise I honestly have no complaints. Though I certainly can appreciate more power and fun when it's there. So, my other vehicle is a 2007 SLK280, which is more than enough fun when I need it. In a way I can have my cake and eat it too!

 

I wish I had the option of a 3 series diesel.

I am glad that I got the Hybrid though, it did teach me that 'fun to drive' is worth more to me than fuel efficiency. In the end I saved some money and learned a lesson...cant complain about that.

 

Do you notice the seats being uncomfortable on longer trips too? Curious because original post is first reference I've noticed on seats being uncomfortable... TIA

 

The seats are uncomfortable for me on the longer trips, but the main reason for that is because I have a bad back and there is no lumbar support in the seats.

FWIW, I know some people find the seats quite comfortable...

 

thanks! wow! I never noticed when looking at the new ones that there was no lumbar support.