My car is brand new, a week and a half old, and I already have huge problems. Engine, IMA, and battery light on, lurchy drive, shaking at stop lights. Took car into dealership and they don't know what's wrong and are ordering an entire new battery pack and told me the car would have stopped on me if I had kept driving it. I am already sooooooo disappointed. I had been researching cars for so long and finally chose this one, thinking it would be reliable (last car was a camry -- good solid car but I wanted to be greener) and I'm so frustrated already. I'm in California. Can I get a refund? I just feel like this is only the start of problems. Very disheartening. I wish I'd seen all your posts earlier. I wouldn't have bought a Hybrid, or at least not the Civic. argh. The thought of breaking down in South Central Los Angeles (where I spend my days for school) at 2am by myself does not make me feel safe.

I know the Lemon Law is decent in California but does that mean I have to put up with continual repairs and hastle until I meet their quota? This is ridiculous! The car has been in the shop almost as long as I've owned it (I bought it 10/18) and it only has 135 miles on it!!!

Any suggestions? It seems like lots of people are having major issues with this car or am I just biased. I wonder if I should even consider getting a replacement on the same car if it comes to that...

 

Actually, you're the first person here (that I've seen, anyway) to not only report problems with an '07, but to have one at all. Based on Honda's record, though, I wouldn't get so worked up. Between being in California and being among the very first to have an '07, they're going to be treating you very well to figure out what went wrong and to make sure it stays right once fixed. If you don't feel like your dealer is giving you the courtesy you deserve, get regional management involved. Odds are it's just a bad battery cell, but let the techs do their job. As for totally breaking down and being non-mobile? I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's an HSD (Toyota) problem, not an IMA (Honda) one. If the electrics break down, your accelleration will feel like frozen molasses, but you should still get to where you're going.

 

I'm sorry to hear this. I understand your disappointment. However, I believe this car is worth it's weight in gold. You could have bought a hundred thousand dollar car, but that still would not guarantee it would be flawless. I know my words wont reverse your disappointment. You can't it see now, but stay the course, you will soon see and experience for yourself this car is awesome. It will win your confidence back.

 

I just bought a new 07 Honda Civic Hybrid with Navi. I previously had a 04 Honda Civic Hybrid. Both are awesome. The 07 is now on par with the Prius. I also own a 05 Prius with Navi which is also awesome. They are without question the two best cars I have ever owned.

 

I think the OP has realized what an 'experiemental' model they have just purchased!

At the time of purchase, did the OP specifically ask the dealer for one that would not have any MAJOR MELTDOWNS?

Sorry... I couldn't resist.

In all seriousness any car can have unusual breakdowns at anytime for any reason. As someone else mentioned, if it was a $100k vehicle is could breakdown just the same.

As odd as it may sound I would rather have this problem now than a similar problem at 50,000 miles...

Once the dealership has corrected the problem, I can only imagine that your vehicle will be as trouble free as the rest of ours.

And if it not fixed correctly within a reasonable timeframe I think you would not be out of line asking for a replacement 2007 Civic.

Keep us posted

 

Hmmmm.

You're all super positive. Do you work for Honda?

Seriously though, I've never bought a brand new car before and my old ye faithful car I had (Camry) never had major problems that required an overnight (let alone a possible week) in a shop until it was 140,000 K miles. I had that car (still do) forever. I bought new hoping for awesome reliability as well. And I was so excited to get a Hybrid and LOVED the car for the first 3 days (until the way it was driving made me car sick, lurching around, shaking when idle, etc.). I think you can understand my concern.

I've also read numerous posts on hybridcars website about people who keep having repeated problems with their 2006 HCH which I didn't see before purchase. I don't know...

 

Heheh... no, we don't work for Honda. Well, at least I don't. Can't speak for the others. I'm also not sure what other sites you're looking at where people are having so many problems with the 2006. From the threads that have come and gone here, the most common problems were:

1. 63mi bug. Early VINs had a bug where every 63 miles, the trip odometers would reset themselves for no good reason. This was fixed by the January/February timeframe (when mine was built), and cars that had it were sent a service bulliten to have their electronics consoles replaced.

2. Bad batteries. Every now and then, a battery will pass initial QA, but go bad during transit or soon after entering regular duty. Unless you're willing to subject the packs to repeated deep-cycle testing, which can significantly reduce their working lifespan, there's nothing anybody can do to catch these before they croak. I honestly believe this is your problem. A swap-out of the battery pack and the IPU fixes this easily, but because the packs are in high demand, it can take a couple days for your dealer to get one if they don't have an unsold HCH2 on the lot to "borrow" from.

3. This one's new, but a number of people have been noticing that their spoiler has been digging into the paint on the trunk (boot for you Brits out there). Seems to be more prevalent, or just more noticeable, on the darker colors, and is probably related to how fast you drive, and the road conditions where you live.

Besides that, there have just been the random odds and ends that really have no pattern, but are consistent with the first model year of a new chassis and body.

 

omfg! the sky is falling!
valium, please?
if you truly had "been researching cars for so long", you would know this is a rare occurrence with this car.
chill out. **** happens. that's what your warranty's for.
good luck.

 

Nope. At least I don't not work for Honda. Perhaps not even one of the hundreds of happy HCH-II owners on this board anyway.

Your issue is so unusual that we're as surprised by your report as you are by our reaction. Fact is, that many of us will claim that the our Civic Hybrids are the best cars we've had and we would buy them again if we had to.

Actually, just to put my money where my mouth is, my wife is getting an 07 in a little over 2 weeks. We like this car that much.

Your case is unsual and we would recommend you take it up with the dealership and your regional Honda office. Honda will take very good care of you, just follow the normal resolution path and if it happens to be a chronic issue they may even give your another car (it has happened before). Be patient , it is worth it.


Cheers;


MSantos

 

I'll admit that I DO work for a car company... but not Honda... and I LOVE my HCHII! I've got about 12,000 trouble-free miles. I've been reading and posting here for almost a year now, and there are VERY few problems with this car. The list MMRMNHRM posted is about it (add a few folks with window regulator problems to that list, though).

That said, there are some DESIGN issues... things we'd all like corrected or improved... but they're not really faults. All in all, this is one of the best cars I've ever owned. Please stick it out and get this problem fixed. You won't be disappointed once you're running right again!