Hi guys n' gals
I have to come in on this one.
My wife and I have had our Honda from new April 2008 and we have not had any of the problems mentioned regarding battery recal.
We did have a transmission software problem from new - cured by software update.
We had a recall to replace a possible falty fuse box as some had been shorting when left parked for any real length of time (Honda mentioned a few days if I remember right) and this was causing the battery to drain (which one I don't know).
For the very large part we are very happy with our Honda and we are deciding this year whether to stay with Honda for our next car (Spring 2011).
We have the Honda Insight over here in Scotland and soon we will have the CR-Z Hybrid too so, we have choices. I am hoping the new model Civic Hybrid will be coming in around this time but, I fear it will be a bit late for us and we will have chosen another model. I have reservations about the CR-Z because it is very low to the ground and we have things called sleeping policemen on some of our Council Authority roads (humps - to slow drivers down) and our car just makes it over as is. Alos, the CR-Z is a two person car, no use for the leisurely drive with the in-laws.
The new Honda Insght is just not up to the same standard of kit (hence the much lower price) as our Civic so I doubt that we will want to downgrade.
What other choices do we have? Well there are quite a few new diesel models coming onto the Scottish market, giving good miles to the gallon and very good CO2 figures.
I think Honda will have to watch out as their current Hybrid line-up doesn't have fantastic CO2 nor mileage figures compared with some of the new diesels. Yes, I knpw diesels are noisy compared with the silence of a quiet petrol like our Hondas (when not pushed) but, miles to the gallon they are very tempting.
I will give examples of one or two to anyone interested in what is happening on our side of the pond.
Wow - better stop now to have a cup of tea.
Till next time... cheerio the noo.

 

Hi Dougal,

Regarding HCHII ground clearance, I read that in some parts of South America (Brazil?) they sell the same car except with suspension mod's. to raise it an inch or two. Likely a slight (even noticeable?) reduction in fuel economy, but I sure would like that. The low ground clearance negated the value of our snow tires last winter: doesn't matter what rubber you use if it can't reach the ground.

 

Hi Mendel

Thanks for the reply about the suspension mods. Ours would have benefitted from the mods had we done it from new. A bit late in the day now. Pity coz, I dare say it would have made the ride much smoother.

Cheers,

 

The saga continues.... dropped my 2006 HCH with 23K miles off at the dealer to check why it the SOC drops to one bar....force regens for several minutes and then suddenly the SOC jumps up 4-5 bars to maximum.

They found no errors but applied four updates PGMFI, CVT and IMA X 2. The car does not run noticably different and the SOC problem has not cleared.

The next step is to leave it at the dealer so they can drive it after it has sat overnight. More to follow............

 

CALI,

That is the identical symptom I had. I had a re-cal every morning and evening, plus one or two on the way to work (a 20-minute drive). After the re-cal as the battery charged, it would jump from 3 bars to 8 bars.

To show that it truly was the battery.....I'm now going on almost a month with the new battery and have not had a single re-cal.

I think Honda needs to get it into their thick head that "frequent re-cals" is not a normal condition.

Keep pushing and escalating with American Honda. Eventually they will see the light.....

 

I had all those symptoms too, today took the car to the garage, and they changed the battery without any trouble (after all the problems Smurf told about i was ready to go for a war ) but it was really easy, i just told them them i have frequent battery recalls and that this is very dangerous, also i showed them a picture of my car charging at full stop , and they replaced the battery.
I think Honda started to understand that there is an issue with frequent recalls, or may be here (Israel) because of hot weather they are ready to frequent battery problems.....

 

They replaced the big 158v battery pack behind the back seat by telling them about recals without the IMA light being on? I may need to take my car over to Israel .

 

yes they did
i was pretty shocked too but they did

i think they actually found something when they checked the car, because they didn't took it for test ride, i just saw a tech with computer stand near my car, and after that they told me that they will replace the back battery.

 

Thanks for this thread. I'm seeing daily recals in the morning now after the car sits overnight - problem started a couple of months back. 71K miles on the 2007 HCH. I have the 100K extended warranty so will either wait for the light to come on or just tell the dealer about it on my next scheduled maintenance visit.

The recals are really killing my mileage, too. :-(

 

Good Morning,
I have posted a few times about my 2006 Civic Hybrid with 37k miles and the concern with the battery, charging system, bogus software updates and terrible factory service. I pulled into the dealer on Thursday with a car in forced regen, no IMA battery, and using the standard starter to start the engine. I had the service writer and tech observe these conditions.
I had the writer and tech ride with me and had them observe the rapid charge and more importantly the rapid discharge of the IMA system and the lack of power once the battery is kaput. I had them observe how the car jumps when it is in autostop at a light and then suddenly start and go into a 1500 rpm forced regen. They agreed all was not right though there was no IMA light on.
I left the car with them and said I want my Civic back like it was for the first 2 years that I had it and not this disappointing, underpowered, used to be good car.
3 hours later I received a call from the Service Manager stating......there was no problem as the IMA light was not on. I am beyond angry at this point. It sure was nice the software patches that were installed removed the P07AF battery deterioration code and made my car even less a Hybrid...
I got right on the phone with Honda and used my contact number that I was issued last September when this drama started. I left a message for the rep stating my disappointment and how I had jumped all the hoops in meeting with the factory engineer, etc.
I also mentioned the many exact same concerns with this vehicle that I and many people on this and other message boards are dealing with that I have seen on the NTSB website, yes the site that took Toyota to task. 10 minutes later I received a call from American Honda stating they had contacted the dealer and a battery had been ordered, do I need a loaner car?
The battery will go in next week and I can sell the beast with a good conscious. Not sure what to replace the car with but the new Jetta diesel is looking pretty good.
Good luck to all of you and hang tough.
Jack