My girlfriend tried to convince me not to get a Honda, I should have listened but I liked them and it was the only hybrid I could stand looking at. I won't buy another Honda, I've had mine for almost a year and there are to many things that bug me about it.

I'm going to trade it in on something, not sure what yet, but I do like that Volt, though I will have to wait for that.

 

I've only had one recal since the 09-58 TSB was put on three weeks ago, and I've done a combination of my usual driving, as well as some very taxing mountain driving loaded with bikes, so I've had a different experience than you ppgroup.

Cyrion, if you're unhappy with Honda's version 3.0 hybrid, I'm sure you're really going to love GM's 1.0 Volt...

 

I expect the Volt will have some problems, as it is a new model with no real world experience. However this model of the Honda Civic has been around for years and it still has all kinds of problems.

The hybrid portion aside, I have never had a car that rattled in so many locations as this one (that's compared to a number of used car as well) or needed the alignment done before I bought it.

Compared to my girlfriends 09 Ford focus, her's is just built better, no rattles, no problems, and as unbelievable as it sounds if I run AC and she doesn't we get almost the same mileage.

 

So after a comment like that, you just KNEW I was going to have a crash on the way home right???

Bummer--and I was SO optomistic...

 

Perhaps I've been lucky... but my '06 HCHII is 3 1/2 years old... I've had maybe four or five battery recals. Usually during VERY hot days.

I've never had a bit of trouble from it... NO: brake farts, window track problems, tire wear / rear suspension issues, trunk spoiler paint wear, CVT troubles, sunvisor breakage, etc.! Just 45,000 miles of near-perfection. 53 mpg lifetime avg, and I still like driving it!

I do all my own maintenance and if I have it my way, the dealer will never, ever touch it.

 

Update on our car ... took it back for another look by dealer. They loaded software updates they say came out since last time they looked at car in June.

The result is improved drivability, but no change in the frequency of recals. The car now recals pretty much every time it's sat for 45 mins or more since last being driven. So, if we go somewhere for lunch, when we get back in the car and drive off, within a mile or two we're down to one or two "dots" of charge.

My wife, who drives the car daily, sees this every morning on her way to work and every night on the way home. We keep a log and record each occurence as the dealer svc people suggested.

Dealer service says they cannot find any problem and when they drive the car it's behavior is "normal". Does recal every time you start out somewhere sound normal to this group? I really don't think we had this very often at all the first 50K miles ...

 

I drive 9 miles to and from work. I now generally get 1 each way. Ameerican Honda has given me the same 'its normal' comments. I guess we will have to wait until the battery fails before the problem can really be fixed.

 

I have less than 7k on my 08 and I have never had the battery do a recal. I can hope it won't happen to me, but it sounds like another "feature" I get to look forward to.

 

That sounds weird to me that it always happens when you start out. Mine almost always happens going up small hills where I don't need the high (3k) RPMs, and the car is very assist happy.

What is the temperature in the area where you leave the car? Does it happen more in the summer, or is this a year round thing?

 

We've tried hard to identify patterns or tendancies ... if I stop for gas, or just to run into a store to get a few things, then rarely have a recal afterwards. Seems to correlate to the car being off for an hour or more and then going somewhere.

One that really blew my mind was going to the jogging trail on a sat morning. We live at the top of a hill, and basically coasted down to the trail (about 2 miles distance). Did our workout, enjoyed the fresh air, etc. ... get back in the car to go home and within a mile, falls to one dot of charge. Basically, we never used any IMA assist going downhill so how could the battery charge change any from the half-full level indicated when we left the house?