First of all, I have to admit that the fuel mileage has been great, but we've had many problems with our 06 HCHII.

Driver's side window fell out of its track. Dealer was able to fix it and we've had no recurrence of the issue.
It's been taken in for 3 different recalls.
There have been a couple of issues with loose interior trim. All fixed.
Worst of all, it has had a transmission whine since about 10,000 miles (car now has 25,000 miles on it). It has been in the shop 3 times for the tranny. They first said there was nothing wrong with it. On the second visit, they kept the car for a week, finally just changing the transmission fluid. The whine went away for about 2 weeks then returned. We took the car back again. Honda finally decided to replace the tranny. The work is currently being done. They have had the car for a week. They keep telling me that it will be ready by the end of the day. That has been going on for 4 days. I have a suspicion that they don't really know what they are doing.
Can't wait to get they car back so I can trade it off for something more reliable.

The transmission problem aside, my biggest complaint has been the car's lack of power when climbing long hills/mountain passes (I live in Colorado). Even if I start the climb with a fully charged battery, the IMA power runs out long before I reach the top. In order to maintain enough speed without having to pull over to let others pass, the engine must rev to between 4,000 and 5,000 rpm. It really sounds like it is about to blow.
Anyway, I think Honds should not be selling these cars in mountainous regions. Anybody else having a similar experience? Could this problem be related to the suspect tranny?

Sorry to have such a sour report. I have owned this car for a year and a half, with the past year being not so pleasant. I'm really bummed because I traded in a Honda Element, which never gave me any problems. I thought Honda really had it together.

This site has been very helpful. Keep up the great work.

 

I can feel you on the torque/power problem. Unfortunatly these cars were designed to be slow and slow paced against its twin Civic brothers. I have the 2007 HCH-II and it feels like I am being propelled by a rubber band sling shot. I was driving a 1998 DX Civic today since mine was at the dealer for other work and it was a pleasure. Massive torque and power abeit loud and unrefined.

You may want to trade yours in for a regular Civic LX or EX. The DX/LX/EX all have the same engine. The LX is the closes twin to the HCH-II. With the resale value on the HCH you should be able to go in with little to no negative equity as long as you didn't have negative equity from your Element.

Plus you should have recieved a tax credit from this vehicle, there is no restriction on how long you need to keep it

 

Tim, I live in the mountain country as well, probably not as large as the Rockies but still alot of 6% up and down. I do get up to 5000 plus RPM alot. These little engines thrive on RPM, so don't worry about it! That is where they get the best power and performance but not the best FE. I only have 15000 kil on her, but so far trouble free.

 

I have some loose trim to. Do you know if they just snapped it in or if they secured it somehow? I would like to just snap it in, but don't want to break it. I will take it do the dealer if I need to, but would prefer not to.