I would love my 2004 hybrid to live to a ripe old age without ima battery replacment. I have read that how one drives the manual is important to ima battery life. Besides the green up shift down shift light How does one drive a manual civic properly for long ima battery life?I have 65k and no problems so far and have had notified softeware updates

 

The proper way to drive a manual Civic hybrid is straight to the dealer, to trade it in for a new CVT Civic Hybrid.

 

why? lots of us LIKE driving a 5 speed. in fact, when i bought my 2005, i could have waited a few weeks for the 2006, but when i heard that there was no manual transmission available, i bought the 05.

 

Try not to overgear and force the IMA to come on. For example if your are traveling at 30 mph in highest gear on flat surface and you decide to accelerate, that is lugging the engine (IMA will kick in). Drop down a gear or 2. If you are trying to maintain 30 mph (highest gear) and you are going up a hill and IMA kicks on... drop down a gear or 2 before said incline. Try to minimize the amount of times IMA comes on due to being in the improper gear for the situation at hand.

 

This is where I have an issue with Hybrids. If the best way to maintain them is to not use their hybrid system, why did you buy one in the first place? Why not just get a small engine that is ULEV and be done with it?

 

I have over 130,000 miles on my '04 MT, and have had zero issues. Drive it like you'd drive any car.

 

I agree... that is why the CVT does better. The system can predict a better use of IMA and the right gearing always. With the MT, you just need to keep that in mind. Some people try to get to the highest gear possible as soon as possible and count on the IMA to kick in to get better mpg at the cost of the battery draining.